I scrolled though my phone with my right hand as I lied in bed. I was already sleepy. I had breakfast a few minutes ago, and I wasn't allowed to do anything else other than lying in bed.
Earlier, I called my boss at the candy store and told her about the surgery. She asked if I was okay, but said she couldn't keep me around if I was going to take days off all the time. So yeah, I got fired.
I stared at the texts I sent to Brandon.
"Hello Brandon. Where the hell where you yesterday? I almost got murdered."
That was too straightforward, I know.
"Why didn't you come looking for me?"
"I'm in the hospital, I had surgery and didn't know it until I woke up."
"If you want to come talk to me, I'm in..." I gave him the hospital address and the room I was in.
I didn't send them all at the same time though. I assumed he had training to do, I knew some parts of the generals' training schedule, so I sent him the texts on his free time, or what I guessed was free time. Still, no reply. He was never online too.
"Are you okay? You didn't answer any of my texts...I'm getting worried." Was the last text. I sent it about half an hour ago.
So, I put my phone down on the food table to the right of my hospital bed and closed my eyes. It was almost six in the morning, and I didn't sleep after Lloyd left. I should get some sleep...
My phone rang. I picked it up as soon as I heard it. But I sighed when I saw who was calling, it was Garmadon.
"Hello..." I greeted.
"Y/n, why didn't you report anything to me yet?" he shouted.
"Calm down. What are you talking about?"
"You know what I'm talking about. Your stupid mission took so long. What were you doing in the city all this time?"
I rolled my eyes, even though he couldn't see me.
"Will you tell Garmadon that I'm the Green Ninja?" Lloyd asked me before he left at midnight.
"Why are you quiet? Answer me!"
I responded, "I'm close, give me more time."
"Do you know who the ninjas are then?"
"No, I said I was close, not done."
He mumbled, near the phone "I should seriously fire you."
"What did you say?"
"Oh, that was nothing. I wasn't talking to you." He took a sip of something and asked, "What about La-loyd? How is he?"
Wow, he cares about his son? That's new.
"He's fine." But just in case... "He's not qualified to become your general, if that's what you're asking about."
"I meant if he finally grew some teeth." He mumbled to himself, I believed, "How old is that kid anyway...Oh, yeah, seven."
He asked, "So did he finally grow some teeth?"
I would have face-palmed if I was allowed to move my left arm. So instead, I rolled my eyes, again. "Yes, he also has hair and eyebrows."
"Good to know."
"And he's sixteen, not seven."
"That's impossible, I had him sixteen years ago. He should be seven now."
I actually face-palmed this time, but with my right hand after I set my phone down for a moment. How did he even become an evil warlord?
"Is he tall?" he asked.
I picked up my phone again. "You mean taller than a baby? Yes, he is tall."
"How tall is he?"
"Do I look like a measuring tape to you?"
"I don't know. This isn't a video call."
I spoke after a pause, "Anyway, I wanted to tell you something."
"I'm all ears." No, you're all arms-
"I..." I thought before saying "...got into an accident and broke my arm."
He didn't say anything for a bit. Then he asked, the calmest he's ever been, "What?"
"I broke my arm and had surgery."
"And?" Are you kidding me? You aren't worried at all?
"And I haven't paid the hospital bill. So, will you pay it?"
He sipped his drink near the phone's microphone, again. R.I.P. my ear. "All right. I'll send the money with general thirteen."
"Thank you."
"Your mission deadline is Saturday."
Three days. Only three days for me to decide if I should tell him about Lloyd. I asked "This Saturday?"
"No, the one after it." So, prom day. Thank god, I have about two weeks.
"I have to go now, I'm eating breakfast." He warned, something I did not expect him to say, "If you fail this mission, don't even think about coming back."
He switched back to his cheerful voice, "Bye-bye." And he hung up on me.
~~~
The door to the hospital room flew open and Brandon got in, catching his breaths. He asked me, kind of yelling, actually, "Are you okay?"
He got shushed by the nurse in the hallway before he closed the door.
"Oh, now you're here?" I asked, avoiding his eyes and focusing on my food on the small table on my lap as I sat up on my bed.
"I'm so sorry. My phone wasn't with me and I came as soon as I saw your texts." He sat on the chair to my right and repeated, "I'm sorry."
I held my sandwich with one hand. Its contents almost fell before I took a bite.
He said, "I'm sorry about yesterday. I looked everywhere, but I couldn't find you at all. I even asked the other generals to look for you, but they didn't listen."
I looked at him. "And? What did you do after that?"
"I had to convince myself you went home. I couldn't go to my apartment to check on you. I had some urgent training to do, then a meeting, then more training, then a small mission from Garmad-"
"Enough, I believe you. Calm down before anyone else hears you."
He took a deep breath and asked "What happened?"
I set down my glass of water after I finished my lunch and told him what happened yesterday. Except for the Green Ninja's identity, obviously.
"Damn," he said, "He's evil, even more than half the generals combined."
"Not really."
"Why are you defending him? He did this to you." He pointed his index finger at my bandaged arm.
"The tree and the ground did this to me."
"He got you into that situation in the first place."
"He apologized, and we settled it. It's done."
"But still-"
"Brandon." He looked me in the eyes. "I know who to put the blame on, and that shouldn't concern you."
He blinked a few times, taking in what I said, then nodded. "Okay. But if he puts you in any more danger, I'll snap his neck."
That's a bit extreme.
"Okay. I'll allow that," I said. "But wait."
"What?" He waited for me to speak.
"It could be just me, but have you noticed that you've been more protective of me lately?"