When a Man Loves a Woman (Indigo) by LaConnie Taylor-Jones Read Free Book Online Page A

clean when your mother stopped by.”
    “Baptiste, Mom is a nurse, for heaven’s sake.”
    “Nurse or not, I don’t want her to smell me like this.” He paused and scooted on his rear, trying without success to focus on the clock on the nightstand. “By the way, what time is it?”
    “It’s eight.”
    “And what time is Louise coming over?”
    “She called right before I got ready to walk out the door to drop the girls off and said there’s been an accident on Interstate 580 that’s causing a major backup. That’s the reason she’s not here now.”
    Bracing his weight on his right palm, he attempted to sit up again. “Okay,” he panted. “That gives me a little more time.”
    Vic’s eyes widened. “A little more time for what?”
    “To take a shower, woman.”
    She noticed that he was clutching his left side. “Don’t even think about moving. Stay right there.”
    She raced to the bathroom and back, squatting in front of him with a glass of water and a container of pills. “Come on, open your mouth for me.”
    A.J. started to shake his head, but the pounding at his temples convinced him otherwise. “No more drugs.”
    “Baptiste…”
    “Honey, I said no.”
    “You’re in pain.”
    “I’ll live.”
    Vic scooted up a little closer and swung the medicine bottle back and forth in front of his face. “If you take these, they’ll make you feel better,” she sweetly coaxed.
    “No, they won’t,” he grumbled. “They’ll make me sleepy.”
    She bit her bottom lip to keep from chuckling out loud. She knew doctors made the worst patients, and he was proving to be no exception.
    “Morphine usually does that. Come on, man, open your mouth for me.”
    “No.”
    “You’re making it harder on yourself.”
    He pursed his lips.
    Vic discreetly took out two pills and placed them, along with the glass of water, on the nightstand. Gently cupping Baptiste’s chin to steady his head with one hand, she grabbed the end of his nose with the other. When he was forced to open his mouth to breathe, she quickly slipped the medication into the back of his mouth, grabbed the cup off the nightstand, and placed it to his lips. “Drink and swallow.”
    “You play dirty,” he said, his voice strangled from water traveling in the wrong direction down his windpipe.
    “And I fight even harder.” She pulled him into a sitting position, bracing his back against the bottom of the bed. “Open your mouth for me.”
    “Why?”
    “I want to be sure you swallowed those pills.”
    He chuckled. “Woman, you’re crazy.”
    “I know. Now open your mouth.”
    He complied.
    She peeked inside. “Stick it out.”
    “What?”
    “Baptiste, don’t go there with me. Stick it out.”
    When he stuck out his tongue, she swept her finger underneath his tongue, and along the space between the gums and teeth. She wanted to be certain he hadn’t hidden the medication.
    He chuckled again. “Where did you learn that little trick?”
    “When I worked in pediatric oncology.” She sat back on her haunches. “Boy, I swear I don’t know what I’m going to do with you. You got dizzy, didn’t you?”
    He nodded and immediately groaned.
    “Umm-hmm. And your head hurts?”
    He winced.
    “Baptiste, you sustained a complex concussion, busted ribs—”
    “And I stink.”
    “You do not stink. God, you’re the most stubborn man I’ve ever met in my life.”
    “Look who’s talking. If I opened a dictionary and looked up the word stubborn, your picture would be next to it.”
    “Boy, hush. Tell me, how many of me do you see?”
    “Three.”
    “Well, the real me is in the middle.” She stood and leaned over slightly, locking her knees. “Okay, arms around my neck.”
    “I’m too heavy for you to try and lift.”
    “No, you’re not. We just gotta work together.”
    He wrapped his arms around her neck and locked his fingers together for added leverage.
    “All right, move with me on three.” She planted her feet firmly apart.