“And what right do you have to stop us? Are you his wife or something?” Arm put his hands in his pockets and turned to stare at Big. Big frowned and strode up to us.
“Don’t do it, bro… Mr. Kinn’s asleep. Go back to your room,” one of his lackeys said as he pulled Big back.
“We’re just going in to take a look,” Arm said. “Porsche is Mr. Kinn’s head bodyguard—can’t he check that everything is in order?”
I stayed silent, watching Arm and Big argue. I couldn’t be bothered to say anything, and Big would start a fistfight if I did.
“No! I won’t let you in!” Big yelled, causing the nurse on duty to come over and check what was going on. She left when one of Big’s lackeys talked her down.
“You’re like a dog guarding a bone,” Arm said. “But the bone isn’t yours, huh?”
“Arm!” Big growled, gritting his teeth. He lunged to grab Arm by the collar. I hurriedly pushed his shoulders away and put my body between them.
“Don’t touch him!” I snapped. “And don’t make me tell you again.” I pointed my finger in Big’s face as Arm tried to maneuver me to the side.
Big looked askance at me. “You got beaten up like a stray dog, but you still have the guts to pick a fight with me?”
“You want to try?” I goaded, readying to launch myself at him. I couldn’t take it anymore. My body wasn’t fully recovered, but if he started shit and hurt me or Arm, he was going to answer for it.
“Porsche! Let me!” Arm pulled at my shirt to jump at Big himself, but they were quickly separated, me holding Arm back and Big’s lackeys holding onto him.
“What are you all doing?!” a stern voice shouted from the elevators. We all looked over and stood to attention, heads bowed.
“P’Chan!” Big’s voice trembled.
P’Chan surveyed the scene. “If you’re going to fight, take it outside,” he said evenly. “This is a hospital. Learn some manners.” He looked at me. “Porsche, why are you here?”
“Porsche is just here to visit Mr. Kinn, but these guys won’t let him in,” Arm took the opportunity to complain first. Big and his gang all glared at him. P’Chan glanced at Big out of the corner of his eye, then opened the door.
“Go on,” P’Chan said, angling his body to let me in first, then Arm, before he closed the door. The room was completely dark; Kinn must have been asleep.
“P’Chan, why are you here?” Arm whispered.
“To bring Mr. Kinn his new phone.” P’Chan walked over to place a black box beside Kinn’s bed. “Don’t disturb him too much,” he said, and left the room.
When the door closed, Arm headed over to sit on the sofa as I approached Kinn’s bedside. The light from outside filtered through the curtains, allowing me to see his face clearly. His face was bruised, but that didn’t take away from his striking features. He lay there utterly motionless, his steady breathing the only sign that he was still alive.
Kinn was hooked up to an IV drip, a blood bag, a heart rate monitor, and who knew what else. That was bad, wasn’t it?
I studied his face for a long while and unconsciously reached out to put my hand over the left side of his stomach. Through the blanket, I gently ran my hands over his gunshot wound, worried it’d feel painful. My lips pressed into a thin line. Fuckin’ show-off! Did he think he was a hero, throwing himself in front of the bullet like that? What a drama queen! I smiled to myself, startling in surprise when the hands folded at his chest suddenly slid over and grasped my wrist.
“Did I wake you up?” I whispered. Kinn smiled a little before looking over at Arm.
“Go do whatever you have to do,” he ordered, his hard voice making Arm jump up from the sofa.
“Where are you going?” I tried to call Arm back before he reached the door.
“I’ll go wait in your room!” he replied, flashing me a smile before closing the door behind him. I turned back to Kinn, but before I could say anything, he scooted over and turned onto his side, pulling me to sit next to him on the bed.
“What are you doing?!” I exclaimed. How could a gunshot victim have this much energy? He gave one firm tug and I braced myself on the bed. He beamed up at me.
“I can sit over there,” I said, pointing to the chair next to the bed.
“No, I’d rather you sit here,” Kinn said. He squeezed my wrist, as if afraid I’d escape.
“Let me go!” I tried to gently yank my hand back, mindful of his wounds.
“Don’t fight me. If you bump into my wound, I’ll have to punish you!” Kinn said, letting go of my wrist to circle my waist with both arms. I pushed at his chest, but his clingy hands weren’t letting go.
Click! The door opened.
“Porsche…” Big stopped short.
I pushed harder at Kinn, but he held onto me even tighter.
“What?” he snapped, irritated.
“Let go!” I yelled, trying to get his hands off of me.
Big was so shocked at the sight of us that it looked like his soul had left his body. He stood as still as a statue, watching me and Kinn in stunned silence.
“What do you want?!” Kinn repeated, more irritated than before.
“I… I thought you were asleep, Mr. Kinn, so I was going to…to…” Big looked at me, disapproval clear in his eyes.
“Get out!” Kinn ordered him. “If I don’t call for you, don’t come in.” Big looked away, almost as if he was trying to hide his expression. In the end, he bowed his head and exited the room.
“The hell are you doing?!” I snapped at Kinn. That fucker Big was gonna get the wrong idea! “Let me go, Kinn! Or I’ll kick you in your gunshot wound!” I threatened. He slid his hand off my waist, but just when I thought he was done, he grabbed my neck and pulled me to lie down next to him. I resisted with all my might.
“What are you doing? Let go,” I protested, but he maneuvered my head down onto his pillow.
“Don’t struggle so hard! Ow!” he yelped, and I froze. He let go of me and held his wounded abdomen.
“Serves you right,” I told him and straightened up, looking at him wailing in pain. Motherfucker! Did I seriously hurt him or is he just being a crybaby?
“Where does it hurt?” I pulled his hands off his body, pushing the blanket back and pulling up his shirt. I could faintly see blood seeping through the gauze. “Should we call the doctor?” I asked, worried. The surgical site didn’t look that big, but seeing it bleed freaked me out.
“Nah,” Kinn said as he flipped over to lie down on his back, staring at the ceiling and bracing himself against the pain.
“Let’s call the doctor. You could die, and I’m not gonna take responsibility for that!” I reached over to press the call button, but Kinn caught hold of my arm first.
“Then take responsibility,” he said, tugging at me to lie down on his other arm. “Don’t struggle again, or next time my wound will really get inflamed.” He pulled the blanket over my body. He positioned me to face him and I stayed still, not knowing what to do. A part of me wanted to struggle, but another part was afraid of bumping into his wound.
“What do you think you’re doing?!” I demanded.
He hugged me tight. “I can’t sleep… Maybe I’ve gotten used to you sleeping on top of me,” he murmured, cradling my head against his chest.
“Let me go, you bastard!” I yelled. I shouldn’t have come here! Fuck! If I punched his wound and it got infected and he died, would his father blame me?
“Shush! Go to sleep. Comfort me—I took a bullet for you,” Kinn murmured, laughing.
“I didn’t ask you to do that,” I said.
“So ungrateful,” he replied, hugging me. I moved around a bit and settled down, resigned to my fate. I wanted to push him away, but he just had to point out that he took a damn bullet for me. Bastard! Fine, I’ll sleep. I started to feel drowsy, drifting off to Kinn’s familiar scent.
Just you wait! Once you’re all healed up, I’ll get my revenge for every damned thing you did to me!