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THE SOUND of beeping machines pulls Ellie out of her sleep, green eyes fluttering open, wincing at the lights in the room. She squirms on the bed. There's a numbness in her stomach that makes her pull the covers off, staring at the bandage wound around her abdomen.
"You were in surgery for eight hours," a gravelly voice says from beside her.
Ellie turns and sees a mask-clad Simon Riley sitting in a chair. He's slumped over on the arm. Eyes tired. "Why?"
"You were shot."
She rolls her eyes at that sentence. "I remember that much. Why did it take so long?"
"You were being a problem, imagine that." His eyes light up just a little as he matches her sarcasm, making his mood better. "Being as stubborn as always. Even on the bloody operating table."
"Gotta give the doctors a run for their money, Ghost." Ellie clears her throat, becoming aware of how dry it is. Simon sits up and brings a water cup to her lips. He places the straw between them.
She drinks it and starts to cough a little, Ghost moves closer, his voice gentle as he says, "Careful now."
Ellie looks around and notices the bag of IV fluids and blood attached to her. "How much of that have I needed?" she asks, head motioning to the blood transfusion.
"Quite a bit."
"Sheesh," she mutters, hand reaching up to rub her eyes. "Where is Soap? Is he okay?"
"Johnny's just fine. His bullet went clean through."
"Lucky bastard."
Ghost chuckles. "He wants to see you. But I told him you needed to rest. Wasn't sure you were gonna even wake up today."
She sighs, a smile on her face. "I'm full of surprises."
"That so?" he retorts. Ellie feels her cheeks burn when she makes eye contact with him. Something about the look in his eyes makes her feel warm. Gooey. "You're in a chipper mood for someone who was shot. And kidnapped."
"Another day in the life of Ellison Miller," she answers lightly, shrugging her shoulders. "Gotta be honest, Ghost — I'm getting tired of being shot. Don't know how much more I can take."
