She punched a few buttons and spoke with the information operator, who connected her to the hotline.
***
Anthony let himself into the girls’ apartment moments after they called him. As their landlord, he had a key and Bliss didn’t mind him using it. She needed his help.
“How’s Drake doing?” he asked.
“Terrible.” Bliss wrung her hands. “We need you to help us take him to a hospital.”
“Whoa, there. What makes you think he needs a hospital?”
She hung her head. “I gave him some pain pills and he had an adverse reaction.”
Drake snored softly in the background.
Anthony cocked his head. “What kind of adverse reaction?”
Bliss didn’t answer, so Angie chimed in. “I wasn’t here when he was awake, but Bliss said he was hallucinating. He said he was a dragon.”
Bliss cringed. “It’s my fault. I gave him a card with a dragon on it, and the idea probably got mixed up in his head somehow.” Why the hell did I give him my medication?
Anthony’s lip twitched. Bliss thought she saw the start of a smile, but it quickly disappeared.
“Are you a doctor?” he asked.
Feeling about two inches tall, she answered softly, “Uh… no.”
“I’ll chew you out for prescribing medication without a license later. What did you give him?”
“Percocet.”
“How much?”
“Just two.”
“Just two? Those things are narcotics, not aspirin.” He sighed and stuffed his hands in his pockets. “I don’t think he needs a hospital. All he needs is to sleep it off.”
Bliss was tempted to ask him if he was a doctor, but she knew enough not to get snarky with someone who they’d asked to help.
Angie took it from there. “But the Ask a Nurse hotline said to transport him to an emergency room right away.”
Anthony stared at the ceiling and seemed to be thinking something over… hopefully how best to get Drake to Boston General.
“I know you don’t know me well, Bliss, but Angie does. I’d never do anything to hurt my staff, friends, or customers. Isn’t that right, Angie?”
Angie turned toward Bliss. “I’ve never felt safer since taking this job—and I grew up in the suburbs, so that’s saying something. Anthony has gone out of his way to take care of all of us at one time or another. He’d never do anything to hurt Drake.”
Bliss bit her lower lip. “You really think he’ll be all right?”
Anthony placed a reassuring hand on her shoulder. He was surprisingly cool in more ways than one.
“I promise. When he wakes up, he’ll be back to his old self. You’ll see.”
***
The following morning, Bliss awoke with the sensation that someone was touching her. When her eyes fluttered open, she looked up into Drake’s smiling face. He smoothed her hair out of her eyes.
“Good morning, beautiful.”
“Drake. You’re up!” She levered herself to a sitting position on the sofa where she’d fallen asleep. She was still wearing her uniform, which was wrinkled beyond recognition.
“Angie said you took good care of me last night.” He sat next to her.
“You look a lot better this morning. How do you feel?”
“I feel great. Perfectly fine.” He glanced at his watch. “In fact, I should go into work soon. My shift is about to start.”
“You don’t have to. We called in sick for you last night.”
He leaned back and scrutinized her. “You didn’t say anything about my getting beaten up by a girl, did you?”
She laughed. “No, of course not. We said you were in an accident and left it at that.”
He nodded. “Okay. Well, I should call anyway just to reassure them it was a minor accident, and I’m all right.”
“Or you could go in a little late…” She finger-walked her way up his arm until he groaned and captured her hand in his.
He kissed her knuckles. “Did I thank you for all you did for me last night?”
“No, but I’ll let you show me how grateful you are.” Bliss raised her eyebrows, hoping he’d get the hint.
She wasn’t horny as much as she was concerned about his pretending to be perfectly fine when he wasn’t. Well, that wasn’t entirely true. She was equal parts horny and concerned. If he turned down sex, he was either not a typical guy or still in too much pain to perform. Better to find out now than when he was riding around in a speeding fire truck or climbing a ladder.
He grinned, scooped her up in his arms, and strode toward her bedroom. Apparently her message was received, and he must have been all right to carry her like that.