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Behind her, Felix reaches into his jeans and cups his cock.
Not only does he have no shame, but he openly sexually harasses a woman in front of a cop… and smiles about it.
“What happened with the little girl’s surgery?” I tear the snack bar open and take a bite when Nicki only lifts a brow. Then I look to Felix when he mimics grabbing Nicki’s ponytail and tugging it back.
Curious, she swings her head around, but all she sees is my brother’s schooled expression. His mildly curious look down at the sister-in-law he sometimes fawns over.
Frowning, she looks him up and down before flicking her wrist between them. “A little space, please.”
“Of course.” He drops to his ass, and smirks when my face burns with rage. “How’s she doing, Doc?”
Nicole Cleary has, it would seem, a good filter for bullshit. So she peers to me only and circles the bed to get away from the other Malone. “Doctor Mayet seems fine.”
“She’s still asleep,” I counter.
“She was up all night,” Cleary counters. “And injured. Give her time. And as for the little girl,” she firms her lips and shakes her head. “You know I can’t tell you that.”
“Nic.” I push up to stand, but take another bite of protein when my head swims. “You can tell me.”
“You’re not family, Arch. You’re not even an on-duty cop right now.”
“Nicole!” I grab her wrist when she turns to leave and stare deep into her eyes. “You came in here for a reason. You camehere, when you never had to.”
“My voicemail is full ofyourmessages.” She tugs her wrist free. “Ididhave to come down here, because you asked, specifically, thatIdo this favor for you. Minka’s doing well, by the way. So stop worrying so much. I get that you’re scared—she’s yours, and that means something. But medically, she’s rocking it.”
Her words soothe my soul. They help ease the anxiety bubbling low in my stomach. But I need more. So much more.
“What about the kid? She’s the reason this all began, Nic. Her life, her medical condition. I just wanna know if she made it out of surgery alive.”
Cleary sighs. Just as exhausted as I am, no doubt. She draws a deep breath and exhales again until I feel the gust on my skin. Then she nods. “Fine. She’s still alive, and surgery was considered a success. I removed the growth in her lungs, but we had issues with bleeding. She lost a significant amount, Arch. And she’s just a baby, so things got dicey.”
Curiosity has my eyes narrowing. “How dicey?”
“We lost her on the table. Twice. But we got her back and through to the end. One of her lungs is thrashed, and the other is barely functioning, which means she’s been placed on the donor list. But if the family doesn’t have money for surgery anyway…”
“You’ll just let her die?” I bite out. “You check their bank balance before you save their lives?”
Hurt registers in my friend’s eyes, but she firms her lips and visibly stops herself from jabbing back. “I risked my career commandeering that OR, Arch. I went against my boss. The board. I called in favors and promised even more just to garner enough personnel to perform the surgery. All becauseyouasked me to.” Reaching out, she stabs the tip of her finger to my chest, pushing me back and proving just how unsteady I am on my feet.
“I risked everything because you asked me to. I saved her life. But if I keep doing that, and end up losing my job, then I don’t get to save anyone else. Your guilt trip won’t work on me, Archer. Because you’re making me choose between savingherlife, or saving hundreds of others over the rest of my career.”
Setting her hand beneath mine, she pushes my protein bar up until it taps my lip.
“Eat, stupid. Get strong again. And stop bitching at me. My husband is already on my back about work-life balance.”
Turning away, she opens the curtain, but before passing through, she glances back over her shoulder. “Suzanne Slade is in a critical condition right now, reliant on machines to stay alive. I’ll keep watch over the next twenty-four hours to see how she’s doing. If she remains stable-ish, she’ll get a transplant just as soon as an organ becomes available. I don’t know who’ll pay for it, I don’t know the bureaucracy that’ll surround it, I just know my job—which is to keep her and every other one of my patients alive.”
Then she looks toward Minka and smiles. “Welcome back, Doc. Get your man under control. He’s annoying me.”
MINKA
My head thuds, and my throat burns impossibly dry. My body weighs a ton, and my eyes sting as Archer spins. Then he’s on me, wrapping his arms across my torso and crushing me tight enough to make my injuries worse.
But he needs this. He needs to touch. To feel. To listen to my heart… just as I would, if roles were reversed and it was him in this bed.
Tears streak across my temples and make my skin itch, but I wrap my good arm over his shoulder, because I need this too.
He kisses my neck. My throat. My collarbone. And with every touch of his lips to my skin, he jolts the bed and sends licks of agony bursting through my veins.
