Page 33 of Shattered Pieces

“How’s it looking today?” I asked, eyeing him as he shifted to get comfortable.

“Fine.”

“Have you even looked at it?”

“I will before bed. I got pumped full of antibiotics so it⁠—”

“If it was me, you’d be hovering like mad. Fucking show me, asshole,” I grunted, and he thankfully just rolled his eyes and put his beer on the coffee table before pulling his jacket and shirt off for me to check.

I moved to squat in front of him, making him flinch when I peeled the bandage back and touched the skin close to the wound to check for heat or inflammation.

“You’re fucking hands are cold,” he growled, giving me the stink eye as I smirked.

“You’ll survive.”

Tyler peered over to look too, cringing at it. “Dude, that looks like it hurts.”

“I got shot, dickhead. Of course, it hurts,” he grunted, leaning forward for me to check the entry point in his back too. At least it didn’t look infected or anything.

“Can you teach me to shoot?” Tyler asked, both of us snorting.

“Absolutely not,” I replied, earning a frown in return.

“Why not?”

“You’d be a hazard with a gun,” Marco chuckled, leaning back once I was satisfied with his wound.

“Not if you teach me,” he huffed, and I shook my head with a sigh.

There was no way in hell I was letting him near a gun.

CHAPTER SIX

RORY

Ihad no concept of time, let alone how many days it had been since I’d been put in here on my own. I just ate what they brought me, went outside and showered when I was allowed, and worked out in my cell between doing school work and sleeping.

It felt like I’d been in here forever, but also only a few days at the same time.

“Donovan,” Miss Jarvis said as she opened my door. “Come on.”

“Can I request to stay here?” I joked, and she huffed with annoyance but didn’t say anything, waiting for me to get off the bed. “What about my work?”

“Leave it. You can have dedicated study time in the library for it,” she replied, escorting me through the building until we passed Medical. The woman who’d been the reason I was in the hole was lying on the bed looking more banged up than how I’d left her, and I frowned.

“What happened to Smith?”

“Ran into a door, apparently,” she scoffed, knowing that was bullshit.

People gave me the usual dirty looks as we continued to my block, but a few gave me small nods, which was new.

“You’re back!” Tilly basically cheered as she leaped off the couch and dove at me, almost knocking me over with a hug. I jerked back, and she winced. “Shit, sorry. I forgot you’re a cactus.”

I couldn’t help the bark of laughter that left me, reaching out to give her an awkward pat on the shoulder. Miss Jarvis’ radio went off, telling her there was a scuffle in the hallway, so she left us quickly, meaning we could talk more freely.

“Did you have any trouble while I was gone?” I asked quietly, and she shook her head.

“Nah. Pretty sure you’ve fixed it. Thanks, by the way. Sorry it got you in trouble.”