Page 4 of Gunpowder

Dr. Garrett raised an eyebrow. “I see. How are you feeling now?”

“I feel like whatever you’ve got me on is working.”

Dr. Garrett chuckled, a deep sound that matched the commanding voice Blair remembered from his hazy state earlier. “Morphine. I’m pleased you aren’t in pain.” He consulted a file in his hand before adding, “You lost a lot of blood but I expect you to make a full recovery, Mr. Kennedy. The bullet was extracted without complications and it missed your femoral artery. Also,” he said, taking a plastic cup from the counter to his side, “the medication you’re on makes the mouth terribly dry, so make sure you drink plenty of water.”

Enough of Blair’s motor functions had returned for him to take the offered cup. “Thanks, Doc.”

“Someone will be with you shortly to do a bit of a check-up and then we’ll let you get some much needed rest. If you need anything, the call button is right there.” Dr. Garrett smiled at him and left, his steps surprisingly soft for a man of his size.

The room became eerily quiet once he was alone again. Blair let his head fall back on the pillow, thinking of how much worse it could have been. He had hesitated back there, and any one of them could have killed. Next time they may not get off so easy. Next time it could be that artery Dr. Garrett mentioned, or it might be Spencer or even the boss that took a bullet.

He wondered what happened to Isaac and Jinx. Even for Isaac’s cold nature it seemed out of character to risk setting Adrian on them alone—especially considering he was Isaac’s most trusted advisor, if their intel was accurate—but Isaac must have had a reason. The drugs were making it hard for Blair to focus, to try to work through what might have been going through Isaac’s head.

Not that Blair needed to figure it out. Even as he laid there, Spencer was likely firing ideas back and forth with Felix. He’d probably stepped right into Isaac’s mind like it was his own. As their strategist, figuring out motives was Spencer’s thing. He figured out the why and Blair figured out the when and where to beat the shit out of them. It was a good arrangement.

The door opened again and another member of the hospital staff entered. His head was lowered, looking at a clipboard but he looked a little shorter than Dr. Garrett, more narrow in the shoulders. Blair pushed himself up onto his elbows.

“You here to cut me loose?” Blair asked.

The man clicked his tongue. “You’re not going anywhere just yet.”

His voice was higher than Blair’s own and a little raspy. It was kind of pleasant, though at the moment it seemed to be edged with annoyance.

Blair squinted at the navy scrubs but the laminated badge around the man’s neck was too far away to read. “Are you my nurse?”

He finally looked up and glared at Blair over the black frames of his glasses. If looks could kill, his blue eyes would have put yet another hole in Blair’s body. “Your arm, please.”

Blair frowned at having his question ignored but he did as he was asked. The man pulled a stool over and sat down to begin securing a blood pressure cuff onto Blair’s arm. Long bangs spilled over one side of the man’s face, probably fallen loose from the low ponytail that was barely intact. Long shift? Blair wondered. At least he hoped that’s why the guy was so grumpy because maybe it was the warm tingly sensation of the morphine talking, but he hated to think of anyone being this unpleasant for no reason.

“When do I get to leave?”

“You ask a lot of questions.”

Blair stared at him. He was pretty sure answering patient questions was part of this guy’s job. “Man, your bedside manner needs some work.”

The man blinked but that was the only momentary change in his bored expression. “I’m sorry.”

He didn’t sound very fucking sorry.

“I can speak with Dr. Garrett about plans for your discharge, but he only requested that I take your vitals. Your bandages were changed shortly before you woke up.”

Blair was starting to remember why he hated hospitals. He hadn’t been to one since he was a kid but they’d all seemed to be full of condescending jerks. The doctor earlier was alright but Blair could have gone without Sunshine over here. The thought him snicker out loud.

At the man’s questioning look, Blair said, “You are my sunshine.”

His blue eyes were still blank as he took Blair’s pulse.

“You are my sunshine, my only sunshine? You know, from the song? Cause the sun is bright, and you’re kinda, you know, gloomy… it’s a joke… no? Okay.”

“I am most certainly not your sunshine,” Sunshine said, and got to his feet with a slight grimace.

Blair watched him go toward the door. “What are you then?”

“Pardon?” The doctor looked over his shoulder.

“If you don’t want me to call you Sunshine then you should give me something else to call you.” He guessed he should just let the doctor leave but uptight guys like him were fun to pick at on a normal day and that was without the morphine.

“This is the end of my rotation with emergency medicine, you won’t see me again.”

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