Page 94 of Exit Strategy
“That’s it.” Roan nodded. “He’ll sleep for a while and when he comes out of that, he should be lucid enough.”
“Don’t worry,” Sadie said with a smile. “We won’t leave you out here with him alone. He won’t drown and neither will you.”
At that, Kyle returned in some obnoxious bright blue speedos. I blushed and looked away as he jogged back our way, things… uh… bouncing, and he slid into the water opposite me and Kurt and took a seat on the bench.
“You can relax now,” he said with a grin and a wink. “I’m here to spot you.”
I gave him a tight-lipped smile and nodded.
Oh, goodie?
We didn’t have much to talk about after that. At least I didn’t. Roan, Kyle, and Sadie talked about some old times and Roan told a few stories about Kurt. Eventually, after about an hour, Kurt stirred and though his words were slightly slurred, he sounded much more with it when he said, “You need some new stories, Captain.”
“Ah, there he is! Bloody brilliant. You ready for your ice bath, then?”
“Bloody hell,no, but let’s get it done.”
Kurt found his own feet and stood. I smiled up at him, and he reached out and touched my face, his eyes unreadable as he stroked a thumb down my cheek and he asked, “You alright then, Cardinal?”
“I’m alright.” I took his hand between mine and kissed his scarred knuckles.
“Think you can lever yourself out of here or you need help?” Kyle asked, standing by.
“What d’you think, you fucking namby?” Kurt asked with a grin and Roan laughed.
“No offense meant,” Roan assured Kyle. “He’s just taking the piss.”
“Aye,” Kurt rumbled, and Kyle got out of the hot tub. Kurt almost went cross-eyed at what he was wearing.
“Or maybe I ain’t,” he said, his accent as thick as I’d ever heard it.
“Come on, man. Up you go.”
“Callie,” Kurt called, and I lightly touched an unbruised part of his back.
“I’m here,” I said.
“Come out of there, girl,” Roan declared, and Sadie was suddenly just tub side holding out a giant bath sheet of a fluffy white towel.
“Okay.” I got out and she wrapped me up in it and rubbed my arms briskly with a smile. Roan and Kyle both helped Kurt out of the hot tub, and I grimaced as he stood shaking like a leaf with the effects of the drugs and hot water, staring down at the trough of ice water.
“Bloody hell,” he muttered and then he let the two men help him into it. I grimaced and cringed, andLord Almighty,did I feel for him.
That had to be absolutely miserable.
“God save the Queen, that’s cold!” Kurt said through chattering teeth and Roan said, “Just hold it as long as you can. You know the drill.”
“Aye, aye, fuck you, mate.” Kurt laughed and it was everything in me not to cry. Cry for Maddie, cry because it was because of me that Kurt was even injured, but also cry with relief that he was going to be okay because seeing him out of sorts? That was honestly the scariest thing of all.
27
Kurt…
The worst part about being modestly allergic to morphine and opioids in general wasn’t that I had to deal with the flu-like withdrawal symptoms, or how sharp the pain of an injury might come back when the meds faded. No, the worst part was that I had two bad habits when doped – I would become combative, and there were some hallucinations. These weren’t immediately noticed the few times I was injured and given dragon juice. Being amped up from an ongoing firefight proved ample explanation for my lack of acceptance or passivity after being hit with the needle. The hallucinations, audio and visual, were easily ignored in the context of a good fight or taking cover from some dangerously close artillery or air strike.
In the civilian world, it was different.
The people around me weren’t trained to deal with high stress and combat situations, and instead of being a guy just keeping it together, I was what they called aproblem patient. The answer to this was simple, don’t get hurt, and if I did get hurt, no painkillers were better than giving a nurse a cuff to the neck or a close-quarters knife hand.
