Roxy inwardly cursed as the wind nipped her sweaty and exposed skin. Her jacket was still in the coat check. She looked back at the back of the building, listening to the sounds of growing unrest inside the club. She felt fabric wrap around her bare arms and blinked. She looked at oversized shirt in surprise before looking up at Gunner who was in a tight undershirt but his attention was not on her.
"Let's get to my truck and we can take you somewhere warm," he commented.
Gunner's shirt swam around her but it was better than nothing, Roxy blushed as she buttoned it to keep it from falling off. "Yes." She pulled off her heels and nodded. "It'll be faster without them."
"We'll just watch our step." Gunner took Roxy's hand, running with her through the back alley towards the street. He veered left, opposite of the parking lot Richard had parked his Chevy and slipped onto a well lit residential street. "Here we are." A set of headlights flashed from a gray Jeep Wrangler as they approached. "It should be unlocked."
Roxy stepped up into the passenger seat and let out a relieved huff as she put on her seat belt. Gunner checked his mirrors, turning on the heat and a light. He glanced at Roxy for a moment before retrieving a red and white first aid kit from the backseat.
"Let me take a look at your hand. If it's too deep, our next stop is the ER," Gunner gestured for Roxy's hand. Roxy silently extended her wounded hand, she hadn't considered how deep she'd been cutting with the shard at the time because only breaking the circle mattered. He swabbed the gash with an alcohol wipe with a low whistle as she winced at the sting. "You did a number on yourself but it doesn't look too deep. Can you close your hand?"
Roxy closed her hand, it was painful but it was possible. "It'll do."
"ER it is. Don't want to risk it," Gunner placed a sterile pad over the cut and wrapped it with gauze. He quickly dressed his own hand with a smirk. "Sorry, I'm not usually this forward. I prefer ER visits for the second date."
"I wouldn't consider this a first date," Roxy replied with a laugh as Gunner turned off the light and set the trash into a bag in the back.
"Oh good, I get a do over," Gunner grinned clipping in his seatbelt. "Can I treat you to breakfast?" The jeep's headlights turned on as Gunner navigated them through the back streets in the opposite direction of the sirens.
Roxy curled up in the passenger seat, snuggling into Gunner's shirt. "Going for the morning after already?"
"It's hard not to, you look good in my shirt," he replied with a wink. It was too dim in the jeep for Roxy to fully appreciate Gunner's looks but she blushed just the same, enjoying the soothing woodsy scent of his cologne against her skin.
"You seem rather okay with all of this." Roxy commented, curious as to why he hadn't argued with her over the ritual glyphs and had even helped with breaking the circle. She stared at him, preferring to look at her partner in crime rather than the night cityscape beyond the window. "This is normal for you?"
"Short answer is that it's complicated. I believe that you believed what you were doing, so it made sense to help."
Roxy leaned onto her hand as she looked at him, trying to make sense of Gunner's answer. He didn't want to explain himself right now is what she took away from the comment. "I have all night to listen, unless you want to do something else besides talk." She let the innuendo hang in the air, it was unlike her to be so forward but she'd already died once and waiting for something she wanted wasn't as appealing as it had when she was the child of promise. There was an uncertainty of when her time on earth would end and what would happen to her when she achieved her revenge.
"Let's play it by ear," Gunner mused, his attention fixed on the dark road ahead. "It's only a few minutes to the hospital. We might be in the ER for a while so we can talk then, unless you are really invested in the episode of SVU that'll probably be playing in the waiting room."
"Spend many nights in the ER?"
"A few." Gunner grinned not completely giving Roxy the answer she wanted.
"A second date with you sounds wild," Roxy chuckled. She felt a vibration in her small clutch and pulled our her phone. There were 30 missed messages from Richard that she didn't feel like reading on her screen. She frowned and slid the phone back into the bag. She was more than happy to let him stew a bit. He'd already gotten possessive and jealous over a short date, but with the presence of the sacrifice ritual circle it wasn't flattering. There was so much uncertainty in what powers the demon king sent Richard home with. Perhaps, one of Richard's wishes was an attractive woman for a lover as soon as he arrived. Roxy was that and more with a pre-existing attraction, it wouldn't have taken much for the demon to read Richard's mind and promise Richard a sure thing. Ayla was the unknown variable in whatever Richard had planned.
Gunner pulled into an open ER parking lot and put the jeep into park. He drummed his hands on the steering wheel before unbuckling his seatbelt. Roxy pulled her heels back on.
"Well, we're here. Let's see how bad the wait is." He hopped from the car and walked to the other side to help Roxy from her seat. Roxy gingerly accepted his hand and stepped onto the pavement.
"Alright." Roxy slipped her unhurt hand into Gunner's with a smile, she was feeling bold. Together they walked through the large glass doors into the glaring white hospital emergency room. The waiting room held one couple but there were mostly a few nurses sitting behind the desk reading magazines.
"Isn't it your night off?" One of the male nurses called from the check-in desk. Roxy blinked as she looked up at Gunner.
"You know you'd miss me." Gunner shrugged with a grin. "I can't seem to stay away. Check us in, she hurt her hand on a broken glass." He looked down at Roxy. "It's less fun if you know the dark truth."
Roxy chuckled, "Far less ominous when you work here." As they approached the check-in desk, she got to fully appreciate how well developed Gunner's arms were — they were almost as thick as her leg. His broad, muscular torso tapered down into a narrow waist and muscle legs concealed by well tailored slacks. Roxy wondered why Richard had ever stayed in the equation with someone like Gunner around.
They gave their information and had their vitals taken, before being asked to take a seat in the waiting room. Roxy didn't bother to look at the television to know it was playing Law and Order Special Victim's Unit like Gunner predicted.