Hurt (19 page)

Nicole smiled back at Jamie, passion reflected in her eyes.

“I think that sounds like an excellent idea.”

Nicole briefly grazed Jamie’s cheek with a soft kiss and then stood, holding out a hand to help Jamie off the ground. Jamie took her hand and pulled up, shuddering as a chunk of snow slid down the back of her pants.

“Shit, that’s cold. You’re going to pay for th—Oh that hurts,” Jamie said and doubled over, again clutching a hand to her side.

“Yeah, whatever. I’m not falling for one that again, sweetie,” Nicole laughed and began to walk back toward the house.

“No, seriously, Nicole,” Jamie rasped as a sharp wave of pain cut into her side. “Something really hurts.” She gasped and then fell to her knees. The pain in her side began to burn and she felt a heavy pressure on her chest. Jamie groaned as she felt a soft thud against the side of her head. It hit again, harder this time.

“I said, you’re making that noise again. Stop it!”

“What?” Jamie creaked out. Whatever was hitting her head stopped, but the pain in her side and chest seemed to be intensifying. She looked over to see Nana sitting beside her in the passenger seat of the car. Jamie frowned and looked around her, the memory of last year’s trip to the mountains with Nicole fading as Jamie took in her surroundings.

The car. She—they—were in the car. Jamie groaned as she tried to restart her thoughts and then everything flashed back at once. Passing Nana walking down the road, stopping, wrestling her back to the car…sliding off the snow covered road after Nana had reached over and jerked the wheel. Jamie had jammed the brakes, and they’d fishtailed and slid sideways into the woods. The last thing she remembered was the crunch of metal as the driver’s door slammed against a tree.

Jamie inhaled a painful breath of air and turned to Nana.

“Are you okay?” she wheezed. A sharp, stabbing pain cut into her as she spoke, bringing tears to her eyes.

“Well, of course I’m okay. Why wouldn’t I be?” Nana quipped. “I’d be even better if you’d get this handcuff off my wrist.”

Jamie followed Nana’s gesture and saw the handcuff around the elderly woman’s wrist.

Oh, that’s right
, Jamie thought. She’d handcuffed Nana to the gearshift the second time she’d tried to jump out of the car.

“You don’t look so good, though,” Nana continued, sucking in on her lower lip. She reached across from the passenger seat and patted Jamie softly on the arm. “I thought you were dead for a little while there. You don’t need to be scaring people like that.”

Jamie gasped, trying—and more or less failing—to catch her breath.
I hurt too much to be dead
, she decided. Her chest felt incredibly heavy and a dull throb was beginning to build along the back of her shoulder and into her neck. She managed to get a small breath out, but could hear a sickening crackle accompany it and felt another slice of pain tear through her chest.

She felt the soft thud of Nana’s purse across the top of her head again and she glared over at the woman, who still hadn’t stopped talking.

“You’re not even listening to me, are you? I said that Steven told me to keep that phone of yours on and that they were going to use it to figure out where we are, but I dropped it in the floorboard. Do you think you can crawl down there and find it?”

Jamie shook her head. She wasn’t even going to try to talk again.

A bright light suddenly flashed through the windshield and into her eyes. She squinted as she tried to make out the source, but as suddenly as it was there, the light was gone again. Jamie closed her eyes as she struggled to take in another breath and then found herself unable to open them again. This time when she exhaled, it felt like fire. The breath scorched her lungs and she felt a boiling pain erupt in her chest. The scalding heat continued to build until it was a single, all-consuming flame that exploded, sending Jamie back to a cold, welcoming oblivion.

Chapter Twenty-Six

Nicole stood in a long, brightly lit hallway, staring through the fingerprint-stained glass of a vending machine. She sniffed and rubbed at her nose, trying to ignore the faint scent of antiseptic that she always associated with hospitals.

“Are you going to stand there all day, or what?”

Nicole turned to see Samuels standing behind her. She regarded him silently for a moment and then stepped away from the machine.

“Go ahead, if you want something. I’m not really hungry to tell you the truth.”

“I’m good,” Samuels said, falling into to step beside Nicole as she moved away from the vending machine. Nicole glanced at Samuels while they walked.

“I see you found another shirt.”

“Yeah,” he said, running a hand over the white cotton polo. “Miranda rounded it up from somewhere. It’s a little tight, but it’ll do.”

“Oh, that’s right, I’d forgotten your daughter works here,” Nicole remarked, noticing now that the shirt was at least a size too small. The lower edge pulled up over Samuels’ belt every time he raised an arm.

“Yeah.” He scratched along the edge of his bandaged nose. “Any word?”

“No,” Nicole said quietly. “Not in a while.” She reached in her back pocket and pulled out a small, black plastic square. “They’re supposed to page when she’s out of surgery.”

Samuels nodded, but didn’t say anything further as they walked in uncomfortable silence down the hallway. It occurred to Nicole that in all the time she’d been together with Jamie, she’d had relatively few interactions with her partner. Even so, Jamie had talked about the stout man with thinning gray hair often enough that Nicole felt like she knew him.

She paused in front of a closed door.

“You’re more than welcome to come in here with me,” she advised him with a small smile. “But, for God’s sake don’t mention you’re with the police. The Sheriff stopped by a while ago and I thought we were going to have to tie her to the bed.”

“The Sheriff, huh?” Samuels said, raising one eyebrow.

“Apparently Jamie has me listed as her emergency contact.” Nicole said, her voice breaking a little on the words. “I found a number for her aunt in Florida and left a message, but I haven’t heard anything back from her.”

“Well,” Samuels said and cleared his throat. “You go ahead and see your grandmother. I think I’m going to try and find someplace to get a decent cup of coffee.”

“I’ll call you if I hear anything,” Nicole promised and then pushed open the door. She walked quietly into the small hospital room, thankful to see that Nana was still quietly lying in the bed, watching television.

“Did you get my chocolate?” Nana asked, eyeing Nicole as she walked closer to the bed.

“No,” Nicole answered. “Everything in the machine had nuts in it.”

“Hmmpf. Likely story,” Nana quipped.

Nicole frowned at her grandmother.

“Why would I lie about that, Nana?”

“I heard what you said to your friend earlier. I know you think that it’s my fault that lady cop doesn’t know how to drive.”

“I don’t want to talk about it right now, Nana,” Nicole said tightly.

She glanced up at the clock that hung by the television and grimaced as she saw the time. It’d been at least three hours since they’d taken Jamie into surgery and the longer she waited, the more Nicole found her thoughts drifting back to her last visit to the hospital. Her mother had been in a room similar to the one Nana was in now, hooked up to IV lines and machines of various sorts. Not that any of them did any good in the end, Nicole thought as she crossed the room to look out its wide, curtainless window. She gazed out at the lights of the city below, trying to get her mind out of the past.

“I’m back.”

Nicole turned to see Julie dropping one large duffel bag on the chair by Nana’s bed and look around for a spot to deposit a second.

“My goodness, Julie. She’s just going to be in here overnight,” Nicole said, walking away from the window. “How much did you bring?”

Julie grinned back at her.

“I know, but I wasn’t sure what all she needed.” She tapped the bag still around her shoulder. “Besides, I thought Jamie would need a few things.”

Nicole glanced at the bag and then regarded Julie silently. The other woman blushed and shrugged her shoulders.

“Don’t give me that look,” she told Nicole. “I’m not a total bitch, you know.”

“I didn’t say anything,” Nicole drawled as she reached for the bag. “Here, I’ll put it by the window.”

“Okay, but let me get this out first.” Julie unzipped the bag and pulled out the small brown box that Jamie had sent to Nicole’s house.

Nicole frowned and shook her head.

“I don’t need to see any more of that Julie.” She took the duffel bag from Julie and sat it down on the wide windowsill. “I’m done with it all.”

“What do you mean, you’re done with it all?” Julie asked, following Nicole to the window. She placed the box down beside the bag.

“I mean, I’m done. There’s nothing in that box that is going to change the way I feel.”

“Nicole, you know I’m not her biggest fan, but you should at least give her a chance.”

“Julie—”

“No, I’m serious. Look, I know I’ve got more ex-boyfriends than…well, you know.” Julie grinned. “I may not be an expert in the love department, but I know a good thing when I see it.” She reached out and touched Nicole on the arm. “And sugar, you and Jamie have a good thing. You can’t just throw it away.”

Nicole shook her head and gave a faint smile.

“You don’t understand. That’s not what I meant. With all…” She waved her hands in the air. “…this going on, it’s made me realize…” Nicole turned and stared back out the window with a sigh. “Julie, when Nana said that Jamie was…well, when Nana said that, I’ve never felt so empty.” Nicole looked back to Julie. “Not even when my mother died. I want to believe what Jamie said happened is the truth. And, if it’s not…then, I’m willing to fight for her. I can’t see my life without her in it.”

Julie put an around Nicole and squeezed.

“All right then. You just let me know if we need to go stomp some blonde-headed bitch’s ass and I’m in.”

Nicole laughed.

“Remind me never to get on your bad side,” she said.

“Nah, never going to happen,” Julie told her. “So, the box. I think we should finish going through it.”

“Julie…”

“No, look. All we’re doing right now is waiting around. I mean, if you’d rather sit here and watch
Storage Wars
with your grandmother…”

Nicole looked over her shoulder and saw her grandmother settled back in the hospital bed, eyes fixed on the small television screen that hung from the wall.

“Hell. All right. You said before that there wasn’t much left anyway, right?’

“Nope,” Julie said and slid the box in her direction. She opened it and pulled out the letter. “Okay, now where were we…let’s see. Coolidge Park, blah blah blah…okay, here we go. ‘People’s Five—proof you love me.’ It says there’s a tape recorder in the box, to press play.”

“A tape recorder? Lord, if she’s got some sappy Johnny Cash song on there, we’re through,
Storage Wars
or no
Storage Wars
.”

Nicole reached inside the box, pulled out a small, black recorder and clicked it on. She was surprised to hear her own frantic voice begin to speak.

“Jamie? Where are you?” Nicole heard herself say. “I’ve called every number I have for you and for Samuels and neither of you are answering, damn it. They said on the radio that a female officer had been shot and I need to know it wasn’t you. Call me as soon as you get this message. Jamie, if you’ve gone and gotten yourself killed I’m really going to be pissed off. I love you, damn it.”

Nicole blinked back tears as she listened to the voicemail left over a year ago. It hadn’t been Jamie, of course, but that time when Nicole couldn’t reach her on the phone was one of the worst moments of her life.

“‘The first time you said you loved me’,” Julie read, breaking into Nicole’s thoughts. “Fuck, Nicole, are you okay? I had no idea. Maybe this wasn’t a good idea.”

“No, I’m fine,” Nicole answered, sniffing. “Just finish it.”

“Okay. ‘If I was in your place, the detective in me would be asking, so why were you at the house in the first place?’” Julie glanced up at Nicole, but didn’t stop. “‘People’s Six—don’t kill me when you read this, but it’s the contract I signed with Gina Southerland to sell my house.’”

“What?” Nicole exclaimed and abruptly pulled the box across the windowsill. She reached inside and slid the contract out of the box.

“‘If you will note the date, I signed this several days before you walked in on me and Sundae. The reason we were at the house in the first place was that she and her husband are moving back to Chattanooga and I was showing it to her.’”

“Are you fucking kidding me?” Nicole said. “Why the hell didn’t she say something? And why would she have Gina-fucking-Southerland sell the house?” Nicole flashed back to the meeting with Gina Southerland and her client. The client had mentioned being shown Jamie’s house, but Nicole had chalked it up to some ploy by Jamie to get back in Nicole’s good graces.

Julie opened her mouth and then closed it.

“I don’t know,” she said, shaking her head.

“What does the letter say?” Nicole asked gesturing to it. She started to feel a tension build in the back of her neck.

“‘I was going to tell you, but after you came barreling into the room, screaming and shouting and then flitted out like your tail was on fire—’”

“I don’t flit,” Nicole muttered.

Julie chuckled.

“Sugar, you flit. I’ve seen you do it. Let’s see, where was I…‘then flitted out like your tail was on fire. It wasn’t the sort of thing I could really tell you over the phone, so my plan was to explain to you in person at the lunch that never happened. I know you think I’ve been blowing you off every time you mention moving in together, but I want that and more. I wanted to surprise you, but everything just went wrong. So, that’s it. That’s all I got. That and the fact that I love you more than I’ve ever loved anyone. I would never, will never hurt you. I want to spend every day of the rest of my life with you. If you don’t feel the same, I’m not going to stand in the way of your leaving. I’ll stop—’”