Kill Shot Read Online Free PDF Page B

Micki to Saint Andrew’s Hospital at mid-town, where radiology scanned her head as though it contained hidden treasure.
    A haggard-looking young doctor came into her cubicle to examine her. He appeared to have been on duty longer than his allotted shift. A scraggly beard sprouted from his chin and the front of his scrubs had a fresh spatter of something Micki didn’t want to think about.
    His smudged glasses had slipped to the end of his nose. He frowned at her over the rims. “It says here I’m not to release you until an Officer Osmond comes to pick you up. Are you under arrest?”
    Micki groaned. “I need to go home. Someone broke into my place. Even now, people are tromping all over my stuff.” She was nodding her head, but each movement brought a shower of pain like mini fireworks going off behind her eyes.
    The doctor nodded too, giving her a pill to calm her down and another one for pain. He instructed her to continue lying down with an icepack on her bruised face. The cubicle was curtained off from the rest of the ER and before she knew it she’d fallen asleep.
    At some point during the time she slept, Oz appeared. She heard his deep voice as he talked to the doctor, although she couldn’t force her eyes to open.
    “How did you get her to stay?” Oz asked.
    “I gave her something to help her relax.”
    “You doped her?” Oz gave a snort of laughter. “Why didn’t I think of that?”
    The voices faded and she slept for several hours. When she awoke she’d been transferred to a room. Oz was sitting beside the bed.
    “Where am I?” she asked.
    “We’re in the observation unit. The doc didn’t want to admit you so he’s just looking at you.”
    “What are you doing here?” She struggled to sit up.
    A smile tweaked the corners of his mouth. “I’m looking at you too.” He raised the head of the bed with the remote.
    She felt groggy and disoriented. “I feel worse than before. What was in the pills he gave me? I didn’t sign any papers for treatment.”
    Dark eyes devoured her; challenged her. “I did. I told them you were my wife. Are you going to sue me?”
    “Jerk.”
    “Good to see you’re back to normal.”
    “I need to go home.”
    “I’ll take you home.” He pushed the call system and a voice asked what they needed. “She’s awake. Tell the doc to release her.”
    Micki folded her arms and glared at Oz. “Do you always get everything you want?”
    He shot her a dark glance as he left the cubicle. “Not everything.”
    A Nurse Aide entered and helped her find her shoes.
    She was forced to ride in a wheel chair to the front entrance where Oz waited for her. It was already dark.
    How long was I asleep? What’s happening at my place? She squinted at Oz, still dizzy and lightheaded.
    He helped her into the passenger seat and belted her in before silently easing the car into gear.
    When they pulled out from under the portico, a light rain was falling. It looked golden in the street lights and made the roads appear black and oily.
    Her head throbbed rhythmically in time to the windshield wipers.
    Oz drove silently, glancing at her from time to time.
    She pulled down the mirror behind the visor and observed her battered image. “Pretty scary.” She touched the bruised area on her cheekbone and the half-circle below her eye. “It looks like I missed with the eye shadow.”
    “I’ve had worse.”
    “Oh, that makes me feel so much better.” She shut the mirror with a snap. “Hey! This isn’t the way to my place.”
    “I said I was taking you home. My home.”
    A swarm of butterflies flew formations in her chest. “Oz, I can’t stay at your place.”
    He pulled into the underground parking at his apartment and found his assigned space. He switched off the ignition and turned in his seat to face her.
    “I’m only going to say this once and I don’t want any argument.” He gazed at her solemnly, letting the effects of his words sink in.
    Micki bit back the retort that sprang