AllFreeNovel
Share Us
There are couches covered with sheets along every wall of this room, and I’m sure many a doctor has used them to nap. They look inviting, but… “I couldn’t sleep if I tried.”
“I know that feeling.”
Doc appears in the doorway. “Hey.” His hair is disheveled, and the handsome lines at the corners of his eyes appear deeper. “I did what I could. Want to see him?”
Duh! Of course, I do!“Please,” I say, with a sigh of relief. At least one part of my waiting is over.
I hurry to follow Doc down the hall to the triage room he and Scrap set up with basic necessities, like bandages, IV drips, and tools for doing light surgery. Sarge wanted us to be prepared if anything happened to Doc and he couldn’t heal the injured. I guess it’s a good thing, since Jud’s injuries exceeded the limit of Doc’s Gift.
Like the physician’s lounge, there’s a stale, very un-hygienic smell in here, but it sure beats the air in the cell Jud was locked in. The lights are at a low, power-conserving setting, and the countertop holds a cluttered mess of supplies and discarded pre-packed wrapping. I see an open bottle of hydrogen peroxide, a spilled vial of iodine, and a pile of red-and-yellow stained gauze, everything a nurse would use to clean wounds and change dressings. I turn my back on the counter and look Jud over.
Even without his usual muscular bulk, his big frame takes up the whole bed and then some. From the waist down, he’s covered in a thin hospital blanket, and his feet extend past the edge. Above the blanket his bare chest rises and falls with steady breaths. His hair is matted and oily, and Doc has wrapped bandages around his eyes and head. His color is much better than last time I saw him, but from how still he is, I can tell he’s weak.
“I’m going to get him something to eat,” Doc says. Even though his voice is quiet, it makes me startle. I hadn’t realized Doc was behind me. Seeing Jud this way absorbed every ounce of my attention.
Even though this man has only been part of my life for a few weeks, it feels like I’ve known him forever. In that time, I’ve only ever seen him strong and confident. The sight of him lying on his back like this, weak and wounded, strikes a horrible note of discord in my soul.
I breathe his name, and he turns his head. His arm, where the IV ripped out in the chopper, is fully healed. Now, he has an IV in the other arm, providing healing fluids to his parched body.
He licks his lips. “Kitten,” he says, and that one, soft word makes my heart twist into a knot.
He knows. His arms catch me as I dive into him and begin sobbing all over his chest.
He was so cold in that cell, but now, he’s warm. He feels solid and alive, even if he’s much thinner than he was.
My mouth blurts out, “I’m glad I didn’t have to cut off your Hammer.”
His chest trembles. I look up to find him chuckling, lips smiling. “Me, too,” he says. “Though I think we both know you were bluffing.”
“Was not.” My voice is watery and small.
He chuckles some more.
“Thank you,” I say.
“For what?”
“You did what I asked. You used your knife to protect me.”
He hums thoughtfully. “Mmm.To protect my queen.”
“Yes.” I like him calling me his queen.
“Thankyou,” he says.
“I think you mean, you’re welcome.”
He makes room for me to climb up and squeeze in between him and the rail of the bed. “No,” he says, pinning me to his side. “I mean thank you.”
“What for?”
“For not giving up on me.”
Of course, I wouldn’t give up on him. I love him. But before I can say any of that, he changes the subject.
“I like the name,” he says. “The Judge’s Hammer. Has a certain ring to it.”
My lips tug into a smile. “I thought you might approve.”
