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I sit back, furrowing my brows. “Huh.”
Ingrid lets out a small chuckle and bumps into my side. “Is there anything else playing on your mind?”
This woman means so much to me. I feel like if there’s anyone I can talk to about this, it’s her. “So… I haven’t quite been able to figure out what Hoodoo means to me, but seeing him hurt like this makes me question everything.”
Ingrid smiles. “That’s only natural, but there’s something more.”
“You know my pen pal, the guy I wrote to while I was in prison?”
She widens her eyes like she’s surprised I am bringing this up. “You still talk to him?”
“Yeah, we’ve kept in contact all these years. I feel like he’s this big part of my life, but there is so much I don’t know about him. I just don’t want to risk losing him. I don’t think anyone will understand the kind of friendship I have with him.”
“Is it a friendship? Or is it…more?”Ingrid asks point blank.
I sigh. “I feel like it could be more… if we wanted it to be.”
Ingrid hums under her breath. “I see, so now you’re torn. Between the guy you’ve known for years, but you don’t know his name or what he even looks like, or the guy who aggravates and drives you crazy but who somehow has a hold on you…right?”
Shrugging, I nod. “Right.”
Ingrid wraps her arm around me and smiles. “Well, darling, it’s hard to figure out the right path. Both have their downfalls and highlights, but I think you need to sit and think, and whoever you fixate on the most is the one you should be putting your time into.”
Letting out a long exhale, I sink back into the bench and fold my arms over my chest. “I don’t think this is something I can think about today. My brain is one big clusterfuck. I am confused and tired.”
Ingrid nods. “It’s been a huge day for all of us. How about we head back in and see how Hoodoo is doing?”
Hoodoo.
The man who teases me relentlessly.
The man who pisses me off constantly.
The man who put his life on the line so the rest of us would be okay.
He’s a hero.
A defender.
A damn savior.
I must put all thoughts of ‘N’ to the side and concentrate on Hoodoo.
Because he is the one who needs me right now.
CHAPTER TEN
Hoodoo
My head hurts like hell, it’s foggy, and honestly, it feels like I’ve been hit by a fucking planet—a truck doesn’t even come close. I swear Saturn came down and smashed right into me, its rings putting a stranglehold around my legs for good measure.
The pain in my body makes my stomach queasy as bile rises in my throat. My eyes flicker a few times as my hand comes up, trying to pull something from my nose in my disorientation, but a gentle hand stops me. “No, Nico. You need to keep that on. Your lungs have been through a lot,” a gentle voice says sympathetically, and somehow my eyes manage to open fully to see a kind-looking brunette woman hovering over my bed. She’s wearing purple scrubs, and it makes me calmer just by looking at her. “My name is Charlotte. Nico… are you with me?” she asks, and I nod just the tiniest bit.
Her warm smile eases my tension as she checks the monitors beside me, then places a comforting hand on my arm. “Okay, your vitals are steady, and all things considered, I think you’re doing well… especially because we can’t give you painkillers. How is your pain right now?”
My muscles are tight as hell like they could go into spasm at any second. It feels like someone is pulling all my tendons as tight as they will go, and they’re about to snap.It fucking hurts.My eyes meet hers, and I grit my teeth. “No matter what I say… don’t give me pain meds.”
She weakly smiles but nods. “So the pain is bad right now?”
