“So,” Kira said, trying to get back to business, “when can we see him?”
“He should be in his room in about thirty minutes. You can go there now. I put him in the same room as Jamie. I figured it would make everyone’s life easier if Blayne and Jamie could be together.”
“Does Jamie know what happened to Blayne?” Ethan asked.
“I honestly don’t know,” the surgeon said. “Dr. Reich probably said something to him. I saw her in there, but we didn’t talk.”
“Thanks,” Ethan said. “Let’s go wait for Blayne.” From the corner of his eye, he saw a young woman with her cell phone held up in his direction.
I don’t even care.
* * * *
Blayne
Blayne’s eyes fluttered open before closing again. His brain was still coming out of the anesthesia fog. He listened to the steady beeping coming from somewhere to his left. He moved his head from side to side. His eyes felt heavy. He mentally took stock of his various body parts. His feet were covered. He could feel the weight of a blanket on top of him.Where am I?He felt a weight on his hand, a throbbing sensation in one of his arms. He tried to speak, but his mouth was as dry as the West Texas tundra in August.
“Water,” he finally grumbled as he forced his eyes open halfway to take in his environment.
“Hey, sleepyhead,” a voice said to his left. The voice belonged to someone who was holding his hand.
Blayne twisted his head to look, but could only see a blurry figure. “Where… Where am I?”
“You’re in the hospital,” a different voice said from his right.
A straw was placed between Blayne’s lips, so he sucked the room-temperature liquid into his mouth. Almost immediately, his mouth started to function normally as it was coated in juice, and his salivary glands also produced their own moisture.
“Slow down. The nurse said you’d be thirsty, but he also said to make sure you took sips and not gulps.”
Blayne forced himself to slow his sucking on the straw. When he was done, he coughed and drifted back to sleep.
The next time Blayne woke, he opened his eyes, and the room was dim and quiet. He shook his head from side to side, trying to shake the sleep out.
“Hey there,” a voice to his right said. “Welcome back to the land of the living.”
Blayne opened his eyes fully and found Ethan looking at him. “What happened?” Blayne choked out.
“You were shot,” Ethan said, his forehead scrunching.
“I wasshot?” Blayne asked. He’d heard what Ethan said, but the words weren’t computing in his head.
“Yeah, you took a bullet to your upper arm,” Ethan replied. “Don’t worry. The surgeon expects you to make a full recovery.”
Blayne took a second to let Ethan’s words wash over him. He stared at Ethan’s face and registered the look of concern and fear that was abundantly clear, even in Blayne’s dazed state. Blayne also looked down to find Ethan holding his hand. Ethan’s thumb was moving across the back of Blayne’s hand in a soothing motion.
“What happened?” Blayne asked.
“I’ll tell you everything. But first, do you need anything?” Ethan asked.
“Water?” Blayne asked after a beat.
Ethan got up, grabbed a bottle of water with a straw and held it up to Blayne’s lips. “No. Go slowly. The nurse warned that patients often try to drink too fast when waking up, so take it easy.”
“Yes, Mother,” Blayne said with a weak grin before he sipped.
When Blayne was done drinking, Ethan put the bottle on the table and told Blayne everything that had happened. When Ethan got to the part where he thought the assassination attempt was meant for him, Ethan choked back tears. Without needing to be told, Blayne could tell Ethan was blaming himself.
“Dude,” Blayne said, interrupting Ethan, “you’re not to blame for this. You had no way of knowing what was going to happen. Remember… This plan was pretty much my idea.”
