Page 32 of Free Me

Except Miko’s scent…he swore he’d scented his friend and it wasn’t just a memory. But he hadn’t seen Miko since this afternoon’s sob-fest. His parents, on the other hand, sat with him for another two hours before someone from Transportation arrived to take Linus to a private room in an observation ward. He wasn’t sure if private was standard in that ward, or if his parents had pulled strings, but it annoyed him. He genuinely wouldn’t have minded a roommate, a stranger to talk to who had no emotional investment in his wellbeing or recovery.

Oh well.

Since visiting hours were almost over, his parents said goodbye in ICU and promised to see him promptly at ten tomorrow when regular visitation began. He wanted to tell them not to hover, that he could use some alone time, but whenever Papa looked at him with those big, wrecked eyes, Linus couldn’t do it.

The orderly moving his bed nattered on about a concert he’d attended at a park in Aurora Crest two weekends ago, and Linus appreciated the normal, banal chatter. He wasn’t a fan of that type of music but it was better than silence. The strings quartet was apparently popular up in Ampshire Province and had been traveling for a few months, trying to get their name out there. When he asked the orderly the group’s name and the orderly couldn’t remember, Linus had laughed hard enough to make his stump shriek.

Stump. He hated that word, but that’s what was left of his right leg. Dr. Westin said he had the full, working kneecap, and about two inches of bone and flesh below that. Linus couldn’t bring himself to lift the blanket and look at it. The lump beside his left knee was hard enough to stomach.

“Home, sweet temporary home,” his orderly said as he turned the bed around so he could push Linus inside his room head first. “And you’ve got a welcoming committee.”

Half-afraid his parents had somehow sneaked up to the seventh floor, Linus relaxed when the visitor in question was a smiling family friend.

“Hey, man,” Gaven Freel said as he helped the orderly position the bed correctly between IV stands and all manner of potential hookups and wires. “Surprise.”

“Are you actually my nurse, or are you just harassing me,” Linus asked. “Nice scrubs.”

Gaven struck a dramatic pose, then finished pushing buttons on one of the monitors. “The charge nurse on this floor prefers his staff wear purple in solidarity, so I do my part. And yes, I’m actually your nurse tonight until shift change tomorrow at eight.”

“Fantastic.” He waved goodbye to the departing orderly. “I love my family, but I am so glad to be alone for a little while.”

“Feeling smothered?”

“Fuck yes. They’re worried but it’s fucking hard to be around them when they’re the ones who did this to me.” He gestured at his stump. “I don’t have any room to breathe.”

“I completely understand, and as soon as I do my obs check, I’ll leave you alone. I’m not here to make life any harder than it is, Linus. Just to make sure you’re comfortable and to get you anything you need.”

“I’d love a taco platter and blended margarita from Petrova’s.”Too bad I can’t fucking smell or taste any of it.

Gaven chuckled. “You’re still on a post-coma, full liquid diet, my friend. Best I can do is scare up a vanilla milkshake.”

“I’ll take it. Where’s the phone?” He was handed a white phone/call button/bed control combo on a cord that snaked out of sight. “Thanks.”

“No problem. To dial out, just press star-nine, and then the number.”

“Great.” He tried to think of Miko’s mobile number but blanked out. He only had a handful of them memorized. “Hey, where’s my mobile? Did I lose it in the accident?”

“I’m not sure. Want me to call your parents and ask?”

“No, not them. Do you, um, have Miko Tovey’s number?”

“Yeah, I’m pretty sure I’ve got everyone’s number, even Tynan and Gaige. I’d probably have numbers for Asher and Caleb, too, if they weren’t toddlers and at least a decade removed from phones of their own.”

“Let’s hope.” Gaven’s easy banter and fond smile soothed Linus’s frayed nerves like no one had since Miko held his hand. “Thank you, Gaven. It’s nice being talked to like I’m a person and not some fragile child who’s going to shatter any second.”

“They act that way because they love you.”

“I know they do, and I’m grateful, but man…I’m not okay, and I can’t talk to them about it yet.”

“But you can talk to Miko?”

“Yeah.”

“Cool.” Gaven found a small notepad and pencil in the drawer of a rolling table, pulled out his mobile, and scribbled down a phone number. “Here. Now, let me listen to your heart, take your blood pressure, and then you can talk to your friend. Just don’t stay up too late. You really do need to get as much sleep as you can, which I know is difficult in a hospital, but do your best.”

“I will, thanks.”

After they went through the motions of Gaven checking his vitals, he fluffed Linus’s pillow, adjusted the one under his stump, and then left, leaving the big door open a crack. Linus picked up the paper and punched the numbers into the receiver.It didn’t do anything, and then he remembered he had to dial star-nine first.

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