"Don't be ridiculous," his mom said. "It'd take him forever to earn this kind of money back."

Uh, yeah ... Last thing Nick wanted was to be indentured over a doctor bill.

Kyrian returned his wallet to his pocket. "Then what do you want to do? Have the hospital turn him out into the street before he's fully healed? Wounds like that, he could get gangrene and lose a limb or die."

Hopeless despair glistened in her blue eyes and the sight kicked Nick straight in the gut.

"Mrs. Gautier ..." A tic worked in Kyrian's jaw. "I know you can't tell it by looking at me, but I've had a hard life. I've lost everyone who was ever important to me and I know what it's like to be kicked hard when you're down. You've got a great kid there. He deserves a chance. Let him work for me, part time, after school for a year, and we'll call it even."

She glanced at Nick, who wasn't so sold on this idea. "Doing what?"

"Washing my car. Running errands."

His mom scowled. "What kind of errands?"

"Yeah," Nick interjected, "I ain't no babysitter or dog walker."

Kyrian rolled his eyes. "I don't have kids or a dog." He returned his gaze to Nick's mom. "He'd pick up groceries.

Some dry cleaning. He can work with my groundskeeper trimming hedges or help my housekeeper clean the outside windows. Nothing dangerous or illegal."

That didn't sound too bad, but Nick already had a job that he liked most days. "What about Ms. Liza, Mom? Who'll help her in her store?"

Kyrian frowned at him. "Liza Dunnigan?"

"You know her?" Nick asked in surprise.

Another tight-lipped grin broke over his face. "Yeah. We go way back. And I think she'd understand if you worked for me for a while."

His mom's hand tightened on his. "I don't know ... what do you think, Nicky?"

Nick looked at the sling on his arm. There really was no way they could afford this bill. If Kyrian would pay and his mom wouldn't have to suffer .

"As long as he's not a pervert and Liza doesn't mind, I can work for him, I guess."

Kyrian laughed. "I'm not a pervert."

"You better not be 'cause I'll quit if you are."

Kyrian shook his head. "So it's settled?"

Indecision played in his mom's gaze before she nodded. "Thank you."

"No problem. Now if you two don't mind, I have an appointment I need to keep." Nick frowned.

"This late?" his mom asked suspiciously.

Kyrian nodded. "I do a lot of international business that requires me to work late at night. Like I said, I don't sleep much." And with that, he was gone.

Now that they were alone, his mom gave him her full attention. "What do you really think?"

"I think I'm really glad I'm not dead and you're not killing me over getting shot and being in the hospital, running up bills we can't afford."

Her lips trembled. "Baby, how could I be mad at you for something like this? I just wish I made enough money that you didn't have to work too. If you'd been at home—"

"Don't, Mom, please." The guilt of it was killing him.

She lifted his hand to her lips and kissed his bruised knuckles. "All right, sweetie. You just rest. Don't you worry or think about nothing except getting better." She pulled one of her black hair bands from her pocket and slicked her hair back into a sedate ponytail.

Nick smiled, knowing she did that for him so he wouldn't be embarrassed by her over-teased hair. Then she went to the sink to wash off her makeup and pull off the fake glitter eyelashes. She was so much prettier without all that goop on her face that he didn't understand why they made her wear it.

Once she looked like his mom again, she slid into the bed beside him and held him close.

Normally, he'd be pushing her away 'cause it felt like she was stifling him. But tonight, while he ached and hurt, he was glad to have her hold him close.

It'd always been just the two of them in this world. Team Fabulous. That's what she'd called them as far back as he could remember. Together they could make it through anything.

She brushed his hair back from his temple and gave him a light kiss there. "You are my little man, Nickyboo. And I'm so grateful I have you. You're the only thing I've ever done right in my entire life and if anything ever happened to you, they'd have to dig two graves 'cause I couldn't live a single day without my baby beside me."

Her words almost succeeded in making his eyes tear up, but he was too tough for that. Nothing could make him cry. Nothing. "I love you, Mom."

"I love you too, baby. Now go to sleep. You need to get better so I can beat your butt for getting hurt."

Smiling at her empty threat, Nick closed his eyes, but he couldn't sleep. His mind kept replaying the look on Alan's face as he'd pulled the trigger. The creep had tried to kill him. .

And if it was the last thing he did, he was going to get even. As his dad would say, Our blood dont run. Sometimes we want to. Sometimes we ought to. But we dont ever run from anyone or anything.

Next time he met up with Alan's "crew" they were going to feel the full wrath of Nick Gautier. ...

CHAPTER 3

Nick learned a new lesson in misery as he lay in bed, alone, in the hospital for days on end, bored out of his mind. His mom stayed with him as much as she could, as did Menyara, but they couldn't be here constantly. Kyrian would stop in and visit at night and some of the dancers from his mom's club in the daytime. Still, he spent most of the time by himself. Scariest part?

School was starting to look good. He shivered in revulsion of that awful thought. "Hi . um, Nick, wasn't it?"

He opened his eye to find Nekoda of all people standing in the doorway. With her hair pulled back into a thick ponytail and dressed in a volunteer's uniform, she came deeper into the room.

Heat stung his cheeks as she looked at his ragged state of ick. Nick cleared his throat. "Yeah, it's me, but I like to think I looked better when we met. 'Cause right now, I'm pretty much hogging all the ugly."

She laughed. "No offense, but yeah, you did look a bit better. But I have to say you really rock the crazy headgear you have going right now. Not an easy thing to do to make that look good." She winked at him.

He could only imagine how foul he appeared. His head was still wrapped up, his exposed eye bruised and swollen. One shoulder was in a sling to keep it still and the other arm attached to monitors and an IV. He had a faded-out hospital gown that was freckled with the oh-so-manly-looking flower things all over it. Gah, at this point, he'd rather be back in his orange Hawaiian shirt.

All he needed to look like a bigger goober was to drool on himself. Which he might do if she kept talking to him.

She stopped next to his bed and glanced over all the monitors that beeped and hummed. "So what happened to you?"

"I got shot."

Her brows arched high. "In the eye? Is that why it's covered?

"No. I got hit there with a board, a fist, a foot, and probably a few other things. There's a bunch of stitches above my eye. Doc says the bandage for that can come off tomorrow. I'm sure I'll look even better then." His voice was thick with sarcasm. "I was clipped in the shoulder."

"Oh," she said, calming down as she scowled at his sling. "Did it hurt?"

He wanted to say no, duh, but his common sense caught his tongue before he insulted her. Even though it still hurt, he straightened up into his tough posture. "Nah. I took it like a man."

She shook her head at him and didn't comment on his bravado. "So why did you get shot? One of your witticisms go awry?"

Nick wasn't sure how to answer that. He didn't want to take credit for something he hadn't really done—like saving people he'd helped put in harm's way. So he settled on a lesser truth. "Wrong place. Real wrong time."

"Did you see who shot you?"

"No," he lied. He hadn't even told the police who it was even though they'd bugged him several times. Rule one on the street: Narcs don't live long. Besides, he intended to settle this score on his own and the last thing he wanted was for Alan and group to be protected by prison walls when he went for them.

This was going to be between "friends."

"Like they say in the movies and shows, it all happened so fast. . "

She fretted over him. "Well, I'm sorry you got shot. It explains why I haven't seen you in school."

His ears perked up at that. She'd been looking for him? Man, for that news, Id take a bullet any day. It was all he could do not to give her a goofy grin.

She leaned closer. "But I'm happy you lived and that you're okay."

"Yeah, me too. It would have really cramped my future plans had I died. . " He flashed what he hoped was a charming smile at her then changed the topic. "So you work here?"

"Volunteer. Twice a week," she corrected. "I'm told things like this look good on a college application."

Wow, she was worried about that already? It made him feel like a slacker. "We're only in ninth grade."

She shrugged. "Yeah, but every year from now until graduation matters and everything we do affects if and where we get in. So I'm trying to make a difference."

"Gah, you sound like my mom."

"Sorry." She wrinkled her nose up in the most adorable way. He didn't know why, but it made his stomach tighten and heat flood his cheeks—if he kept that up, he'd be able to rent himself out as a lighthouse at night.

"So can I get you something to drink?" she asked. "Some ice? I have magazines and books on my cart if you want something to read."

"I'd kill for Nintendo."

She laughed. "No Nintendo on the cart. Sorry."

"You got any manga?"

"Manga?" She scowled. "What's that?"

Crap. It was too much to hope she'd share some of his more unusual interests. "Japanese comic books. I'm addicted to them."

"No, sorry again. I do have some Batman and Spider-Man if you're interested?"

"That'd be great." They were a lot shorter than the manga, but at least it'd eat up a couple of minutes while he read through them. "You got any science fiction or fantasy?"

"We have a couple of Dune books."

"Now that I could definitely go for."

She smiled. "I'll be right back."

Nick watched as she walked out of the room with a shake to her hips that ought to be illegal and in some states probably was. She really was beautiful. He didn't know what it was about her hair, but it really made him want to touch it. It just looked so soft and smooth. It probably smelled good too.

Just like her skin.

What are you thinking? She's so far out of your lea gue...

Girls like her didn't date loser dorks who mugged tourists. She was the kind who went on to date jocks and marry lawyers and surgeons and stuff.

He could just imagine the type of childhood she'd had with maids and tutors and birthday parties with presents wrapped in something other than hand-decorated grocery sacks. Her parents would probably flip out and die if they knew she was even talking to filth like him.

"Here you go." She returned and handed him a stack of books and comic books.

Nick smiled. "Bless you."

"Any time." She stepped back from the bed. "Well, I better get going. I still have to make my rounds and visit other patients. I promised Mrs. O'Malley that I'd play rummy with her today."

Wow, that was real sweet of her. "Okay. Thanks so much for stopping in and for the books." She inclined her head to him. "Take care." "You too."

Then she was gone. Nick sighed as depression set in. He hated that he was stuck here, but most of all he hated that he'd never be worthy of a girlfriend like Nekoda. He could bluster and pretend all he wanted to. It wouldn't change anything. She'd still go home to her nice house and he'd have to crawl back to the gutter where he'd been born.

Trying not to dwell on things he couldn't change, he opened a book and started reading.

Nick sighed and shifted, then jerked awake as he felt like he was falling out of bed. He blinked open his eye to find himself still in the hospital, alone.

Gah, this sucked. Wishing he'd slept longer than two hours, he reached for his tray to get another book and froze. There was a small box that hadn't been there before.

He frowned, reaching for it, then opened it up. Inside was a pink Nintendo and a small note.

Sorry for the color. Pink's my thing. But I hope this'll keep you from going crazy so that you won't have to kill anyone. I figure I can do without it for a few days if it'll spare your sanity. Get better soon,