Page 2 of Smoldering Nights
"We'll get it fixed after the police are finished with it."
"I have weddings coming up and a birthday party next week, and my customers won't have flowers, and I'm going to lose my entire business, and that's how I live, plus it's all I have from my dad, and..."
"Stop.Take a breath."His chest felt heavy with the weight of her sorrow."What's important is that you weren't hurt.Do you understand?"
Her watery eyes stared into his.After a quiet moment, she nodded her understanding.
"Good.Now, I've got some good friends and I'll bet you do too.So, you should go home and take a shower.Then lie down for a bit and rest.I'm going to work on getting myself out of here.Then, we'll meet and come up with a plan to help you fulfill orders and get your shop back up and running.I'll work on security, and we'll both work with the police to make sure your place is secure and you're protected.Understand?"
"I can't take a nap.I have to make calls.I have to see if I can remember..."
"Izzy!"He slowly took a breath."Honey, listen to me.Go home and get some rest.I promise you'll feel better."
Another tear left a trail down her other cheek, and she daintily sniffed.He saw her lips quiver before she licked them and sucked them into her mouth.
"Are you scared?"
She nodded again, and his heart hurt for her.
Chapter2
Izzy sat as still as a cactus on a warm summer day as the doctor looked Mitch over.
"I think you can go home if you promise to wear the banding around your ribs and take it easy."
Mitch grunted."I'll take it easy."
"And wear the banding."
"Yes."He let out a breath.She got the feeling he didn't like taking orders.Or following them.
The doctor turned to her and nodded."Nice meeting you, Izzy."
"It's nice meeting you, too, Doctor."She'd already forgotten his name.Her mind had been in a thousand places as he walked into the room and introduced himself.The nurse had handed her a writing pad and pen, and Mitch instructed her to sit quietly and think of the orders she had at the shop that needed to be fulfilled.She was grateful for this.And she did need to be organized in her approach to customers.She didn't want to scare them.She wanted them to know that somehow she was going to make sure they received what they'd ordered.Right now, she wasn't sure how that was going to happen, but come hell or high water, it was.
The nurse removed Mitch's IV and the tape that held the wires from the machines.She glanced up once in a while to make sure he wasn't waiting for her.This time, however, when she looked up, he sat on the edge of the bed.The nurse nodded, "I'll step out of the room while you put your shirt on."
Mitch nodded.He lifted his arms to untie the smock they had on him, and he groaned.Izzy jumped up, "Let me help you with that."
She stood before him, reached her arms around his shoulders, and pulled the string to untie his smock.Her cheeks burned hot as she realized how close she was to him.She also realized, she likely smelled horrible after the day she'd had.
She stepped back quickly and turned to the locker across the room."Is your shirt in here?"
She felt silly and uncomfortable and slightly enamored with the breadth of Mitch's shoulders and the masculine figure he made sitting before her on the bed.She certainly was a mess today.
"I don't know where they put it."He mumbled.
She opened the locker to see a shirt hanging on a hook, looking worse for wear.There were tears in it, blood on it, and it was dirty."You can't put this on."
She pulled it out and held it up.She peered through a hole and saw him on the other side.
"It's just till I get home."
"No.I'll be right back."
She stepped quickly from the room and hustled to the gift shop.She could buy him a shirt.It was the least she could do.And she needed to expel some energy anyway.
She navigated the hospital corridors and the elevator to make it to the gift shop.Inside, she found a bright blue t-shirt with a palm tree on it.Across the top of the palm tree, it said, "Blossom Springs, Florida."It would have to do.
