“Hi.”
“How are you feeling?” Ledger asks.
“Honestly, like I was hit by a truck. Everything is sore, my head is pounding, but they just gave me some meds for that.”
“The doctor said you’ll probably be out within the next couple of hours, as long as the headache lessens,” Rina says.
“Why didn’t you tell us?” Ledger asks, sounding hurt. “We should have gotten you help as soon as you got here.”
“You didn’t know. Hell, the paramedics told me what to look out for, and I just pushed it all aside. I promise, Ledg, this isn’t on you.” I push myself to sit up a little and wince at how sore I feel. It’s weird. I didn’t do anything physical yet my whole body feels depleted. The body is so strange, working to protect a person when they need it, in ways you would never think of. I’ve written about shock before, but now I feel like I did a terrible job of doing it justice.
“How’s Lennox doing?” I ask.
“He’s talking, in pain, but seems to be doing well. The doctors are optimistic he’ll be moving out of the ICU later today,” Rina says.
“But how is he doing?” I ask, glad that he’ll be out of the ICU but still struggling with everything that will have to happen from there.
“He’s...” Ledger lets out a sigh. “He’s not talking about it at all. He’s answering basic questions about how he physically feels, but he won’t talk about anything else. It feels like the physical injuries are nothing compared to whatever that bastard did to Len mentally. Oakley’s partner told us a little bit of history with the other victims, and it just seems like everything is going to be hard.”
“Fuck.” I toss my head back. I was hoping Tennison didn’t have enough time to fuck with Lenny’s head, but it looks like I’m wrong. “When I get released, I’d like to go talk to him.”
“Of course,” Rina says quickly. I get the feeling that they hope I can make some magical breakthrough with him, but they’ll be sadly disappointed if my gut feeling is right.
I want to ask about Oakley, but I’m not even sure if they’ve been updated on him. It feels odd to ask about him, and I’m not sure why. He’ll just be on my list of visits when I finally break free.
“Knock, knock,” a voice rings out from the door. “I’m here with your discharge paperwork.”
“You guys don’t have to stay,” I tell Rina and Ledger.
“Shut up. If we don’t get your discharge info now, you sure as hell won’t tell us later.” Rina gives me a knowing look. She’s not wrong.
The three of us listen to the nurse, and within ten minutes, I’m free to go.
Sitting next to Lennox in a regular hospital room is making me feel hopeful. However, the vacancy in his eyes has grown in the last day. He’s sitting up in the bed, still shirtless, showing the bulk of the bandages on his chest. The stubble covering his pale face is a reminder it’s only been about a day.
“How are you feeling, Lenny?”
“Super good. Feels like I could go for a hike right now.” His deadpan joke makes me smile, but I can see he only did it for me.
I open and close my mouth a few times, but I’m not even sure what to say. I don’t feel like I need to walk on eggshells around him, but I don’t even know how to express all the emotions running through me.
“Thank you.” His soft voice pulls me out of my overthinking.
“For what?”
“For taking care of that bastard. He isn’t going to hurt anyone anymore because you’re a badass.”
“Well, I technically didn’t kill him.” That, I have at least come to terms with since my talk with Oakley. “But I’d be lying if I didn’t hope he hates hell.”
That gets me a small grin, and I’ll take it.
“I don’t blame Oakley. I hope he knows that. It could have happened to anyone, but it was Tennison’s fault, no one else’s.”
“I’m scared he’s going to put all this blame solely on his shoulders,” I whisper, fighting the tears. I don’t want to cry anymore.
“He will,” he says simply.
I look up at him, trying to figure out how he’s so calmly talking about all of this right now.
