“Easy, baby. You’re getting too stressed.”
He placed his hand on hers. Why was she here? All she remembered was pain in her arm, then she was slammed to the ground . . . had she hurt herself?
The door to her room opened and an older woman wearing scrubs stepped in. A nurse.
“Hi, what’s going on in here, then?” She gave Spike a look of disapproval as she walked over to Millie’s other side. “It’s past visiting hours, Mr. Lochlin.”
“And like every other night, I’m not leaving,” Spike replied.
Every other night? How long had she been here?
The nurse huffed as she grabbed a compression cuff and put it on Millie’s arm to take her blood pressure.
“Being friends with Doctor Anderson might get you special privileges,” the nurse stated coldly. “But if your presence is upsetting my patient, then you will have to leave.”
She had no clue who Doctor Anderson was. But she did know she didn’t want Spike to go.
“I want Spike to stay,” she blurted out.
The nurse gave her a look filled with sympathy. “Are you sure, dear? Your blood pressure is high. You were shot. You lost quite a lot of blood and your body went into shock. You need peace and quiet to heal. Not to be upset.” The nurse sent Spike a withering look.
She’d been shot? Holy shit.
“Shot?”
“In the shoulder. You had surgery to repair it and the doctor will go through everything tomorrow. Drive-by shooting apparently.”
“The people in the black car?” she asked Spike who just gave a nod. She guessed he didn’t want to say anything with the nurse here.
“I want him to stay. Please.”
“Fine. He can stay tonight. But after that he’ll have to stick to visiting hours.”
Spike made a low, grumbling noise and she thought it might be best to get the nurse out of his sight.
“Can I have a drink?”
“Certainly.” The nurse grabbed a clear jug from the table by the bed and poured some water into a glass with a straw.
She wrinkled her nose as the nurse held the straw up to her mouth. Water. Yuck.
“She hates that water. I have some for her here.” Spike grabbed a bottle from the bedside drawers. The nurse gave him a disgusted look. The water was pale pink.
Spike just glared back at the nurse then gently pushed away the straw before holding the bottle up to Millie’s mouth. She took a few grateful gulps.
The nurse huffed. “I’ll leave you to sleep. Here is the button for more medication if you need it. Don’t worry, it won’t give you more than you’re allowed. This here is the buzzer to call me. I’ll be on until morning.”
“How long do I have to stay here?” she asked.
“You’ll need to discuss that with the doctor. You were very lucky that the bullet only entered your shoulder, too much lower and it could have gotten your heart. Get some rest.”
Once they were alone, Millie turned to look at Spike.
“Who the hell shot me?”
Fuck.
Spike ran his hand over his face. He’d barely slept in days. Just nodded off now and then. He’d only slipped into the bathroom attached to her private room for a quick shower when Hack was able to sit with her. Ink had arranged round-the-clock security for her, but he didn’t trust anyone but those in his close circle. Spike was just grateful Hack did some work in the hospital and was able to get himself assigned as her doctor.