King of Her Desire

54

The nurse mad-dogged me the whole time I was signing the release papers she'd handed me on a clipboard.

She even gave Sochi this little "Say something" glare as I handed the clipboard back, but Sochi just smiled all innocent like she had no idea what was happening.

Cracks me up when she does that. I mean, she's not that "sweet little Indian girl" a lot of people baby talk to sometimes. But she'll play that card to get over if she needs to.

Anyway, the nurse sighed and said, "Dr. Owens would really like you to reconsider. At least until we have a full toxicology report on whatever that was."

"I hear you, but I can't," I said.

And on my nod, two security guards the hospital PR office had sent rushed Sochi and me through this maze of hallways to a loading dock where the Yoli and Espy were waiting. In a normal car, don't worry—or, well...a Jag, but, the cool one was driven back to Tucson by some friends already.

Couldn't fly. The press knows who owns what jet by the numbers on their tails. And you can bet they were watching Ben's.

And as soon as Sochi and I got in, Yoli hit the gas and said, "Damn, cuz! They been tryin'a sneak up there'n' get a shot of you sleepin' and shit."

"Wanna catch him layin' there noddin' out like he just shot up or somethin'," Espy said. "These are some treacherous bastards!"

"They made us look good the other night, though—nice shots," Yoli said. And then she winked at Sochi and said, "Hey, pretty! You gon' get some sleep now?"

"I don't think," Sochi said. "They don't want him to go. But he won't listen."

"I hear you, girl. Fool goin' straight to court when we get back pro'bly, too," Espy said.

"I missed the first hearing," I said. "And now I can't see Elliott, either."

"She didn't look all that bad at the party after they took you. I mean, they left right quick, but..."

"Oh, you could tell she was scared," Yoli told me. "But damned if most o' them people didn't just go right back out on that dance floor like nothin' happened even after she left."

"Guest of honor's gone, dude who did the thing's gone and they out there on the good foot like, 'Oh well,'" Espy said.

"Well, she collapsed at home later, I guess. I'm not sure what all went down," I said. "But it sounds like she had one of those headaches that just knock her out, pretty much. Only it was more serious this time. Some kind of inflammation in her head."

"It was some drugs she got from Mexico, right?" Espy asked. "That they don't even have here anymore. Typico..."

"I would try it," Yoli said. "If I had some big thing comin' up and it worked for me."

"Even if it could kill you?"

"What she got could kill you, too. That MS."

"No, it doesn't. You can live a long time."

"Might as well be dead. Can't walk or talk or nothin', when it really kicks in. And a woman used to doin' all she used to doin', hell...that's like bein' dead."

"Fool just...shut up and drive!"

I laughed a little bit at them bickering. But then I sighed and said, "I don't understand it too well, but there's some kind of virus that doesn't even effect most people—we all have it. But those meds revved it up some kind of way and the infection's in her brain somewhere. Something like that. It's really bad, that's all I know. They don't even have a treatment for it."