AllFreeNovel
Share Us
They laughed, but Charlie was growing weary and wasn’t amused. “It hurts when I laugh.”
“I’ll be back in the morning. Do you want visitors?”
“It’s too late for that, but no.”
“Ha! Sorry, buddy. You can’t get rid of me. I need you at work anyway, so the punishment is probably only going to be a slap on the hand.”
“I thought you were leaving,” Charlie said, trying to grimace when he accidentally smiled.
Lila felt drained after Big Mike and Frank Keller finally left.
“I’m so sorry,” Charlie said, reaching out for her hand. “But thank you. Thank you for coming.”
“I’m not leaving, so don’t even go there.”
“Oh, I can’t ask you to stay.”
“You’re not asking, and I’m not leaving, so save your breath. I have some gossip when you’re ready to hear it.”
Lying back again, he nodded his head. “I’m ready. I don’t want to think about today.”
“Well, this might help. My mother dated Big Mike.”
“Your mother?”
“Elizabeth Garcia. Well, her last name is Conner now. She said it was before either one was married, but Mike was engaged. Anyway, he’d talked to her today; that’s how he found out about you and me.”
“So we’re sort of related,” he said, and then held his face when the laughter came. “Oh god, that hurts. So how do I look? You’ve probably heard already that I’m vain.”
“Charlie, everyone’s vain. Don’t worry about it. I’m vain, too.”
He reached for her hand, squeezing it. “This is not how I expected we’d spend our second date.”
“No, I know. I think I’m still in shock. I’m so glad you’re okay.”
“How was your night out? I was jealous.”
“Aw, Charlie, it was a waste of time. I should have stayed home. It wasn’t worth the effort being jealous takes, trust me.”
“I was worried someone would come along and sweep you off your feet.”
“Someone did, and then he almost got burned up. Don’t do that again.”
“I won’t if I can help it,” he said.
“Promise?”
“Promise.”
The nurse came in with a syringe full of narcotic. “Pain meds time.”
“I don’t need it.”
“Ah yes, you do,” she said. “Trust me, you don’t want to get behind on your pain medication. I don’t want to frighten you, but burns are the most painful of wounds. Just take it, and tomorrow if you feel stronger, we can let some time lapse between doses.”
“I’m fine.”
“Charlie, take the medication,” Lila said. “I’ve been with Devon during his recovery, and you need to trust me when I say don’t turn down your pain meds.”
He looked like he wanted to argue more, but he stopped, nodding his head. “Okay.”
Minutes after the nurse pushed the medication into Charlie’s IV, he was snoring.
