"Then un-occupy it," I snapped.
Her mouth slammed shut.
I walked away and didn't stop until I was outside of Naomi's room where she was still asleep.
My father stopped next to me, and I crossed my arms and stared at her from the doorway.
She looked so tiny in that large hospital bed.
"After calling around on the labels and packaging surrounding him, it looks like he got some antibiotics from the feed store for his 'goat,'" my dad said. "Injected himself, and then passed out from a fever."
Dog and cat bites were notorious for that. Although it'd been only fourteen hours since Butterfinger had protected Naomi, it was enough for the bites she'd inflicted on him to become infected. There were different types of bacteria in a dog's mouth that just didn't work with the human body.
"He got enough penicillin in him to knock out a horse," Jessie put in his two cents. "What the fuck would possess him to think that he knew that this was the right amount that he needed? The man weighs two hundred pounds, at most. There's no fuckin' way in the world that he should've ever gotten enough for a five-hundred-pound goat. And who the fuck thinks that a goat weighs five hundred pounds? That should've set off their radar right there."
"I've done that before," Fender interjected, breaking into the conversation. "I was having some problems with some … areas. So, I went to the store, told them I had a calf that was sickly. Got fucked up on some fence. Then shot that shit into my junk once I got home. I was out for like six hours as I tried to recover from the pain."
We all looked at him like he was crazy.
"You've got to be fucking kidding me," I finally said. "What the fuck in the world would possess you to do something like that?"
Fender shrugged. "I was sixteen and wasn't really sure that I wanted the hot nurse to know that I did something to my dick and thought it might fall off."
"You're lucky it didn't fall off," my father mumbled. "Jesus Christ, kid."
Fender laughed. "I'm lucky a lot of stuff didn't fall off. Never once did I worry about my dick like that again, though. If anything happens from now on, I'll just whip it out and show it to Dr. Biker."
I looked over at Tommy Tom to see what he thought about that.
"Why me?" he asked. "He's a paramedic. And so is she."
Tommy Tom pointed to Naomi where she was lying in bed.
"I don't want to see anyone else's dick but the one that belongs to me."
I grinned and walked back into the room, stopping with my feet only inches away from her bed.
"You finally awake?" I asked, trying to keep the shakiness out of my voice that seemed to be permanently seated there every time I saw her face.
"I've been awake. Just resting my eyes, really."
I snorted and dropped my fisted hands to her bedside, then leaned carefully forward and placed a kiss on her split lips.
"You want something to drink?"
The words left my mouth, and my breath danced over her lips, that was how close we still were.
"Dr. Pepper."
I snorted and pulled back, studying her face.
"I'm not sure that your doctor will allow you to have Dr. Pepper yet. I do have some tasty ice chips for you, though."
She huffed out a breath of air, then turned even further and stared at the men in the hall trying to talk quietly.
"Tell them to get in here and sit down. They're making me nervous."
I looked over at the men where they were standing, all of them like silent sentries protecting the occupants within, and grinned. "I think they like you."
She licked her lips, and her eyelids drooped. "I'm glad you're here, Sean."
"Where else would I rather be but with you?"
Her smile was soft and sweet. "I'm glad this particular nightmare is over."
I also thought that the nightmares were over. Little did I know that they were only beginning.
Chapter 23
So it turns out when you're an adult, there's literally no one who can tell you that you can't have cake for breakfast.
-Fact of life
Sean
"The dog saved her life," my dad said. "If it wasn't for her, Naomi would be dead right now, and we wouldn't be talking about what I was bringing for dinner."
That was so true that I couldn't stand it.
I'd hated that dog. I'd cursed that dog. I'd wanted to get rid of that dog.
But then she'd saved her life, and I was going to be stuck with her now.
Not that I was complaining. I'd take her growling at me and snapping at my toes as I passed as long as she'd save Naomi's life if there ever came another time that she'd have to do so again.