The Hunters: Paranormal many shots

Interlude: A not so daring rescue

Annie's eyes fluttered open. Light stung her eyes and pain racked her body. Her vision was slightly blurred, but she could still see the cast on her arm and the bandages wrapped around various parts of her body. Her back stung like lemon juice in a wound. She moved her head to the right and saw three people gathered in the corner. It was the boys.

"I call shenanigans," Paul said.

Annie heard the unmistakable sound of Jared sucking in a fake, shocked breath. "How dare you call shenanigans, that's my job."

"It doesn't work," Paul replied.

"It does. He gave her his heart. Its sweet."

"Firstly, yes, it's sweet, but its also murder. The doctors wouldn't kill the boyfriend to give her his heart. Secondly, to legally do the operation, he would've had to have been a donor and dead. Now, if he was in such a state that he would die soon enough to donate his heart, surely the girlfriend would've noticed his severe deterioration."

Jared huffed. "Why do you hate love?"

Paul drew in a slow breath. "I don't hate love. I was in love once, remember?"

The room suddenly became silent and an awkward air settled over the men. Jared had meant to upset Paul; sometimes it was easy to forget the man wasn't just his job. Someone existed underneath the calculated exterior and someone had existed before Paul had become Jared's friend. Marcus decided he'd had enough with the awkward silence and broke it.

"Joint?"

Paul huffed and turned towards Annie. His eyes went wide when he saw she was awake. He tapped Jared's arm and pointed. Jared followed his gaze and saw her. His eyes bulged out of his head and, in the blink of an eye, he was crouching next to her bed.

"Hey. How're you feeling?"

Annie opened her mouth, something that had never been an effort before. Her jaw was stiff and throbbed when she tried to speak. She let out a sharp hiss, a tear rolling down her cheek. Jared seemed to be in pain just watching her. He turned to Paul.

"Just let me fix it," He said.

Paul shook his head. "We can't. Not just yet. Wait until the hospital traffic dies down. We can't afford to get busted."

Jared let out a frustrated grunt and turned back to Annie. "You'll only have to put up with this for a little while longer. I'm so sorry."

Annie mumbled, pain stinging her joints. Another tear rolled down her cheek. She wriggled one of her fingers, hoping Jared would notice. He did. He reached down and gently took her hand in his.

"You were a total bad ass tonight, by the way. Killing a Feral single-handedly is a hard thing to do."

Annie tried to smile as Paul stepped over. "It was definitely impressive, but foolish."

Marcus got to his feet and placed a hand on Paul's shoulder. "Now ain't the time, Buddy," He said.

Paul held his hands up, realising his fault. "You're right," He turned back to Annie. "I'm just glad you're okay."

The door behind them opened and a man in a white coat came in. He strode over to the bed and picked up a chart. He skimmed the contents then looked up at them all.

"Ah, you're awake. How're you feeling?"

Annie rolled her eyes and gave him a painful thumbs up. He smiled and walked around the side of the bed, pulling a small torch from his chest pocket. He clicked it on and shone it in her eyes. She squinted against thee brightness but the doctor seemed happy. He did a few checks of her injuries-including turning her on her side with Jared's help to check her back.