Page 73 of Tough Justice

“I can hear you.” Deck grimaced as he shifted on the mattress, anticipating lightning bolts of pain. All he felt was a dull throbbing in his torso.

He looked at the IV line taped to his hand. He had no idea what was dripping into his veins. Back in the park, he’d been in excruciating pain. It killed him to admit it now, but he wasn’t really in any pain now.

A block of ice lodged solidly in the pit of his stomach. Tori had been about to give him fentanyl. Not just an opioid, but one of the ingredients in the very drug they were trying to track down. He didn’t remember all the details of what had gone down, but he remembered that as if they’d just had that conversation seconds ago.

That block of ice wedged more firmly in his gut. She would always give meds because that’s what she believed in, and he’d never be okay with that.

“Is Tori okay?” he asked. More details came to him in pieces. Getting slammed by the truck. Denver PD swarming in. Thor growling—

Numbers on the monitor by his bed soared. “Where’s Thor?” He snapped his gaze from Brett to Evan then to his boss.

“Relax.” Brett rested a calming hand on his good shoulder. “He’s fine.”

“In fact,” Evan added, “he was in rare form and spitting mad. He practically attacked the PD when they tried to get near you.”

“Where is he?”

ASAC Rivera cleared his throat. “He’s staying with Evan until you’re discharged and well enough to take care of him.”

“Thanks.” Thor was more than his partner. He was family.

Evan gave a curt nod. “You’d do the same for me. For any of us.”

He would. If necessary, he’d take a bullet for his friends, and they’d do the same.

Brett yawned, covering his mouth with his fist.

“What time is it?” Deck asked then realized the ridiculousness of his question. He was so doped up, he didn’t even know what day it was or how long he’d been out.

“Two in the morning.” Brett yawned again.

“Thought you went down to the Springs.” Deck noted the dark circles under his friend’s eyes. After the last big case Brett worked—the one in which he’d been badly burned—nightmares kept his friend up, preventing him from getting any real sleep.

“I did. When Evan called and told me what happened, I hauled ass back up here.”

“You didn’t have to. But thanks.” Something lodged in Deck’s throat, and he blinked rapidly. Great. Besides dopiness, tears were a side effect of opioids. “What hospital am I in?”

“North Metro,” Rivera said.

Tori’s hospital. Hearing footsteps and voices outside his room, he glanced at the open door. If she was here, she hadn’t made an appearance. Then again, until a few minutes ago, a herd of buffalo could have stampeded through the room without him knowing it.

Following his train of thought, Evan said, “She stopped by earlier to check on you.”

Deck closed his eyes. Part of him wanted to see her. Part of him didn’t. At least, not right now. He remembered the fear in her eyes, in her voice, and the words they’d said to each other. True, he’d been angry when she’d been ready to stick him with that needle. But when she’d said she couldn’t take seeing him in pain, he’d had to give her the out she needed.

As a DEA agent, he could be hurt or killed. That was the job. He accepted the risks, but she’d never signed up for that. Daring to hope she could put up with the dangers of his job when her world was dedicated to saving others was too big of an ask. So he’d let her go.

“Think you’re up for discussing a little business?” Rivera asked.

“Always.” Even laid up in a hospital, he was still all about the job. He was good at stowing away his personal crap. For now, anyway.

Rivera tipped his head to Evan, indicating he should close the door.

“Evan and Brett interviewed Dr. Sampson,” Rivera began. “We also have preliminary reports from the responding Denver units. They didn’t see the whole thing but were able to corroborate most of what Dr. Sampson said. I’d like to hear your perspective on what went down.”

An unsettling feeling came over Deck as he recounted what details he could remember, beginning with the call from Aidan and ending with him blacking out. “Any sign of the kid?”

Evan shook his head. “The PD searched the entire park and a surrounding ten-block radius.”