Total pages in book: 71
Estimated words: 71625 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 358(@200wpm)___ 287(@250wpm)___ 239(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 71625 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 358(@200wpm)___ 287(@250wpm)___ 239(@300wpm)
Would spending more time with Steel be okay? Hell yes!
Did Steel want me to be spending more time with him? Hell no.
I could tell that he was on edge. Something was bothering him, and I didn’t know what.
“I don’t know…” I hedged.
Just then, a fight broke out behind Steel’s back between a mother of a child on one side of the hallway, and the patient in the bed directly across from them.
“No!” one woman screamed. “I will not allow you to be seen in front of my son. You cut us off on the way into the parking lot. My son has a broken arm.”
“I have a fucking broken leg!” the man countered.
Then he emphasized his anger by picking up the IV pole and launching it.
Steel was there before the pole could make contact with the woman.
He had it in his hand and was turning to the man who’d thrown the pole. “I realize,” Steel said with a deathly silent voice. “That you are hurting. I realize that you’re scared, but you’re arguing with a woman over a child. You’re packed in here like sardines, so unless you want to be tossed out on your ass, I suggest you stop actin’ like a dumbass and control yourself. Capiche?”
The man nodded once, and Steel placed the IV pole back where it was before turning to the woman.
“Your son may have a broken arm, but this man has a goddamn bone sticking out of his leg.”
The woman’s eyes widened.
“That’s a medical emergency.”
The woman didn’t say anything.
“Stay away from him. Wait your turn.”
Then he turned back to me.
His face was hard and unyielding.
“You’re coming with me,” he said through clenched teeth. “This place is a disaster. There’s no way in hell you’d be able to protect yourself in all of this. If he lets you come with me, and you still get paid, I think you should do it.”
I licked my lips, then turned back to where Tex was standing in the middle of the cluttered hallway, eyes wide. “That’s fine with me. I’m going to give you my number, though, so we can coordinate, okay?”
And that was how I found myself going along with Steel.
Let’s just say he wasn’t very happy about it.
***
An hour later, and we found ourselves in the middle of a partially flooded parking lot after spending hours trying to get into downtown. The roads were terrible. Most of them were unpassable. There was so much debris, and crap in the road that the ones that weren’t blocked by water were still nearly impossible to utilize.
And this parking lot was one of the better parking lots, according to the man who was directly in front of me, talking strategy with Steel.
“You’re one of the first ten boats here in this area, so we’d like to get you out on the water as soon as we can. We’re always going to have someone staying behind since the water is still rising. If it gets too close to your truck, we’ll have someone move it.”
Steel nodded. “Fine with me. How are they getting the boats into the water?”
“Some are just backing them up there,” he pointed to the parking lot’s entrance that almost descended straight into the water like a boat ramp would.
Only, it wasn’t a boat ramp. It was really one of those god-awful driveways that you’d normally scrape the bottom of your car on as you were pulling into it.
“Sounds fine…” he looked over to me. “You know how to drive a boat?”
I shook my head. “Negative.”
His lips twitched.
That ‘negative’ had come straight from his mouth every time I’d asked to stop on the way down here.
The one and only time he’d deigned to stop was when I told him I was going to pee on his leather seats if he didn’t find me accommodations pronto.
And I was fairly sure he hadn’t even gotten out of the truck to pee at all our entire trip.
In fact, I was eyeing the waders he’d slipped on as we’d gotten out of the truck and wondered if he’d gone at all since we’d left. Maybe he had a catheter placed, who knew?
“You got somewhere she can stay?” Steel suddenly asked. “They told her to go to the command tent. That this one?”
The man nodded and then gestured for us to follow.
We did, and I tried not to look down at the disgusting water.
At least I’d brought boots—at Steel’s urging.
They were cute, pink, and neoprene. I’d spent about eighty-five dollars on them the week before I’d found out about my husband cheating on me. I’d also bought the kids a pair—which had been the last big purchase for them that I’d been able to make since.
“Yeah, here’s as good as any,” the man informed me. “That’s what we have set up so far. This is the central hub, so they’re bringing everyone here first. If you want, you can set your stuff up in that corner and we’ll start funneling them toward you.”