High Risk by G.K. Parks (thriller book recommendations txt) 📗

I turned again, going back to three pillows instead of two, but that only made it worse. I slid the third pillow beneath my shoulder, but that didn’t help. I got rid of all but one pillow and tried to lie on my stomach, but that hurt almost as much as lying on my back.

“Liv,” Brad stood in the doorway with my pill bottle and a glass of water, “I don’t care what Emma says. You’re on sick leave, you have a prescription, and if it causes some kind of problem at work, I’m sure your dad knows a good FOP rep you can talk to. But you’re going to take one of these, or I’m gonna end up downing the entire bottle. I can’t take seeing you in pain.”

“Don’t say things like that.”

“It was a joke.”

“A bad one.”

He moved to my bedside and turned on the lamp. He read the directions and checked the time. “It’s been six hours since you took that other crap. It should be fine.” He shook one tablet into his hand and held it out. “You seemed better earlier. What happened?”

“An unfortunate incident with the hairbrush.” I swallowed the pill and put the water on my nightstand. “I just can’t get comfortable.”

“I noticed.” He eyed the mess I’d made. “The problem is you’re not at the right angle.”

“Well, Gunnie went home with Emma.”

“Let me see what I can do.” He rearranged the pillows a few times. “Unfortunately, I have some experience with this. You have to keep the injury in a neutral position, which is complicated since you were cut from behind your ear down to your shoulder blade.” He eyed the pillows, annoyed that they wouldn’t cooperate. “Do you want to try sleeping like a horse?”

“How do they sleep?”

“Standing up.”

“Ha ha.”

“How is it you’ve been sleeping just fine these last few days?” Brad asked.

“I haven’t, but I’ve been too tired to care.” And I was way too tired to be having this conversation. The only thing I wanted was for it to stop hurting long enough so I could go to sleep. “Damn.”

“What?”

“I just realized what you meant when you said you just wanted it all to stop.” But that hadn’t been physical torment; that had been emotional.

“Hey.” Brad sat on the bed beside me. “That was one bad night and one mistake I don’t plan on repeating. Jokes aside, I’m not going to swallow a bottle of pills or drink my way to the bottom of a bottle. Well, not a brand new bottle. Lesson learned.” He brushed my hair to the side and made sure I wasn’t bleeding through the bandages. “Do you want to lie on the couch? Do you think that’ll help?”

“You just want the bed.”

“Is that an invitation?” He slid in beside me. “You need a recliner. It’d probably give you the proper angle to sleep.”

“Oh god, do not order furniture. I don’t want to wake up to find more crap in my living room.”

He maneuvered around me, taking a pillow and propping it against his chest. “Then pretend I’m a piece of furniture.”

“Brad,” I protested.

“Just give it a try. I can’t make up for what happened, but I want to do something to make this better.”

“It’s not your fault. It’s theirs. You know that.”

“It doesn’t matter. I should have been there. If you still worked undercover, I would have made sure to keep my phone close. This transfer was supposed to keep you out of harm’s way. But I royally screwed up. I promise it’ll never happen again.”

“You can’t blame yourself. I called late. You were probably asleep.”

“I was with Carrie.”

I nudged him playfully in the ribs. “Twice in two days. I thought you had a rule about that.”

“We broke it off, so we thought we’d take the weekend and end things on a high note.”

I pulled away, stunned. “What happened?”

“Lie down, Liv.” He stroked the bandage wrapped around my hand. “She met someone else and wants to give it a real shot.”

“I’m sorry.”

“Don’t be. I knew what it was. We were just having fun. I was a placeholder or a seat warmer.”

“Bad metaphor.”

“That’s not how I meant it.” The deep velvety chuckle washed over me, and I realized that was my favorite sound in the entire world. “But that’s why I didn’t hear your call, why I didn’t hang out with you that night.” He licked his lips. “I should have been with you instead.”

“Don’t be ridiculous. You’re entitled to a life outside of work.”

“It’s complicated. You know that.” He adjusted so he could look at me. “But there’s nowhere else I’d rather be than with you. On duty or off, it doesn’t matter. I won’t make that mistake again.” He ran a hand gently against my cheek. “We should get some sleep. I have to be sharp for court tomorrow. Are you feeling any better yet?”

I nodded, unsure what to say. After a few minutes, the pills kicked in enough to take the edge off, and I found a comfortable position. For the next few hours there was nothing but blissful oblivion, which ended too quickly when Brad’s alarm clock went off.

Thirty-six

Emma looked up from her spot at the table. “You don’t look so good, Liv. Come, sit down. Do you have a headache?”

“I don’t know.”

“What do you mean you don’t know?” She pressed the back of her hand against my forehead, biting her lip and frowning.

“Em,” I shrugged away from her, “I’m fine.”

But she didn’t believe me and checked my vitals. “Well, you appear to be okay.”

“That’s what I said.” I put my head in my hands. “I didn’t sleep well.” I turned to find Brad manning the stove. “How’d you sleep?”

“Better than I should have.” He