Page 59 of Outfoxed

“Give me a stick and I will correct them. Violently.”

Sandro shook his head. “There’s no need. My reputation is just fine, and your reputation is only going to improve from here. I’ve made a point of spreading word you’re in an uncontested courtesan contract with me, and I’ve decided I’ll use some of my weight. The first idiot to question my choice already got a taste of my magic, and I’m in a mood.”

“You didn’t kill the idiot, did you?”

“No. I just scared a few years off his life and trashed the papers he was waving around in my face. I took offense to that, so I made the papers disappear. Violently.”

I grinned at his choice of word, using the same grumpy inflection I’d used. “I’m okay if you use a little violence on my behalf. Being shot hurts, but the nice nurse pressed a button, and it doesn’t hurt much now.”

“Good. Hospital visitation time is limited, so I can only be here for a few minutes, but they have limited beds, and the storm survivors will need them. They want to move your care to my residence as soon as you’re stabilized and can be monitored by a nurse who’ll come several times a day. It’s less taxing on the hospital that way. I’ve already set up as much as I can for you, but it will be an uncomfortable few weeks, and you’ll have to deal with closer company with me than you might like.”

Sandro’s tone implied he was less than pleased with the situation. I was less than pleased with the situation, but it beat being dead. “I’ve cost you even more money.”

“I’m not worried about the money. I put a bounty out for your shooter, and to make it clear I’m not to be trifled with, it’s even more than your current standing bounty. Which has, since your hospitalization, gone up again. Someone informed the person who issued the bounty about the shooting, and there are new criteria added to the bounty. I don’t know who wants you, but they want you alive, as healthy as possible, and any bounty hunter who provides medical care will be compensated in addition to the doctors and care facilities being paid.” Sandro smirked. “I’ve already sent them the bill for your stay here.”

“You did?”

“I did. I’m a registered bounty hunter, and it prevents me from being required to cart you back to the East right away. For as long as the nice doctors and nurses say you’re not fit for much travel, I can keep you in Asylum. I’ve your pass at my home, so when you’re released, you’ll have that back along with the rest of your things. I recovered your various property, and after some thought, I assumed some of it was meant for your friend, Batbayar. I left those with him. Your blade is at my home, locked in my safe, so it should be safe.”

I glanced at the doctor and nurse, who watched and listened with interest. “Why do you want them to know about this?”

“Well, it definitely helps with the billing element, and I’ve made sure they give you the best possible care they can under the situation. The hospital is swamped, though.”

“Which hospital is this?”

“Asylum’s. They’ve been taking patients as the Inner Tulsa hospitals struggle to keep up, but since you have a pass and I’m sponsoring you, I brought you straight here. It was closer.”

“Well, thank you for that. It would have sucked to die in some damned alley.”

“You almost did. Do you remember anything?”

“It was a man in a trench coat, but I couldn’t make out his face. He was on the roof. I guess he was roof hopping to follow me or was waiting where he thought I might go. I was headed for the Asylum entrance near my regular bank to come see you.” In reality, I would have made some detours first, but I mostly spoke the truth. “I’d checked on my cellars on the way.”

“I know. I was about to go knock on your cellar to see if you were home when I heard the gunfire, and since gunfire isn’t common around here, I checked it out and found you doing your best to bleed out. You’re lucky I’m a universal donor. There’s been a pretty nasty shortage of blood, and I gave you a lot of mine to keep you breathing.”

“You’re not going to let me forget that any time soon, are you?”

Sandro smiled. “Absolutely not. I’m hoping it’ll go a long way convincing you to upgrade our provisional contract to permanent. I’m looking at ways to make my competition in the East regret targeting you—after I make them finish paying off your medical bills. I’ll give my competition some credit. They’re prompt, and they didn’t question any of the bills. They did suggest you were being given too light of a painkiller, though. Drug supplies are slim, but they’re giving you what they can.”

“We did receive additional medications as a result of the bounty and their interest in keeping Miss Tamrin healthy,” the doctor said. “That’s helped. Miss Tamrin’s been given the lion’s share, and we’ve been spreading the rest around as we can.”

“I’ll request more antibiotics,” Sandro promised. “Anything else you require? Also, concoct an infection concern regarding the high number of injured and deceased in the area. Perhaps the next shipment will have some base vaccinations to go with it.”

“I’ll play extra close to death if it gets more medical supplies here,” I offered. “If I can help with that, I will. We need it. I can fake tears if you want. Or wiggle my toes. I have a feeling if I wiggle my toes, I won’t have to fake the tears.” I stared at my left hand, which was still tied to the bed. “If I promise to behave and leave the IV line alone, can I have a hand? I’m guessing I tried to inflict injury to myself in some fashion or another.”

The doctor nodded. “The first few days after your arrival, you kept trying to pull the IV line out with your teeth, so we restrained you. You’ve progressed enough that removing the straps should be safe. You are typically a side sleeper as far as we can tell, but the location of your more severe injuries would have made being on your side dangerous. Unfortunately, there was no perfect position for you, but Mr. Moretti opted to cauterize the injury on your back to help staunch the bleeding. That has healed surprisingly well. Unfortunately, it will scar.”

Shrugging hurt. “What’s one extra? If you were looking for some pristine beauty, Sandro, you picked poorly.”

“I’m not looking for a pristine beauty, and I’d rather have you with some scars and still alive, and you were losing a lot of blood. I cauterized what I could safely. I was severely scolded upon arrival with you.”

The doctor grinned at that. “I really did scold him, too. Cauterization helped keep you from bleeding out, but it presents some challenges for later healing. But, as he says, it is better than dying before you reached the hospital at all. I’m Dr. Thresher, and I’m your surgeon. I’d like to keep you under observation for another twenty-four hours before releasing you into Mr. Moretti’s care, with a nurse visiting you three times a day to check your bandages, administer the appropriate medications, and monitor your general health. You’d return to the hospital every three days for testing, but this would free up a bed for another patient who needs the care more than you do.”

“I must be doing pretty well, then. Do I want to know what day it is?”

“It’s Tuesday, Miss Tamrin,” Dr. Thresher replied.

The last thing I recalled, it had been Thursday, and it hadn’t been that late into Thursday. “I’m going to pretend I haven’t lost almost a week, and I’ll be grateful I don’t remember anything of it, because I bet it hurt like hell.”