That’s when it clicked. “You’re the one I was avoiding when I went into the break room and met Zuri for the first time. The annoying one who kept following me around.”
Usually I wouldn’t be as blunt as that, but she’d been rude to Rose, been a total bitch to Zuri, and she’d made me feel like prey when I’d been here that time. Plus, I was fairly sure I was now dealing with some blood loss seeing as how the blood was seeping out from the wad of gauze I was holding over it.
“I can’t help it that we ended up in the same places,” blondie winked. “It’s like we’ve got fate working for us.”
“More like against you,” Zuri muttered, making Rose chuckle.
“There’s no fate. Thanks for the offer, I appreciate it, but we’ve got people looking after us.” After all, I was a police officer, so being polite would be beneficial in the long run.
Shooting me a tight smile, she turned on her heel and marched out of the room.
“You did the right thing,” Zuri sighed. “Missy’s bumping uglies with two doctors and two nurses.”
“Three nurses,” Rose corrected. “She’s back with Eileen on the third floor.”
I was too tired for this shit, so I went and sat back down, tilting my head back to focus on anything I could in my brain that wasn’t related to what we were about to go through.
Today wasn’t meant to turn out this way, but I needed to make a plan to help look after Zuri while she recovered, and that’s what I was best at. After all of that research and embarrassment with the women, I was going to have to abandon my list and wing it.
So, pulling my phone out of my pocket, I shot off some texts to put things in place starting tomorrow. Oh, Zuri was going to skin my ass alive, but she’d thank me in the end.
Or kill me!
“Welcome to the hotel in Arkansaaas. Such a dovey pace and dirty lace. There’s plenty of poon at the hotel in Arkansas. Any time of year, you can hump a deer!”
From where I was sitting on a hard plastic chair in the room, I watched as Zuri drowsily strangled the song Hotel California by The Eagles. I had no idea how she was getting it so wrong, but here we were—listening to it for the thirteenth time.
Apparently, Miss Zuri reacted to Demerol in that it made her go slightly crazy—the proof of which was now doing a random air guitar slowly as she kicked her leg around, still lying on her front as Rose taped the final dressing in place on her back.
“They’ll be in to do her wrist in a minute, so I’ll just numb up your shoulder so that Doctor Stevens can get that last piece out of it,” she told me as she pulled a sheet over Zuri’s back to cover her up. “Hard to believe the quiet one turns into this,” she gestured with her hand as Zuri strummed her air guitar, screeching when she moved her broken hand but determined to win the ultimate air guitar hero award anyway. “Honey, stop moving that hand. It’s broken, and you doing that’ll make it hurt more and might even move the alignment of the broken bone in your hand.”
Moving so that she was balanced on her forearms, Zuri looked at Rose like she’d committed blasphemy. “Dude, how’m I gonna win Rockstar Champion, huh? Nah gain, nah pain.”
Covering my mouth with my hand to hide the smile, I met Rose’s eyes over her head, seeing the same smothered reaction on her face, too.
“Well, you might end any future hopes you’ve got of winning Rockstar Champion if you do more damage to that wrist. How about resting it on this pillow,” Rose suggested, moving a pillow on the bed next to her. “We’ve had quite a lot of breaks in tonight, so Sammy, who’s our casting genius today, has been in great demand. You’re next on her list, though, so just take it easy, sing your songs, and I’ll get working on Mister Woodstuck over here.”
Not registering what the thumb jerk in my direction meant, Zuri looked around the room. “We’re going to Woodstock? Always wanted to go to that, but I was too little.”
“Um, I’d have thought you didn’t exist when Woodstock happened, honey,” Rose pointed out, moving around the bed to where I was waiting. “In fact, your mom was probably just about to be conceived.”
“I’ve got sperm in my ear. It could be getting pregnant right now.”
The outburst stopped Rose’s movements as what she’d just said sank in, but the guy in the room next door wasn’t quite as slow to understand as he burst out laughing, loud guffaws making their way through the thin wall.