“I’d like the record to show,” Elshona began conversationally, “that you spent fifteen years telling me what a thick Orcish skull I have. And yet here you are with your dainty little noggin cracked like an egg shell, clearly kicked arsesways. So really, who’s come out better for it?”
He grinned, in spite of himself, wincing as he did so.
Shona leaned forward, eyebrows knitted together. “What the fuckhappenedto you? You had internal bleeding. Most of your ribs are broken, you have a punctured lung and a cracked skull. Broken nose, broken fingers. You’re covered in bruises. You know how your back is always giving you trouble? Yeah, it’s because it wasliterallybroken at some point, ya’ fuckin’ knob. They said you’ve probably had herniated discs from it for years. There’s a hole under your bleedin’ eye that almost severed the nerve. There was an actual piece oftreein your head, Tate. I’d say youlooklike someone kicked your fucking head in, but it appears they actually did. ”
“They did,” he confirmed weakly, realizing he was missing a tooth or two. “I got into a fight, Shona. You ever been in a fight before? You’re a liar if you deny it, because I happen to know you have.”
The tense moment was broken as she dissolved into exhausted-sounding laughter, dragging a big hand down her face. “Fucking stars. Who did you pick a fight with? A bloody giant?”
He huffed out a laugh, realizing immediately that that was a terrible mistake. Laughing hurt. Talking hurt. Breathing hurt. Every weak inhalation sent pain ricocheting down to his toes.Should have died when you had the chance. Now they’re going to make you pay this fucking hospital bill, and they’re not even giving you the good drugs.
“It wasn’t. He was just a little cunt. I was bigger than him. Taller, heavier. Stronger, I’d hoped. He was just a wee mite. But the little ones are alwaysreallyfucking fast, have you noticed that?”
Her shoulders were shaking in laughter, her head tipped forward, braced in her palms. “I hope he was at least a tough little cunt, or you’ll never be able to admit this to anyone. You probably shouldn’t even be admitting it tome. Say you were in a car accident, if they ask.”
He shrugged, knowing before he did so that it would be an agony, and it was. “I mean, yeah. Tough. He led battalions into war. Killed people for sport. I don’t know, Shona. My skull must be thicker than I thought. I honestly believed I could take him.”
Her laughter had ascended sound by then, her forehead resting on the bar’s hospital bed. “Fucking hells, you’re going to make me piss meself,” she wheezed. “Scarlet on your mam. Whoever it was, they did a number on you. You look like you were run over by a fucking lorry.”
He closed his eyes, staying quiet as she laughed. It was a nice sound, a familiar sound. Strangely comforting. One he’d never expected to hear again. She was his next of kin, always had been. An unfortunate role she’d been thrust into, he supposed, but he, in turn, was hers.
“The fucking irony is if I’d stayed for just a bit longer, I’d be right as rain. Would have healed in the moonlight. Instead, I rushed back for no reason, and it feels like they’ve given me baby aspirin. Culchie, am I maudlin? If someone called me a self-involved prat, d’you think you’d agree?”
“Oh, I’d buy them a fucking round for having the bravery to say it to your face. Of course you are. You’re the most self-pitying prat I’ve ever known, and you always have been. You’re consistent, if nothing else. A car accident is what I told them when you were admitted, by the way. They absolutelydon’tbelieve it, but you’ve broken half their bleedin’ equipment since you’ve been here, so they don’t fuckin’ care. Every time they try to get your whole head looked at, poof. The whole hospital wing lost power for a bit. So you’d better hurry up and flirt with one of these nurses before they dump your carcass on the curb.”
“Oh, grand. I’ll be sure to wink with my one good eye.”
She dissolved into laughter again, Tate yelping as he tried. He was never going to be able to breathe without pain again.
“I always knew you were coming back,” she sobered suddenly, her laughter dying. “I didn’t want to argue with the rest of them, didn’t want to tell them they were wrong, but I knew. I was out with Ains, a while ago, alongwhile ago . . . anyway, I got a call about some things coming in for the dining room change-out, because that was the plan we made. Of course, I’m sticking to it. It’s a good plan, we made it together. And I didn’t want to risk having to hear your mouth if I didn’t do it. And he wassofucking mad at me over it. ButIknew. I knew you were comin’ back. I knew I’d be getting that call eventually.”
His lips were parched, and his throat burned. “I shouldn’t have. I’m not helping anyone by doing so. Should have clocked out while I had the chance . . . I’m sorry you’ve always been the one to take that call, Culchie.”
She pushed to her feet, leaning forward to kiss the only patch of his head that wasn’t wrapped in a bandage. “Well. This is you being a maudlin, self-involved prat, if you weren’t sure. You save my life. I save yours. Isn’t that the way of it? Let me find one of these idiot humans, find out when I can get you out of here.”
“Don’t bother. I have nowhere to go. I’ve no job. No home. Probably going to find the closest open manhole and just drop myself into it if they make me leave now. I need to figure things out. Does the storage unit have rats? I suppose that’s an option.”
He wasn’t able to see her full face but it was enough to see the way she winced.
“Your apartment’s empty, so you’ll be going back there. Unless you’ll need round-the-clock care when you do, because I’mnotchanging your fucking bedpan.” She paused, her voice gentler as she continued. “She was here, Tate. Before you woke up. You were unconscious for a week. Said she needed to get back to her little girl, but I’m s’posed to call her now that you woke.”
“Don’t.”
She rolled her eyes. “Tate, don’t be—”
“Don’t. Please. Don’t call her. I don’t want her here.”
There was no sense in dragging things out. He’d told her to live her life, and she had. It didn’t matter what pain it caused him. He was too late, and the world where she belonged had kept moving. Regret was a weed that choked out anything it grew near. Silva didn’t need it in her garden on his account. She had a life that didn’t include him anymore, and he’d not force her to make room for the shape of regret. Looking back never helped. He’d always known that.
Elshona pursed her lips, but didn’t argue.
“Let me find a doctor. We’ll figure it out. We always do. Welcome home, eejit.”
* * *
He languished there for three more days, alone.
Every time his eye opened, it would immediately seek out the chair beside his bed, only to find it empty. By the second day after he woke, Tate convinced himself he was relieved.
