Page 47 of Broken Warrior
Pope says nothing as he administers the second dose, just jabs it into his thigh and injects the entire thing in one go.
We wait.
We watch.
We pray to anyone listening, and when Fin’s head rolls against my shoulder, his face tucked into my neck before his lashes flutter against my throat, I suck in a sharp breath.
“Tate?”
I burst into tears again as I nod against him. “Yes, baby. I’m here.”
Fin sighs long and low, then starts taking steady, even breaths.
“Fuck,” Jackal grunts, his voice shaky and strained when he drops to his knees next to us.
“Ell.” Fin’s head lolls toward his cousin. “What... what the fuck happened?”
Instead of responding, Jackal just leans over the porcelain edge and wraps his arms around both of us the best he can, buries his face in Fin’s shoulder and cries quietly.
“I’m going to sweep his room,” Pope grunts as he gets to his feet, eyes fixed on us in a rather peculiar way. “Need to clean it out before he goes back in there.”
“Thank you,” I blurt through my tears. “Pope, thank you. So much.”
He just nods then disappears into the hall.
And I don’t move from my place, just continue holding the man I love under the icy water and thank god he’s still here.
He isn’t mine, but he’s still here.
Fin is still here.
* * *
My eyes rollbehind my lids as I feel fingers gently brush the hair out of my face.
I can’t help but smile from the sweet gesture but I don’t open my eyes to see where it’s coming from. I already know. “How are you feeling today?”
Fin shifts around on the bed next to me, rolls to face me with just enough space between us so we aren’t touching but I can feel his body heat. “Best so far.”
I crack one lid and smirk. “You say that every day.”
“I know.” He gives me a shy smile. “But only because it’s true every day.”
“You feel like you could eat?”
Fin shrugs. “Maybe. Still a little queasy but I should probably try.” I nod, open both eyes, and go to roll out of bed, but he stops me. “Not yet. Lay with me a little longer?”
“Ok.” I roll to face him and wait for him to ask me the same thing he has every morning for the last nine mornings.
“Tell me why I’m still here,m’eudail. Tell me why I’m still here.”
And I reply the same way I have every morning for nine mornings. “Because you are loved, you are needed, and the world would be a darker place without you.”
After Fin woke up in the bathtub almost two weeks ago, I haven’t left his side.
Doc gave him an exam, did a bunch of shit I still don’t know about while Pope and Jackal cleaned out Fin’s room. They told me, after we got him situated and comfortable in the upstairs bedroom, that they found enough heroin in Fin’s closet to kill a small country. Thousands and thousands of dollars worth of dope hidden all over his room. Mirrors covered in powder, razor blades, and straws. The only syringe they found was the one in the closet where I found Fin, and it wasn’t until a couple of days ago that I knew why.
James has been with Dori and Zak while I’ve nursed Fin back to health. Doc stayed until his withdrawal symptoms subsided, battling the severe vomiting, tremors, muscle spasms, the anxiety, depression, insomnia, and every other thing Fin went through for four days with me. Once that passed and became more manageable, Doc left me with strict instructions on how to move forward and the demand to call if needed. I took a total of two weeks off work, asked Harriet to basically move in while Fin was sick, then waited until he mostly just slept and healed before I had Dori and Zak bring James here.
