Page 42 of Her Wicked Hero

Hunter stared at him for a long minute, then nodded. “I can accept that. You’ve always been a bit of a spooky bastard.”

Zed barked out a laugh. “So how many days before I can blow this popsicle stand?”

Hunter leaned over and hit Zed’s call button. “Once the nurse lets your doctor know you’re conscious, she’ll give you an ETA. I was going to tell you the doctor was hot, but I don’t expect that matters anymore, right?”

“You’d be right, it doesn’t matter.” His focus was elsewhere.

Marcia disconnected her call. Vi had sounded like her usual upbeat self and was in the process of retiring from her job as a teacher. She would be a great help. She rolled her neck and wondered when the pain would stop. It was either her leg or her head that was hurting, and she’d be damned if she was going to take another one of those prescribed pain pills. Nothing but Tylenol for this girl. But man, she hurt, and the doctor said she could expect this for the next week!

She pushed up from the hotel bed and eyed the clock. She eyed the Uber app on her phone, the car was five minutes away. Based on her hobbling speed, she’d just make it to the lobby in time to meet him. Visiting hours weren’t going to last much longer. Too bad Frick and Frack had taken so long with her ‘debriefing’ today. Just how many times could they ask a question in a different way? You would have thought that she was a criminal or something.

She was so mad, she tried to slam her hotel room door shut, but in the end, she just couldn’t bring herself to do it. Somebody might be trying to rest. Then when she started stomping toward the elevator, she just ended up hurting herself.

Yay for team Price, what an idiot.

At least punching the button a bunch of times for the elevator didn’t hurt her.

“In a hurry?”

A tall man dressed in a suit was smiling down at her. But it was the wrong tall man. He didn’t have dark eyes, high cheekbones or warm caramel skin, and his smile didn’t make her melt.

“Just trying to get to the hospital before visiting hours are over with,” Marcia answered.

“Family?” he asked.

His voice didn’t rumble. He could be quiet any time now as far as she was concerned. She pressed the button again, letting her hair hide her face. “Nope, a friend.”

He shut up.

The elevator opened, and they waited in an awkward silence until they got to the lobby, Marcia did her best not to limp as she headed to the front. Her car was waiting. It was good it wasn’t cold in San Diego, she only had a light coat. She’d gotten some clothes from someone on the aircraft carrier and a few more here in San Diego. How they had managed to get her ID, bank card, and a replacement phone so fast, she had no idea, but she wasn’t just dealing with the military, she was dealing with Homeland Security.

“Lady, are you listening to me? Where to?”

She gave the address for the US Naval hospital she’d memorized.

Now that she was on her way to see Zed, she was nervous. The man was a SEAL, he probably had women throwing themselves at him all the time. What were they called? Buckle Bunnies? Nope, that was for girls who liked the men in the rodeo. Silly Putty! Lesley knew this kind of thing. She always knew things.

Frog Hogs!

Her palms started to sweat. Please say Zed wasn’t going to think she was following him around like some swooning woman.

Buckle up, Buttercup. Stop this. Marcia wiped her hands on her jeans and sat up straighter in the back of the car. You don’t feel good, and those men hadn’t been doing a darn thing for her self-esteem. Why did they question her like she was some kind of conspirator when she’d been a victim? She’d wished Mr. B. hadn’t been still in the hospital, he wouldn’t have allowed this.

Then there was the fact they wouldn’t tell her what had been going on with Nurul. It wasn’t until she refused to open her mouth for three hours, they finally told her that Hana was doing fine and recovering. They didn’t tell her where though. If it weren’t for the fact she needed to see Zed, she would have just taken a flight home today.

“We’re here.”

She looked around and realized they were in front of the hospital. She dug in her pocket for some bills to tip the man. She didn’t even have a purse. She needed to get home. She wanted her own clothes, her own things. But.

Marcia walked into reception. “I’m here to visit Zed Zaragoza.” She shifted as they looked on the computer, her leg hurting.

“We don’t have a Zed, but we have a Dante Zaragoza, is that who you’re looking for?”

“Uhm, yes,” Marcia nodded. How many Zaragoza’s could there be at the hospital.

“He’s on the third floor. Visiting hours are going to be over in an hour,” the woman warned her.

“Thank you.” Marcia headed for the elevator.