“No. We’re just friends, but we’ve worked closely for three years.”
“You are the woman he calls Rox, correct?”
“Um, yes. I go by that.”
“Ah. Could you please put me on the speaker now?”
“Of course.” Rox tapped the screen and held it out.
Ana’s voice was louder from the speaker. “Casimir?” And then more in Dutch.
He shook his head from side to side.
Rox held the phone closer to her mouth. “Ana? I’m not sure what you said, but he’s shaking his head no.”
“Why doesn’t he want me to send people to take care of him?”
Cash’s hand crawled closer to Rox’s hip. He whispered, “Tell her no.”
Rox covered the microphone part of his phone with her palm. “But you need someone to take care of you.”
“I’ll be fine,” he croaked, barely conscious. “I don’t need anyone.”
“Yes, you do.”
“No.”
If they had been alone in his office, she would have laughed at him for being so ridiculous, but that might be the morphine talking. It must be impolite to laugh at people who were medically stoned.
She whispered, “Cash, honey, you’re hurt pretty badly. You need someone to be with you for a few days, just in case.”
“No one from Amsterdam,” he said, his voice barely audible. His eyes opened to slits. “Rox, don’t let her send someone. I’ll hire a nurse here.”
“You’re in no shape to interview and hire people.”
“Then I’ll be fine by myself.”
Rox was flustered, practically shaking her hands in her upset. “I can stay with you.”
“Too much of an imposition.”
“It’s not. You kindly took me in when I was homeless. I would only be repaying a favor. Now you hush your mouth because I’m going to tell your sister that.”
“You,” he whispered. “No one else. You and your hideous cats.”
“They aren’t—” she protested.
“I’ll pay you.”
“You will not, and I am offended that you would suggest such a thing. I would never take money for taking care of you. It’s the moral thing to do.”
“I am asking you to.”
“I—” He had outfoxed her. “Damn lawyer. We’ll see. Ana? Honey? I’m guessing that I’m going to stay with him for a spell to take care of him, so he’ll be okay. You don’t need to send people.”
“I hope this won’t cause offense, Roxanne, but I need to hear that from him, just considering how things are.”
“No offense taken. If I had a brother, I would want to make sure that he was safe. Do you want to do a video chat?”
Movement, and Rox saw that Cash was shaking his head as hard as he could, which was barely anything. Blood flaked out of his hair. “Cash! It’s okay. I won’t do video chat. It’s just a phone call.” She said into the phone. “I’ll put the phone right up to him. Cash, honey? Your sister wants to hear it from you.”
Rox held the phone, and Cash whispered something in Dutch.
Ana’s voice said over the speaker, “If you insist. Rox, please take down my phone number and call me if you need anything at all, such as a syringe full of horse tranquilizers if he won’t stop talking or a staff of large male nurses to get him to take his medicines. I’ll get it to you immediately.”
“I will sure do that. It is lovely to speak with you.”
“Take me off of the speaker, if you would?”
Rox tapped the screen. “All right.”
“And take a few steps away from the bed, if you would?”
She sauntered over by the long row of windows. “All right.”
“Are his facial injuries very bad?” Ana asked.
Such concern over something so ridiculous as his face. He could have bled to death from the ruptured spleen.
“There is gauze on his cheek,” Rox said. “I’m not sure what’s under it. He has two black eyes, pretty swollen. Someone said that he may want some plastic surgery.”
“All right. Well, we’ll deal with that when it happens. Are you all right to stay with him for a few weeks?”
“I think I volunteered.”
“That’s Casimir. Don’t let him take advantage of you. If something happens, if you need the cavalry to come and rescue you or restrain him, call me and I’ll have people there within a day.”
That was sweet of her. “Thanks, Ana.”
“It is my pleasure and my duty, and keep my phone number.”
Rox hung up and wandered back over to Cash, who seemed to be sleeping. She looked down at his poor, battered face for a moment, trying to quell the rage that someone would do this to him, even accidentally.