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Fight Me(46)

By:Lacey Black


“See that you don’t, Mister. Be nice to the nurses.” She leans down and gives me another kiss on the lips. As she walks towards the door, she says good-bye to Maddox.

Maddox approaches my bed and sits down at the seat next to my bed. “How’d you sleep?” he asks.

“Not bad. You?”

“Like shit.” Maddox pauses with a pained look on his face. He looks like shit. His hair is sticking up all crazy like he’s ran his hand through it all night, his eyes are shadowed, and his face hasn’t been shaved. It’s like he can’t decide which side to take on the internal debate going on in his head. “I just can’t stop thinking about what we should have done differently.”

“Don’t. Don’t do that. We did everything we were supposed to do. That guy had a gun trained at his wife’s head. It was our job to put ourselves in harm’s way. To take her place in front of the barrel of that gun. That’s the oath we took. We did everything we were supposed to do to keep that woman safe. None of this is your fault, Maddox.”

“Deep down I know that, really I do. But I still can’t help but feel guilty over it. I tackled that man and he pulled the trigger.”

“That’s right, he pulled the trigger, not you. So quit this guilt shit. I’d do it all over again, exactly the same way, if I had the choice.”

Maddox looks at me a few moments before finally shaking his head. “So, listen. Avery and I were talking about the parties this Saturday night. We’re cancelling them in light of your shooting and head injury.”

“Hell no, you’re not cancelling them! I’m the freaking best man. You can’t cancel the party, only I can cancel the party. And I’m not cancelling the party.”

“Dude, you were shot and have a concussion.”

“I don’t care. I’ll be fine by Saturday night. Besides, I don’t have to drink. I’ll be your designated driver.”

“You?” Maddox asks, eyebrows arched to the ceiling.

“Yes, me. I’ll drive your drunk ass around from stop to stop. I have the whole night planned and everything. I’ll be fine.”

“Are you sure? Avery will kill me if something happens to you Saturday night.”

“Like I said, I’ll be fine. My best friend is getting married next weekend. We have a lot to celebrate.”

Maddox gives me a grin before he stands up. He walks over to me and bends down for a hug. “I’m so damn glad you are okay, man.”

“You can’t get rid of me that easily.”

“Believe me, I know,” he says with a laugh as he heads towards the door. “We’ll stop by your place as soon as you get sprung from the joint.”

“Deal. Bring the pizza.”

“Deal,” he says as he walks out of my room.

Maddox’s bachelor party is Saturday night. That reminds me, as I grab for my cell phone. I have a stripper to confirm.

A few minutes after I get off the phone confirming Saturday night’s entertainment, Nate walks in with a big smile on his face.

“What’s up, man?”

“Not much. I was just on my way to the fire station and wanted to drop this off. I thought maybe Erin would be here so I could return it to her,” Nate says as he lays her cell phone down on my bedside table.

“How’d you get that?” I ask - and I’ll admit - my tone not very friendly.

“Chill, man. When I went to her house to pick her up and bring her here yesterday, I dropped it in my pocket.”

“Oh,” I say as I consider his words. “Thanks for picking her up and bringing her. It was nice to see her face.”

Nate sits down in the chair Maddox just vacated a bit ago. “I’ll be completely honest with you, dude. When I got to her house yesterday, she was a mess. She had this distant, far off look on her face. I knocked on the front door and when she didn’t answer, I just let myself in. I hollered a few times but didn’t get a response so I started checking all the rooms. I finally found her upstairs in the office she was painting clutching her cell phone to her chest. I picked it up and realized that Travis was still on the other end. Once I told him we were on our way, I practically had to carry her down the stairs and out the door. She was freaked the hell out. It scared the shit out of me.”

I sit there for a few minutes, processing what Nate just told me. Was Erin that upset and scared at the thought of something happening to me? Is she going to be able to deal with this side of my life if we were to consider a relationship? I’m a cop one-hundred and ten percent. I can’t imagine myself doing anything else, but what if Erin can’t handle my occupational hazards because, let’s face it, I have them every time I put on my uniform and slip on that badge.