He glanced down at the huge bandage over the right side of his chest.
Well, that doesn’t look too good.
If they’d had to patch him up to aid healing, then he must have done some serious damage. He tried to sit up, but the flash of pain pulled a hiss out of him, and he fell back against the bed.
“Hey,” Jason mumbled from beside him and squeezed his fingers.
Daryl turned to face him, noted that he was lying down beside him, and raised an eyebrow.
Jason sighed but didn’t let go of his hand. “Alpha Jones said it’d help you heal quicker if I stayed close, even though we’re not fully bonded.” He said it almost like a challenge. “And you needed all the help you could get.”
Daryl managed a small smile. “That bad, was it?”
Jason’s expression turned pained and his grip on Daryl’s hand tightened. “You had a tree branch stuck through your chest, broken ribs, broken wrist, and a fractured tibia.”
“Oh.”
No wonder his chest hurt like a motherfucker.
“What happened?” He remembered being on the plank one minute and then . . . not.
“As far as I know, the rope attached to your side of the plank snapped. When there wasn’t enough weight to hold it in place, you became a shifter catapult.”
Daryl grimaced. “What about the others? Kara, Rob—
“They’re fine. A little banged up at first, but they’re all okay now. It was you that we were worried about.”
Carefully, Daryl flexed his other hand and both legs. Everything there seemed okay.
“According to Alpha Jones, you’re fully healed apart from your chest,” Jason said, reading him easily.
“Just how long have I been out?” The last Daryl remembered it had been late morning.
The curtains were drawn, but from what he could see, no light shone around them.
Jason sighed and sat up against the headboard, then reached for his phone. “About eight hours.”
Daryl caught the string of messages on the phone screen. “Someone’s popular.”
Turning a weary expression his way, Jason said, “Most of them are Cam and Alec wanting hourly updates on your condition.” He sent off what looked like a couple of replies. “There, that should keep them satisfied for now.”
A huge yawn escaped him, jaw cracking.
“Healing’s hard work, huh?” Jason’s smile turned soft, and Daryl felt the familiar tug of their potential bond underneath all the pain.
“Apparently.”
Silence settled between them, but far from being comfortable, Daryl got the distinct feeling Jason
had something on his mind. He glanced over and caught him biting his bottom lip. “Whatever it is, just say it.”
Their eyes met, and Daryl silently cursed the way his stomach fluttered in response. Must be his injuries making him vulnerable to their bond.
“I’ve been thinking about something,” Jason began. “And before you interrupt, I was thinking about it before you got injured. It’s not some bond-related, knee-jerk reaction to you being hurt.”
Apprehension started to creep in as Daryl feared where Jason was going with this.
“I like you, Daryl. I liked you before the bond triggered and complicated matters.”
