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“Lexi?”
“Yeah, Alexia.”
“Alexia! How’re you feeling? I’ve been calling in to check on you.”
“That’s what the nurse told me. I’m okay. Very sore and all. I’ll be fine soon.”
“Of course, you will.”
“Thank you for being with me throughout it all yesterday. I really appreciate it.”
“You’re very welcome. I never would have wanted you to go through that alone. Are you up for some company over lunch?”
“If you can stand the sight of me.”
“See you around noon, then.”
Hanging up the phone, I called Lisbeth. She assured me everything was fine, and that Pearce had kept her informed every step of the way. She was worried to death about me and wanted to come to the hospital. I told her that was not happening. I didn’t want her to see me like this. She could see me when I came home. Besides, I knew there wasn’t a thing she could do except for worry about me. I promised I’d call her every day with updates on my condition.
I finally dialed Terri’s number and she lit into me like a wildfire. She gave me the biggest cussing I ever got from anyone in my life. She raked me up one side and down the other and then broke down and cried, told me she would kill me if I ever let anything like this happen again and then said she was on her way to the hospital. Before I could even get a word in, she hung up the phone. Twenty minutes later she was busting through my door and crawling all over my bed.
“What the hell, girl. Stop, you’re killing me. I just had surgery. You need to take it easy on me.”
“Huh-uh. I just found out where you’d disappeared to, found out you’d been abducted for Christ’s sake, held hostage or whatever, then dumped on the side of the road and left there for God knows how long with stab wounds and a skull fracture and you tell me to take it easy on you? Are you crazy? You’re my bestie and you could’ve died for Christ’s sake. What do you expect from me?”
“Well, when you put it that way, I can see why you’re acting this way. But be careful, please. I have staples and stuff. Plus, this disgusting catheter. Not to mention all these other tubes and wires. And I’m in tons of pain.”
“Okay. Okay. I’m sorry! Do you even remember anything?”
“Yeah, and it scares the ever-loving hell outta me. Seriously.”
“Oh, Lexi.” She grabbed both of my hands and squeezed.
I shuddered and closed my eyes for a second. Then I released a long breath. “Okay, I’ll tell you this. I went to King Street to grab a bite to eat. I was on my way to the Golden Nugget when I heard my name. I looked across the street, and of all people, it was one of the dudes from that Friday night a while back.”
“Who?”
“Fred or Barney. One of the two. You know,” I groaned.
“Right.”
“He started chatting it up with me, so I made some lame excuse to get away. I ran down the street to put some distance between us. I was walking fast, nearly running, and not paying attention to where I was going that I ran smack-dab into Smoky Eyes.”
“Who is Smoky Eyes?”
“The hot dude from the restaurant. You know the night I had the big table in the private room?”
“Nope. Not following.”
“Darn. I must’ve forgotten to tell you about him. Anyway, he was smoking hot with these amazing gray eyes. He left me a two-hundred-dollar tip with his card and a note asking me to call him.”
“Did you?”
“No! I wanted to get my act straightened out first. Anyway, I barreled right into his amazing chest in my haste to get away from Fred-Barney. I mean literally. I nearly fell on my ass. He caught me and stopped me from slamming on the ground. That’s when I looked right up into his face.”
“Yikes!”
“Exactly!” I told her the rest of the story and ended up with him at my bedside in the ER.
