Besides the emotional pain, there was a physical ache. She hadn’t yet pulled her shirt off to see just how bad her wounds were. She knew they couldn’t be too serious because she hadn’t keeled over from them. But she dreaded getting undressed, knowing that the congealed blood would be pulled off the wounds, and there would be more blood and pain.
She looked up when a shadow crossed her vision. Teren had somehow gotten into her room.
“I guess ignoring you was pointless. You must have some magic way to get into any locked room, courtesy of the CIA, right?”
“Actually, when I rented the rooms, I got two keys to yours. Just in case.”
“Oh.”
Teren sat down on the bed, facing her. “You want to get out of those clothes?”
“Not particularly.”
They were both quiet for a moment.
“Do you generally like to sit around in blood stained shirts?”
“No. But it seems better than the alternative.”
“Which is?”
“Ripping them off and opening the wounds again. That sounds painful, so I think I’ll stay in these for a little while longer.”
Teren nodded, and got up. She went into the bathroom, and Alex could hear the water in the shower come on. Moments later Teren sat across from her again.
“Okay. Empty all of your pockets, take off your shoes and pants, and leave on any clothes that seem to be glued on. Then get into the shower, let the water soak the cloth that’s stuck to your skin. Once it does, you can peel the material off with a lot less pain.”
Alex stared at her. “Had to do this much, Teren?”
There was a sad smile on Teren’s face. “As a matter of fact, yes.”
Without bothering to reach down, Alex kicked off the boots she’d been wearing. They thunked on the floor.
“You’ll have to help me with my holster. I don’t think I can reach it.”
“Fine.”
Between the two of them, they got Alex down to her shirt and underwear, and Teren watched her disappear into the bathroom. While she was in there, Teren unlocked the door to her own room, and brought back several large towels. She also ordered room service, asking them to send the meal to her room. Taking a chance, she added a bottle of wine to the order. She didn’t have any pain killers, and enough wine would help Alex get some sleep.
A few minutes later the bathroom door opened, and Alex came out. She was wrapped in a large bath towel that draped around her breasts, leaving her shoulders free. Teren could see the bloody scrape across her shoulder. It was bleeding, but didn’t look like it would need stitches. Her right arm, however, had another towel wrapped around it. This one, Teren could see, was bloody.
“Okay. How about I move a chair into the bathroom. We’ll probably need to be by the sink, and there’s tile in there. I’d rather not leave blood stains on the rug if we can help it.”
“Fine.” Alex returned to the bathroom, dutifully sitting on the chair when Teren brought it in. They held the arm over the sink and Teren unwrapped the injury. The blood began to run down Alex’s arm, to her side, where it disappeared into her bath towel.
“There is no local anesthetic. Are you going to be okay while I sew this up, or do you want to wait for the bottle of wine I ordered?”
“Just do it.”
Teren knelt beside the woman, and ripped open the suture kit. “Are you ready?”
“Yes.”
Teren expected to hear Alex cry out when she put the first stitch in, but Alex just clenched her jaw. By the second stitch she was crying. It wasn’t until the fourth stitch that she actually made a sound, and that was a moan rather than a scream.
“I’m sorry, Alex. I know it hurts.”
Alex didn’t say anything, she simply sat there, her arm over the sink, and tears running down her face.
Teren was halfway finished when they heard the knocking from the other room. She apologized to Alex, and went to collect their dinner.
Alex stayed where she was. She was too exhausted to do anything else.. The pain from her arm had mixed with the emotions inside, becoming a roaring storm in her head. It was exhausting, that storm, and she leaned her head back, trying to quell the turmoil she felt.
But when she closed her eyes, she saw David’s body on the ground, and heard Miri’s accusing voice asking why Alex didn’t protect him like she’d promised. Alex tried to say that she couldn’t, she couldn’t have protected anybody, but the voice kept asking why it was David in the hospital, and not her. Why Rick had died, and not her. Because she had been a fool, and a coward, and —
Unable to stand the voices in her head, Alex sat up quickly. The motion jarred her arm, sending bolts of pain through her. She bit her lip until she tasted blood, trying not to scream.
Teren came through the door and handed her a glass of wine. “Drink this. All of it. It’s not a great pain killer, or even a great wine, but it’s the best we have of either one.”
Alex drank the wine, feeling it burn her lip. When she was finished, Teren set the glass aside and knelt by the sink to finish sewing Alex’s wound.
There were fourteen stitches in all. The bullet had sliced through Alex’s sleeve, leaving a wicked gash on the underside of her forearm. The other bullet had taken a layer of skin off her left shoulder, but only needed bandaging.
“Okay. Let me get a bandage on this, and you’ll be set. There’s a bottle of wine out there for you. I wouldn’t recommend drinking the whole thing, but another glass or two might take the edge off the pain.”
Alex said nothing. She held the pad where Teren told her to, and then let her hand drop back to her lap as her friend wound the gauze wrap around her arm. When they were done, Teren carried the chair back to the other room.
Their food was on the table by the window in Alex’s room, and the bottle of wine was beside Alex’s plate. She poured herself another glass, downing half of it.
“Do you want to get dressed before we eat?”
“You can eat. I’m not hungry.”
“Alex —”
“David and I ate earlier.”
“When was that? Five, six? It’s after midnight. Besides, it’s not a good idea to be drinking on an empty stomach.”
Alex downed the rest of the glass. “Why not? I’ll get drunk a little faster.”
Teren sighed. She knew what Alex was going through, and she wished she could take the pain away. But the truth was, that in order to get rid of it, Alex would have to face it. She wasn’t going to do that if she was drunk.
“Alex, please, just eat something. There’s some soup, or the dinner rolls if you want. But you need to put something into your stomach.”
Alex reached for the bottle, and Teren stopped her. They glared at one another for a moment, before Alex dropped her eyes and nodded.
“Alright. I’ll eat something. Let me get dressed first.”
Teren turned away, not willing to leave the room in case Alex reached again for the bottle. Two glasses on an empty stomach was enough.
Alex dug through her bags, trying not to jar her right arm. She found the extra long t-shirt she usually slept in, and slipped it over her head.
“Hope you don’t mind if I just stay like this. I’m not in the mood to worry about pants right now.”
Teren turned, seeing the long black t-shirt. It contrasted well with Alex’s blong hair, but made the bandage on her arm stand out even more.
“That’s fine. Now, sit down and eat.”
The younger woman did so, trying to find her normal appetite. It wasn’t there. She picked at the charbroiled chicken, and tore the roll apart instead of eating it.
“He missed you, you know.”
Teren stopped and looked at Alex. “Who?”
“David. He said so, in the car. I said it would have been nice to have you there and he said you make everyone nervous.” Alex set her fork down. “He said he missed you too. It was right before Brogan showed up.”
Teren stared down at her plate. She had no idea how to heal the woman in front of her.
“Why weren’t you there?”
Startled blue eyes looked up into haunted green.