Unlikely Places

Chapter 7 Overreact Much

My eyelids fluttered. I had a heck of a headache. I groaned and raised my hand to rub at the ache, but large hands caught mine and pulled them back down to my side, holding them in place.

I opened my eyes as I started to become aware of other odd things.

Pierce's head was bent down over mine from behind me and his eyes were pinned to my face. His ever-present frown furrowed his brow. I tugged at the hands holding mine. I had the strongest desire to smooth out his skin but his grip only tightened.

That was when I noticed I was laid out across the back seat of a car, my back propped against Pierce's chest as he sat cornered up against the door, his legs splayed so that I fit in between. I stiffened at the intimate contact. I stiffened even more as the car hit a bump. We were mobile.

I struggled to remember what had happened so I could figure out why I was in the position I was now in. I tried to sit up. Pierce only pulled me back down.

"How are you feeling?" he asked from right above my head.

"Confused," I muttered.

"That makes two of us, then," he muttered right back.

"Sorry," I said meekly. I felt weak and insignificant and the big hateful man holding me so tenderly wasn't helping the situation.

"Can I have my hands back?" I asked, tired of playing the one-sided game of tug of war.

He released them abruptly. Unprepared, the hand that had been tugging flung upward and almost popped myself in my jaw if his hand hadn't darted out and caught it before it could connect.

"Good job," I giggled, feeling strangely loopy but the giggle jiggled my head and I groaned, my now free hand rising up to rub at the throbbing spot.

"You amaze me," Pierce grunted and I had a feeling he was shaking his head.

"Where are we going?" I asked wanting to change the subject. Though his words themselves sounded like they could be a compliment the sarcasm lacing his tone clearly indicated otherwise.

"Hospital," he answered succinctly.

I groaned out loud and struggled to sit up. I had no desire to go to hospital. I just needed to eat something and rest a bit.

Pierce finally allowed me to sit up and I scooted further down on the leather seat, giving him room to lower the leg he had had plastered up against the back of the seat that had allowed me to lie as comfortably as I had been in the vee of his legs. I felt awkward and my eyes shied away from his spread thighs as he shifted to sit normally.

"I don't want t... to go to the hospital," I finally managed to articulate.

"I don't really care what you want right now Jackson," he snapped back. "You had a panic attack and then you passed out. You're going to the Emergency Room to get checked over."

"But..." I tried to say but his eyes cut me a look that had me shutting up.

"Overreact much?" I muttered to myself.

"I heard that," he murmured and I flushed.

"I meant for you to," I griped back, then a thought hit me and panic mode set in. Turning to Pierce, grabbing his arm, I demanded, "Where's Cissero?"

He looked at me with droll eyes. "Now who's overreacting?" he asked as his finger hit a button and the partition between the front and back lowered down revealing the large bodyguard I had seen earlier and my Cissero with his head out the window, tongue lolling leaving slimy trails of slobber down the inside and outside of the half-lowered window.