Page 57 of Burn Bag

“Just let me clean this up,” Kristy said, hurrying over to the side of the bed.

The smell of vomit nearly had me gagging, but I held back. How was Bradley just sitting there with the smell all around him?

“You two are quite the pair,” the nurse laughed. “Try to stay away for at least another day before we see you again.”

“I make no guarantees,” I muttered.

“Then try to come after seven. That’s when my shift starts. Any earlier and I’ll miss all the excitement.”

I wasn’t sure how much longer we were at the hospital. I tried my best to ignore the way it smelled and had to turn my head when the person in the gurney beside me had his own IV attached. It was just about that time that Bradley hoisted me up into his arms and carried my limp body out the door.

“Why do I feel so fuzzy?”

“Because you got the good stuff,” he chuckled.

“Good stuff,” I said, the words catching on my lips in a weird way. Why did everything sound so weird? Did I sound like this before?

“You guys sure are off to a good start,” Red laughed. “Two days in a row at the hospital. That’s gotta be a record.”

“Shut up,” Bradley muttered.

I snuggled into his chest, feeling rather sleepy, even though I’d just woken up from passing out not that long ago.

“We should definitely get insurance,” I muttered.

“For what?”

“Disaster relief.”

“Not sure disaster relief covers cat scratches and oil burns,” he rumbled, “but I’ll look into it.”

I nodded against his chest and sighed heavily. Now seemed like a good time to go back to sleep.

“Ow! Goddamnit!”

I flung the covers off two seconds after I woke up and bolted fromthe bed. Dizziness washed over me for a moment before I righted myself and headed for the stairs.

“You demon cat!”

“What happened?” I shouted, nearly tripping over my own feet as I rushed into the room.

“Your demon cat climbed my fucking leg again! I swear to God, if he tears into my balls, I’m going to fucking kill him!”

I hurried over, desperate to get the kitten away from him before things got bad. “Shoo, shoo!” I said, trying to get the kittens out of the room.

Bradley was scowling at my babies, looking like he was about to kill them. “I swear, I’ll find them all homes.”

“You’d better. I need some fucking sleep without the fear that my body parts will get eaten!”

I nodded, feeling the panic well inside me. I knew it would be an issue from the first day here…which was really only two days ago. Things were not off to a great start.

“I promise. I’ll talk to some of the other wives and see if anyone wants a cat.”

“Or three,” he retorted. “If I have to suffer, so does everyone else.”

“It’s not suffering. These kittens were in a bad place. You have no idea what I had to go through to rescue them.”

“They’re just cats,” he sighed. “For every one that dies, four more pop up. Have you seen how they populate?”

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