Free Killer Cupid (The Redemption Series: Book 1) by Maeve Christopher

You’d think by now he’d have learned to make it properly.”
    “No.” Jimmy winked at me and took a swig. “Trust me. Eduardo is world famous for bad coffee.” Nita’s laugh was contagious, and even I giggled.
    I took a small sip. “But this is very good.” I never drank coffee, but it was fine as far as I could tell. “Where are you from?” Another lame conversation-starter.
    Nita looked amused that I dwelt so much on geography. “Don’t mess with Texas ,” she said to him, then smiled at me.
    “Don’t mess with Texas.” Jimmy grinned again. His gaze fell on David, and his serious demeanor returned.
    Nita said, “There’s been no change. And where is Eduardo anyway? He’s been gone for hours.”
    He never took his eyes off David. “Fourteen guys dead, Nita. Pearson’s got to get to the bottom of it, and Eduardo’s the only one that came out of there able to talk.”
    She exhaled a heavy sigh. “It’s been a very long day. I need to get some sleep. Everyone will be here in just a few hours. Debbie, can I help you to your room?”
    My hands stiffened around the coffee mug. “I — I’m going to stay here with David.”
    She gave Jimmy a look as she rose from her seat, and headed toward me. “Okay.” She bent over and kissed me lightly on the top of my head. “Good night.” She paused to look at David momentarily and then exchanged kisses on the cheek with Jimmy. “Good night.”
    Jimmy swung her chair in my direction and took a seat. “I can show you to your room when you’re ready.”
I wasn’t going to be ready. I’d stay here with David. I took a gulp of the coffee to make sure I’d stay awake. Then I heard myself whisper, “How did this happen?”
    He shook his head and turned his gaze from David to me. “We don’t really know. Something went wrong. They were attacked, and David was hit. There was an explosion, and the force of it knocked him into a muddy river. Eduardo was able to get him out, but infection set in. It took a couple days to get out of there. It’s called sepsis. They’ve got to figure out what drugs will work on the infection. Probably some weird bugs.” He put his coffee down and rubbed bloodshot eyes.
    I thought Jimmy must be like David. He was obviously very strong and fit and tough and serious. But I could see there was a nice man in there somewhere.

Chapter Six
     
    The noise blasted me awake, and I lifted my head from the edge of the bed to see Jimmy running into the room followed by several nurses. “Get her outta here!” one of them said.
    Jimmy lifted me out of the seat, and I struggled so hard he had to put me down in the hallway so as not to break me. “I’ll take you to your room.”
    “No!” I freed a hand and swung in an effort to get away. He grabbed me as I noticed Dr. Earle and Nita race into the room followed by more people and equipment. “David!”
    He subdued me into a lonely chair in the corridor. “David! What happened? David!”
    “It’s his blood pressure. His blood pressure’s too low. The infection, it’s messing up his blood pressure and his heart. They’ve got to get it under control. That’s all. Let them do their job.”
     
    Nita
     
    Debbie was hysterical by the time Dr. Earle and I arrived back in the hallway to explain to everyone what was going on. Earle managed to quiet her enough to be heard, and reported that the diagnosis was now septic shock, a grave condition. They were working to tweak the drug regimen, and it would still be some time before they’d be positive what drugs would work against all the invading pathogens.
    For the moment, David was somewhat stable. Debbie was not. It was obvious she desperately needed sleep. Jimmy carried her to her room as she wondered aloud why we wouldn’t give him penicillin.
    After an hour of cajoling, and pleading with her, I tucked Debbie into her bed and headed back down the hall to David’s room. Exhaustion overwhelmed me. The sound of Eduardo sobbing stopped me