Page 18 of The Devil's Bargain
“Even the drug-related ones should be going to—” Cal paused and sighed when Mitri held up a hand to stop him. “What?”
“They’ve merged our departments since Bruce was already popping into both.”
“Fantastic.” Should he change his mind?
Maybe living in a cage as large as Mercy’s house wouldn’t be so bad after all…?
No.
No, he couldn’t do that.
Couldn’t give up so easily.
How pathetic of him to even consider it.
There was a brush of something through the connection, and before he could place it, his multi-slate dinged.
Titus Mercer:Come to the hospital.
Calix:I’m busy.
“I’ll go through these and find the most pressing cases,” Saz was saying, taking the stack of files. “Should I reassign them as I see fit?”
Since Calix hadn’t had the chance to meet everyone yet, and didn’t know everyone’s position within the station, that seemed like the best plan. He nodded, but didn’t get a chance to verbally reply before his device chimed again, distracting him.
Titus Mercer:Already breaking the rules? You have fifteen minutes, little monster. Don’t make me wait for you.
He stood so fast, his chair whipped back and clanged loudly against the wall, startling the others in the room. “Sorry,” he rushed to say, gathering his things quickly. “I have to be somewhere important. Call me if anything comes up.”
“Okay,” Mitri frowned but agreed, not wasting time by asking where he was headed.
Which was good.
Because the hospital was fifteen minutes away.
Calix was never going to make it.
Chapter 7:
“You’re late.” Mercy didn’t even glance up from his holopad, barely sparing any attention for Calix, who’d been standing on the opposite side of his desk for the past five minutes.
Cal had made it to the hospital with only two minutes to spare, and by the time the elevator had brought him to the correct floor and he’d been allowed to pass to the director’s office, those two minutes had come and gone.
“The station is exactly fifteen minutes away from here on a good day,” Calix pointed out. This was a setup. The director hadn’t given him enough time on purpose.
“Guess it was a bad day then, huh?” Finally, Mercy set the device aside and leaned back in his chair, steepling his fingers before his gaze roamed over Cal’s body. “How are you, little monster?”
“Annoyed.”
“I can tell.”
He blew out a breath and shifted on his feet. “Mercy, you can’t do this. It’s my first day back. Why—”
“Have you eaten?” he asked, just as a knock came at the door. He pressed the button on his desk that would allowwhoever was out there to enter, and then nodded at the nurse who stepped in carrying a tray. “Thank you, Jean.”
“Not a problem, Director.” She placed the tray on his desk then bowed to both him and Calix before exiting without another word.
Cal scowled. “Did you just have a nurse deliver food from the cafeteria? That’s got to be a blatant abuse of power.”
