Fatal Series 01 - Fatal Affair

glass. It can be replaced. But you…” His voice hitched with emotion. Brushing his lips over the lump on her forehead, he took a deep shuddering breath. “There’s no replacing you. I ought to know. I tried for six years.”
    “Nick,” she said, haltingly, “I’m supposed to hold it together and do my job, but this…” She fixed her eyes on the firefighters hosing down what was left of her car.
    “Nothing’s going to happen to you. I won’t let it.”
    Smiling now but still shaky, she turned to him and wiped the drying blood from his brow. “And how do you intend to do that?”
    “By not letting you out of my sight.”
    “Nick—”
    “Sergeant Holland?” Officer Severson said. “The paramedics are ready for you.”
    “We’re not finished,” she told Nick as she gestured the paramedics over. “We’ll talk about this later.”
    “You bet your fine ass we will.”

    Remarkably, Nick’s injuries were more serious than Sam’s. He required five stitches to close the cut over his left eyebrow and stitches in his right foot after doctors removed several slivers of glass. In addition, he had a slight concussion and a minor case of hypothermia from the hour he spent half-dressed in the cold.
    Sam, on the other hand, had only a bump on the head and an ugly bruise on her breastbone where she’d connected with the bushes. When she allowed her mind to wander to what could’ve happened, she was beset by the shakes. She decided it was better if she didn’t think about it until she had to. Standing at Nick’s bedside, watching the plastic surgeon stitch his forehead, Sam’s knees went weak as the needle passed through his flesh. Nothing freaked her out more than needles—not even airplanes.
    The TV was tuned to John’s public wake in Richmond, with special coverage of the O’Connor family’s poignant visit the day before. Nick was riveted to the coverage, but Sam was riveted to the needle.
    “You’ll have a scar,” she whispered.
    “No way,” the doctor protested. “He’ll be good as new.”
    “Damn,” Nick said with a grin. “I was hoping for a gnarly scar.”
    “It’s not funny,” Sam snapped.
    “Hey.” He squeezed her hand. “Why don’t you wait outside? You’re pale as a ghost.”
    “I’d rather stay in here where there’re needles than face what’s waiting for me out there.”
    “And that would be?”
    “I heard the lieutenant and the captain are here, no doubt media, too. It’ll be all over the news that I spent the night with you.”
    “We’ll deal with it, babe.”
    “ I will deal with it. You will say nothing, you got me?”
    “I’m not going to let you get reamed for something we both had a hand in.”
    “You’re a civilian . You won’t help me if you try to fight my battles for me, Nick. You have to promise me you’ll resist the urge to speak.”
    “Or?”
    “I’ll have Freddie toss you in the can until the dust settles.”
    “You wouldn’t dare.”
    “Oh no?” She leaned in close to his battered face, but not too close to the needle. “Try me.”
    The doctor smiled. “I think I’d listen to the lady if I were you—unless you want to be back for more stitches.”
    “The lady ,” Nick said, never taking his eyes off Sam, “is sadly deluded if she thinks she can order me around like one of her collars.”
    “Ohhh,” Sam said. “Listen to him spewing cop talk.” Reaching behind her, she grabbed her cuffs and snapped them on him and the bed rail so fast he never saw it coming.
    “What the fuck?” He tugged on the cuffs, clanked them against the metal rail. “Goddamn it, Sam!”
    “Ah, you need to stay still unless you want a needle straight through to your brain,” the doctor said.
    “I’ll be back to get him after I’ve dealt with my bosses,” Sam said to the doctor. “Keep him quiet until then.”
    “Yes, ma’am,” the doctor said, seeming awestruck by her brassiness.
    “You’re going to pay for this, Samantha,” Nick growled.
    She brushed a kiss over the uninjured side of his forehead. “Be back soon.” Over her shoulder, she added, “Behave.” As she walked away, the furious clatter of cuffs made her smile. “That’ll teach him to screw with me.” Her smile faded when she encountered Lieutenant Stahl’s angry scowl in the waiting room. Realizing she was still braless, she pulled her tattered coat closed and crossed her arms.
    Stahl gestured her to a deserted corner. Captain Malone followed