Page 37 of Iron Will

I tell Joe I’ll be in touch, and we part ways. He goes back into the building, and I head back to my bike.

15

Laney

Idon’t see or hear from Rourke for a couple of days after that. It’s long enough that I’m not sure whether he’s forgotten about our plan.

Paisley is doing better and better all the time. The bruises on her face are healing, and her headaches are getting less frequent and severe. The break of her arm is a clean one, fortunately, and Doctor Methaney tells me he doesn’t think she’ll have any problems with it once it heals.

This is all great news, but it presents a problem. It’s getting harder and harder to keep her here and safe from Mickey.

I track down Doctor Methaney as he’s just getting off a shift in surgery. Kent Methaney is an attractive middle-aged gay man with kind eyes. His husband is a local lawyer, whom I’ve never actually met but have seen around town. He is aware of Paisley’s situation, and he’s been more than willing to keep her here as long as possible, to help me stall for time. But today when I talk to him, his eyes are somber.

“I think I’m nearing the end of what I can reasonably do to avoid discharging Paisley,” he murmurs as we walk down the hall together. “I can’t lie on the charts. And to be honest, Barber is really starting to breathe down my neck about this.” Kent reaches up and massages his neck with his hand in an unconscious gesture. “There’s no other way you can protect Paisley?”

“I’m working on it,” I say. “But I don’t want to try to go after the boyfriend through the system right now. There’s not enough evidence of harm, and unfortunately, it would just hurt Paisley and her mom in the end. Can we just keep her here one more day?” I plead.

He sighs. “Yes. One more day. But after that, Laney, there’s nothing more I can do.”

Half a dozen times,I want to go down to Paisley’s room and ask the Lords standing outside how I can get hold of Rourke. But my pride always stops me. Which brings me face to face with an uncomfortable truth. I need to talk to him about the plan to get Mickey away from the little girl and her mother for a few days. But that’s not the main reason I want to talk to him.

The main reason is because I want to look in his eyes, and see whether he’s forgotten about what happened between us in the coffee shop.

God, I amridiculous.I can’t help but groan in frustration at myself. I should just be focusing on getting Bethany help. And I should definitely forget that anything ever happened between Rourke and me. But that’s a lot easier said than done. Ihatehow many times I’ve thought of him since he kissed me. How many times I’ve fantasized about what might happen the next time I see him.

Less than a week ago, the mere idea that anything could ever happen between us would have made me laugh. The distance between us — between his world and mine — was too great for me to ever seriously imagine that anything could ever happen between us. Paradoxically, that made it feel safe to fantasize about him. He was unattainable, and therefore not exactly…real.

But now?

My body remembers the touch of his rough hands. The surprising softness of his mouth. The taste of him.

I remember his laugh. How surprised I was to hear it. It’s been echoing in my mind ever since.

I’ve been longing to hear it again. Longing to feel the caress of his breath against my neck.

I shiver.

It’s pathetic of me. God help me, he and I are from worlds about as different as two people’s can be. But I can’t deny it, as stupid as I am for letting myself feel it.

I wish he’d never kissed me. I wish he was still nothing more to me than a dangerously delicious fantasy. Something to occupy my nighttime fantasies.

Before, I was lusting after anidea. The hot, unattainable biker.

Now… I’m longing for theman.

* * *

Feelinglike I’m turning around in circles, I decide to go pay Paisley a visit. I find her mom there with her, as well as one of the Lords — the one they call Yoda.

Paisley is busy coloring something on her cast with a packet of markers that’s strewn out in front of her. She’s wearing ear buds connected to a cell phone lying in front of her, bobbing her head in rhythm to a song only she can hear. Bunnifer sits placidly beside her. Yoda is half-perched in the well of the window beside the bed. Bethany is sitting in a chair across from him, laughing, her head thrown back.

“Hey, everyone,” I greet them with a smile. Paisley immediately looks up and flashes me a wide grin of recognition.

“Hi, Laney!” she cries, the music making her talk louder. “Do you want to sign my cast?”

“Wow,” I marvel, coming closer. “Are you sure there’s even room?”

It’s true. There are signatures and drawings covering practically ever inch of the space. Scrawls of all shapes and sizes. Judging from her cast, Paisley’s the most popular girl in town.