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I grabbed his phone again and shot out a group message to my family. If that was the case, they all needed to be extra careful, but they probably already knew that. My brothers-in-law were extra cautious people, especially when it came to the loves of their lives, but just in case. I turned it off again before setting it on his bedside table.
“Okay, but none of that is going to be solved by you taking out your IV and dragging yourself around while you’re battling an infection. I promise, I won’t leave except with Roy or Stephen.”
He nodded, some of the fight leaving him as he relaxed back against his pillows. “Alright, Bridget, if you promise.”
“How are you feeling?” I dragged the chair I’d almost tripped over next to the bed then sat in it before I poured some water into the cup they left him. “Sip.”
He did as I asked, his gaze locked on mine the entire time. “I’m feeling slightly better but not fixed. I can’t believe I landed in this situation, so I’m feeling pretty slow for getting hit. It’s not my first time being shot, but it’s my stupidest time, hands down. I can’t believe I let that fucker hit me.”
Michael looked away. Was he serious? “Listen, I was pretty out of it, but there was a lot of gunfire. I don’t know how you could have avoided getting hit, but after getting shot, you carried me around and acted like you were fine. You’re pretty badass.” It was my turn to pause and swallow, because the claws of fear still raked through me. “I guess my attempt to reach you so you could see what was happening worked?”
He blinked, and his voice seemed rougher than before when he said, “I saw the second he entered your building. I watched when he dragged you out, too. I was home, not in Hong Kong, or I would’ve been there fast. I had to collect help first instead, and then figure out where they took you.” He shook his head. “I was terrified they would hurt you before I got there.”
“You arrived right in time.” I squeezed his hand. “So, for now, just concentrate on resting, then we’ll get you home. Maybe they’re not that concerned with me now? He can’t possibly still want to force me into marriage, not in the middle of all this mess.”
Michael shook his head. “It’s exactly what I’d do if I were them. Shoot and kill me, marry you to shut you up, then get your dad wrapped up in whatever they want. I managed to pay to get a bug in their house, which is how I found out what they were doing, what they wanted. It’s why I tried the ruse.”
“It was a good one. I just couldn’t pull it off. I don’t do that kind of thing very well. Terrible actress.”
His smile was huge. “No, you don’t. That’s okay. I like your honesty.” He winced like he was in pain, and I placed my hand on his cheek. He was cooler than before but not one hundred percent better.
I leaned forward. “I’m pretty fucked up, Michael. You know that, right? Ridiculously full of baggage that I’ll never be able to put away. So what we’re going to do is get you better and go home, and then I’ll figure out what to do with myself.”
Apparently, running away to Hong Kong wasn’t going to work. Was there anywhere far away enough on Earth that my issues wouldn’t follow me?
“Bridget Radford.” His voice was low. “I know all about how fucked up you are, trust me on that. I’m here to help while you figure things out. Consider yourself glued to my side until this is over. Where I go, you go and vice versa.”
He wasn’t listening, which made sense because I wasn’t really making sense. I tried again. “I guess my point is…”
Michael squeezed my hand. “I know. I am fully aware of how you view yourself in all these scenarios. You think I don’t know you and how your mind works by now? I do. Trust me.”
I furrowed my brow. Was that possible? Did Michael actually know me?
I sat back in my seat and crossed my arms. “Okay, mister sticking with me like glue, where will we go, then? For that matter, I don’t think you’re getting paid to take care of me anymore. Why were you looking, anyway? Not that I’m complaining, just asking. And why…?”
He closed his eyes, patting my leg with his hand. “Stay here. Too many questions.”
I smirked, but I covered his hand with my own. “Deflection.”
“Yes. Just that.” He lifted his lids, his eyes still sparkling a bit with fever. “But I get to do this while I’m holed up in the hospital. I should let you go to a hotel with Roy tonight. Go with him, if you go anywhere. Stephen is meaner. He’d take care of you but might accidentally wound your heart in the meantime.”
I waved my hand dismissively. “Tough to do. Not so easily woundable.”
“Not true.” He didn’t give me a chance to respond as he kept speaking. “Go with Roy. But stay here tonight, will you? I really don’t like the idea of you being out there without me anywhere tonight.” He paused, his usually silent eyes pleading with me. “Can you do that for me, Bridget?”
I shouldn’t like how he said my name, but I always had. “Yes. For tonight.”
4
Iwas glad I spent the night in his hospital room. His fever shot up and down twice during the night, and while he relaxed if I spoke to him or touched him, the opposite seemed true when the nurses and doctors checked on him. If I hadn’t been there, one of them might have ended up with a black eye.
By morning, he slept peacefully, snoring gently while the sun shone through the windows. I sipped coffee. I’d never seen Michael sleep before, but he probably watched me sleep a lot—which was less weird, considering the close eye he had kept on all of us.
Finally, his lids opened slowly. “Hey.”
I nodded and took another sip of coffee. “Hi.”
When Hope was in the hospital, I fussed over her. I wanted to fuss over Michael, and my hands practically ached to stroke his hair off his forehead or to rub his arm beneath his wound. But I didn’t have the right to touch him, and I needed to remember how to behave properly. Michael wouldn’t want easy affection from me, not once we stepped back into our longtime assignedroles. Besides, the discomfort between us would always linger, as it had since I ran from him so many years before.
