Shutter by Rhonda Laurel Read Free Book Online Page B

damage the trees. As she dropped the palette and teetered to the left, her free fall felt like slow motion.
    “I got you.” She heard a voice breathe the words into her hair.
    She turned awkwardly to see Antonio had caught her.
     
    * * *
     
     
    Antonio sat patiently in a chair in the emergency room. Lucy was up at the desk talking to one of the nurses, going over in detail what had happened to him. She fussed over him from the time he said his wrist was a little sore since catching her cartoon-like fall off the ladder to the time they reached the emergency room. He had to say she was great in an emergency, had there been an actual emergency. Truth was, he’d hurt his wrist worse playing soccer the last time he played with Alejandro and his cousins. But he liked the way she fussed over him. The awkwardness of him going on that date with Monica was put on hold and she was taking care of him. The trick was how to milk his “near-death experience” until she forgot all about that.
    Now he was armed with a dressing for his left wrist and a prescription for pain pills. Lucy was waiting for him in the hallway.
    “How do you feel?” she said nervously.
    “I feel fine. Just a little discomfort,” he said, exaggeratingly tired.
    “Let me carry that.” She took his camera bag and flung it over her shoulder. “You’re crazy trying to catch me like that.”
    “Well, I’d rather have a sprained wrist than you having a concussion.” He smiled slightly.
    “Point taken.” She cleared her throat. “Thanks for the rescue.”
    “Anytime.”
    “Your phone kept beeping while you were in there. You got a text from your sister-in-law, Lauren.”
    Suddenly alarm bells went off. “Did you tell her I was in the hospital?”
    “Yes. I told her you got hurt trying to protect me.”
    “And what did she say?” Antonio asked.
    “She said I was in excellent hands.” She smiled. “She also said not to worry, that she wouldn’t hit the panic button and tell the family. She said you’ve been laid out by your brother plenty of times playing football and you’re still standing. She sounds like a sweet person.”
    “Yes she is.” He smiled.
    “Let’s get your prescription filled so we can get you home and into bed.”
    Suddenly home, the bed, and the chocolate fountain were all swirling around in Antonio’s head.
     
    * * *
     
     
    Lucy hustled him into Felix’s apartment and onto the couch. She woke up Felix, who was taking one of his “Hollywood naps” and told him about the incident. Felix offered to help, but the look in Antonio’s eyes told him to go back into his room and finish his nap.
    Lucy made Antonio take a pain pill and helped him change into his pajamas. Lucky for him he had a pair with him. He was tempted to tell her he usually just slept in the raw or maybe a pair of boxers. As she carefully helped him take his shirt off, Antonio made sure to be as stiff as possible so she would have no choice but to help him. She even changed into a T-shirt and a pair of sweatpants of his and put her hair up into a messy ponytail. If this was how real couples spent their evenings, he could live with it.
    In addition to alleviating the minor pain in his wrist the pain medication had a euphoric affect on him. He was floating on a medically induced cloud nine and he was happy to drift off as Lucy watched over him with that doe-eyed look. He still had a chance to erase Monica from her brain.
    Thank God for women.
     
    * * *
     
     
    Antonio woke up to find himself alone in his room. Lucy’s bag was in the armchair that sat opposite the bed so he knew she was still there. He remembered waking to find her asking him how he felt, and she even checked his Ace bandage to make sure it wasn’t on too tight. He hadn’t felt that peaceful and well rested in years.
    He slipped out of bed and wandered down the hall toward the sounds of Felix and Lucy’s voices in the kitchen. They were sitting at the kitchen island