Blood and Fire (McClouds & Friends #8)(120)

“Have you sh-sheen my Caroline?” the man asked, his voice slurred. He lurched closer, eyelids fluttering, eyes blurry.

Aaro held up his hand. “That’s close enough, buddy.”

“But have you sh-sheen my Caroline?” His reddened, imploring eyes fixed each of them in turn. “I’m looking for Caroline.” He held up the photo. “This is her. She’s my—”

“Keep back,” Aaro warned. “I don’t want to hurt you, man.”

“But this is her picture. She’s . . . oh!” The guy’s shuffling foot caught on the rubberized floor mat. He pitched forward, stumbling. The picture flew from his hands. The frame shattered on the floor, an arc of glass shards. The guy lunged for it with a shout, scrabbling on the floor.

Rachel took advantage of Lily’s slackened grasp and wrenched away. “I’m going in to Mamma!” She darted toward the door.

Aaro’s hand shot out, grabbing Rachel’s arm. Just then, Lily realized that the man’s hands, holding the shards of frame, were dripping with blood. The man realized it at the same moment.

He shrieked. His eyes rolled back in his head, and he stumbled, pitching forward like a falling tree. Right toward her.

Alex let go of Rachel and lunged to block him, too late.

The guy landed hard, sprawling across Lily’s chest and lap, bouncing, sliding. Immensely heavy, limp and horrible. It was a chaotic blur, yelling and flopping, a nasty sting in her arm. The smell of liquor made her stomach lurch.

The weight lifted. She gasped for air, heart thudding wildly. The man was stretched out on the ground, Aaro crouched on top of him. Aaro’s knee crushed the guy’s chest, and his fingers were clamped around the guy’s throat. The man twitched and writhed, grunting and gabbling, but he was immobilized.

“You OK, Lily?” Aaro asked, without taking his eyes off the man.

“Ah . . . ah . . .” Lily looked down at herself and dragged in a hiss of distaste. Oh, gross. He’d sliced her forearm with a piece of glass. The same arm that had gotten cut back in New York. This cut wasn’t deep, though, just messy. It dripped down her fingertips. Her sweater and jeans were wrecked. “I’m OK. I got cut with a piece of glass. No big deal.”

Aaro cursed in that language that he used only for cursing.

Zia Rosa gasped. “O Madonna santissima!” She dug into her purse, rummaged for tissues, and started mopping Lily’s arm up, muttering madly in Italian as she dabbed and swabbed.

The nurse came running out. “Oh, no. Jamison, you idiot!”

The guy named Jamison made helpless choking sounds, flopping ineffectually. Aaro’s iron grip did not waver.

“You can let go of him,” the nurse told Aaro. “He’s harmless.”

“Yeah? Tell that to my friend who’s bleeding,” Aaro said icily. “The guy’s a goddamn menace.”

“No, really,” the nurse insisted. “He lives in a halfway house up the road. He has mental health issues, but he’s not dangerous.”

“Sad case, my ass. Call the cops. The judge can decide.”

“Just let me clean him up and call his social worker,” the nurse said briskly. “Then I’ll stitch that right up for you. I’m so sorry about this. Jamison’s a screwup, but harmless. I’ve known him for years.”

Jamison began to snivel. “Caroline?” he choked out. “Caroline?”

Aaro looked pained. He lifted his strangling fist away, rose from his battle-ready crouch, taking his weight off the hitching, gasping man.

Jamison promptly rolled onto his side and curled into the fetal position, still clutching his bloody shards. He began weeping loudly. Blood was smeared on the floor beneath him, in gory, circular swirls.

Lily winced and looked away. It hurt to watch.

“Oh, dear,” the nurse murmured. She tugged his arm. “Come on, Jamison. On your feet. I’ll call Sandy for you.” She looked at Lily. “I’ll find someone to clean this up and be right back for you, OK?”

“Whatever,” Lily said, distracted. “Don’t sweat it. I’ve had worse.”

They watched, transfixed, as the guy shambled from the room, clinging to the nurse’s arm. Shoulders hitching.

Silence hung heavy in the air. Even Rachel had stopped crying, intimidated by the weirdness. Lily blew out a slow breath, squeezing the blood-soaked tissues over her arm. “That was strange,” she said quietly.

Aaro stared at the door through which the nurse had gone. “I’m sorry I let him get so close to you,” he said. “This was my fault.”

She rounded on him, appalled. “Your fault? Have you gone nuts?”

“He cut you.” Aaro’s voice was bleak. “He could have killed you. If he’d meant to. With me, standing there, three feet away!”

“Yeah, but he didn’t! For God’s sake, you guys are all alike! These insanely high standards!”

“Failure is unacceptable,” Aaro said.

“Oh, shut up,” Lily snapped. “Failure is also human, which you still are, more or less, last I checked. So get over it.”

“Excuse me? Miss? You’re up! Come on back!”

Lily looked up. The nurse beckoned her from the medical suite.

“Oh, don’t worry about it,” Lily assured her. “It’s a scratch.”