Loving a Bad Boy (17 page)

“
The doctor left
instructions for me to contact him when Tex wakes up. He was
mumbling in his sleep a few—”

“
What’d he
say?”

She rolled her eyes as she leaned against
the wall. “Mumbling. I said he was mumbling. I couldn’t make out
anything he said.”

“
Damn. That’s not good. He
should be resting to get better,” he said in a hushed voice. She
wondered if he were talking to her or someone else. He answered her
with his next words. “Did he go back to sleep? Is he sleeping, the
good kind?”

She yawned, covering her mouth before
answering. “Yes and yes. Now, I want-no need, to get some rest or I
won’t be able to help anybody.”

“
You need your beauty
rest?”

Pam ignored the teasing quality of his
voice. “No, I am already beautiful. I need my rest to take care of
my friend when he wakes. I certainly don’t want to mess up and give
him the wrong meds.”

He snorted. “That won’t happen even if you
stayed awake for three days. You’re too careful. And you’re right,
of course.” He paused while she picked her jaw up from the ground
at his words. “You are beautiful. Have a good sleep.”

Her breath hitched in surprise as he hung
up. “What?” she stared at the phone, and then closed her eyes. The
man drove her crazy. No way was he serious. He had seen her at her
worst. Blood splattered pajamas, messy ponytail, and puffy eyes
from lack of sleep. How could he possibly say she was
beautiful?

One large step to the right brought her in
front of the mirror in the hall. Yep, her hair was still a mess.
There were bags inside the bags beneath her eyes. She had stripped
off the bloody pj’s, and now wore a clean extra-large tee-shirt.
But still, she was just…well, just her.

Warmth filled the pit of
her stomach as his voice replayed in her mind. “You are beautiful.”
She looked closer, wondering what he’d seen. A man as handsome as
Julio, yes, she admitted he was sinfully good looking, had probably
been with thousands of women.
Thousands?
Maybe hundreds, she
amended, although that number didn’t sit well with her either. And
he thought she was beautiful. Her face warmed as she pulled a few
wayward strings of hair behind her ear, and turned her face to the
right and then the left.

She smiled.

It was a silly smile that radiated
throughout her body. Chances were pretty good his words had little
value to most, but for her, after spending the last twelve hours on
her feet with no rest, they were a balm her soul needed.

Her phone rang. Still floating from the
compliment, she answered without looking at the caller ID.
“Hello.”

Loud coughing sounds met her greeting at
first and then. “Pam?” Mrs. O croaked.

The smile dropped from Pam’s face as she
gripped the phone. “What’s wrong?” Her heart raced as she tried to
remember the meds the older woman took. “You take your pills?”

“
Yeah, yeah,” she wheezed.
“Just need a little help, that’s all. I fell—”

Pam spun around, grabbed her housecoat and
keys. “I’m on my way.”

“
Could you bring some of
that tea you always make?”

Pam groaned as she turned back toward the
kitchen. “Okay. Where are you?” She asked as she opened one cabinet
drawer after the other in search of the damn tea.

“
I’m in bed. Where else?”
The hacking coughs started again.

Pam’s hand hovered over a jar. “You said you
fell.”

“
I did. I got up. My
back’s a little sore and this coughing won’t stop. Just need a bit
of tea and I’ll be better in a flash.”

Pam snorted. “A flash? That’s what you
always say when you know you’ve messed up. Found it.” She held the
waxed paper that held the tea blend.

“
My tea?” the older woman
asked in a tiny voice.

Pam stuffed the bag in her pocket. “Yeah.
I’m on my way.”

“
I hope you weren’t sleep
or busy.”

Pam stopped and looked down the hall. She’d
forgotten about Tex. “No, I’m good. See you in a few. She hung up
and called Julio. Before he answered a sound from the hall grabbed
her attention. She hung up.

Changing directions, she headed for Tex’s
room, and froze in the doorway. He was sitting up on the bed,
staring straight ahead. His lips were moving. Pam inched into the
room.

“
No, don’t go in there.
It’s not safe.”

Eyes widening, she stopped. Thinking of the
large dosage of drugs the doctor had shot into his IV, he shouldn’t
be up for hours. She craned her neck to see around the bed and saw
nothing.

“
I’m telling you man,
don’t do that. Just tell him the truth.” His voice had taken on a
pleading quality. Should she call Julio? Or try to get him to lie
back down? She tiptoed backward. Hands extended searching for the
door or wall, anything to get her out of the room so she could call
the doctor. There was something too intense about Tex’s stare and
his voice. Something was wrong.

Her hand touched the door. Tex turned his
vacant stare in her direction. She froze unsure what to do
next.

“
Julio, I told you to
wait. You gotta wait, man. Be patient so—” his eyes rolled back in
his head. Pam dashed forward to catch him and laid him down. After
checking to make sure the IV was still in place and that he hadn’t
damaged his stitches, she left the room.

Once in the hall, she
wrapped her arms around her waist to still her shaking
limbs.
What the hell was going
on
? Julio said he worked security. She
hadn’t thought much about it at the time. But had Tex seen
something he shouldn’t have on a job or something? It sounded like
he was trying to warn Julio or somebody about something.

She took a deep breath. And then another
before she returned to the dining room. Julio would want to know
about this. Picking up the phone, she punched in redial. Biting her
thumb nail, she waited for him to pick up.

“
Yeah?” He answered, his
voice thick with sleep.

Pam licked her dry lips, prepared to answer
when he snapped. “What the fuck’s going on?”

His crass words lashed her raw nerves. She
gritted her teeth as she spoke. “I thought you wanted to know Tex
sat up and spoke a few words, guess I was wrong. By the way, I have
to leave for a while, Mrs. O had an emergency come up. Guess
everybody needs a nurse today. Go back to sleep.” She hung up,
threw the phone down, grabbed her keys and headed for the door.

Julio sat up, threw back the covers, and
looked at the phone. “Did she?” He placed the phone back to his
ear, listening to the dial tone. “I’ll be…she hung up after waking
me up.” He wiped his face with his palm and fell back to the bed.
“It’s those quiet looking ones that always start up shi…” He
punched in the redial, she answered on the second ring. He heard
the ding of the elevator in the background. Had she left Tex alone?
Knowing Pete watched her unit gave him a measure of comfort but her
actions still rocked him.

“
The front door is
unlocked. Come sit with him. I’ll be back when I’m done.” She hung
up. He closed his eyes, determined not to become angry. She was
doing him a favor he reminded himself. Tex was in her
care.

“
I can’t believe she left
him by himself. What kind of nurse does that?” he mumbled as he
pulled on a pair of jeans and threw on an orange polo. Pissed at
the disruption of his sleep, he snatched his holstered gun and
buckled it around his waist before pulling the shirt down over it.
Bending he picked up his briefcase, slipped his feet into a pair of
leather slippers and headed for the door.

Hog, a security gift from Francisco, looked
up as he entered the living room, a question in his gaze as he
noticed the briefcase. “I’ve got to go downstairs to check on
something.” Hog nodded and stood. It would have been a waste of
time and energy to tell the man to stay. His godfather had been
very clear on Hog’s role. He was Julio’s shadow.

Julio went to Miguel’s room, and knocked.
Within seconds the man opened the door, gun in hand. A grin tugged
at Julio’s lips at the sight of Miguel naked with only his gun.
“I’m heading out, I’ll be back in a few.”

Miguel turned while talking. “Give me a
minute to throw on something…”

“
No.” Julio’s word stopped
Miguel as he was pulling on a pair of jeans. “Hog’s going with me.
There are two men in the hall. I’ll send one inside. Get your rest,
I have a busy day planned.”

Miguel stared at him for a moment, and then
nodded. “Yes, Sir.”

Julio returned the nod,
and left with Hog on his heels. The entire ride down the elevator
he wondered how to handle Pam. Not only was she
not
scared of him, she didn’t appear
to like him. Considering how gentle he had been with her, he
understood her lack of fear. But he didn’t understand why she
didn’t like him. That rankled as he shifted his stiff cock to the
side, a real testament how he felt about her.

Pete stood as Julio exited the elevator.
“The woman just left.”

Julio nodded. “I know. I’m going inside to
stay with him.”

He patted Pete on the shoulder. The man’s
face was wreathed in exhaustion. The bags beneath his eyes had
gotten worse in the past few hours. His skin had a pale undertone,
another sign that he wasn’t physically at his best.

Julio waved him toward the elevator. “Go get
some rest, we have a long day tomorrow.”

Pete nodded even as he glanced at Hog.

“
This is Hog,” Julio
pointed at the big man. “He’ll be with us for a while.”

Pete nodded and walked toward the
elevator.

Julio turned slightly. “Any other
activity?”

“
No, Sir. Not a peep.”
Pete nodded again as the elevator door closed.

Glad of the report, he went to her door and
spoke to Hog over his shoulder. “Wait here. A young black female,
around five-five, ponytail will be coming back later, don’t let her
see you. She’s the only one cleared to come inside.”

“
Yes, Sir.”

Julio walked into the darkened apartment and
headed for the room that held Tex. For the moment his friend
appeared fast asleep. Julio envied him. Stretching, he pulled out a
chair and sat. Moments later his head fell to his chest and he was
out.

****

Pam let herself into Mrs. O’s home with the
spare key the woman had given her three years ago. “It’s me, I’m
going to start the water boiling.”

“
Okay.” Pam noticed how
weak Mrs. O sounded and moved faster so she could check on her
friend. Once the kettle was on, Pam grabbed her bag and headed for
the bedroom. The older woman was wrapped in two blankets and
visibly shivering.

Pam whipped out her phone and dialed 911. “I
need an ambulance to pick up Mrs. Ollie in Savalas, unit 115.” She
waited as the operator verified the address and answered their
questions. “My name is Pamela Burrows, I’m a registered nurse,
neighbor and friend of Mrs. Ollie. She called wanting tea, and when
I entered her bedroom, I discovered she was very sick.”

She walked to the bed and sat on the bed.
“Hi,” she whispered stroking the sweaty brow.

Mrs. Ollie opened her eyes. Fever had left
them glazed and dull. Pam wondered how long she’d been like this.
“Yes, I’m still here.” She locked eyes with Mrs. O while talking to
the operator. “I’m not going anywhere.” The older woman’s lips
trembled as she closed her eyes.

Chapter 11

It had been a long morning, but as Pam
expected the hospital kept Mrs. O. who was in the beginning stages
of pneumonia. The woman was always warning her about improper dress
in the rain while neglecting to wear rain gear herself.

This was one of those times Pam was grateful
for some of the side effects from the other meds Mrs. O took. They
amplified her weakened state to the point she had to get help. Her
friend would’ve been worse if she’d allowed her situation to
continue unchecked.

Pam unlocked her door more than ready to
finish the sleep she’d begun while sitting beside Mrs. O at the
hospital. She frowned at the light in the hall and kitchen. Then
she remembered Tex and stopped.

That brought a boat load of additional
memories, Julio and their confrontation. Walking through the
darkened rooms, she went to check on Tex before lying down. Peeking
into his room, she noticed the IV needed changing and hastened to
complete that task. Just as she finished, she locked eyes with
Julio who sat in a chair across from her.

Moistening her lips, she tried to smile but
couldn’t. Two of her friends were incapacitated.