“Who said I didn’t know him? Besides, I would be really fucking concerned about my job...” Officer Wiggum turned to me and whispered “If I were really a cop.”

“If you’re not a cop then who are you?” I asked as non police office Wiggum took a syringe out of a pencil case.

“Wait, what are you giving him?” I placed my hand in front of the IV and the needle pricked my skin as he was about to push on the plunger. He growled in annoyance. “I’m just someone who happened to be in the right place at the right time,” he said, grabbing my wrist he tossed it out of his way. I licked the drop of blood from the back of my hand. “And calm your pretty face. I’m just giving him something that will wake him up a bit,” he said, pushing on the plunger. “Whatever fucking horse tranquilizer they gave him when they arrested him was meant to keep him comatose for quite a while.”

“Then how were they supposed to do an evaluation on him? That makes no sense.”

“Something tells me they never planned on any sort of evaluation. Keep your eyes out around here. Shit’s gone a little sideways. Don’t trust anyone. Especially not the cops or even the doctors.” He leaned over Preppy and gave each of his cheeks a couple of short slaps.

Preppy’s eyelids fluttered. He moaned softly and the sound shot straight to my heart. I was so focused on him waking up I didn’t realize that the man in the officer’s uniform had been staring at me. “What?” I asked, feeling uncomfortable under his dark glare.

“You must be Dre,” he said, with no sort of emotion attached to the words.

“How did you know who I am?”

Finally he smiled although it was a small crooked smile. “I know everything,” he stated. He stood and tipped his hat to me on the way out. He glanced at Preppy one final time. “I’ll tell King and Bear he’s going home. Don’t leave his side and when he comes around tell Prep he owes me one. Again.”

I nodded, “I will. Thank you.” Before he could step away I realized something. “Wait! Who do I tell him he owes? Unless Wiggum is really your name?” I asked, pointing to his badge.

He shook his head and grinned.

“Name’s Smoke.”

CHAPTER SEVENTEEN

PREPPY

For a few moments before Dre realized I was awake I watched her. It had been so long since I’d seen her. Like REALLY seen her in the light, yet nothing and everything had changed. Her skin was clear and so were the whites of her eyes. She was a knock out as a strung out junkie but sober made me feel warm and tingly in every part of my body, even the one that had refused to work for weeks. Even though she’s wearing short sleeves she makes the motion like she’s pulling down on her sleeves to cover the scars on her arms which are now barely noticeable. It turned from a habit into a nervous quirk and it’s fucking adorable.

Dre was talking with someone but I can’t see who the fuck it was and I didn’t care. I was still checking out Dre and not believing she was really there. She still bites the side of her thumb too and if you looked at her from the wrong angle it almost seems as if she’s sucking on it which makes my useless dick twitch for the first time in eons.

Something about her having the same little quirks made me feel like I wasn’t so out of the loop, although I knew when my inspection of Dre landed on the sparkling diamond on her left hand that out of the loop is a fucking understatement.

I suppress a laugh, still not wanting her to know I was conscious just yet when I realize that she’s talking to Smoke and he’s wearing a full police uniform. Fuck knows what that was about but what tickled me as funny was that his name badge said Wiggum. I wait until he’s gone before saying, “Wiggum. Chief Wiggum is the police chief on the Simpsons.”

“Good, you’re awake. What were you doing on the water tower?” she asked, smoothing my hair from my face. I want to lean into her touch but instead I flinch, a little reflex I picked up courtesy of Chop and she withdrew her hand.

I flashed her the biggest smile I could, forgetting about my missing tooth. I must have looked a mess. “I...” I started, not really remembering why I was there in the first place, but when the memory hits and I recall the party. The ring. The backstreet boy I knocked out. THE KISS. I decide to go with the truth. Sort of. “I was looking for you.”

“Were you trying to jump?” she asked, crossing her arms over her chest like she was both pissed and disappointed, but I couldn’t linger on that because the motion pushed her tits up over the neckline of her shirt and suddenly I hated the inch or so of cotton hiding what I knew to be perfect pink nipples from me.

“No, but I might have been screaming a little. Okay, a lot. Someone must have called the cops about the lunatic on the water tower and they hauled me in thinking I was going to take the long leap to nowhere.”

“But you weren’t?” she asked, like she was making sure.

“No, Doc,” I reassured her. She nodded and breathed out slowly, like she’d been holding her breath. “One of the officers must have gotten a little punchy,” I said, feeling the knot on my forehead. “Fucker.”

“King and Bear are in the waiting room. I’ll go tell them you’re ready to go home,” she said standing up.

I grabbed her wrist and she sat back down. “No, Doc. I can’t go back there. It’s too.” I stopped. “It’s just too...everything.”

“Where do you want to go?”

“With you,” I said, pleading with my eyes. “I want to go with you.”

“Preppy...” she started, looking down at her lap. “That’s not a good idea.”

“Because you’re engaged?” I asked sounding more bitter than I intended. “‘Cause married people can’t get engaged, unless the rules have changed. Shit, everything else has changed. Wouldn’t surprise me.”

“No, because I’m not even going to be here long. I’m going home to help my dad the second the house sells and the realtor thinks that could be really soon. And I’m not—”

“Okay, so I’ll only stay until it sells or until you go home.”

Basically, I’ll just be there for as long as you’re there.

“Preppy,” Dre said, sounding unconvinced. I was going to have to bring out the big guns.