Page 2 of Bradford

"My mother has a sense of humor. She hadn’t figured on me becoming a nurse." Florence shrugs.

I clear my throat. "How long is he going to be in here?"

"Tonight at least."

"Good to know. I'll be back in the morning. My number is on his chart in case anything changes."

"I'll make sure he's okay." She smiles.

2

BRADFORD

The second myeyes flutter open, I realize I'm in a hospital room. The slurred words of the night before hit me with such force that I'm sure my heart misses a beat."I'm going to marry you. Right here in Vegas. He just got married by Elvis."No way am I ever going to have what they gave me last night again. Hell, no!

As I reach up, the sharp pain in my shoulder makes me see stars. What the heck! I slowly raise my other arm, and when I don't get a twinge of pain, I finally rub my forehead. My shoulder had just been put back in place last night, so it's no wonder it hurts like hell.

It's dark outside, so maybe it's still last night. I have no idea, and I don't like feeling this way. Where is everybody? I know Madden was here. Unfortunately for me, he witnessed my embarrassment with the meds. Certainly not my finest moment. The urge to pee woke me up, so there's no way I'm going back to sleep until I get to the bathroom. If only I could figure out how to get out of bed. That's when the horror hits. Holding my injured arm against me, I lift the sheet and gasp at the sight of the hospital gown. I gently pat my body, only flinching once or twice, and then go still.

They’ve put a catheter in my fucking dick! My cheeks heat with embarrassment. Please, God, no! Don't let Florence have put that in there. She'd kept me from panicking when they'd brought me to the ER. My eyes had followed her across the room. I'd felt safe with her. I hadn't lied to Madden. The woman was beautiful. But putting that in my dick made me shudder. I certainly didn't want her to see my dick that way.

Suddenly the door opens, and the nurse stops and raises her eyebrows. I look at myself and quickly remove my hand from my dick, blushing even more.

"Mr. Winchester, how are you feeling? Do you need more pain medication?"

"Can you remove—“ I wave my hand over my nether regions “—so I can go to the bathroom?"

"I can." The nurse bustles up to the bed and wiggles a small plastic cup in my face. Two small white pills rattle in the bottom. "Let me raise the bed. It will make it easier."

I hold on to my injured side and sigh with relief to have my head raised. After the nurse helps me with the cup of water and the pills, I follow her instructions as she makes quick work of the catheter, while I’m trying not to burn with embarrassment at being manhandled in such a private area.

"All done." The nurse doesn't blush, but she's more than likely used to it by now, having probably encountered more dicks than I have. Wait! What am I thinking? The only dick I've ever touched is my own. I shake my head and let the nurse help me up. I smile at her name tag—Betty. At least it distracts me from how weak I feel.

"What time is it?" I shouldn't be so wobbly.

"Two-thirty in the morning." At the bathroom door she asks, "I'll wait in the room while you wash up."

I nod and hurry into the room—not as fast as I would have liked. When I see myself in the mirror, my eyebrows knittogether in a frown at how pale I am. I don't look good. Leaning against the vanity, I take stock of my injuries, relieved that my shoulder is the only major one. My right hip aches, and my leg feels bruised and tender. A dull throbbing behind my eyes has started since I got out of bed, but it hovers in the background, where I hope it will stay. It could have been worse.

Wondering how long before Betty checks on me, I decide to take care of business. I’m not sure how I feel about being naked except for the hospital gown, which has a gap in the back. It's a struggle to wash and dry my hands, but I manage. As I leave the room, a draft rattles the inside of the gown. "I need my own clothes," I mutter to myself.

Betty replies, “Your friends brought a bag with some of your things. It's next to the chair."

Feeling less unstable, I head for the bag. I sit down on the chair and wince as my bare butt encounters the plastic. I catch the smirk on Betty's face as she walks out. "Try to go back to sleep."

I unzip the bag and grin as I find clothes. Clean ones, too. I was a little worried they'd bring the dirty ones. I knew I couldn't mess with jeans, so I was relieved to find sweats as well. I pulled them on once I got the boxers in position, only wincing in pain a few times. Gritting my teeth, I managed to pull on a t-shirt despite the excruciating pain. Sweat trickled down my forehead and I leaned back for a moment. I made my way back to bed, determined to get some rest before the sun came up. I will be leaving here in the morning.

I stretch out on the bed, pushing a pillow under my arm to support my shoulder. I close my eyes as tiredness overwhelms me. They open at the sound of a loud crash right outside my room. At least I think it was. My ears strain to hear the sound again. But all is silent. Then a scream.

What the hell!

I jump out of bed and have to stop for a moment as a wave of pain washes over me. At the second scream, I move to the closed door and open it slightly to look out into the hallway. Adrenaline races through my heart at the screams. Shadows move frantically in the dimly lit hallway, and my instincts tell me to stay hidden. As I debate whether to call for help or face the situation myself, I hear footsteps quickly approaching my room. I hold my breath and pray that whoever it is passes without noticing me.

Before I can blink, the door to my room swings open and I find myself face to face with Betty. No doubt she hadn't expected to find me standing in the doorway. "What's going on?"

"Two guys were brought in with injuries from trying to kill each other. One, it seems, wasn't hurt that badly. He's now taken a nurse hostage."

"Holy shit! Where are the cops?" I look out into the hallway and see the chaos unfolding. Two officers are running toward the commotion. "Never mind. They just got here."

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