Now that I have 50,000+ words, I figured that I would treat you to another excerpt from my novel. Just in case you missed them and want to go back and read them, the first one is here, and the second one is here. The first two really focused in on Saul and Xandria, but this scene has Tanya in it too.
Again, please remember that this is a vomit draft, so it’ll have only enough editing to make it barely presentable. Enjoy:
Saul was lying in the hospital bed with his arm in a sling. The last thing he wanted right now was to be in a bed with his arm in a sling, but there was nothing he could do about it. He had been in the hospital for nearly a day now.
When they brought him in, he was light headed from the loss of blood, and the doctors began to work on him right away. He accepted what they gave him to numb the pain, but it wasn’t enough to block all of the pain he felt as they dug into his arm to get the bullet out. But once they extracted it and stitched him he felt a lot better. It still hurt, but at least he knew he wasn’t going to bleed to death. The doctors told him he would be fine, but they wanted to keep him in the hospital for at least three days. He was also not allowed visitors until he was rested up.
Well, he felt rested up. He wanted to make sure Xandria was okay. She had been the one who’s life he saved when he took the bullet for her, the least they could do was let her in so he could talk to her.
On his way to the ambulance, he had passed Tanya Stentov who seemed to have something to do with the police rescue, but she wasn’t talking about it, and the ambulance wasn’t willing to let him wait there with a bullet wound. So he was forced to go to the hospital, get the bullet wound fixed up, and rest.
The food wasn’t half bad though. He had heard that hospital food was terrible, but he didn’t think it was all that awful. He rather liked it. He didn’t get as much as he wanted, but based on taste alone, it was good enough.
The doctor came walking in, looking at a chart of information. “Mr. Deus, how do you feel this morning?”
“I feel fine, Doc.”
“Good, let me have a look at that arm.” The doctor deftly removed Saul’s arm from the sling, which caused him to wince a little. He undid the bandage, the examined the wound. He replaced it with fresh bandages a nurse brought in. He helped Saul get it back into the sling. “The good news is that it’s healing fine. No sign of infection.”
“That’s good,” Saul said. “When will I be able to get back to work, Doc?”
“You should have full use of your arm in about a month.”
“A month!”
“Yes, and I don’t want your over exerting yourself during that time, Mr. Deus,” the doctor said calmly.
“How am I supposed to get my work done?”
“You will have to hold off on any kind of clockwork for now.
“That’s like asking a bird not to fly, Doc.”
The doctor chuckled. “Yes, but a bird with a broken wing can’t fly until its healed anyway, Mr. Deus.”
Saul grumbled, but he knew the doctor was right, it looked like he would have to ask William Stone to cover him a bit longer.
“You have a few visitors, do you wish to see them now?”
Saul sat up straight on his bed. “Yes! Finally!”
The doctor nodded and said, “I’ll send them right in. Rest, Mr. Deus. Don’t get too worked up.”
Saul didn’t answer. Maybe now he could see Xandria. He felt his stomach turn in anticipation. He only had to wait for a few minutes. Xandria and Tanya walked into the room, both smiling brightly at him. He smiled back at them, but his eyes remained only on his best friend.
“How do you feel, Saul,” Xandria said.
“I got shot, Xan, how do you think I feel?” He meant it as a joke, and he knew Xandria would know that, but Tanya’s eyes widened at the rude remark. “But other than the pain, the hole, and the loss of blood, I believe I’m okay. The doctor says I should be out of here within a few days. They just want to make sure an infection doesn’t set in.”
She smiled and bent down to give him one of those awkward your-in-a-bed hugs, but he didn’t complain at all.
“How are you?” Saul asked.
“I’m perfectly fine. I was a little shaken up during the whole shoot out, but I’m fine now. Thank you, by the way.”
Saul knew exactly why she was thanking him, but he wanted to hear her say it, so he played the part of the fool. “For what?”
“You know what, you idiot. You saved my life in that warehouse.”
Saul smirked. “Oh that. Nah, I just jumped in front of a bullet for fun. It’s a hobby.”
“Well, your ‘hobby’ saved my life. But seriously, Saul, I could have died. Thank you.”
Saul wasn’t ready to accept thanks for that. “You would have done the same for me, Xan.”
“Truth!” she said. “In a heartbeat.”
Saul thought he better stop ignoring the only other person in the room. He looked up at Tanya. “You the one who brought the cops to rescue us?”
It was Tanya’s turn to smile. “I had a little something to do with that, yes.”
“I think there’s a story here,” Saul said as he repositioned himself on the bed to be more upright and comfortable.
Andrew Ronzino
