The Deal

Chapter 18 - A Confession

{I told myself that I'd be okay ~ don't worry I'm feeling good right now ~ I'm feeling good right now.

Okay - Jackson Wang}

Chapter 18 – A Confession

"Jesus," I groaned, clutching my stomach and trying unsuccessfully to roll away from the nurse wielding what looked to me like a giant pair of torture tweezers. "Haven't I been mutilated enough already? Why do people keep coming at me with sharp objects?"

Tania ignored me, moving to lean over my middle section and start prodding it with her fingers.

"Can you feel that?" She asked.

"Oh my God, yes!" I gasped, glaring sullenly after her as she snapped off her gloves and disappeared to go get more anaesthetic. I glanced over at Damon, who was stood off to one side with his arms folded over his chest. We hadn't really spoken since I conked out in his car, and now that we'd made it to the hospital – it was a little awkward.

The silence stretched on between us as we waited for Tania's return. Damon skillfully avoided my gaze by watching a man who shuffled past our section of beds dressed in a florescent kaftan and Velcro slippers with an icepack tapped to his head.

"You know," I piped up, absently playing with the pulse monitor on my pointer finger and accidentally setting off a beeper. "You should let the doctors examine you. You don't look so good."

"I'm fine."

"Dude, have you seen yourself? You look like you've been hit by a tour bus. You're lucky those idiots didn't run you down."

He didn't say anything. His face was badly cut, and his cheek was swelling, while his flaxen hair was slick with clotted blood. Whether it was his own or someone else's, I had no idea.

He stood stiffly; no doubt suffering from the beating he'd received by Dexs' men and looking more and more uncomfortable by the minute. I opened my mouth to say more, but thankfully Tania came back with the shot.

"Good news," she smiled, peeling back the dressing over my stomach and dabbing the tender skin around it with a sterilizer. "Your scans came back and there's no sign of any serious damage been done to your internals."

"So what now?" Damon asked, cutting me off right as I opened my mouth. "Does she need surgery?"

"I can speak for myself, you know," I snapped at him.

"Not likely," Tania said, addressing Damon and totally ignoring me. "All that's left now is clean up the site and staple her up. Then you can both head on home."

"Great," Damon said, straightening a little. "Thank you."

"No worries," Tania smiled, slapping my hand away as she injected my midriff with the anaesthetic. "Stop fussing! Right - let's get you cleaned up."

*

"Are you sure you're alright to walk?" Damon asked, watching me as I shuffled determinedly towards the sliding exit doors. I sent him a flat look.

"I'm doing it, aren't I?" I bit out, only to flounder when I moved too quickly and pitched forward, only escaping another trip to A&E by Damon's steadying grip on my shoulders. I looked round at him nervously, my bitterness subsiding. "Just stick close by, okay?"

About forty years later we'd finally made it outside.

"I'll grab the car," Damon murmured, moving to prop me against a concrete pillar while he left to retrieve the car.