Page 61 of Cutter's Hope

“Aww I’ve been adopted,” she said and a chuckle swept through the guys. Faith let out a whimper and Marlin sighed loudly.

“Extra people, out! Get out, you’re making this harder than it needs to be,” he said curtly and the boys filtered out the open door and to their own rooms and shit.

“I’ll ride with you guys, she can’t ride on her own but she should be okay as a passenger. Best we can do.” Nothing didn’t look happy about it but he was right, short of taking the crash truck.

“I’ll be fine,” Hope said and shot a worried look over to her sister. Marlin was at the door speaking low and insistent to Trike sending him on some kind of errand run.

“Let’s go,” I ordered.

We rode to the hospital, Nothing and Pyro with us. Pyro stayed out with the bikes while Nothing and I took Hope inside. It was a chilly reception by the hospital staff, a couple of bikers escorting a wounded bird, but Hope set ‘em straight.

“How did this happen?” she was asked by the nurse.

“I’m a defense contractor, my boyfriend and a couple of his guys rode with me to New Orleans where I was giving a training and demonstration, it’s what I do for a living. Anyways, I was doing a live action demonstration and got hit with a Kendo stick, brought it down right on my arm, it was an accident. You can call Detective Joe Thibault, he was there,” she said. She even started going through her phone to give them the number.

“That won’t be necessary,” the nurse said frowning, “You’re an awfully long ways from New Orleans though; didn’t this hurt?”

“Hope’s Army,” I explained and gave the nurse my best winning smile, “She’ll always try to walk it off, I noticed her favoring it to the point she wasn’t using both hands, made the call to bring her in.”

“Well, at least she listens to sense,” the nurse smiled and Hope gave her a tight one in return. They weren’t busy which was good for us, Hope was taken right back into a room and was wheeled off to x-ray; much to her protestations that her arm might be busted but her legs were just fine.

She lay on her side, her injured arm tucked into her side on top of her body when the doctor came to see her.

“Well Ms. Andrews, all things considered it’s not a reallybadbreak, but itisfractured,” he said by way of greeting and snapped the x-ray up onto the little room’s computer monitor. I guess they didn’t do film anymore.

“Great, what does that mean?” she asked.

“Only one thing for it, going to have to put you in a cast.”

Hope groaned and the doctor chuckled, “Six weeks, preference on color?”

Hope glared at him, “Black, like your soul for telling me I have to wear a cast in the first place.”

The doctor laughed outright, “Well, now, don’t shoot the messenger…”

I half watched Hope and the doctor banter and half watched Nothing who was studying the x-ray with some intent, nodding to himself. He glanced at Hope when she made a childlike noise of protestation and a real unhappy face.

“What?” I asked.

“Ms. Andrews, I really recommend you take the pain medication, I wouldn’t wish setting a bone without it on anyone,” the doctor was frowning in clear disapproval.

“Fine,” she grated out, sullen.

I think she was grateful she took it when he did what needed to be done. He put her in a cast which wrapped around her hand and thumb and went to her elbow and wrote a prescription for pain which I would have one of the boys fill for her. It was dicey getting her back to the motel, the drugs the hospital gave her making her both loopy and tired, adding to her already mounting exhaustion.

When we got back to our room it was to a whole lot of whimpering and whining coming from the closed bathroom door. Hope threw it open, her sister curled in a ball in the back of the bathtub, the water running but she was in here alone. Hope knelt by the tub and Marlin came through the motel room front door.

“Shit, was hoping to have this taken care of before y’all got back but it’s been an ever loving bitch talking her into things,” Hope glared up at Marlin and he put up his hands, a box of something in one and some kind of comb in the other.

“Not saying I blame her, just taking longer than I’d like. She’s got head lice, I’m just trying to get her cleaned up is all. You up to helping?” he asked Hope.

Hope held up her casted arm, “Duct tape and grocery bag. Go! Go!” she said and it was cute as hell. She was loopy as all fuckin’ get out but I wasn’t about to deny her, not on this. She was the only other woman aside from Faith on our crew at the moment, so I took one of the latex gloves Marlin had bought as part of the head lice rid kit and pulled it over Hope’s casted hand. I duct taped a grocery bag to that and covered the rest of the cast, duct taping the bag in a good seal to the skin of her upper arm.

“Thanks,” she said, swaying on her feet.

“You up for this?” I asked.

“No one is ever up for this,” she said somberly and I nodded.

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