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"Did she at least leave me some goddamn pain meds? My shoulder's killing me."
"Oh, right," he says, rummaging through a nearby drawer and tossing me a bottle of pills. I down two of them with some water.
"Where does she work?" I press, needing to know more about this woman who has seen what no one else has.
"At the ER," he says, like I'm supposed to know which one. I groan and rub my face with my hands, irritated by his lack of specificity.
"I know that, Teddy. Which one?"
"Oh," he says with a smile on his face, finding humor in my annoyance. "At Mass General. Over in the West End," Teddy finally reveals.
"Great," I say, forcing myself to stand despite the pain in my shoulder. As I look down, I realize I'm not wearing any clothes. I wrap the sheet around me before shooting Teddy a glare. "Why the fuck am I missing my pants?"
"Hey, don't blame me," Teddy shrugs defensively. "She said you were gonna be out for a few days. I didn't want the sheets to get stained."
"Jesus Christ," I mutter, shaking my head as I hobble towards the bathroom. "You're one weird sonofabitch, Teddy."
As much as I'd like to forget about her, I can't shake the feeling that I need to see her again. Damn her—and damn those beautiful eyes of hers.
"Ah, fuck," I sigh, briefly releasing my grip on the sheet around me as I stand at the threshold of the bathroom. The urge to relieve myself is damn near impossible to ignore any longer. I let the sheet drop and finally take a piss.
"Y'know, I don't think you should be going to see her," Teddy says from outside the bathroom, his voice filled with concern.
"Really?" I ask, sarcasm dripping from each word. I finish up, giving it a good shake before wrapping the towel back around me. Draping the excess over my shoulder, I fashion it intosomething resembling a toga. Stepping out of the bathroom, I fix my gaze on Teddy and raise an eyebrow.
"Aren't you gonna flush?"
"Teddy!" I snap.
"Right," he mutters. "I just don't think she'd appreciate a visit."
"Newsflash, brother: I don't really give a damn." If she's the one who messed with my wristband, then she probably knows what's underneath it. And that means I need to make sure we're not gonna have any problems. Haven't quite figured out how yet, but I'm not opposed to silencing women if I need to. Though I must admit, the fact that she saved my life gives me pause.
"It's just... before she left, I promised her I wouldn't drag her into our stuff, y'know?" Teddy tries to explain, his voice low. "She's got a good career. She doesn't wanna ruin it."
"Our stuff?" I repeat, giving him a look.
He shifts his stance a bit. "Yeah, you know. All this stuff," he says, making big circle motions with his hands like that's supposed to mean something.
I pinch the bridge of my nose. "You mean the family business?"
"Yeah," he says. "Stuff."
"Speaking of 'our stuff,'" I say, cutting him off, "what have you heard from the Irish?"
"Was I supposed to hear something from them?" Teddy asks, looking genuinely confused.
"Christ, Teddy," I groan. "You're supposed to be keeping tabs on the pulse of the city and what the other families are up to – we talked about this."
"Oh," he says, realization dawning on him. "Well, I haven't heard anything out of the ordinary."
"Good," I say, though I don't really mean it. Part of me wants an all-out war with the Irish. Just a proper fistfight tosort everything out. But no, we have to deal with their sneaky, underhanded tactics – poisoning people in their sleep and shit like that. If crucifying two traitors working with the Irish at their cathedral didn't do the trick, maybe I just need to up the ante.
"I'll be heading to the hospital now," I say to Teddy, making my way towards one of the dressers. I pull open the drawer, only to find it empty. Turning back to him, I hold out my hand. "I know you still got stuff here, give me some of your clothes."
Teddy hesitates, and I shoot him a death stare. He knows I don't like waiting. "It's just that if I don't give you clothes, then you can't go and see her," he mumbles, mostly to himself.
"Teddy!" I bark, and he jumps. "You think that's gonna stop me?" I laugh.
