Page 20 of Bodyguard My Heart
“Y’all for real right now!” I shouted. My eyes were bouncing between all the men in the room. “Y’all gon’ talk about this right now? Demetrius, you fresh out of surgery.” I was livid. Iunderstood the danger we were in, but I didn’t understand why someone else couldn’t handle it. Demetrius was in no shape to be trying to run the damn cartel.
“Business doesn’t stop, Samara.”
“But it needs to! You almost died! You have an open abdomen and a broken leg. I’m not letting you run off to some drug war!” My heart pounded in my chest. I didn’t understand why nobody saw my side.
“If someone tried to kill me, then our livelihood is in jeopardy. I have to protect that. I ain’t laying down for no nigga, Samara!” Demetrius’s voice thundered, causing him to cough. The monitors beeped fast as he went into a coughing fit. I had upset him. That wasn’t my intention. The nurse rushed into the room, pushing us all out the way as she administered more pain medicine.
“I’m sorry!” I whispered, retreating to the corner of the room. “He got a little worked up,” I offered. The nurse acknowledged my comment with a nod as she worked hard to get him stable. If a little conversation with me made his blood pressure spike, then how was he going to orchestrate a war?
“He needs rest. We’re going to hold visitors for a while and push back his release to this afternoon. I suggest you all go home, shower, get things ready for him, and come back later.”
I heard what she’d said, but there was no way I was leaving this hospital until he could come with me. We exited his hospital room and walked into the small waiting area at the end of the hall. Everyone stood.
“Samara got us kicked out,” Royale announced. My mouth dropped in shock. I wanted to cuss his ass out, but Monroe grabbed him before I did.
“We’re going to go pack your things for the safe house. I would tell you to come with me, take a shower and change, but I know you’re not leaving.” Aliza approached me.
“Do you need anything in particular?” Rebecca added.
“No.” I shook my head. Rebecca reached for my hand and handed me her keys.
“We’re taking Monroe’s car. Royale is riding with Polo. They’re going to leave to go set things up for Meechie. Here are my keys to at least go for a drive or something.”
“Okay.” I gave them all hugs, and everybody emptied the room. I waited until everyone was gone and snuck back into Demetrius’s hospital room. My gentle bear was sleeping so soundly. Moving quietly, I plopped down in the chair next to his bed and took his hand into mine again.
“I love you,” I whispered, leaning forward and planting a kiss on his forehead. I had to figure out a way to get us out of this mess. In a perfect world we could be together free of all the drama. I stared at Demetrius. I wasn’t leaving his side to go be a sitting duck inside some safe house and leave him to die or end up in jail. There was no way.
“Ma’am, I have his discharge papers.”The nurse’s voice jolted me out of my sleep. It took a moment for me to remember where I was. I hadn’t even noticed that I’d closed my eyes, let alone gone to sleep. I looked to my left at Demetrius who was still resting. Someone had come in and changed his clothes while I was passed out. He was no longer sporting the hospital gown but a pair of gray sweatpants and a white shirt. The sunset glaring through the hospital window told me that we’d been sleeping for more than a few hours.
“Miss, do you hear me?” the nurse questioned.
“Yes, I’m sorry. Just tired.”
“I understand. It’s been a long twenty-four hours for you guys.” She smiled. “You are free to go, but Dr. Smith wants you to promise he comes in for a follow-up in two days.”
“Yes, of course.” I agreed.
“Sign here. This is the consent to discharge.” She pointed to the bottom of the page. I etched my signature on the paper as the nurse went over the recovery instructions and walked me through all of Demetrius’s medications. She showed me how to change his bandages and care for his wound. It was all standard for a patient who’d suffered his injuries. I was confident that I could take great care of him at home.
“The transporters will be here to help you get him in the car. Best of luck to you both.”
“Thank you.” I nodded my head as she exited the room. Standing up, I began gathering all Demetrius’s things. I was expecting it to take longer, but the moment I put his last item in the hospital to-go bag there was a knock on the door.
“Transport!”
“Come in,” I called, and in walked two tall, skinny, light-complexioned men. One was pushing a wheelchair. I was unsure if they were strong enough to move Demetrius, but I guess they could handle it. Lightly, they tapped him on the shoulder.
“You’re being discharged, can you stand up for us?” The tattooed man spoke. Demetrius’s eyes fluttered open, and he nodded his head. They helped him swing his body to the end of the bed before assisting him with standing up. Demetrius moved toward them. Slowly, they lowered him into the wheelchair, securing his legs into the restraints.
“We’re good to go, ma’am.” They rolled him to the door. Taking one last look around the room, I joined them in the hallway. As we made our way down the hall and into the waiting area to wait for the elevator, I was surprised to see it was empty. Royale, Polo, Contessa, Monroe, Rebecca, or Aliza were nowhereto be found. I didn’t realize no one had made it back yet. I didn’t even have my car.
“Um, excuse me, wait,” I called behind them as we piled onto the elevator.
“Yeah.” One of the men turned to look at me.
“I don’t have—” Suddenly, it dawned on me that I had Rebecca's car. I reached in the pocket of my pajamas and retrieved the car keys. Attached to them was a valet tag.
“Is this for valet?” I held up the car keys pointing to the yellow tag.