Hot Ticket

Chapter 23

Jace opened his eyes to absolute darkness. His body was on fire. His throat drier than a saltine in the Mojave Desert. What had woken him? His bladder protested its fullness. Oh. The glow of the streetlight outside his apartment and the comforting purr of Brownie near his pillow sank into his addled thoughts. He was home? How had he gotten home? A warm hand rested on his belly. Oh yeah. Aggie.

God, he had to pee. He felt for the edge of the bed, rolled to his feet, and immediately hit the floor with a loud thud. Pain radiated through his shoulder and arm. Fuck, getting shot hurt, and not with that sweet, stinging agony he so enjoyed.

“Jace?” Aggie’s concerned voice came from the bed above him. She switched on a lamp and peered over the edge of the mattress. “Are you okay?”

He lay on the floor, simultaneously breathing through his pain and trying not to laugh so he didn’t piss himself. “Can you help me up? I need to get to the bathroom.”

So much for rescuing his damsel in distress. She’d done most of the rescuing, and now she was going to have to help him take a piss. Some hero I am.

Aggie climbed from the bed and hefted him to his feet. He clutched the chest of his hospital gown with one hand and held on to Aggie with the other. Apparently, those wonderful pain meds they’d dripped into him in the hospital had worn off.

“You’re burning up, baby,” Aggie said.

“I’m freezing.”

“We’ve got to get you back to the hospital,” she said. “If you get an infection—”

“No, I don’t need a hospital. I need a toilet.”

He leaned heavily on her as she helped him out of the bedroom and to the bathroom next door. He tried to get his balance, but decided without her support, he’d soon find himself on the floor again. He’d never felt so woozy.

“I can’t stay on my feet without you,” he whispered.

“Just go,” she insisted. “It won’t bother me.”

She helped him keep the hospital gown out of the way as he mostly hit the toilet. He couldn’t help but sigh with relief as he drained his bladder. His eyes rolled into his head in bliss. Aggie chuckled. When he’d finished, she helped him back to the bedroom and tucked him into bed.

“Thirsty,” he murmured, almost asleep again. Just the walk to the bathroom had sapped his energy.

She shook him awake and pressed a bottle to his lips. “Jace, you have to drink.”

When had he fallen asleep again?

“Jace? Please drink, baby.”

“Aggie?”

“Yeah, it’s me. Take a drink. Come on.”

The first swallow hurt going down, but then he couldn’t get enough. He chugged the icy sports drink until the bottle was empty, and then shivered uncontrollably. Why was he so cold? Aggie stood and started to leave him alone.

“Stay,” Jace whispered.

“I was going to get you another blanket.”

“Stay.”

She sat beside him, her fingers stroking his cheek. He could feel himself drifting back into oblivion, but wanted to keep his eyes open—wanted to look at her. He missed looking at her when they were apart, and they’d been apart far too long while he’d been touring last month. Aggie sniffed. A lone tear slipped down her cheek and dripped off the edge of her jaw.

“Don’t cry,” he murmured.

“This is my fault. If you’d never met me, this wouldn’t have happened.”

“If I’d never met you, I would have never gotten to hold you. I’ll take the bullet.”

He hadn’t meant to make her cry harder. She wrapped her arms around him and pressed her face into his shoulder. Her body quaked with sobs as she clung to him. “Don’t die on me, Jace, please.”

“Not planning to.”

He wanted to hold her, comfort her, but his exhaustion had reached absolute, and he had no choice but to succumb to it.