Forgetting Jane (18 page)

“Damn it,” He hissed out while he checked his shoulder. The pain was getting worse and he was a bit dizzy, but shook it off.

Once he got his second wind, he checked James’s pulse again. He wasn’t dead, though his nose wouldn’t be the same. It was definitely broken.

As his father stirred awake, Ryan pulled up, and rushed out of the squad to Eli’s side. “Holy mother.”

Eli turned, light-headed, and had to take a few steps back, against the truck for support. The barbed pain in his shoulder was worse. The blood flow from his wound seemed to have stopped, which was a good thing.

“Take this son-of-a-bitch to the ER and get his face looked at and then take him to the station. I’ll be there as soon as I’m patched up.”

“Yes, Chief.”

As Ryan pulled James up to his feet, the officer read him the Miranda. He cuffed his hands behind his back and stuffed the old man in the back seat.

After Eli gave Ryan an okay nod, he took off without any sirens or lights.

Seconds later, Tom showed up from the other direction.

“What the hell is going on here? Cindy Lee radioed saying you were shot. Let me drive you to the hospital.”

“It’s only a graze. But you missed James. Ryan is taking him to the hospital, then to the station.”

“That son of a bitch. How do you want to proceed?” Tom asked.

“We’ll call Green Bay in the morning. I’m sure James has a long list of warrants on his ass.” Eli moved his shoulder to test how bad the injury was. “I’ll just add attempted murder to the list.”

Tom tilted his head toward the kitchen window. “Why is Magda here?”

Eli looked at his deputy. He had to come up with something plausible and noticed his mother’s clothes heaped over on the stoop. “Magda is helping get rid of my mother’s things, finally.” He pointed to the box.              

Tom eyed the box, then back to him. “Hmm. Let me drive you to the hospital.”

“No. I’m good. I’ll check with Magda before heading out.”

Tom nodded. “Well, thank God Magda was here.” He pulled off his hat and rubbed the back of his neck. “All right, since you are being stubborn about the ride—you’re good, right?”

“I’m good,” Eli replied evenly.

“Then I’m heading to the station. I’ll meet you there. I want to get my hands on that bastard for what he did.”

“Don’t do anything, deputy. He’ll get his.”

“Sure thing, Chief,” Tom said as he got in his squad and reversed out of the driveway, spitting dirt, snow and gravel up.

Eli immediately made his way inside to check on Magda and Jane.

Magda waited in the kitchen. “Did Tom see me?” Her brows creased together and wrung her hands.

“Yes, but it’s okay. He thinks you’re here to help get rid of my mother’s clothes.”

Magda let out a heavy breath and slumped against the counter. “That’s good.”

“Where is she?”             

“In the living room, on the sofa.”

Eli walked into the room and found Jane slumped over, her hands covered her face. “Jane,” he whispered. She looked up, her eyes were glazed with tears, almost lost. Her pupils were very large and dark but not like before.

“Are you all right?” Eli asked as he sat down next to her.

“You were shot.” Her lips quivered and tears streamed down her face. Her fingers touched his bloodied shirt. “I’m so sorry, Elias.”

“It was a graze. I’ll be fine. And you have nothing to be sorry about. You didn’t shoot me.” He shifted his shoulder away from her touch and wiped her tears with his thumb.

“Elias.”

“It’s okay. I want you to rest.” He kissed her cheek. “If you need me, call me on the cell.” He looked into her eyes and his heart fell. He was falling fast for this woman and he wasn’t sure if it was the right thing. Not now anyway.

He kissed her forehead. “I have to go get this checked out and head to the station.”

Jane wiped away the rest of the wetness. She leaned up and kissed his lips. “We’ll call if we need anything.” Her voice was jittery.

Magda, who stood in the threshold of the room said, “We’re fine.”

As Eli got up, the pain increased. Maybe it wasn’t just a flesh wound after all. He gave Jane a reassuring smile, headed upstairs for a fresh shirt to change into later and left.

Eli quickly made his way to the hospital without passing out. As he stepped through the ER doors, Caroline spotted him and ushered him into one of the examination rooms. No wooing or inclinations of sex were made. Thank fucking God.

She closed the curtain and told him to remove his shirt.

Once he took off his shirt and sat on the gurney, he examined the hole. Caroline kept quiet while she set up the necessary items on a small table to clean Eli’s wound.

For the first time, the blonde nurse focused on something other than marriage. Maybe he was wrong about her. But he wasn’t going to hold his breath.             

“Chief, when I heard you were shot, I got really worried,” Caroline said with concern.

She put on a pout that resembled a little kid. Then the sincerity in her voice switched off.

“Ooh, you shaved. I like your face this way.”

“Caroline, what are you doing here?”

“The ER was shorthanded, so I volunteered. I’m all yours, Chief,” she said as she snapped the gloves on her hands and sauntered over to his side and began to clean the blood off his skin.

“Get me the doctor, Caroline.” He pushed her hands away.

“Sure, but not until I clean your wound. It’s my job, Eli,” she said with a smile.

Her pink lipstick was smeared on one of her front teeth.

Eli let out a small chuckle until she grabbed his shoulder. He cringed as the pain intensified deep into his muscles. “What are you doing?”

“I have to clean both sides,” she explained. “The bullet came in this way and out through here.” Eli felt her fingers digging into his wound.

“Caroline!” Eli shouted. He glared at her.

She licked the corner of her mouth. “Does this hurt,” she asked, sounding surprised.             

“Hurry up,” he hissed out. The throbbing pain turned worse the moment Caroline touched it.

“I don’t want to hurt you any more than you already are. So stay still.” The way she cleaned the area, it was more like torture. Was it payback for not dating her?

Caroline took her time cleaning the wound in a slow circular pattern. When she dragged the wet iodine gauze over the wound, it felt more like sandpaper than cotton. He grounded his teeth from the intrusion.

“Are you done yet?” He was able to tolerate the intense pain. But he didn’t like the way she touched him with her free hand. Her gloved nails grazed his skin, up and down his back.

His patience was as thin as plastic wrap. Pain ripped through him as she cleaned the inside part of wound.               “Damn it. Is that necessary?”

“You don’t want to get an infection, do you, Chief?” She smiled again and then dug her fingertips into both sides of the wound at the same time. “Almost done. I promise.” Her smile turned into a sneer. She was enjoying herself.

“Where’s the doctor? I don’t have time for this shit, Caroline. Go get him now.” He jerked free from her grasp.

To his surprise, she listened. While she stepped out, he gave his wound a better look. The blood was gone but the puckered hole was red. The pain seemed to ease, though there was a slight persistent burn.

Doctor Rollins walked in with Caroline right behind him. “Chief McAvoy, I heard you were in here. Let me take a look—Thanks, Caroline. That will be all.” Rollins ushered her out and closed the curtain. He gave Eli a thin smile. “Sorry.”

“Thanks,” Eli said.

“No problem.” The doctor leaned in and checked out the wound. “Well, from the looks of it, the bullet went straight through. Caroline cleaned it up quite nicely. I’ll have you sutured up in no time. You will have to be careful for a few weeks. No heavy lifting of any kind or it will tear the stitching and make it bleed again.”

“Understood.”

As the doctor set up needle and thread, he asked in a low tone about Jane.

“She’s good. Magda is taking great care of her.”

“I talked to Magda yesterday about Jane’s condition. I’m still concerned about her head. Has she regained any bits of memory?”

“Very minor details. Why?” Eli asked, his tone slightly gruff. “Is there a reason why you ask?”

The doctor stumbled on his words. “No. No, I was wondering how she was doing. Purely a medical concern.”

“Trust me, Doc. She is feeling much better.”

“I was curious. After the illusion about ghosts, I wanted to know if she is still having them. Or has she gotten worse? Delusions aren’t a good thing with head trauma.”

Eli paused, looked at the doctor and lied. “Not so far.”              

The doctor nodded. “Good. Let me know if there are any changes.”

“Will do.” Eli looked away from the doctor’s intense stare. He wasn’t about to tell him anything further. Was he wrong about him? He could very well be the one who was after Jane. But if he was, Jane would have been dead many times over. No, it couldn’t be the doctor.

After Eli received a shot of local anesthesia, the pain and burn dissipated. It took ten minutes for the doctor to stitch him up. Once Rollins wiped the area up, he covered his wound with square gauze and taped it down.

“If anything happens to the stitches, or it starts bleeding, I want to see you right away,” Rollins said and then walked out.

“All right, Doc,” Eli called out. He threw the bloodied shirt into a bag as evidence and got dressed in the clean one.

Eli walked out of the ER exhausted. It was ten minutes past four in the morning and he had to go to the station and face his drunken ass father. He’d rather head home and slide into bed with Jane. But that wasn’t going to happen. He would have to settle for coffee before he confronted James.

As he headed out, he saw Caroline standing by the sliding glass doors. He should have expected this.

She had a wide grin on her face. He could tell a fresh coat of lipstick was applied. The hue was brighter than before.

“Caroline, what do you want?”

“You’re hurt. And I’m here to help you. I just got off of work and thought maybe you wanted company.” She went to touch his hand but he pulled it away. Caroline’s brows furrowed and her lips thinned. “I know you are alone and I figured right now you need someone to tend to you needs. I’m here to lend my nursing services.” She sounded sincere, but he read her like a script.

“Thanks. But no thanks.” Eli walked past her.

She pulled his arm and stopped him. “But Eli, you’re not understanding me. I’m going home with you. You shouldn’t be alone right now. You were shot.” Her serious tone conflicted with the smirk.

He knew about her sincerity. “I appreciate that you are trying to help me out. But you need to get this through your head, Caroline. I don’t need you. Ever.” He said it loud and clear enough for the registration desk to hear.

Eli didn’t make it past the awning of the hospital when he heard the clip-clap of heels behind him. He didn’t bother to look back; he knew it was Caroline.

She met up with him by his truck. Her outrage was apparent by the way her nostrils flared wide and her sneer made her ugly. Her left foot constantly tapped against the pavement.

“Elias McAvoy. I was offering to help you. Why are you such a bastard to me?”

“I’ve been told that,” he said with ease. He opened the door of his truck, then sat inside. He shook his head at her. “Get back inside before you freeze off some of your body parts.”

Caroline gasped. “How dare you treat me this way! It’s that woman, isn’t it?”

“What the hell are you talking about?” He looked at Caroline while starting the vehicle.

She stepped closer to him. “Jane. She said something about our little talk. I wished she stayed dead and buried.”

If Eli’s scowl could kill, Caroline would have been dead right there. He had never wanted to hit a woman until he met this nurse. She could push him to that point.

She quickly took a couple of steps back as he jumped out of the truck.

He snapped out. “If I ever hear you say that again, I’ll make good on my promise and throw your ass in jail until you understand the meaning of harassment.”

“You know, you’re cute when you’re angry.” Her tone softened.

“Go away, Caroline.” Eli had wasted too much energy on her already. He was halfway back in his truck when she wrapped her arms around him. Pain sliced through his shoulder when she pressed tighter.              

“Eli, I love you,” she cried.

He spun around, almost knocking her to her ass. “Get away from me. I don’t want anything to do with you. Why can’t you take that hint and run away with it?”

“You’ve changed since that bitch showed up. You’ve never acted like this before. What the hell did she do to you?”

Eli stood in front of her, tired of Caroline’s shit. Arms folded across his chest, he stayed quiet so not to goad her more. He hoped his silence would spur her to leave.