“I’m guessing I’m not in Kansas anymore,” Grant said.
“Nope,” Rusty said. “Not in Afghanistan, either.”
“That bad, huh? Help me take this thing off,” Grant reached for his face mask. “My face is sweating.”
“If they see me remove your mask they might kick me out,” Rusty said.
“Close the blinds.”
Rusty sighed and shut the blinds before returning to Grant’s bedside. He carefully unhooked Grant’s mask from behind his ears.
“That’s much better,” Grant said.
Rusty gasped. He clutched his hand to his chest.
“What? Is there something wrong with my face?”
“It’s…”
“What?”
“It’s still ugly,” Rusty said, though he couldn’t keep a straight face long enough to maintain the joke.
“Real funny. Scare the guy who just came out of a coma. I’d punch you if I could bend my elbow,” Grant said.
“You’ll get your chance. Somehow, you managed to keep all your body parts when you got yourself blown up. That Type A personality serves you well – not even a rocket can keep you down. Don’t worry, you’re still just as pretty as ever.”
Grant smiled. He did like that his face opened doors for him. And legs, when he needed a night with a woman. He was human, after all.
“Hard to tell if it’s still you under all that scruff, though. Doesn’t anyone shave coma patients around here? What kind of military hospital is this? You look like a caveman.”
“Shut up,” Grant said, smiling despite the soreness in his cheeks and neck. He rubbed his jaw against his shoulder and felt the rough beard prickling him through his pale blue hospital gown. After so many years in the army, it felt strange to not be clean shaven. “You got a trimmer on you? Maybe you could help me out with that.”
“I see the blast muddled your brain,” Rusty said.
“Are you here to make me feel better or worse?” Grant surveyed the rest of his body, assessing the damage. “By the way, where are we? And how bad is it?” He looked down at his bandages and casts encasing both legs and feet. “I’m guessing Europe.”
“How can you tell. Are the beds different here?”
“I think I drifted in and out of consciousness while in a coma,” Grant said. “It’s all hazy, but I could swear I heard a different language.”
“We’re in Germany,” Rusty said, pulling up the chair beside Grant. He unhooked his own face mask from behind his ears and took it off. “Ramstein.”
“That’s a long trip for you to make. I must have been pretty banged up.”
“You’ve been out for a week. I was worried you wouldn’t wake up before I had to go back.”
“New York?” Grant asked.
Rusty nodded.
“Business is good?”
“Can’t complain,” Rusty said. “I’ve assembled a great team. I trust every one of them with my life. New Yorkers seem to trust us with theirs. We’ve never lost a client.”
“I heard you settled down,” Grant said.
Rusty reddened, unable to hide the smile that overtook his face every time he thought of Kaylin. “I did.”
