CHAPTER TWENTY TWO
A HmmHmm Comes Round To Play
I wake up face down to a tapping sound to my right.
I groan, roll to my right and instantly regret it. Pain shoots from my lower left back up as it brushes against the undercovers.
Why does it hurt so much?
I peel back my blanket. A pristine white bandage is wrapped tightly around my calf.
Oh. I remember now.
I look slowly around the room. I’m in the infirmary, the other beds are empty. My eyes land on the small alarm clock on the bedside, ticking quietly away. For a few moments that’s all I can focus on.
Tick.
Tock.
Tick.
Tock.
“You’re awake,” Deidre’s voice says from behind me. “Is your leg alright?”
“Y-yeah, I’m doing good,” I answer. I crane my neck around as she walks to my bedside.
She pulls back the blankets and inspects my leg. “It’s still a bit nasty,” she admits. “But I think a bandage change is all you need at this point.”
“How long will I stay here?”
“Probably another couple of days. You’ll be up and around in no time. But take it easy, alright?”
Deidre and I chat aimlessly as she redresses my wound. She leaves shortly after and Peter comes in an hour later, carrying a bucket and fresh towels.
I push myself up onto my elbows.
“How’re you feeling?” he asks as he places the bucket clumsily onto a table. I see frothy water slip over the top.
“Dude,” I alarmingly look to the bucket. “What the hell is that?”
He frowns as he places the towels beside it. “It’s a bucket.”
“Yeah, I can see that,” I reply. I point to the towels. “Why is there a bucket of water here?”
He reaches into the bucket and pulls out a yellow sponge in his hand. “Isn’t it obvious?”
I freak out.
“Dude, you’re not giving me a sponge bath!”
“But Deidre said –“
“Fuck what Deidre said! That’s just weird man!”
He squeezes the excess water out and says, “Don’t worry, I’ll be gentle.”
“No way! Fuck off!”
He waves it in front of me and each time it gets too close, my hand bats it away. His mouth is spread into a wide, mischievous grin. He gives up after a few tries and sits carefully at the edge of my bed.
“So what’s happening now?” I ask him as I slowly roll my upper body to the side. My ribs pinch slightly in this position. “Any progress with Deity?”
Peter’s jaw clenches. “They’re literally doing nothing about it. Only ‘investigating’. What the hell does that mean?”
“It’s only been a week,” I reply. “The Den will find them.”
“I hate all this sitting around,” Peter grumbles. His hands clench at his jeans and he relaxes his grip in a slow rhythm. “We should be out there, stripping down each and every hole we come across. Not holed up underground like a hoard of rats.”
YOU ARE READING
SIDEKICK
Teen FictionWhenever someone, out there, creates a story that involves a hero, they'll always be someone in the form of a sidekick. Male, female, young, old, alien, paranormal, dog, whatever. Anything. But there's something that no one is aware of. You see, in...
