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"Sure shut up her line of questioning," I agreed, lifting the bottle for another swig just as Pagan reappeared from his room, shaking what seemed to be a full bottle of pills.
"Got these that time I tore my cornea on Slade's fucking fingernail."
And took none of them.
Because Pagan was Pagan. I guess he liked the pain. Or was immune to it at this point.
"Don't take more than two if you're drinking," he added, tossing the bottle at me.
Unable to raise my arm to grab it thanks to the busted rib, it thudded against my chest and rolled down my lap.
"Incoming," someone outside yelled, but in a nonchalant voice that had me hoping it was someone they were expecting, and he was just calling it out, so no one got a twitchy trigger finger.
It was maybe only two minutes later when the door opened and in she walked.
She was still in her dress from the date, the material clinging to her perfect curves, something that had made it hard to focus for hours before all this shit went down. Her feet, however, were in her ridiculous, clunky leather gardening shoes, and a jacket that was clearly not her own since it was a heavy Carhartt duck jacket in light brown. One hand was pulling a giant flower-printed suitcase. The other was holding a small cat carrier. I would bet good money that Ford was in there.
Behind her was a man that screamed ex-military from his keen eyes, wide-legged stance, and perfect posture. One of his hands was leading in her hoard of dogs. The other held what appeared to be a parrot carrier. Charlie the cockatoo was sitting on a perch, looking around the room with his crest up.
Rey came to an abrupt stop, eyes scanning the room desperately before they fell on me.
I watched as she registered the mess I was in, doing so with unfiltered shock and worry for a long moment before she shook her head slightly, like she was shaking it off.
"If you want to make a date exciting, Reeve, you could have just taken me to an amusement park. This was a little overboard."
But before I could even try to let out a small chuckle, she was shoving the cat carrier at Lo who had reflexes enough to right it before it flipped, and all but ran toward me, dropping down on the arm of my chair.
"This, you're missing a tooth?" she asked, touching my cheek. At my slight nod, she nodded as well, like she was cataloging this information. "That's vodka, right?" she asked, reaching for the bottle before I could even agree that it was. "You might want to close your eyes," she told me. Then she tipped the bottle... and poured it over my face. "Yeah, that sucks, right? But the witch hazel is buried in my bag somewhere, and those cuts are swelling already like they're infected. I can't imagine you got beat up in a nice, sterile doctor's office."
How the fuck was she so calm about this?
I don't know what I had been expecting, but maybe hysterics?
Not this calm, collected, assessing woman.
"What about your stomach?" she asked, not waiting for a response, just reaching down to haul up my bloodstained shirt to just under my chest. "Ouch, right? I broke three ribs falling out of an apple tree when I was thirteen. It sucks. And there's not a damn thing you can do about it either. Well, except take it easy. And breathe deep, so you don't get sick. Don't worry; I have some teas you can take that will help a lot though. Once we all get settled."
"Yeah, about that," Smith said, handing off the dogs to Cy who offered to take them as he set the bird down on the bar. "We got a bunch of other critters in the car. Where are they all going to be living?"
This was a question for Reign seeing as they wouldn't all fit in my room. But Reign wasn't here. And the most senior of the members around were, well, Cy and me.
"No one is using the new addition," I volunteered. Reign had built it to house the probies while he decided if they were viable options to be patched. But since everyone was in now, the room had been pretty much bare walls. "Gives them room to run around," I added.
"You heard him," Lo said, shrugging at Smith.
Smith looked over at Sugar. "Got a hand? She's got a fucking tortoise that needs to get in here. And some more birds. And some furry caged things."
"Furry caged things?" I asked, brows drawing low.
"Hamsters," she supplied. "Oh, and a sugar glider. They're not mine. They are being boarded until their owners get home."
"Alright," Lo said, tone commanding, but a bit softer. "Well, we will handle wrangling the animals inside. Why don't you get Reeve to his room and help him get cleaned up?" she suggested.
