Nothing But Thieves (English)

16. Chapter

A beeping sound to my left was the first thing I noticed. My eyes were closed, I was lying somewhere. The ground was comfortable, I felt something on top of me. From the smoothness and yet soft texture, I assumed it was a blanket. Where the hell was I? I slowly became clearer. There were foreign bodies in my nostrils, but I could still breathe. I felt a small pressure on my left index finger. If I managed to open my eyes, a lot of things would become clearer. With all my might, I forced myself to lift my eyelids. It took several attempts, but then I managed.

Strangely, I wasn't surprised when I looked around. Hospital room. My broken, worn-out body was lying in a hospital bed. The beeping was from a monitoring monitor, the pressure on my finger was that weird heart rate measuring thing. I looked down at myself. Surgical gown, bandage on my right arm and a cast on my right leg. Strangely, I didn't feel anything.

Suddenly the door opened and someone entered the room. To my great joy, Caleb Sykes was standing at the end of the bed.

"There you go! Leon, you're awake! You rascal gave me quite a fright!" he shouted loudly and immediately called for medical staff. Two nurses came into the room immediately and were working on the IV in my left arm and a doctor who stood on the right side.

"Good morning, Mr. Ashbury, I'm glad to welcome you back among the living. What else do you know?" he asked without further ado.

I opened my mouth, but no sound came out. The Sahara had spread in my throat. Caleb immediately grabbed a sippy cup and helped me drink some liquid. It felt so incredibly good.

"I was on the run. Then on the street. Was I hit by a car?" I asked. The doctor nodded.

"In fact, you were hit by a car. You have sustained numerous injuries, but some rehabilitation should get you back on your feet. Your colleague hasn't left your side since you were admitted. If anything happens, let me know. Don't overexert yourself," he concluded, leaving Caleb and me alone.

"You have a little oxygen in your nose, don't be surprised," he said, pointing at me. So that was the thing.

Suddenly it dawned on me. I was safe! It was over! Fuck yeah!

"Caleb, there was a bank robbed. Devon, Sean and Alistair are involved!" I shouted excitedly.

"Calm down, Leon, calm down. The three of them have been arrested and are in custody. We know about it, the internal affairs department has been investigating the three of them for a while. They've been caught. And you're safe, everything's fine. You gave me a few stomach aches but otherwise everything's OK. The doctors are very optimistic," he said with a big smile on his face.

"And the three bank robbers?" I asked cautiously.

He shook his head. "There's still no trace of them. The names that Devon and his accomplices spat out were all wrong. But we'll find them."

Why was I relieved? They were criminals. But there was a part of me that wanted them to escape.

"What happened to me?" I asked.

"You can't be mad, but Marcy hit you. She was looking for you when we realized that you must have been involved in the bank and jewelry store robbery. On the street she was driving on, she heard gunshots and was therefore less attentive and caught you. But she recognized you, hoisted you into her car and drove you to the hospital while she was on the phone with us. That's when we arrested our black sheep. The doctor said you had internal bleeding, broken bones and a serious concussion. You've been here for a week," he said.

I nodded cautiously. "What a colossal mess." Then I told Caleb everything I had experienced and what I had noticed. When I was finished, my partner explained to me what stage the investigation was at. Not very far yet.

"Why don't I feel anything?" I asked.

The man across from me grinned at me. "You got the good stuff. Leon, you're so pumped full of painkillers right now that I'm surprised you haven't seen a pink elephant standing in this room yet."

"Caleb, leave Mister Pinky out of it. He doesn't deserve this," I joked. High as hell.

"By the way: Marcy doesn't dare visit you. She sent her big brother. He brought muffins." Then Caleb pointed to the nightstand to my left. "And he brought you a half-full pack of cigarettes. I thought that was a little weird, but he's always been strange. He also brought a bottle of whiskey as a gift. But you're not 21 yet, so I generously took it. He kept asking about you on Marcy's behalf. Maybe he'll come by today." I just nodded. According to the doctors, I would be OK. That was great news. I was getting more and more tired, so I said goodbye to Caleb and went back to sleep.

Suddenly I jumped up. A bottle of whiskey? Why would someone bring alcohol to the hospital? As quickly as I could manage it in my half-sleep, I grabbed the pack of cigarettes. Inside was my lighter! Mine! My partner had told me who had brought the stuff. Marcy's big brother.

It all dawned on me. As her brother, he would of course know Caleb. The hostage-taker had a son who was older than me. If my partner was in his early 50s, her brother had to be at least in his early 50s too. That would make it all work.

"Leon, is something wrong?" Caleb asked, shocked. He had nevertheless made himself comfortable on the chair in the room.

There was a knock on the door, both of our eyes turned to the knock.

A man, perhaps in his early 50s, entered the room, carrying a basket of muffins. "Hello Caleb, how is our patient today?" the guy asked and I recognized the voice immediately. Whiskey.

"You can ask him yourself, Tobin. He's finally woken up," my partner concluded, nodding in my direction.

"Ah, it's nice that you're feeling better and safe," said this Tobin, or rather my hostage-taker.

With a trembling voice I asked: "You brought me the cigarettes and a bottle of whiskey?"

He smiled at me challengingly and nodded. As if to say: What's your next move, kid?

We made eye contact, which seemed to last an eternity.

Finally, I gathered all my self-confidence. "Thanks for the stuff. I'm Leon."

He nodded. "Nice to meet you, Leon."