“Do I get a say in it?” I asked.
“No,” Mercy answered plainly. “Well done for reaching the top. You should see the medical team about your hands. And less shaking. If you’re not in control of your nerves—”
“They’ll control you,” Donovan finished. “I’ll get him seen, thanks, Mercy.” He gave a brief head turn and nod.
***
Whichever floor the medical bay was on must’ve been deeper under ground—or the training floor was, either way, my ears popped numerous times going between the floors. There were rooms and suites almost laid out like the apartments. I was busy looking around. This hadn’t been where I came for my psych eval or the blood draw. Ahead of us was a circular reception desk.
“I have a trainee here, his hands need looking at,” Donovan said.
The receptionist nodded. “Someone will be with you right away.” She gestured to a row of seats.
As we were about to sit, a woman approached in the same shirt-uniform style that all the workers wore. “I’m Annabeth, I’m a nurse here, if you’d like to follow me.”
We followed into a private room and I got comfy on the medical bed. I leaned back as Donovan stood over me and the nurse lifted my t-shirt slightly before I flinched. “What are you—”
“We’re checking in on your vitals, Mr. Grey,” she said. “Just need to put these sticky things on you.”
Donovan smiled, and I wanted for a desperate moment to go back to where we were all those months ago in a bed at noon, the breeze, the sunlight, the only thing on our minds was where we were going to grab lunch from.
“Ok, so you’ve got some blisters about to form,” the nurse said. “Are you hands cramping at all?”
“No, why?” I asked.
“Just curious about your salt intake, that’s all,” she said. “You know, muscle cramping is an issue that hurts a lot of agents when they’re out on jobs.”
“Good to know.”
River walked into the room and sighed, placing a hand to his chest. “Oh my god, I got a notification and it said, Artemis is on the medical ward, and I—” He started laughing. “Obviously, I can see now that you’re just being check up on.”
“I climbed the wall, no harness,” I bragged.
“It was stupid,” Donovan grumbled.
“He told me to do it.”
“As a joke.” His eyes turned to slits as he stared at me.
Annabeth, the nurse giggled as she took care of my hands with some tingling creams. “I think trainers need to remember that trainees are supposed to do everything their mentor tells them,” she said. “Just my two cents.”
“Exactly, thank you, I was being a good trainee.”
“Mhm,” Donovan let out, he leaned in close, his face to mine, the stubble tickling against my earlobe. “Or a good boy,” he said. “If you’re so ready to be my submissive, we’ll have to go over proper ground rules.”
Annabeth made a noise. “Heart rate is increased,” she said.
“It’s nothing,” Donovan said as I could actively feel the monitors stuck to my chest become unstuck from sweat. “I was letting Art know how good he was following my orders.” His hands ruffled through my hair, softer, turning rough with the way he pulled my hair into his fist. “Isn’t that right?”
“That’s right.”
River chuckled. “I can see why Mercy paired you,” he said. “I’ve read all about your relationship.”
“Get out,” Donovan snapped.
He looked at me before running away.
“You don’t have to be so mean,” I said.
