More Than Jamie Baker (Jamie Baker #2) (4 page)

“It’s my pleasure.” And there were those dimples again.

We both glanced back at Becky, who was still soaking up Ryan’s comfort.

“Look,” I said in a low voice, “I’m not going to pretend you don’t know what she’s been through. You heard what she said earlier.”

That accidentally came out sounding dangerous. Teodoro looked startled. “Yes,” he said, surprise evident in his voice. “You don’t need to worry. I would never hurt her.”

“She needs this,” I said, “but she needs you to keep your distance, too. Do not touch her. At all. Just being out with you alone will be hard enough.”

“No problem,” Teodoro promised.

My eyes narrowed on the guy in front of me. While he didn’t seem intimidating at all, he did strike me as the type of person who knew how to get what he wanted. I was sure there were a lot of brains underneath all that hair.

I tried not to say anything, but I couldn’t help myself. “If you do anything to upset her, and I mean
anything
—intentional or not—you won’t just regret meeting her. You will regret ever being born.”

His eyebrows flew up at my threat, disappearing beneath his dark, shaggy bangs. His mouth twitched with amusement. “You’re awfully protective.”

“There aren’t many people in this world I really care about. The list of people I trust is even shorter.”

Teodoro raised his hands up in surrender, flashing his dimples as if he knew they softened people’s defenses. “Hopefully soon you’ll be able to add my name to that list.” His eyes glinted with humor. “If you can remember it, that is.”

He sobered up suddenly and gave me a very sincere smile. “I’ll take every caution with your friend tonight, and I’ll get her back safely. You have my word.”

It was enough. I believed him. “Thank you.”

Ryan gave me a suspicious look once he and Becky finally joined us. He pulled me against him and smiled at Teodoro. “So, has she threatened to end your life if you hurt Becky yet?”

Teodoro threw his head back and released a loud laugh.

“Am I really so predictable?” I grumbled.

“Only when it comes to your temper,” Ryan promised, kissing the frown off my face. He looked to Teodoro and said, “Word of advice? Don’t disappoint Jamie. It can be hazardous to your health.”

Teodoro raised a curious brow. “Speaking from experience?”

“Hardly. Jamie’s way too smitten to ever be disappointed in anything I do.”

“Smitten?” I asked dryly.

“Yeah, you know. Besotted? Infatuated? Obsessed? Head over heels in love with me?”

“Like you are with yourself?” I deadpanned, laughing despite myself.

Ryan grinned. “There’s the smile I’ve been waiting for. I knew you had one in you somewhere.”

I gave up and wrapped my arms around Ryan’s waist like the “smitten” girlfriend that I was. “I love you.”

“D-R-I-S-C-O-L-L,” Ryan spelled
for the hospital receptionist. “Mike Driscoll. He was brought in this afternoon after a car accident.”

The woman behind the desk sighed, as if having to type in a patient’s name was the world’s biggest inconvenience. I wanted to throttle her. My boyfriend’s best friend could be dead, and this lady was giving him attitude because he’d interrupted her study of
Us Weekly
.

I cleared my throat and glared at the woman. She didn’t seem impressed, but she did answer Ryan. “Driscoll, Mike. Yeah, he’s here. He’s in the ICU.”

Ryan took a deep breath. I squeezed his hand in mine. “At least that means he’s not dead.”

“You’re right.” Ryan forced a smile at the miserable nurse. “How is he? Do you know if he’s going to be okay?”

The woman sighed and removed her glasses from her face. “I can only give that information to immediate family.”

“I’m his sister,” I said quickly.

Nazi Nurse didn’t miss a beat. “Sure, you are.” She picked up her magazine again and mindlessly waved us off. “Have a good day, you two.”

I seriously wanted to kill the woman. I was so mad that I lost control of my power for the second time that night. A burst of energy surged from my body, causing all the lights in the building to flicker.

Ryan shot me a sharp look that I ignored.

The receptionist looked up at the lights curiously, and then realized Ryan and I were still standing there. When she raised her brow I said, “Where’s the ICU?”

“Third floor,” she answered. “But again, only
immediate family
is allowed to visit.”

I glanced at the woman’s name tag and smiled sweetly. “Joy. Such a nice name. A bit ironic, but pretty.”

The woman sighed again. “Watch out, we’ve got a live one here, folks!” she droned in a flat voice.

The lights flickered again and Ryan grabbed my hand. “Come on, Jamie,” he whispered. “I’ll just keep trying his parents.” He forced a polite smile at the receptionist and said, “Thank you.”

If you ask me, the woman didn’t deserve Ryan’s gratitude.

As Ryan tugged me toward the exit, the phone on the troll’s desk began to ring. I sent a wave of electricity its way. When the woman picked up the receiver, she yelped and dropped it.

Ryan looked at me, but I just shrugged and dragged him out of the building. We got about ten paces before Ryan stopped me. “Jamie, what’s going on with you?”

“What?” I snapped. “She was awful!”

“But zapping her?”

“It’s not like it hurt,” I grumbled. “Much.”

“What’s wrong? This isn’t like you.”

I laughed harshly. “Hello, I’m the
Ice Queen
. Or have you forgotten?”

“Fine.” Ryan sighed and let go of my hand. “If that’s how you’re going to be, then I’m going home.”

“What? Why? You just got here.”

“I can’t handle the Ice Queen right now, all right? My best friend almost died today. I really,
really
need my girlfriend right now. Would you please call me if you see her?”

In that moment, I realized exactly how much I didn’t deserve Ryan Miller.

Ryan is the equivalent of rainbows and sunshine and all things fluffy wrapped up in an extremely gorgeous package. If he were a superhero, he’d be Happy Go Lucky Man and his power would be the ability to kill you with kindness. Ryan never gets mad. Like, ever. Especially not at me. But he was definitely angry right then.

If I was the Ice Queen, then Ryan was officially the Guilt King. I felt so bad that he didn’t even get a step away from me before there were tears in my eyes.

“Ryan, wait. I’m sorry. You’re right. I’m not dealing with this very well.”

Ryan wrapped his arms around me and sighed heavily. “No more Ice Queen?”

“No more Ice Queen.” I buried my head in his shoulder. “I promise. From now on, I’m Jamie Baker—loving, supportive, s
uper
girlfriend.”

“Oh? Does Supergirlfriend come with a costume?”

I groaned. Ever since Ryan learned about my powers, he’s had sick fantasies about dressing me up like Wonder Woman.
So
not happening.

“Nice try.”

Ryan’s answering sigh started out playful but ended up as heavy as his heart felt. I hated seeing him so upset, and suddenly I knew exactly how to cheer him up. “Do you want to go see Mike?” I asked.

“Of course I do, but you heard what the lady said. We aren’t immediate family.”

I shrugged. “She can’t stop us if she can’t catch us. You got your running shoes on?”

I smiled to myself. I knew he was going to be excited about my plan. You see, the last time I superkissed Ryan and passed him my energy, he ended up catching a falling tree with his bare hands and tossing it like a toy. The reigning theory is that my powers come from my energy. When I pass that energy to Ryan, it temporarily gives him my powers as well. He’s begged me every single day since it happened to experiment with this, but like I said, I’ve put a ban on pumping him full of mutant energy.

“I superkissed you earlier,” I explained. “You should be feeling pretty charged up right now, right? Why don’t we test your Super Ryan theory and supersneak into the ICU?”

Ryan gasped when he got it. “Are you serious?”

“Why not? The damage has already been done. May as well give it a try, right? It’s either that or you don’t sleep a wink tonight.”

Ryan glanced at the hospital and then back at me. I could read the curiosity and excitement on his face, but there was an equal amount of nervousness there. I couldn’t blame him for being a little anxious, but I still teased him. “Why, Ryan Miller, are you
scared
?”

He didn’t take the bait. “What if it doesn’t work?”

“Then we look a little silly running toward the doors, and we go back to my dorm.” I grabbed his hand in mine and gave it a slight tug. “Come on. Let’s go visit Mike.”

We walked back through the hospital lobby, me smiling at the suspicious Joy as we made our way to the elevators. Once we got to the third floor, we waited until someone in scrubs was buzzed through the secure doors.

I took off, dragging Ryan with me at superspeed. Before Ryan even had time to register what was happening, we slipped through the door behind the doctor, circled behind the nurse’s station, looked up Mike’s room number, and were standing in front of Mike’s door.

I beamed at my boyfriend, because as much as I was adamant about not charging him up, it was so amazing to have him being super right alongside me.

Ryan looked startled, but he was grinning from ear to ear. “It worked!” he whisper-squealed. “I told you it would work! We are so going to the Grand Canyon now!”

I had told Ryan once that my favorite place to visit is the Grand Canyon. I love the peace and quiet of it, and the sunsets can’t compare with anywhere else on the planet. Ryan has been trying to talk me into a camping trip ever since.

“Sure,” I said. “Book a plane ticket, and we’ll go.”

“But Jamie, it worked!”

“I know,” I said and took a breath. “So let’s forget about experimenting with powers and see Mike before someone realizes we aren’t supposed to be here and kicks us out.”

Ryan rolled his eyes, but he couldn’t really argue. The reminder of his reason for being here made him forget about the powers and brought back his wariness.

“What are we going to say if his parents are in there?” Ryan asked.

I listened for a minute and shook my head. “I don’t hear them. Maybe they went on a coffee run or something. It is pretty late.”

“Okay,” Ryan said in a small voice.

He stared at the door with dread and determination. He was braver than I was. I was closer to the doorknob, but I couldn’t turn it. Ryan had to do the honors. Then he had to physically drag me into the room.

I didn’t look up until I felt Ryan stumble to an abrupt halt. I gasped at what I saw and had to swallow back bile. My entire stomach seemed to be trying to escape my body via my throat.

Mike was barely recognizable. Both legs and one arm were in casts. He had more wires and tubes sticking out of him than someone plugged into the Matrix, and every inch of his skin that was visible was black and blue. Death probably would have looked better.

My fault.

The lights in the halls flickered and all of the machines hooked up to Mike blitzed for a moment. I had to get a grip or I’d start killing patients. “I have to go,” I whispered.

I shot out of there before Ryan even had a chance to respond.

. . . . .

By the time Ryan found me, my eyes were bloodshot from all the tears I’d shed. Thank goodness I wasn’t splotchy with snot running everywhere. I was certainly crying hard enough for that, but someone in the heavens had decided to take pity and make me one of those pretty criers. I suppose it was the least the Big Guy Upstairs could do after turning me into a mutant superpowered freak. It’s a good thing, too, because I’ve always been emotional. My schoolmates may have deemed me an ice queen, but to my parents I will always be a drama queen.

There was a time after the accident, when I was in Ice Queen mode, that nothing bothered me. I was completely numb from everything. Frozen, if you will. I didn’t cry for over a year. Then Ryan Miller came along with his buckets of sunshine and warm fuzzies, determined to thaw me out. Since then, I seem to be making up for lost time with the crying. It’s ridiculous. I was starting to get better, but this whole Mike thing was proving to be a huge setback in my progress.