Painless

Chapter Sixteen

            Benji’s face softened. “Always worried about me,” he teased, goofily.

            If he was already joking around, it meant that he wasn’t as pissed as I thought he’d be for disappearing on him. Or it was possible that he was just hopped up on pain meds. Either one would make the rest of our trip much easier.

            “Just curious when you’ll be able to blow this popsicle stand,” I answered. “I mean, I know you’re living the life of luxury right now—pretty girls wait on you hand and foot, regular meals presented to you throughout the day and a never-ending supply of bad soap operas to watch—but if we can tear you away soon, we might be able to figure out what happened to Glenn and Joanie.”

            “I dunno…I’ve never been so relaaaxed before.”

            “That’s because you’re on muscle relaxants, doofus,” I said with a laugh. “Hell, I’d stay here too, if it meant I got to check out for a bit. The stuff they’re giving you is better than anything I could get my hands on.” We both chuckled at this.

            “I’ll go find the doctor and ask him when Benji can leave,” said Carson. He got up from the chair and made his way over to the door. He didn’t even bother looking at me as he passed.

            Someone’s still mad, I see.

            Benji had a nurse call button right near his bed, so I knew it wasn’t really necessary for Carson to leave. He was obviously doing it to give the two of us some time alone. That or he was so angry over what had happened earlier that he couldn’t stand to be in the same room as me. I decided that I was fine with either one for the time being.

            Once he was gone and I could hear his footsteps retreating down the hall, I looked back down at Benji and saw that he was staring up at me. I traced his bruises lightly with my finger, noticing that they’d grown more colorful within the few hours I’d been away. Based on my own history, I knew his injuries were much more severe than he was letting on. If he could’ve felt the extent of them, he wouldn’t be gazing at me like he was now. All googly eyed and sickeningly happy.

            They must be giving him the really good stuff. I was jealous.

            “Waz goin’ on ’tween you two? Yure usually at each other’s throats, in now you’re just…ignorin’ each other,” he said. “Didja call a truce or somethin’?”

            “Something like that,” I said, evading the subject. Somehow I knew this wasn’t the best time to bring up our parking lot smooch. Benji had enough to deal with. He didn’t need to add my non-existent, messed up love life to the list. “So, how are you feeling, really?”

            “Little stiff, but otherwise…I feel fiiiine. Kinda fuzzy, ya know?” he said. Then, he reached out and took my hand. Once again, the act felt surprisingly comfortable, and I didn’t pull away. “I was lonely without ya, Bliss. Don’ leave me again. That wasn’t nice.” He made a face like he was trying to pout and it took him about a million years to formulate a sentence. The boy was high as a kite, and if he hadn’t almost died, it would’ve been hilarious.

            “Oh, please. I bet you didn’t even notice I was gone,” I said as I laughed.

            “Ya know what I mean,” he said, his eyes drifting closed. “Ya make me feeeeel thins. Sometimes I even feel pain when I’m withya.”

            From anyone else this would’ve been horrible to hear, but coming from Benji, it was a compliment. In fact, this was probably his version of a pick-up line.