Theodore (Xavier's Hatchlings #2) - Kathi S. Barton Page 0,8
around for something else. The chips were baked, and he couldn’t stand them. He was glad now that he’d not put them on his sandwich like he usually did. “Water to drink? What kind of shitty fucked up place are they running here?”
“They keep telling me that I’m in jail. Like that’s supposed to be a good excuse for them not taking the time to cut away the crusts and shit. Christ, don’t even bother with the coffee you get. It’s like dirty water.” Sandra asked him what he’d gotten to eat. “Yeah, got the same thing. It must be Tuesday. That’s what you get for dinner on Tuesday. Tomorrow we’ll have fish sticks. I don’t think they’re actually made of fish, but that’s only because I’m used to the finer things in meals. When I get out of here, I’m going to be making some major changes in this town.”
He let her go on about her money and the things she was going to do. For the first time in longer than he cared to remember, he went to bed hungry. Even when he had no place to call his own, he’d always had a snack or two before hitting the hay. Patrick was going to have to have someone listen to him about the way he was being treated in here.
~*~
Pem hugged her grandma twice before she sat down. The man with her, Theo something, was standing there like someone had to explain to him that he needed to breathe before he passed out. When it finally occurred to him, she thought, he smiled like he’d just learned a new trick.
“Theo and his brothers have been taking good care of me since your grandda passed on. They helped us out too before Harold went and left me behind. He just loved those Manning boys.” Pem told her grandma that was nice. “You staying here for a bit, honey? I sure would love to be able to have you around a little more than you’ve been able to come see me.”
“I have no other plans than I’ve got to see a doctor while I’m here. It’s been set up by the hospital where I was until recently.” Grandma asked her if she was doing better. “It depends on how you would qualify better. You know what’s wrong with me.”
“I do.” She looked at George, who she’d been enjoying talking to before her Grandma returned. “Pem was in the service for a while. She’s a good doctor too. Surgeon, I mean. When she was hurt last year, the president himself gave me a call to tell me that they were taking the best kind of care of her.”
“What happened?” Grandma started to answer George, but she said it was up to Pem if she wanted them to know. “I’m sorry. I should mind my own business.”
“My unit was dropped off in the middle of nowhere by helicopter about sixteen months ago. It was me and another surgeon and four core men. Instead of it being a drop and go, the chopper we were in was hit by a grenade just as it was going airborne again. It brought it down nearly on top of the six of us. The other surgeon and one of the core men were cut in half by the blades still turning. Another had his head removed. Not that he used it all that much in the first place, but it would have been nice to have his help. I was shot three times, twice in the belly, once in the arm. The third core man was killed even before we were able to retreat to the wooded area where we were headed.” No one said a word to tell her that was enough, so for some reason, she continued. Not even the doctors she saw for her mental health knew the next part. “Billy had no idea how to cut into me to get the bullets out, so I had to assist him in the surgery. After he had removed the bullets, he taped me together with some tape that was in the kit he’d brought with him. He ended up wrapping me up with a towel to keep me from bleeding into the man we were there to operate on.”
“Where were you?” She didn’t answer Theo. “I’m assuming by what you’re telling us that you were in country. What else happened that day? There was more, right?”