Page 109 of Shutout
“No!”
“Fine, I’ll give them a really shitty Yelp review.”
“Ye… Good.”
He barks something that sounds like a cross between a cough and a laugh.
“My… fault.”
“Liv, no. It’s not your fault. They’re the ones who hid the murder nut in the food.”
“But… pen?”
It takes him a moment to deduce what I mean. “Ah.” For a long moment he doesn’t add anything further. But then the car’s jerking to a stop and he’s rushing out. This time, he opens the door at my head and pulls me out by my pits. Pivoting me, he lifts me back in his arms. My head lolls on his shoulder and I’m not sure he’s even shut the car door before he’s running away.
I’d recognize the swishing sound of the ER doors in my sleep. Harsh lighting assaults my retinas. Above me, Brooke hollers. “Excuse me! My girlfriend’s having an anaphylactic reaction to peanuts.”
Atta, boy. Loud, clear, to the point.
Sure enough, not even a second later, he’s placing me on a hospital bed. After Brooke gives me a sloppy kiss on my forehead, I’m wheeled away.
*
An oxygen mask, an IV latched onto my arm, a tiny hospital bed shoved in a corner, and an even tinier chair beside it, aren’t quite the nicest setup for a date. But after the ER staff are done assessing me and settle me to wait out the rest, Brooke joins me on that little chair dutifully. Even though I’m pretty sure his ass is spilling on all sides from it.
He hasn’t let go of my other hand ever since we’ve been abandoned out here, while the doctor and nurses take care of the sparse other patients. This is also not his first rodeo in this position, and as much as I love him for being here during every scary moment, I also hate that I’ve put him through it.
“Sorry,” I repeat through the mask.
His eyes follow the motion of his thumb sliding across my skin. “Stop apologizing, woman.”
“But I ruined the night.”
“The freaking peanuts did.” His brow tightens. “I can’t even figure out where they were.”
“I think it was the fries.” I close my eyes. “They had the same color as the ones from O’Malley’s. I should’ve made the connection before all this happened.”
The chair squeaks and then he’s resting his head against my hip. “Again, not your fault.” Slowly, I free my hand from his and bring it up to his hair. He sighs audibly as my fingers work against his scalp. “I got so scared, Liv.”
My chin trembles. I let tears roll down my temples. “I’m sorry for scaring you.”
He shakes his head against me. Funny how despite everything, that can shoot fire up and down my body. I glide my hand through his hair to the back of his head, until I find his neck and stop there. I just need to feel his heat to know everything’s going to be okay.
Of course, that’s when my family shows up.
“Olivia!” The scream belongs to my mother.
“I will kill you.” That one, to my brother.
Both Brooke and I spring. He swivels around on the chair. I push up myself to sit on the mattress. Pulling up the oxygen mask for a moment, I ask, “What the heck areyoudoing here?”
Maddie responds instead, “He’s still out with a groin injury so we came home early for the holidays. Sweetie, are you okay?”
I try a different tactic. “This is an emergency room. I’m pretty sure you’re not all allowed in at the same time.”
“Thankfully it’s a quiet night,” Dad says, slide around the other side of the bed to check my IV as if he knew what to look for. Or maybe he does, because this sure as hell is also not his first rodeo. “Are you doing okay, mija?”
“Yes, thanks to Brooke?—”
