“You, worried?” I laughed.
“Not for you, Donovan, for Sanctum, the last thing we need is you being caught with proprietary Sanctum equipment,” she said. “If we have to go back to the old ways, we can, no more wireless cash deposits, I’ll make you come in and collect it all in—whatever currency we’ve got laying around.”
Biting my tongue, I eventually apologized for my lack of oversight. I knew protocol better than most people, and I was beginning to regret not following it, but only because this headache was fucking with me.
“See that you’re feeling better, Donovan,” she said. “I’ve got some exciting ideas on how you can win back favor with me.”
As Mercy left, Jinksy walked into the room. He occupied most of the door, he loomed, but the moment he smiled, he was a giant teddy bear. Dr. Cole walked out after Mercy, leaving me alone with someone I could trust—as far as anyone could trust anyone else within an agency that dealt in—everything.
“I’m sorry I had to do that to you,” he said with a heavy sigh. “They knew you wouldn’t try attacking me, but I also didn’t want to hurt you.”
“Don’t worry, Jinksy, you were great, it was the call,” I told him, struggling with the sensation of all these tubes feeling like they were taking from me instead of pumping me with vitamins. “Any ideas on when these can come out?”
Jinksy shrugged. “You’ll probably have to get a nurse to do that,” he said. “So, how was the op? I was on air support in the drone. I saw you get into that limo and I followed you for a couple blocks from the sky. I bet it was so fun, what did you do in there?”
A small laugh came out as I pushed myself up in the bed. “I just drank, I just stared at the roof, and yeah, just relaxed in there.”
“How were you so drunk?” he asked, looking at my vitals on the chart. “You were mixing meds?”
“I’ve been taking some stuff for pain relief.”
“The stuff that says don’t drink?” he asked. “Jeez, you know people die like that.”
“Normal people,” I grumbled. “I’m not normal. And I’d appreciate it if you didn’t call me normal. It’s a bit of an insult.”
He snort-laughed. “True, you’re not what anyone would call normal,” he said.
I known—not really but here, I’d known Jinksy for years. He’d been in my ear more times than I could count with intel on ops. “When can I go to my apartment?” I asked. “I’m sure I can recoup there, unless Mercy’s given it away.”
“I’m not the doc, Donovan,” he laughed harder. “You’re funny. I think you should be able to go when someone comes in to—” And almost on cue, a nurse arrived, although they didn’t look like nurses, they were all dressed in the same shirt with the collars buttoned tight. The only thing that told me they were a nurse was the silver-plated tag attached to their shirt pocket. “Here we go.”
“Leah,” I said, reading her nametag. “Any idea when I’m back on my feet?” I winked at her.
“Careful, Mr. Kurt, I know I’m not your type,” she said.
“Give me a little blue pill and anyone is my type,” I told her. “And who told you that?”
Jinksy and Leah shared and look, followed by the same knowing smirk. It made my smile fade fast, there was something going on here, and I didn’t like it.
“Donovan,” Jinksy said. “Everyone knows that you and that guy were together.”
“I could be sexually fluid,” I said, it was a term I’d heard some younger guys say—and the words elicited laughter from them. “You know, bisexuality and stuff.”
“Of course, sir,” Leah said. “There’s just a little more from the vitamin bag left, then I can take the line out.”
I leaned back in a huff, my hand instinctively went to my hip where I usually kept a gun—it was my way of threatening—but there were no weapons allowed inside Sanctum. “Sooner the better,” I grumbled. “What else are people saying?”
“There’s nothing wrong with being gay,” Jinksy said.
“I know that, I just don’t want people thinking of me as my sexuality first,” I grumbled.
“Plus, everyone knows about you and Conrad having that threesome,” Jinksy snickered.
I tapped a finger at my forehead as if there was some giant reset button. “Please, I don’t wanna think about the past right now,” I said, screwing my eyes shut and only worsening the cluster of pain behind them. “I just want to get into my bed.”
One of the perks of working through the Sanctum was housing, the apartments here were basically hotel suites, except when you were assigned one, they were yours—unless you requested to change.
Before I was able to leave the medical suite, the doctor checked me over again. I wasn’t in much physical pain, probably from medication, but the hangover headache was there, and on doctor’s orders I needed to stay hydrated.
