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Sitting up to get a better look at him, I shrug. Using my abs at all hurts even worse, but I need him to stop this.
“I’ll keep my promise, old man. If an entire building collapsing wasn’t enough to take me out, then I’m sure this little papercut isn’t going to do much.”
Doc walks into the room with a medical bag, rolling his eyes at me. “I told you not to leave the hospital.”
“What can I say? The old man here needed to be taught a few things about who I am.”
Boris glares at me but I just smile.
“Who you are, is reckless,” Doc says, kneeling at my side while removing Boris’ jacket that is no doubt worth thousands of dollars. I should be honored he would use it to mop up my blood, but I’m really just irritated he would ruin such an expensive piece of fabric for a little cut.
Doc lifts up my shirt to reveal a two-inch-long wound that’s leaking just a tad.
“That is not a papercut,” Boris says, all moody again. “When you’re healed, you and I are going to have an extensive conversation about what is allowed during recovery.”
“Why not have it now? Seems pointless to discuss something after the fact.”
“Because right now, you’re going back to the hospital to get treated and rest while I work on a way to dig everyone out of this situation we all seem to have found ourselves stuck in.”
Okay, clearly he did not hear me earlier.
I look down at the man patching me up. “Do I need to be in the hospital, Doc?”
He looks up at me and then over to Boris before looking back down at where he’s stitching, not saying a word. I didn’t even feel the numbing medication go in this time, my frustration with Boris must have dulled it.
I take his silence as all the confirmation I need.
“Great.” I look back at Boris who seems even more pissed than before, which I didn’t even know was possible.
“I’m going to say this one more time. I am the only one who will be making decisions for myself from here on out. If you have an issue with me being out of the hospital, then that sounds like ayouproblem. Find a way to deal with it that doesn’t involve telling me what to do.”
“I can force you, you know.” He could, but I think he knows I’d never forgive him for that. And if the way my lips are still on fire is any indication of how he feels, then I don’t think he will. So, I challenge him.
“I dare you.”
We glare at each other, neither of us backing down for what feels like forever. Doc finishes up and when he has a new bandage on the wound, he helps me to sit up on the couch like a real gentleman.
Boris’ hands ball into fists, and it isn’t until Doc leaves that he stands to pace. The tension in the room builds to the point where I don’t know if I can take another breath.
He throws his hands up in frustration, and it reminds me so much of my father that I flinch just slightly. Remorse crosses his features for a moment, but I can’t manage to unsee the man’s face which has haunted me since the moment Cillian ran away. A familiar panic begins rising in my veins until Boris finally looks at me.
When our eyes lock, his dark blue sea meets my shimmering gold. It's at that moment I’m reminded of who he really is.He’s not my father. He wouldn’t hurt me.
So, I treat him like the man I know instead of cowering in his presence.
“What else is wrong? This isn’t just about me defying you.”
Tired eyes turn to mine and I see the struggle there, but I can’t help if he won’t use his damn words like an adult.
“Everything is wrong. Evie is gone and Arrow is…” He shakes his head and I stand to go to him.
“Arrow is alive,” I say calmly. “He will come back to us when he is ready.”
Boris shakes under my touch. “I promised my sister I would protect him.”
“You did.” I’m gentle with my voice, needing him to see the truth behind my words.
However, I must fail because he looks at me as if I just grew three heads.
