Cut & Run (Cut & Run #1)(25)
Author: Abigail Roux

“Only damage we ever did to it was tear the cover fabric,” he told Zane in a tone that could have been respect. “But the Bureau don’t allow it. You tell me why that is, hmm?”

“Because they don’t want us to turn into pansy-asses?”

“Natural selection, maybe,” Ty responded with a snicker. “You ain’t smart enough to run away from the grenade, you get weeded out.”

Zane chuckled and winced. “Fuck, don’t make me laugh,” he practically begged.

“Hold still,” Ty warned with a hand pressed to the back of Zane’s head. He laughed suddenly, nearly snorting as he said, “I’ve had dates like this.”

“Christ. Now, he develops a sense of humor,” Zane complained.

“Please leave some skin intact? I’ll need it to match the other scars back there.”

“I could just connect them all,” Ty responded with a brush of his finger over the mess of thin white scars covered with blood. He didn’t ask what had happened. For someone who had seen combat, wounds from a car bomb or something similar were fairly obvious. What he did want to ask was how Zane would come by such mementos. He refrained, though. Mainly because he didn’t really care all that much.

“I’d look like a spider web,” Zane said, muscles shifting under Ty’s fingertips.

“We’ll just call you Spiderman,” Ty offered with a smirk. “I don’t know enough about him to make jokes,” he added with sincere disappointment.

Zane snorted and the muscles in his back involuntarily clenched and shifted, catching against the knife. Ty jerked the knife back and immediately whapped Zane on the head for moving. “Shit,” he huffed as blood welled where his knife had cut into Zane’s skin. “Asshole. That ain’t my fault.”

“Get back to work,” Zane ordered curtly. “I need to bleed some more before I can have my afternoon bender.”

“Yeah, I’ve definitely had dates like this,” Ty responded with a small smirk.

“"You mean you actually date? You must pick some real winners. I need to meet one of them,” Zane said with obvious snark in his voice.

“Good luck with that,” Ty answered sarcastically.

“Damn,” Zane muttered, setting his chin back on his crossed hands.

Then he shifted uncomfortably. “There’s a chunk below my right shoulder blade.”

“I know,” Ty responded testily. “Stop moving,” he cautioned again as he pressed his hand down on the back of Zane’s head. Zane stilled, but the smile still pulled at the corners of his mouth between grimaces. Ty had to lean closer, bracing his free hand on Zane’s other side as he peered across the plane of Zane’s back. “That might be metal,” he observed in a detached sort of manner. “It’s gonna hurt like a bitch.”

“Lovely,” Zane said drolly, curling his fingers into the bedspread and laying his forehead against his wrists. “Glad I’ve had my tetanus shot.”

“I know you can’t drink, but what about some painkillers?” Ty offered.

Zane pressed his lips together. “I don’t take them,” he said quietly.

“Okay,” Ty said with a nod. “So … want a stick to bite?” he offered.

“Is it gonna be that bad?”

“I don’t know,” Ty answered honestly. He shook his head and finally just gripped the piece of jagged plastic-covered metal and yanked it.

The pain was so sudden and sharp that Zane didn’t even get to inhale before it streaked through him. His neck and back went rigid and his face went white, and by the time he gasped a breath in he was unable to do anything but just lie there, trembling. After several heartbeats he spoke, voice low, clipped and heartfelt. “Fuck.”

“Yeah, it’s gonna hurt,” Ty murmured as he put his hand on the back of Zane’s head again and rested it there. “That’s all,” he said with a little pat of his hand.

The muscles in Zane’s back slowly started to flex as he cautiously moved to check for what he could feel. “Thanks,” he said quietly, as he started to push himself up.

“Why don’t you just stay down?” Ty suggested seriously.

Zane turned his chin to look at Ty, studying his face and not seeing any sign of teasing or disgust. He sighed, letting his shoulders slump and his mask crack. The pain and exhaustion showed more fully upon his face as he lowered himself back down onto the bed, still moving very cautiously and stiffly. What a bitch of a day, and it was only half over. He shifted his eyes to Ty, but he didn’t have anything else to say to the man. He didn’t want to insult or tease right now, and that was about the extent of their relationship, besides having the same employer.

Ty nodded in satisfaction and hefted himself up from the bed. “I’m going to clean some of that off, okay? Got to go get some things from my room; I’ll be right back.”

“I’ll be here,” Zane murmured, not droll at all. His patience, his energy, and his pain threshold were all tapped. If he’d let himself joke about it, it might help, but he didn’t want to let go of what little reserve and dignity he had left.

“Don’t move,” Ty ordered yet again as he headed for the door. He left the room with the latch pulled so he could get back in, and he jogged down to his room and moved as quickly as he could to gather his small medical kit, not even bothering with the lights. After a brief glance around the dark room he realized that something felt off. The curtains were drawn and there was barely any light for him to see. The stench of Zane’s blood on his hands and shirt was beginning to hit him; he hadn’t stopped to wash it off. The hair on the back of his neck began to rise, and he gathered his bags and left the room as quickly as possible, promising himself he’d come back to investigate when he hadn’t left his partner helpless and injured in an unlocked room.

When he got back to Zane’s room, his pulse was a little higher than he would have liked. Zane hadn’t moved. He still sprawled on the bed on his belly, cheek pillowed on one hand, the other curled in the bedspread as he breathed carefully. His eyes opened and looked right at the door when Ty entered, and then he relaxed again.

“How ya doin’?” Ty asked in a slightly tense voice. He wondered if it was something legitimate hat had caused his alarm or if he had just been on the edge for too long and was finally losing his grip. Finally he decided that he was just tense. And not willing to leave Zane alone in this state.