Page 37 of Lime Gelatin and Other Monsters
****
The hospital flicked by in a mess of disjointed images for several hours as Kyle faded in and out. The too-familiar utilitarian crush of emergency registered at some point, then an X-ray tech explaining something he couldn’t follow. Doctors hovered. Nurses moved him. Eventually, he caught up to the world’s rotation again and had a lucid moment in a quiet, semi-private room.
A slender nurse with short black hair smiled at him when he focused on her. “I’m putting your jacket in the closet, Officer Monroe. Such a nice leather jacket.”
“Rrmph.” Kyle’s first try at speech was a little rusty. He cleared his throat. “Thank you?”
Oh, right. Mr. Jacket.Good. He made it here.
He blinked at the curtain drawn through the center of the room as he tried to find the right button to elevate the head of his bed. “How long am I stuck here, ma’am?”
“At least through tomorrow for observation. You lost too much blood and the doctors want to watch for infection.”
Kyle did his best to be patient through IVs and doctors poking and prodding. At least Vikash came to see him, his arm in a sling, and his serene smile back in place.
Amanda came to collect him when they discharged him two days later, with news that Vikash was resting at home and Carrington was back at work. She helped him gather his things together, her solid, stoic presence a comfort and a tolerable substitute for who Kyle really wanted there.
“Ready?” She held a hand out to help him into the waiting wheelchair.
“Oh! We can’t forget Mr. Jacket! He’s in the closet over there.”
But when Amanda opened the little closet’s metal door, the hangers were empty.
****
Kyle lay on the cinnamon-colored sofa with Vikash reclining against his chest as he flipped through the five hundred channels of Saturday night TV wasteland. Maybe it wasn’t entirely comfortable, but Vikash’s arm was still in a sling so they couldn’t reverse positions.
He’d come out of nearly being a toy for an evil monster turtle pretty well. The gash on his hip was the deepest, but no organs were punctured, no bones broken. Vikash had the nasty bite on his left shoulder, still healing, and while the right arm hadn’t broken, it had popped out of the socket and torn muscle along the way.
Kyle missed being able to see the whole fire lizard tattoo, but he was a patient man. It would be there when they had both healed.
“We could watch wrestling,” he suggested.
“No.”
“How about this reality show about—”
“Kill me now. If you have any pity.”
Kyle chuckled, stroking Vikash’s hair. “You know I’m kidding. Why don’t you have Netflix on this thing?”
“Just haven’t yet.” Vikash gave a one-shouldered shrug.
“Not even YouTube. You really don’t have this set up for anything, do you?”
“Not yet.”
“I could always—”
“Kyle. Stop.”
Kyle sighed and turned off the TV. The giant plaid elephants in the room were starting to make a nuisance of themselves and it was making him antsy. Since coming home from the hospital, Vikash had withdrawn more and more into his silences again. While he had a suspicion what caused some of it, Kyle could only guess. He was tired of guessing.
“Hey.” He wrapped an arm around Vikash, careful of the sling. “You’re worried. I can tell you’re worried. Is it about us being partners? With the amplification and the explody stuff?”
“No. Not really.” Vikash sat up and move to the opposite end of the sofa. “It can’t happen accidentally.”
“Guess not. Takes a lot of effort. You think we need to practice? Get better at it?”
