Moon(88)

“What’s wrong?” Joy hated the way he pulled away from her touch to straighten, stepping out of her reach.

“Will you do me a favor, John? Stay with her.”

“Sure thing. I won’t leave her side until you get back.”

Moon quickly left the room and closed the door behind him. She tried to sit up. The officer gently slid a hand behind her back to give her a boost while using the control for the bed to lift up the back so she had support.

“What is going on?” she asked him.

He took a seat in the chair. “My guess? It is a guess. I don’t think the NSO knew where he was until you were hurt. I’ve been listening to the chatter.” He pointed to his ear. “Moon came alone. Some bigwig from there called our station after the 9-1-1 call was placed from your residence to demand immediate and full police protection for their New Species. They were frantic to make sure we got as many available officers on scene as soon as possible.”

He leaned in a little, lowering his voice. “We were asked to lock down your entire building and clear it of everyone except you and him because we were told he was in danger without an escort. If they wanted to make sure he was safe they wouldn’t have let him go anywhere without adequate security in the first place, right? It took them almost an hour to arrive.”

Joy’s mind was still a bit sluggish from the drugs but it was clearing fast. “An hour?”

“Yeah.” He glanced at his watch. “They flew here by helicopter. I’m assuming it took that much time to assemble a team and put them in the air. I served six years in the army. You add in distance to here from Homeland, the time it takes to warm up the blades, and that’s a fast response.”

“He couldn’t leave without permission. You should see the security they have at Homeland. It took me almost ten minutes to be processed out when I left. They search your person and car going in and out. There are guards on the walls and at the gates.”

The officer shrugged. “Did he seem happy to you to go out and meet them? He did bust up your shooter but that was self-defense. Will the NSO have something against that?”

“No.”

“I rest my case.” He leaned back. “I also noticed you two seem tense with each other. I’ve overheard enough to piece some of it together. You left and he thought you weren’t coming back. You’re obviously a couple.”

She said nothing. It wasn’t any of his business and she didn’t want her relationship with Moon to become a story on the evening news if he repeated anything to reporters.

“Whatever argument you had, whatever it was about, that guy is crazy about you. I’ve been on the job for twelve years and seen a lot of shit go down. Excuse my language. He looks pretty tough but he lost it when you passed out. Maybe he doesn’t talk enough the way you want him to or doesn’t show his feelings easily.” He paused. “One thing he couldn’t hide though was how much you mean to him, okay? Give him a break by not busting his balls if you two had an argument. He almost made the staff here piss their pants because he threatened to toss them around if they tried to make him leave your side when they were stitching up your arm. They got you in and out of the trauma bay so fast because they were terrified of him mistaking any drag time as not giving you the best care possible. He demanded it.”

“Thank you for telling me that. I don’t remember much after I was shot.” She looked down at the thick white bandage on her arm. “I think I fainted.”

“You’re going to be weak for a few days and the doctor suggested you try to get plenty of bed rest and fluids. They want to keep you overnight. You’re also not allowed to move around without assistance. He said something about dizziness and possible fainting spells. The doctor discussed giving you other medications besides something for the pain but Moon refused to allow it.” He chuckled. “He said the NSO doctors could treat you. He wasn’t really trusting of anyone.”

“He wouldn’t be.”

The cop nodded grimly. “Right. I bet doctors and nurses aren’t his favorite people.”

“It’s tough for Species to trust us. The only people they dealt with most of their lives were the ones you handcuff and haul before a judge.”

“Understandable.”

Joy glanced at the phone on the table, debating if she should ask the officer to hand it to her. She should call her family and tell them she was in the hospital. I’ll have to explain about Moon. She discarded the idea. It was best if she waited to see if they even had a future before she involved them in her personal life. It would only hurt their feelings that she’d kept him a secret for so long. It had been to protect Moon’s privacy but they wouldn’t understand.