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"At work."
"Until after nine at night?"
"Yes."
"And I'm guessing you were taking care of the poor broken soldier boy."
"That's mean," she moved to walk around him, but he grabbed her arm.
"You're going to ask to be removed from his case."
"Like hell," she argued and jerked her arm free. "I'll call you an Uber. You're too drunk to drive."
"I wasn't planning on going home tonight."
"Well, you're not staying here like this." She turned to get her phone, and he grabbed her again.
"Stop it!" she pulled away, and when he reached for her again, she put out her hand and pushed him. "I said stop."
"Since when do you give me orders?" He slung the glass, sending liquor sloshing. The glass hit the refrigerator, dented the stainless front, and smashed like a small explosion. Flying glass scattered everywhere.
"That's enough!"
Her shout must have penetrated the alcohol fog shrouding his mind because he blinked and froze. For a few moments, they just stared at one another. He was the first to speak.
"You're fucking him, aren't you?"
Georgie didn't intend to slap him, but that's what she did. His head whipped to one side, and a red handprint appeared on his face within seconds. "You need to go home, Josh. We'll talk when you're sober."
"I don't think you get it, cripple girl. You're not the boss of me. I decide when we talk, when we eat, when we fuck."
"That's enough," she brushed by him, grabbed her phone, and accessed the Uber app. Josh bounded across the room, snatched her phone from her hand, and slung it.
"Get out!" she screamed. "Out of my house."
Georgie never expected him to react physically, but this time, he slapped her. "Get out!" she screamed again.
"I'm sorry. Oh god, Georgie, I'm sorry. I didn't mean…I wasn't…I just…I…”
"Get out. Now."
"No, please. Please, let's just sit down and talk, okay? I never see you anymore. You're always with that cripple and never have time for me. I just get lonely."
Naomie once told her that one of her most admirable traits was also a failing. She said Georgie would give people the benefit of the doubt even when they didn't deserve it. Georgie wasn't sure she agreed, but she realized that was precisely what she was about to do.
And it was because Josh had a point. Since she'd become involved in Riggs' case, she'd had no time or interest for anything else. She'd like to say it was because of the complexity of his case and the excitement of working with someone who would be fitted with a limb powered by the new IMES Naomie was developing.
That wasn't entirely true. Riggs was the reason. Like it or not, she was attracted to him, and she liked him. Riggs was a man of honor, and she admired that. Georgie was reminded of a conversation she had with his friend and the man who saved him, Gunner Hale.
They were standing at the foot of Riggs' bed. After three days at Mass General, he was still pumped so full of pain meds that he was not conscious much.
"Should we worry about him self-medicating?" she asked.
Gunner shook his head. "Riggs will beat it. He's just gotta wrap his head around it, you know?"
"Better than most," she tapped her prosthesis.
"Yeah, I reckon so."
