Rico's Recovery (Detroit Heat Book 2) (7 page)

Lizzie seemed like the only one who still saw me as a person. She had a way of making things seem better, even at their darkest. She apologized endlessly for the accident with my hand, but I told her just as many times that I was the one pushing too hard. She must have felt awful, because she didn’t see me for three days, which made me feel even worse.

After a long drought without her, I finally heard her voice in the hallway. My heart pounded as I sat in bed, staring at the door and waiting for her to come inside so I could reassure her that my hand was on me, and not her. I wanted to see her drop her face into her soft hands and give me that sad grin. It slayed me.

She was different than most of the women I had picked up. She was different because I had picked them all up by telling them what I did. I’d flex my muscles, tell a few war stories, and that was that. It wasn’t hard to find girls when you were on the DFD. Lizzie didn’t seem to care too much about that, though.
 
It wasn’t about picking her up.

She was different from the girls I’d been with, and she was definitely different than Susannah. She actually made me think. I never really considered what a partner would be like, but as she came into the room, I threw that onto the list: they had to make me think.

I didn’t get the apologetic grin like I’d hoped, but she was smiling. I gave her a confused look, because it wasn’t just a smile. She had something on her mind. When Lizzie flipped up the doorstop and let the door close behind her, my heart rate jumped again.

“The devil’s in your eyes, Lizzie. Wanna tell me what’s up?”

She put a hand up to her mouth and rolled her eyes, as if she was some innocent party. Her voice was oozing with sarcasm. “Me? Oh, nothing.” But she couldn’t wipe the smile off her face, and that had me worried. I’d never seen mischievous Lizzie. It made me very suspicious and very curious.

After a few seconds, she spoke again. “Well, I have heard from your doctor that I’ll be able to start your PT in a week. I’ve spent all morning coming up with your schedule and your exercises.”

I gave her a cockeyed look, “That’s great, but why do you look so fuckin’ pleased with yourself, then?”

Lizzie was nearing the door, ready to make her exit. I got the feeling that she was going to leave me only more confused.

Her smile turned from something she couldn’t hide into something that she seemed to have practiced well, because the look was dead on. She looked downright
sultry.

“Because, Rico, then you’re all mine.”

Oh, God. Her voice was honey dripping over me.

I didn’t have time to reply before she slipped back out of my room. I stared, my mind ablaze with questions and desire as the door clicked shut.

My heart raced the rest of the afternoon. The more I thought about my interactions with Rico, the more I enjoyed being a bad girl at work. I didn’t know what it was about Rico, but he brought something out of me. He made me feel adventurous and flirty. He reacted so well to it all, and I just couldn’t help myself.

From what I could tell, he wasn’t doing as well with other people. Dr. Jolie brought up Rico’s attitude with me on more than one occasion, but even after the secondary injury, I never saw Rico losing hope. I was under the impression that since we’d met, he had only been getting better. I didn’t believe for one second that he was putting on a show for me; I knew that there was something between us that no one else could see.

And no one else
could
see, or I’d be out of a job. I’d probably lose my license.

I hadn’t told Rico, but the reason I was all smiles was because I had figured out exactly how to motivate him. I knew that he wanted to get back to firefighting as soon as possible, and I was the one who had led him to believe that was an option. After a few days of thinking, I came up with something even better: me.

It was risky, and I was really putting myself out there, but if Rico wanted to get better,
I
was going to be his motivation. There was something between us, and I was going to offer Rico a date if he met the goals I set out for him in physical therapy. The idea had come to me the night before and I’d been giddy about it ever since. I’d never felt that way about any patient before.

I didn’t really even think of Rico as a patient. I knew he had work to do, and I’d be the one to show him the way to train his muscles, but to me, it felt more like a partnership. When one partner slips, the other is there to lend a helping hand. I was ready to lend Rico that hand. I knew he’d be reluctant to grab onto it, and that was what the incentive was for. I just needed to find the right time when I could tell him in private.

With the courtyard incident fresh in everyone’s minds, I decided to keep my distance. The last thing that I needed was for someone at the hospital to get a bit to nosey about my interactions with Rico. I stopped in briefly, but I kept things professional. I could see confusion on Rico’s face, but he didn’t say anything. It hurt me to act that way in front of him, but it was for our own good.

Since his left hand wouldn’t be ready for exercise for another month, Rico and I would only be working on legs. It would be a start for him, and it would test us both. He would get an idea of just how strenuous PT was going to be and I was going to get a sense of what kind of person he was. What kind of
man
he was.

I believed him when he said he was a hard worker. You didn’t become a Detroit firefighter without being dedicated and strong, but physical therapy was a different beast. It wasn’t always about complete the most reps or lifting the most weight. It was about slow, steady progress, and I got the idea that Rico wasn’t going to be much of a fan of taking his time.

I sat on my couch, the most recent X-ray of his left hand on my coffee table. The guilt from his relapse had finally subsided. My mind was looking to the future again.

If there was going to be anything between me and him, it was going to be slow progress too. I wasn’t about to risk my career for infatuation, and besides, he and I were going to be spending a lot of time together. I’d see just how well we worked together, or didn’t.

No one would question me for working closely with Rico, as long as I treated him just like any of my other patients. I’d have to let assistants work with him from time to time, and I’d be just as firm and demanding as I was with anyone else. He was either going to fall for me hard, or he’d never want to see me again.

Nurse Edwards had a smile on her face when she pushed the wheelchair into my room. I was sure the smile was more for her benefit than for mine. She was probably more than glad to be rid of me.

My time in the ICU was over. I was being moved to a regular hospital room for two final days of observation before being released. Then I’d be heading to and from the hospital three times a week for physical therapy. Physical therapy with Lizzie.

She’d come in like a hurricane and announced that I was “all hers,” and since then, I hadn’t seen her once. That woman was a complete mystery to me. I was never good at understanding women once Saturday night turned into Sunday morning, but Lizzie was something else altogether.

She was strong, and she could stand on her own. Even before starting PT, I got the impression that she would push me harder than I’d ever pushed myself.

“Ready for the next step, Mr. Baggio?”

I smiled at the nurse. She positioned the wheelchair next to my hospital bed and dropped the side railing down.

“As much as I will miss your smiling face, I want to be able to walk from room to room instead of getting the royal treatment.” I wanted to apologize for my shitty behavior, but I also wanted to let the past go. She was done with me, and I was sure there’d be a new patient who was even worse to follow. But I’d told her the truth. The sooner I got into PT, the sooner I’d be up and walking.

And the sooner I got into PT, the sooner I’d figure out what Lizzie meant. I’d replayed those words in my head a thousand times since she’d said them. I’d heard the sexy tone of her voice and I’d seen flames in her eyes. I had no doubt what was on her mind.

Swinging my legs over the side of the bed with great care, I thought about that moment. It was like a warm blanket after a polar plunge. Lizzie knew how to make one hell of an impression.

“Need any help?” The nurse was watching me, ready to step in at any moment.

I looked down at my left hand and nodded. “Better safe than sorry, right?”

Nurse Edwards sounded relieved. “Yes. Here, let me lower the bed and you can just turn into the chair.”

“Sounds good.” I sat with my feet dangling, cursing them and thanking them at the same time.

If I’d never had the accident I’d never have been thrown into Lizzie’s life, but it was also holding me back. I wanted to be back out on the streets, and I wanted to be able to pick her up in my arms and just kiss her already. Between my broke-ass legs and having to keep everything strictly on the level, I was going stir-crazy.

With the bed and wheelchair level, I moved over. I let the nurse push me. Lizzie’s mysterious threat had left me sure of one thing: I wasn’t going to let anything stand between me and my recovery.

The gym had a different feel this time around. Before, it was this ominous beast somewhere off in the future. As Nurse Edwards pushed me past the double doors, it was now my present. For the next God-knew-how-long, Lizzie’s gym was going to be where I sweat and worked. I was ready. I didn’t know if I was ready for the work, but I was definitely ready for hours spent close to Lizzie.