Authors: Lola Drake
“I need to talk to her.” Brad pushed forward.
Dr. Erosou moved towards the doorway as Jake
moved to stop Brad. One of the thorns on the roses poked sharply into Jake’s
hand. For a moment the wound burned and Jake thought he saw a flash of gold…
When he lifted his eyes, he spotted Dr. Erosou
keenly observing him from over Brad’s shoulder. Before it could all fully
register, Juliet’s voice rang out, sounding much stronger than before. In fact,
it sounded downright livid. “Stop it, both of you.”
Both Jake and Brad froze and turned towards her.
“Sorry the noise woke you.” Jake moved to stand
protectively beside her. He didn’t care if this guy claimed to be her
boyfriend; Jake didn’t like him.
“Carly and I saw what happened but they wouldn’t
let us in the ambulance or even in to see you last night.”
“What are you doing here?”
“I, um, well I thought we could talk. And I
brought these.” He thrust the roses in front of him as if they could shield him
against Juliet’s palpable anger. His eyes darted between her and Jake,
seemingly unsure of the situation between them. Jake found himself enjoying
Brad’s squirming. He moved closer to Juliet as she took the bouquet Brad held
in her face, wondering what she would do. How the hell could she like this
douchebag?
“I have nothing to say to you. I thought I made
that clear last night.”
Jake tried to cover his chuckle with a cough,
but judging from the amused look Carly gave him he hadn’t been entirely
successful.
Brad rubbed at a spot on the floor with his
shoe. “Look, that was… I mean, I hadn’t seen you in ages, and I was drinking…”
“You’re the one who’s been too busy with work to
get together, so don’t you dare try to pin this on me.” She tried to chuck the
flowers back in his face, but with her right arm immobile she had to use her
left, so the flowers barely reached the foot of the bed. She growled in
frustration.
Jake picked the flowers up. “Want me to throw
them for you?”
She shot him a dirty look. He couldn’t help
laughing again. He liked this side of her, especially since her surprisingly
fierce temper wasn’t directed at him. Not only had she gotten more beautiful,
she’d grown into herself. Her strength and confidence showed as she stared Brad
down. Hell, if the old cliché about looks killing had any truth to it, Brad
would be toast.
Brad tried to move closer to the bed, shoving
past him. Jake debated being a dick and blocking this loser, but at this point
figured Juliet could handle herself. He went to stand beside Carly, quietly
introducing himself.
Free from Jake looming over his shoulder, Brad
lowered his voice, but everyone in the room could still hear. “I’m not blaming
you. Not at all.” He glanced over his shoulder at Carly then met Jake’s eyes.
He couldn’t hold the stare long. “Look, um, can we talk privately?” he
whispered.
“Dude, it’s a small room, so whispering doesn’t
help.” Jake leaned against the wall, crossing one foot in front of the other.
He’d never witnessed a breakup he hadn’t been part of. It was kind of
fascinating.
“Come on, Juliet, we need to talk.”
“No, we really don’t. You’re a dick, Brad, and
there’s no way in hell I’m going to forgive you for this. I mean, for fuck’s
sake, how long have you been screwing that girl?”
“I wasn’t! I barely know her.”
“Don’t lie to me. Get out. Get the hell out.” As
her voice echoed around the room, she sank back against the pillows, her energy
fading in spite of the anger that fueled it.
Dr. Erosou poked his head back into the room.
“This is a hospital, everyone. Any chance you could take it down a notch?”
“Sorry,” Juliet mumbled.
Turning his attention to Brad, the doctor added,
“Miss Morris needs to take it easy. She shouldn’t get all worked up right now.”
“This guy was just leaving.” Jake glowered at
Brad, although he spoke to the doctor. Dr. Erosou nodded and left them to
resolve it.
Brad whirled around to face Jake. “This has
nothing to do with you.”
“All right, all right.” Carly stepped between
them, putting a hand on each of their chests. “Brad, you heard the doctor.
Juliet needs to relax, which means you need to go. And since Juliet doesn’t have
the strength right now to throw you out herself, I’m going to do it for her.”
“I’ll help.” Jake smirked.
“Dude, what the hell is your problem?”
“Brad…” Carly started pushing him towards the
door. “If she’ll take any of your calls, you can talk to her once she’s
recovered, okay? Bye-bye, now.”
She tried to slam the door in his face, but the
stupid hospital door had one of those mechanisms that made it close slowly even
if you pushed on it.
“I love you, Juliet.”
“Well then you shouldn’t have fucking cheated on
me.”
“I swear, it was only this one time…”
“Brad, enough,” Carly interrupted. “Look at her,
she’s pale as a ghost. You’re done.”
With one last push to help it along, the door
finally closed. Carly leaned back against it with a laugh. “Well, that was
entertaining.”
Juliet chuckled. “First a gunshot and now this?
What’s next?”
Carly finally had a chance to approach the bed.
She took Juliet’s hand. “Are you okay?”
Jake couldn’t help listening, but this time he
did move to a chair on the other side of the room to give them a semblance of
privacy.
“I’ll be
all right. Just try to discourage Brad from coming back, please.”
“I’ll try, but you know how he can be.”
“Tell him I promise I’ll call once I’m out of
the hospital. I just can’t deal with him yet, you know?”
“Are you really going to call him?”
She scoffed. “Not a chance in hell.”
“Good girl. Now, tell me, is this the infamous
Jake who’s friends with your brother?”
Jake looked up at the mention of his name. He
wasn’t sure if the smirks on the girls’ faces were a good thing or not. “Uh oh,
should I be worried? How much do you know?”
“Oh, I know everything.” Carly laughed.
Juliet started to yawn again, so he sat beside
her once more. “You should go back to sleep.”
“No, I’m okay.”
“Yeah, sure you are.” Without waiting for
permission, he pressed the bed control so she could lay flat. Carly gave him a
curious glance he couldn’t quite figure out. “Um, sorry, I know you came by to
visit, but…”
“It’s okay. I’m glad Juliet has someone taking
care of her. I’ll come back later.”
“Sorry I
spoiled your bachelorette party.”
“Yeah, the nerve of you, getting shot on my big
night. Always trying to steal my thunder.” Carly laughed then flounced out of
the room.
Jake tried to sit quietly. He really did. But he
had to know the deal between her and Brad. Had she actually loved that guy?
Juliet shifted under his stare. She flicked her eyes towards him then turned
all her focus to the movie playing on TV.
“What were you watching?”
Jake picked up the remote and shut the TV off.
“Guess we’re not watching anything.”
“That was your boyfriend?”
“Yeah, at least until last night.”
“How did you find out he was cheating?”
A grimace of pain crossed her face. She had
cared about him.
“I saw him. I can’t get the image of him groping
that giggling blonde out of my mind.” She shook her head as if she could jar
the image loose. Taking a deep breath, she gazed back up into his eyes. “That’s
why I ran out of the bar and how I ended up on the boardwalk by that gang
fight.”
Jake stroked her cheek. He didn’t know why, but
he couldn’t seem to stop touching her. “Anyone who would cheat on you is an
absolute idiot. You’re better off without him.”
“I don’t know… We’ve been together for five
years.”
“
Five
years
?”
Juliet laughed. “Why, what’s your longest
relationship?”
“It’s not that. I just can’t picture you and
him…” Jake trailed off, realizing he really didn’t want to finish that thought.
For a reason he didn’t want to explore too closely, the idea of Juliet in bed
with that prick made him want to punch something. He was almost grateful when
she interrupted the visions his mind had begun conjuring.
“Come on, don’t change the subject. I need to
stop thinking about Brad. So tell me.”
“Um…” The gratefulness disappeared rapidly in
the face of her question. Jake found himself trying to figure out what Juliet
might like to hear. Should he tell her the truth? “Not long,” he hedged.
“You’re still just like Aaron was before he got
married, aren’t you? Partying every weekend, bringing different girls home
every night?”
He lifted one shoulder. “Come on, I’m not like
that.” Although to tell the truth he couldn’t remember the last time he’d been
serious with anyone. Knowing anything he said would prompt more questions, he
decided maybe watching TV would be the best thing after all.
****
A few hours later, two detectives arrived.
Detective Harris had a slight paunch and receding hairline, but his entire
attitude screamed cop. Juliet felt confident he could tackle this investigation
with ease. He almost reminded her of
a little rumpled but probably brilliant.
“Take a look at these and tell us if you
recognize anyone,” Harris instructed as he placed an array of photos in front
of her.
“You can take all the time you need. There’s no
rush.” Detective Reed had a friendly manner. A tall, athletic man, he could
easily intimidate suspects. But judging from his youth, he lacked the
experience of his partner. His entire attitude also revealed he was probably a
complete teddy bear when not trying to look tough.
The identification didn’t take long. Juliet
picked out the shooter almost immediately. Harris and Reed exchanged a quick
glance at her identification.
“What is it?” Jake demanded.
As he straightened into a stiff, soldier-like
posture to pull out his badge and introduce himself, he morphed from her
brother’s cute friend into big, bad-ass FBI agent. She held back a snicker.
“It’s Miguel Martinez, better known as Diablo,”
Harris told him. From the expression on Jake’s face, he clearly recognized the
name. His subtly shifting positions betrayed his unease.
“We’ll take this to the DA’s office immediately
and see how they want to proceed,” Harris assured Jake.
“Think you’ll have any luck finding
there’s a witness who can ID him.”
“I’ll talk to the captain about getting Miss
Morris some plain-clothes protection for when she leaves. In the meantime,
we’ll leave a couple uniforms at her door.”
“That didn’t exactly answer my question.”
Reed shrugged, stepping forward to join the
conversation. “We know where he hangs out. Whether or not he’ll be there now or
go into hiding remains to be seen. Hopefully his arrogance will make him stick
around.”
Harris turned back to Juliet. “Thank you for
your help, Miss Morris. We’ll be in touch.”
“Sure, of course.”
“Don’t worry, we’ll catch the guy who shot you,”
Reed added with a wink. Harris shot him an annoyed look. Juliet knew from
watching
Law & Order
the cops
weren’t supposed to make promises like that. She didn’t know why, she found it
reassuring, and obviously she realized it wasn’t a guarantee.
The detectives quickly filed out of the room,
leaving Juliet with a now visibly tense Jake.
“Am I in danger?”
“Honestly?”
“No, lie to me.”
Jake stuck his tongue out at her, like they used
to do when she was twelve and he was a high and mighty eighteen-year-old. It
broke the tension, as Jake probably intended.
“Aaron should be here any minute. Let’s wait
until he arrives and I can tell both of you.”
“Aaron’s coming? What the hell is he thinking?
His wife is about to give birth. He can’t hang around here worrying about me.”
“I told him the same thing, but you know Aaron.
He has to see you for himself.”
“Jake, you know if he hears I’m in any danger
whatsoever it will be impossible to get him to leave.”
Jake paused, considering. “Okay, fine. I’ll just
tell you. In all likelihood,
“Silence me?”
“Permanently.”
Juliet couldn’t speak. Her one good hand
clutched at the blanket while her eyes scanned the room as if the bogeyman
would leap out of the shadows. Jake reached over and enveloped her hand within
his own.