Page 21 of Attraction

“He wants to talk to you.”

“Fuck!”

“Hey, don’t worry. Kat, it’s gonna be fine, just talk to him.”

“Do I have any choice?” She takes a breath and follows Digby to the kitchen. Darius looks around, staring at her. He folds his arms, the bright violet of his eyes glaring at her. “Look, before you say anything, this wasn’t my idea. I wanted them to take her to the hospital, but—”

Darius stares at her as she rambles, then he silences her mid-sentence. “I just need to know is she going to be okay?” he asks, again folding his arms across his chest as he continues to look at her.

“Yeah… I think so, as long as I can stave off infection. I’ll stay the night and monitor things, and then I’ll come back tomorrow and check on her.” He nods, looking at her as she stares back at the concerned look on his face. “I’m going to get myself some more coffee,” she says. She then takes a breath and turns around to face him. “Look, I need to know, are you going to report this? I mean up the chain, are you going to use it to get me off the team, because I could lose my license over this, and if—”

“Hey… just relax, I’m not going to report you, okay? This was not your fault; you did what you could to help my team and I appreciate that.” He looks towards Ozzie, who has his head down in shame. “But you… you should’ve fuckin’ told me, Oz. We could have sorted it, you know that. You know to tell me when you have a problem.” Ozzie doesn’t move, he just stands there, quiet. “Hey Oz, you dumb asshole, look at me.”

Darius is furious, the rage building, and before Kat can say a word or even think of stopping him, Darius grabs Ozzie, shoves him back against the cabinets and punches him full in the face.

Ozzie reels but doesn’t retaliate. Placing his hand on his aching cheek, he doesn’t seem surprised by what happened. “Dee, I’m sorry man, I didn’t mean to keep it from you. I won’t do it again.”

“No… no, you fuckin’ won’t and just so you know… you’re on reprimand tomorrow.”

“What? Oh, c’mon man.”

“You wanna argue with me? I mean, we can make it a longer punishment.” Darius grabs up his jacket from the chair. He nods at Kat and thanks her again. “Just keep me up to date on how she is.”

She frowns, considering how obedient Ozzie is to Darius—not questioning or reacting to his actions. Placing a hand on his arm she tries to reassure him. “Oz, she’ll be okay. Look, maybe you should let her parents know something? I mean, they might be worried about where she is?”

“Yeah, I’ll think of somethin’ to tell them. Kat thanks.”

* * *

She watches as Darius leaves and Digby hands her a cup of fresh-brewed coffee. It’s getting late. He smiles and says, “I’ll stay here with you tonight.”

“Ryan, you don’t have to. I’ll be fine.”

“I know I don’t have to. But I will.” he grins, brushing her hair away from her face. “Hey, you did a good thing here. Oh, and I’m reliably informed that your security protocols have been reinstated.”

“Seriously? Since when?”

“Since about thirty minutes ago.” He laughs. “So, now you can go read up on all our missions and see what we really do for a livin’—officially.” He smiles, heading with his empty cup back to the kitchen.

She smiles as she goes back to the bedroom and sits in the chair next to the bed. She watches Ellen, who is now sleeping peacefully. She checks her pulse, then leans back and sips from her coffee.

* * *

03:00hrs

Kat wakes, disturbed by her groaning patient. “Hey, Ellen. How are you feeling?”

“Mmm… sore?” Ellen grimaces.

“Yeah, sorry. It should get better soon, but I’ll give you some more pain relief in the meantime.”

“Where’s Ozzie?”

“He’s in the kitchen with Digby. It’s late, just rest. I’ll stay ‘til morning. Do you have a friend or someone who could come and sit with you tomorrow? They’ll need to be able to change the bag of fluids.”

“Yeah… yeah, I have a friend I trust.”

“Maybe call her. I’ll go let Oz know you’re awake and then give you some time alone with him.”

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