Trapped (Caged #2)(56)

“Nah, that’s all right,” I replied. “Just give me a list of dos and don’ts, and I’ll be fine.”

“I repaired a hole in your stomach a few hours ago,” the doctor said. “You’re staying until I say you can go.”

“Look, Doc,” I said as I tried to get myself a little more upright. Both Yolanda and Tria placed hands on my shoulders to keep me from going anywhere. “Two things: One, I’m a shitty patient you don’t want in your hospital. Two, you guys like to get paid. I don’t have insurance or money, so let’s not kid ourselves.”

The doctor glanced from me to Tria.

“All the costs are covered,” he said. “You are Liam Teague, correct? Or did I sew up the wrong guy?”

A shiver went down my body. I looked up at Tria, and I didn’t like the expression on her face at all.

“I had to call them,” she said quietly.

I pulled my hand away from her.

“Either way,” Dr. Baynor continued as I glared at my girlfriend, “this wasn’t exactly elective surgery. With or without the means to pay up, you’d be staying.”

I ignored him and looked pointedly at Tria.

“They wouldn’t let me in the room,” Tria explained. “They said roommates and girlfriends didn’t count, and the only people allowed in were family. I had to call someone.”

“Who did you talk to?”

“Michael,” she said. “His phone number was the only one I had. He called your father.”

“Fuck a duck,” I muttered. I looked away from her and tried not to let the word traitor spend too much time in my head. Michael would have told others, no doubt. I wanted to argue about staying but was feeling weak enough that I knew I wasn’t going to win the battle. I looked up at Yolanda.

“He stabbed me,” I said. “That f*cker got a knife from the guy outside the cage.”

“Outside?” Yolanda repeated. “What do you mean?”

“One of his cronies,” I told her. “I met him in Beals, but I don’t remember who it was.”

“Devin was there,” Tria said. “I saw him when Keith first came in.”

She turned to Yolanda.

“You didn’t miss anything—Devin had it.”

Yolanda looked down at the ground and scowled. I realized she must have been blaming herself for not checking him closely enough.

“He went up to the other dude,” I told her. “He reached outside the cage—I saw it. That had to have been when he got the knife. Where is the f*cker now?”

“In this hospital,” Tria said, “but he has two police officers outside his room. He’s actually in worse shape than you are. I haven’t seen Devin, though.”

“What was he doing there?” I asked Tria. “Did you bring him?”

“Of course not,” Tria said with a bit of a growl. “I do wonder if he followed me, though. Maybe it was just a coincidence.”

“Why were you there? You never come to watch me fight.”

“You left your cigarettes,” she said. “I saw the pack on the nightstand, and you were saying it was your last one earlier. I knew you were running late and wouldn’t have time to buy more. I thought I’d bring them to you.”

“You walked there on your own, didn’t you?” I already knew the answer and would have been livid if I had the strength. “Just to bring me f*cking cigarettes?”

“It was still light out,” she said with a shrug.

I wanted to lay into her for being stupid for a stupid reason, but even the short conversation had worn me out. I lay my head back against the pillow and let out a long, frustrated sigh.

“The cops are gonna want to talk to you,” Yolanda said. “They’re charging him with attempted murder.”

“Not until tomorrow,” Dr. Baynor said. “Liam needs to sleep now.”

He started f*cking around with the IV, and my head started feeling heavy again.

“Tria,” I mumbled.

“I’m here,” she replied.

“Don’t walk by yourself,” I muttered. “I can’t lose you.”

“You won’t, baby,” she said.

I felt her fingers running over my arm again before everything went dark.

*****

“You should get some food and rest.”

“I’m not leaving him until he wakes up.”

“Tria, the nurse said you’ve been here the whole time—you need to rest so you can be strong for him later. I’ll sit with him a while.”

“He’s the strong one,” Tria said. Her voice echoed in my head, and I wanted to answer her, but everything was still murky to me. “See? I think he’s waking up now.”

I blinked a couple of times, but it took me a few minutes to focus on Tria and Yolanda. They were both grinning at me.

“Good to see your eyes open,” Yolanda said. “The doc’s been keeping you pretty out of it.”

“How long?” I asked.

“It’s late,” Yolanda said. “Almost midnight. You were brought in last night.”

She brought over some water for me, which helped my dry throat so I could talk better. I tried to move the sheet to the side to get a better look at the bandages up the left side of my body, but Tria just tucked them back around me again.