“I’m good. Promise,” I said with a smile that made my forehead pull and sting. “Thanks for patching me up.”
I thought about handing off the flannel I no longer needed to her to give to Rhys. But at the thought of orchestrating another meeting that would have her blushing, my hold on the fabric tightened to a death grip.
As I walked away, I heard him mutter, “And they say doctors make the worst patients.”
Since I’d fulfilled his order, I returned to Captain Talbot to see what I’d missed. He didn’t even let me reach him before saying, “Matthews is taking you home.”
“I’m fine,” I said for what seemed like the millionth time.
“Are you hearing questions again? Maybe he’ll take you to the hospital instead so you can get that checked out.”
I pressed my lips closed.
For, like, ten seconds. But then I opened them to point out, “I’m sure there will be more questions for me.”
“And they can wait. Or someone will call you if it can’t. You’re taking the weekend off.”
“But I’m already off Monday and Tuesday.”
“Lucky you, a long weekend.”
“Cap—”
His glare was already enough to make me cut it out, but then he lowered his voice to quietly issue the most effective threat in all of human history. “I could assign Murdoch to drive you home and sit with you to make sure there’s no concussion.”
“So you want this to turn into a murder investigation?” Because it would. If we were in a car together, one of us would throttle the other before we reached the end of the block.
My money was on me winning.
“Then let Matthews do it,” Cap said.
He wasn’t as bad as Murdoch, but my head hurt too much to listen to his excuses, gratitude, or an annoying mix of both.
Reaching out without looking, I grabbed the nearest patrol officer by his shirt and tugged him closer. “He’ll do it.”
Cap looked between us, clearly over my shit.
I glanced to the side to see who I’d grabbed. I vaguely recognized him, and not just because he resembled Superman. Or maybe Clark Kent, all clean-shaven and wholesomely cute. Either way, I didn’t know his name without checking his nameplate. “Murphy will drive me home. Right?”
His wide eyes went from the Cap down to me where they stayed.
Ohhhkay then.
I’ll take that as a yes.
I released my hold on him, but he stayed close.
“Call me if you find anything,” I said to Cap before hurriedly tacking on, “please.”
“You almost earned yourself a trip with Murdoch after all,” my captain muttered.
It’s the night of close calls.
After he was done giving orders to Murphy—or maybe they were more of a warning about me—he sent us on our way.
I scanned around as we moved to where he was parked. There were a lot more people than before, likely coming to check out the fuss. Most of them were in casual or party clothes that said they were out enjoying the nightlife, but there was a cluster of people who looked better suited for a country club than a dive bar.
I kept my mouth shut until we were closed in the marked patrol car. “You can drop me off at the precinct.”
