Page 70 of High Side
“No. Liz has suspended all trips until they do, and everyone is on the buddy system.”
“Good. But not good. Dammit.” She shook her head, feeling groggy as hell. “This isn’t cool at all. My throat hurts. Can I have a Sprite? Where’s Dad?”
“Your dad was just—” She pursed her lips. “He must have stepped out to call and tell people you were awake.”
“Dude, I thought I hallucinated him.”
“Let me call the nurse and see about your Sprite. You should be fine for it, but I want to check.”
“Thanks. I’m dry and sore.” And she wanted to rest for a while now.
“You got it.” Her mom left quietly and was back just about the time she dozed off, holding a can with a straw in it. “Sprite.”
She looked up at her mom, then started crying, the emotions coming fast and hard, utterly unexpected.
“Hey, it’s okay, baby girl. Anesthesia has always done you this way, and you were kidnapped.” Mom sat on the bed hand, on the side of the arm without the IV.
“He could have killed me.”
“He didn’t. And you won’t be alone for a single second until he’s caught. Clear?” Mom sounded serious as a heart attack.
“Brit? Is she with someone?”
“Sadie. And Joe is supposed to come back here with her.”
She took a deep breath, then let it out. “Okay. Okay, cool. He blamed her for losing him his job.”
“He’s an idiot.” Mom’s voice was sharp as a razor.
“He is. A real moron, Mom. But he’s deep in this shit now. I’m scared of what he might do.”
“Well, the sheriff’s people are on it. Liz has brought in actual guards at the shed. And like I said, no one is alone.”
Dad came back in. “I called Liz and Lupe, and texted your lady. I like her.”
That had her grinning. They both liked Brit already. “Good.” She yawned, her jaw popping.
“I promise to stay here until Brittany comes. You close your eyes and rest now, okay baby?” her dad said.
She nodded, because that was what her body was insisting on.
A rest.
So Kylie reached for her mom’s hand, then closed her eyes, sinking into the uncomfortable hospital bed.
She was asleep before she could even think about trying to stay awake.
* * *
Brittany parked at the hospital lot, and she grumbled because she had to park a mile from the damn building. God save her from regional hospitals with tiny main lots and tons of overflow.
She’d left a very vocal Sadie at the condo, and she’d put fresh sheets on the guest bed and clean towels in the hall bathroom. Now she needed to see how Ky had fared in her surgery with her own eyes. Calls and texts weren’t good enough.
She hadn’t spent a ton of time with Kylie’s parents—enough to know they loved her and intended to keep her. Brittany could live with that, when it came right down to it. They were both pretty calm in a crisis, and that was what mattered.
She hoisted her backpack over his shoulder more firmly and trudged, and she was in a pool of dark between streetlights when someone grabbed her arm and spun her around.
“Fuck!” She tore her arm away and screamed, making as much noise as she can.
