“Well...” I hesitated for a moment, then she encouraged me to speak up. “Pardon my French here, but why does my dick feel like I need to ask you for a penicillin shot?”
This time it was her who snorted. “Okay, at least I know your head is working just fine. We placed a urinary catheter before the surgery. We removed it about half an hour ago. It can cause a burning sensation, but it should vanish within an hour. Anything else?”
“How late is it, how long are visiting hours, and where’s my stuff?” I asked. It seemed to perplex her a little. In truth, I just wanted to know how long I had to put up with Claire if I couldn’t make her go home on her own.
“It’s 6:22 PM, visiting hours end at Eight, and what is left of your clothes is in that bag hanging from the bottom of your bed.”
I thanked her and she left the room. She wasn’t gone for twenty seconds, however, before the door opened again. This time, it was Ava, Aunt Danielle and Uncle John coming in and quickly surrounding my bed. Just what I needed at that moment, even more of them swarming me when I couldn’t run. Ava just about pissed me off when she, just like Claire before, tried to hold my hand. After all this time, after everything they did, they suddenly decided to show they cared? I doubted it, and she got the very same reaction as Claire had. It was Uncle John who talked first.
“Well, let me just take a photo of your face for Bill. He asked us to let him know how you are.” he grinned, holding out his phone and taking the picture as he spoke.
“He did? How does he even know?” I asked, perplexed.
“We were just having brunch with him when Claire called us. I got the impression he somehow took a liking to you. Apparently, you’re ‘like the son he never wanted’.” he chuckled.
“Yeah, sounds like Bill.” I commented and tried to reach the bag with my clothes. I immediately regretted it when the pain in my chest came back. The painkillers did not make this easy for me. They completely masked the resting pain, so I kept forgetting about the injuries when I didn’t move, and then screwed up by moving too enthusiastically.
“Tim ... why did you do that? Why did you put yourself in such danger? How could you be so reckless?” Aunt Danielle asked. I didn’t know what she was talking about.
“That may come as a surprise to you, seeing as getting my ass kicked and then being stabbed is normally one of my favorite pastimes, but it wasn’t exactly my choice!” I said, with a voice dripping in sarcasm. Turning to Claire I added “So, where are the fast and not-so-furious?”
Claire just looked at me questioningly.
“Golden Boy and your husband.” I clarified. While John let out a short involuntary laugh before catching himself upon noticing the scolding look from Aunt Danielle, Claire didn’t like my choice of nicknames for them.
“They were still at the police station giving statements when you came out of surgery. Why are you calling them that?” she asked, clearly disapproving.
“I thought the names fit. Aaron had to be told to get his wife and daughter out of harm’s way. And I’m telling you right now, if you keep defending Logan while I am lying here, you better get the fuck out. Did you follow the conversation before this shit blew up? They were there for him! Not me,
“Don’t you think you getting stabbed proves that running away would have been the better choice for you as well?” Aunt Danielle asked in a clinical voice.
I couldn’t believe the bitch! Ever since last Christmas, and despite her assurance that she wasn’t exclusively talking to me, she had only been pestering me, not them, to repair our relationship. And now, when I got hurt trying to help the ungrateful fucks, I get scolded for it!
I looked up at the infusion hooked to my hand, and noticed a little button to press that seemed to be connected to it by a cable. I thought it was maybe one of those dispenser-things that release pain meds if I press the button, so I pressed it repeatedly while I answered her.
