Fragged: A BWWM Military Romance Read Online Free PDF Page B

tough here. His family had its freaking name on the pediatric wing.
    He still hadn’t talked to Calix by the time I got in. He was reading the patient record, but he seemed more interested in the police clearance. I dropped the meds on the tray and rattled them.
    “Your antibiotics,” I said.
    Calix simply nodded and mimed for water. Even a few minutes away had cleared my head. I stood mesmerized just watching his thick chest rise and fall.
    Lem’s hand landed suddenly on mine. “Now, hold on, love. I’m still looking through the man’s charts.”
    I tried to tug my hand away, but his grip had turned into a boulder.
    “What?” I said.
    “I’m still thinking.”
    This was stupid. I bit my tongue, but I gave an insistent jerk. My hand budged, but he was still stronger.
    His finger tapped my skin.
    I stared mutely out the window, trying to stay calm. This was a definite escalation. Should I fight? Should I report him? Or was he just waiting for me to do that?
    Suddenly, the weight came off. Lem grunted.
    “There we go,” Calix said. He had pick Lem off and folded his hand back against the wrist. I darted away, and he let go.
    Lem turned on him. “Did you just assault me?”
    “I was just trying to get my meds.”
    Lem hunched in close to Calix’s face, all shriveled up with rage. “If you ever lay hands on me again, you will leave here in handcuffs.”
    Calix simply looked at him, a tiger watching a hissing housecat. He nodded once.
    “Understood. I just didn’t want to delay.”
    Lem tore out of the room, rubbing his wrist. I was lucky enough not to get a single glance more.
    “Thank you,” I said, a flood of warmth running through me. “You saved me more trouble than you know.”
    Calix held up an empty cup. “How about some water then?”
    I chuckled and got it for him. He held my eyes while he chugged the pills, then lay back with his arms folded.
    “They didn’t treat their women right at all over there,” he said. “That was one thing I could never get used to among our so-called allies.”
    “In Afghanistan?”
    He nodded. “Just to the east of the country is China. Over there, they have a saying. Women hold up half the sky.” He shook his head. “Strange how two kinds of people can be right next to each other and think so far apart.”
    I sat back on the sill, a strange mix of things in my chest. “I didn’t take you for a philosopher.”
    “I’m nothing without my principles.”
    He squinted at me, as if I had turned into someone else before him. His eyes shut and he dipped his head. “I’m going to nap.”
    His brow was all furrowed though, like he was already in some dark dream. I hoped it was at something in his past and not aimed at me.
    “Sleep tight, teddy bear,” I whispered. “And thanks again.”
    I tiptoed out and stumbled down the hall. I still couldn’t really believe what had happened. Or what Calix had done for me.
    Was it for me?
    Maybe not. But even after my shift ended, even after I went home and told Mamá and Elsa that my day was fine, even as I lay in my bed, I remembered those crystal eyes studying me, seeing me for who I was.
    They seemed more unsure of me than I was of him. I could hardly tell why.
    But unsure was still better than nothing. It meant that part of him felt the same thing I felt.
    I could only hope it was the bigger part.
     

CHAPTER FOUR
    Calix
    I blurred in and out of sleep most of that Monday. My leg throbbed like there was something inside trying to nudge its way out. It kept me from getting too deep into sleep.
    Even when I did fade, my dreams were full of Rosa.
    They were not innocent dreams.
    The only big disruption was a call from my commanding officer, Sgt. Lilton. I’d flapped awake, still not completely myself.
    “You shot yourself?” were his first words when I picked up.
    “Sergeant? Yeah. Yes. It was a dumb mistake, sir.”
    “Sir? I work for a living, Black.”
    “Of course, Sergeant.” I rubbed my face. “My