Free Burn For You (Boys of the South) by Marquita Valentine Page B

to you.” I stride to the hospital, heading inside. I give blood and plasma for two reasons. One—because I’m O positive, which means my blood can be given to anyone. Two—I have to be tested to make sure I’m disease free to give it.
    When I’m with Paisley, I don’t fuck around, but she doesn’t adhere to that same courtesy. Yet another reason why I’ve been mostly done with her for so long.  If it weren’t for Mia, I would be completely done with her.
    As I greet the nurses, I check the time on the clock above their station. Landry volunteers in the neonatal intensive care unit from one to three. She’s a baby cuddler, a person who holds and rocks babies too tiny and too sick to go home.
    I can’t imagine how hard and easy it must be to cuddle those babies. Some don’t ever go home. My throat gets a little thick at the thought of Mia being in one of those units.
    Taking a sustaining breath, I sit in my usual place until I’m called back. I follow a nurse to one of the tiny rooms in the back and take a seat on the examination table.
    James, the head nurse, comes inside, flipping through my test results and smiling. “Free and clear of everything, as usual,” he says, placing the clipboard full of paper in a hanging tray. “I’m ready when you are.”
    “How are Henry and Charlie?” I ask, rolling up my sleeve and lying back while James grabs a small tray on the counter and sets it on a rolling tray.
    “Running Karen ragged, but what can you expect with Irish twins?” he says with a smile. He snaps on latex gloves.  “Fist, please.” I curl my fingers into my palm, and then he ties a band around my arm. His movements are efficient as he finds the vein, cleans it, and then sticks me with the needle. “How’s Mia?”
    “Giving up her morning nap, so crying. A lot.”
    James runs a hand through his red hair. “Ouch. Those are the worst. They’re still tired, but they don’t want to miss anything. Worse Catch-22 imaginable, until something else comes along to mess with your sanity.”
    I laugh. “Yeah, right now she’s with her mother. So, I’m getting a little break.”
    “Breaks are good.” He checks over me once more, then pulls off the latex gloves and throws them away. “I need to run over to NICU in about five minutes. My cousin’s newest is in there, and I promised to update her every half hour while she’s at work. My nephew has been here for two weeks.”
    “I’m sorry.”
    “Me too. But we’re doing the best we can to help him.”
    Gesturing to the needle with my free hand, I say, “Get going. Pretty sure I’ll be here when you get back.” Then it hits me: NICU . Maybe James knows Landry. “Are you friendly with any of the baby cuddlers?”
    James nods. “A couple of the regulars, and then the new girl. Although why we still call her the new girl, I’m not sure. She’s been regularly volunteering for two months now.”
    “Landry Basnight.”
    “You know her?”
    “Yeah.” It’s not a lie. I do know her. I just don’t know her beyond two meetings and a resume. “We’ve talked a couple of times.”
    “She’s a sweet girl.” He leans against the door, crossing his arms over his chest. “But the first couple of times she was here... Man, I didn’t think she would make it.”
    “Why?”
    “The sight of blood makes her nauseated. Not just a little sick either. Full-blown retching in the bathroom. It was just her luck that on her first day, right as she walked in, an emergency came through the back doors. But she stuck through it, and now she barely turns green. The babies seem to love her. Staff too. It’s a shame she’ll be leaving to go nanny for some rich guy.” James grins. “No offense.”
    I can tell he’s impressed with her. Hell, I’m impressed with her. “None taken.” Even if I’m the rich guy. James and I have been acquainted for years, and he speaks his mind. It’s not something I can trust a lot of people to do, beyond my buddies.
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