Page 75 of Time Served in New York
“I’m all cleaned up, and I think the bleeding has stopped,” I said as I lifted the towel off my knee and looked at the scrape I’d gotten from the concrete.
Someone tapped on the door, and I heard Boss ask, “Are y’all decent?”
I glanced over at the others and saw that they were both covered before I opened the door. Boss rushed in and pulled me into his arms as Stamp walked past us to get to the bathtub.
Blue and Bernadette’s argument was drowned out when Boss crushed me to his chest and started whispering in my ear. “I was so fucking terrified, baby. What happened?”
“We were on the terrace when they came in, so we went next door and . . .”
“The terraces are connected up here?”
“No. We jumped.”
Boss grabbed my shoulders and pushed me away from him as he stared into my face. “You what?”
“We jumped from one to the other and . . .”
“Do you know how high up we are?”
“Obviously,” I said, exasperated now. “Don’t chew me out.”
“You could have died!”
“He had a gun . . . I had to do something!”
“Stay on the fucking terrace and call for backup! That’s what you should have done!”
“Don’t you dare yell at me. I’ve had a rough fucking day,” I shouted back. “I have so much makeup on that if I blink wrong, it will go everywhere. If you make me cry I will . . . I’ll stab you dead. And you won’t be the first one I’ve taken out today.”
“Oh, sweetheart,” Boss whispered as he pulled me back into his arms.
I felt his arm move and hissed, “Don’t touch my hair and don’t make me cry. You’re being too nice. Start yelling again.”
Boss chuckled, and I knew that he was smiling as he rubbed his hands up and down my back. “You saved Boo and our friends, Jenn.”
“I was so scared. When I saw him holding the baby, I didn’t give a shit how high up we were. I had to do something.”
“I am washing it, goddammit!” Bernadette yelled.
I lifted my head off of Boss’s chest and looked over at the tub. Bernadette was glaring at Blue, and Stamp was standing off to the side, watching the drama unfold.
“Obviously, you never skinned your knee as a child. I can see little bits of rock and dirt in there, Bernadette. I’m just trying to help you.”
“It hurts!”
“Well it’s gonna hurt worse when you get gangrene and your fucking leg rots off!”
“I hate to say this, Birdie, but Blue’s right. You’re not really doing anything by patting it. You need to let her scrub it.”
Bernadette glared at Stamp. “But it hurts!”
“Stop being a pussy! Half an hour ago, you stabbed two men, and now you’re squeamish about a boo boo?”
“I’ll stab you next!”
“Let me help you!” Blue screamed as she stood up and got in Bernadette’s face. “I couldn’t do anything out there, but I can do this. Let me fix it!”
“You’re going to make me cry,” Bernadette whispered as her face fell.
