Page 124 of Waiting for Ru
When the knock came, he called come in, but Mike barged in past Poppy who was carrying his dry clothes.
“Shit,” Mike said when he saw Ru’s chest. “Do you need the first aid kit?”
“What do you care? And get out.”
“It looks painful,” Poppy said.
“Think you’ve broken anything? It’s got to go in the health and safety report.” Mike persisted.
“No. Boss is doing that already.”
“We heard about the little girl,” Mike said. “You did good.”
“I did what any decent person would’ve done. What did you do with the real Mike?” Ru asked.
Poppy laughed. “Yeah, where is he?”
“Fuck the hell off,” Mike muttered. “Boss said not to do anything else today. You need to rest.”
Poppy picked up the wet clothes and boots. “Huh. So you do have a speck of decency in you.”
“One,” Mike said. “Pick the muck up first thing tomorrow morning.”
“I’ll do it tonight,” Poppy said.
They left him alone and Ru pulled on his dry trousers. He didn’t have the energy to do anything else. Bela flew into the room as he lay on the bed, settling next to him. Ru was too wired to sleep. He just lay there and hurt.
