A Little Harmless Fantasy(94)

By the time she stopped talking, she was exhausted. Apparently, once again, the cooler head in the room was Jillian.

“Guys, why don’t you take it outside?”

Conner opened his mouth but apparently after seeing Jillian’s expression, he thought better.

“Okay. Come on,” he ordered without waiting to see if they would follow. Typical Conner. She would have smiled but her split lip was still throbbing.

Rory gave her a glance, and said nothing else before walking out. Zeke hesitated, leaned down and kissed her forehead. “Get some rest, love.”

Then he walked out.

Jillian waited until the door shut to approach her bed.

“So, you really know how to throw a party,” she said.

Maura laughed then groaned. “Don’t make me smile. It hurts.”

“Oh, baby.” Jillian sat in the chair next to the bed. She slipped her hand into Maura’s. “How bad does it hurt?”

Maura squeezed her hand. “Pretty bad. Although, they keep me drugged up.”

“Let me guess, you don’t want to be drugged so you are making sure you only take in so much. You will take some drugs for the trip back. It will be too hard on you, honey.”

She nodded knowing that was true.

“Plus, they didn’t want me sleeping last night because of the concussion.”

Jillian sighed. “Now, you want to tell me how much the rest of it hurts?”

She glanced at Jillian and wondered not for the first time how strange fate was. The two of them had been thrown together in college. She was pretty sure that no one in their right mind would have paired the two of them up. The tattooed bohemian and the nerd. But, they had become good friends and now they were sisters.

The bad thing about that was that Jillian knew her all too well.

“I don’t know what you’re talking about.”

“Listen, be straight with me. Your brother would get upset if I slapped you around considering the condition you’re in.”

She smiled, just a little so it didn’t hurt.

“They didn’t believe me. Even while they were all checking out the Petersen connection, they ignored what I said, and they doubted what I claimed. They didn’t really believe someone was stalking me.”

Jillian leaned forward and brushed some of Maura’s hair from her forehead. “And that hurt more than being dumped.”

It was so good to finally have someone understand. Tears filled her eyes and her vision wavered. Jillian said nothing. She picked up a tissue and handed it to Maura.

“To have someone doubt me like that...I am not sure I can deal with that. No one has ever doubted my intelligence.”

“They called you stupid?” Jillian asked, outrage sparking through her voice. “Isn’t that just like men? If it were someone else, then yes, but you...you never overreact. Zeke knows that.”

“So, it has been a rough couple of weeks.”

“Yeah, I can tell. Basically because you look like shit.” Maura laughed through the tears.

“I’ve missed you.”

“You just saw me ten days ago and if all of this was going on, you should have called.”

Maura sighed. “Promise me you won’t get mad?” Jillian nodded. “I was afraid you would tell Conner. He wasn’t happy with the situation of me being with two guys to begin with. I know he has serious doubts about Rory. This just made it worse.”

“Tell you what. As long as I think you are not in imminent danger, I promise not to tell Conner.”

“The two women in my life plotting against me?” Conner asked from the doorway. He was alone.

Jillian smiled when she saw him. For once in a really long time, Maura felt the sharp sting of jealousy. She was happy for her brother and her best friend, but their happiness saddened her even more.

“Not plotting, but we have to establish rules for friendship again. Where are the guys?” Jillian asked.

“They had to go talk to the police again. They want all the information they can get on O'Connell. Interpol is very interested in him. He is suspected in doing some very bad things overseas.”

“In Ireland?” she asked trying her best not to let anyone see just how much it upset her that they left her. They just left the hospital knowing she was leaving soon. It sealed the end of the relationship she had with the two of them.

“There and then he became a gun for hire. He’s suspected of teaching some terrorists in the Middle East, and then some in Somalia. He’s a very bad man.”

“And Maura beat the shit out of him,” Jillian said with more than a little pride in her voice. Maura fought the smile because it would hurt again.

“I did. So, I guess, I am better than the FBI and Interpol. They can suck it.”