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Busy looked up at me before facing her grandfather. “Tanner showed up in my backyard. Mom and Dad are out of town and I didn’t know what else to do. So I helped him.”
Nero sighed. “You have a big heart, my darling.”
Busy’s cheeks reddened.
“What else did you do?” he asked her, pushing open the door.
“I stitched him up after he was stabbed and I gave him a shot of Mezcal.” She shrugged like it was no big deal.
But it was. My shoulder still burned from her gentle touch.
“That’s probably why you’re not dead yet but if you were stabbed, it could have hit something vital. Damaged some nerves. The usual shit,” Nero explained.
“I don’t need my shoulder to live,” I murmured.
Nero’s gaze shot to mine. “No. But you could die from an infection. While I give my granddaughter all the credit in the world, she’s not a nurse. If you were a car, I wouldn’t be wanting to double-check that she did a good job.” He turned away from us, leaving no room for question. “Ricky,” he yelled. “Prep for surgery. I don’t need another death on my hands. As much as my boys would love it, I’m not feeling it tonight.”
Thank God for that.
When we followed Nero into the room, my eyes widened. It was like walking into a hospital room. Shelves were stocked with meds and other necessities for fixing wounds and other ailments.
“Tanner?” Nero stepped in front of me. “If you don’t want this, you say the word. But you could die if Ricky doesn’t check you out.”
I swallowed hard.
He was giving me a choice. A choice I never really had before. I wasn’t sure why but when I glanced at Busy and saw hope dancing in her eyes, I took a deep breath. Something slid between us. Something new. Something unexpected, especially when I’d only just met her a few hours ago.
She gave me a small nod, encouraging me to fight.
Why? She didn’t know me. She didn’t know the shit I had done. But to her, it never mattered. Her grandfather was right. She did have a big heart. She was probably the type that would stop traffic to save a spider from getting run over. I bet she even collected worms after it rained and put them in a nearby garden, so they wouldn’t get harmed.
I found myself wanting to know more. To know everything that made up Busy.
“Tanner,” Nero said gently, pulling me from my thoughts.
I knew what my answer would have been if I had never met her but now that I had, my answer was completely different.
I stood up straighter, looking Nero straight in the eyes. “Do it.”
Bee
PACING BACK AND FORTH,I waited in the small office off the room where my grandfather had his medical supplies and where the surgeries happened. I knew he had everything he needed to fix his men when they came back broken and bloody, but I had never actually seen the room before.
The door suddenly opened, revealing my grandpa. He gave me a small smile, the hard lines in his weathered face, softening when his gaze landed on me.
“How’s he doing?” I asked, my stomach twisting with the possibility he had died on the table. It had only been a stab wound but I was no medical professional. I didn’t know if my sewing him up helped or if Tanner had other wounds he failed to mention.
“He’s resting. The surgery went well. You did a good job sewing him up and stopping the bleeding. Luckily nothing vital was hit.” Grandpa shut the door behind him and leaned against it. “I need to ask you something.”
“Oh.” I took a breath, thankful that Tanner was okay but now concerned over whatever it was that Grandpa wanted to talk to me about. “Okay.”
“You just met Tanner tonight?”
I nodded.
“And your father doesn’t know what happened?”
“No.” I shook my head. “It was their anniversary a couple of days ago, so they went away to celebrate. I told them I would only call them if it was an emergency. I was going to call them when Tanner showed up, but Cyrus and Sammy ended up coming over instead and you know the rest.”
