I woke later and found Blout still in the room with me. He was asleep again, but now light seeped in at the corners of the closed shades. I dragged my head to the edge of the mattress and saw a mountain of crumbled fast-food bags and crushed coffee cups on the floor.

Christ. How long had I been out?

“Who do you have to fuck to get a drink around here?”

Blout stirred. When he stood I could see that he had a large, square bandage on the left side of his forehead. A spotty blotch of dried brown blood showed through. His hands were wrapped with bandages, but in a way that gave most of his fingers freedom to move.

“You ain’t fucking me no more this week. I’ve had enough.”

His face was stone. I waited for the explosion. Instead I got a big toothy grin.

“Welcome back, asshead.” He slapped my leg. It hurt. “You had us scared for a while there. You know they had to pump your damn stomach?”

Then the big guy reached into his overcoat and pulled a small stuffed rabbit that had a “Get Well Soon” sign. “Here, I bought you this fuckin’ bunny.”

The bunny landed next to me, rolled, and fell on its cute little face. I tried to sit up, but quit after a brief and futile attempt. “How long was I out?”

“I think it’s a record for you. Almost four days. Today is the fourth day, but it’s early.”

“Damn.” I was impressed. “Everything turn out okay?”

“Yeah, it seems there was some kind of weird spill at the burned- out Whitney Green apartments. I called out the Hazmat crew and they gathered what they could, destroyed what they gathered, and burned what was left in the pit.” Blout had a big grin plastered across his face.

I snickered and felt my ribs throb. “What about the media?”

Blout laughed again. “You kidding? Chemical spills are the one thing that keeps their asses out of our business. Nobody knows nothing about nothing.”

“But you’re keeping the file open?”

“Damn right. I’m not about to report the case closed. I am not going to put myself in a situation where I have to explain what happened down there.” He was shaking his head.

I grinned and pulled my arm out of the sling, trying again to sit up. This time Blout helped me and I made it. “What’s the matter, Blout? Afraid nobody will believe you?”

“Exactly. I’ll leave that crap to you.”

I nodded. We both ran out of witty banter, and fell quiet. It was a little uncomfortable.

“It’s over, isn’t it, Cal?” Blout said, low and quiet.

I nodded. “Definitely.”

“You’re sure this time?”

I glared. “Absolutely.”

Blout stuck his big hand out in front of my face. “That was real good work you did. Thank you.”

I took his hand and shook it. There would have been another awkward silence, but the door was pushed opened by a scurrying male nurse, followed by the doctor. A heartbeat later, Mo’Lock lumbered in wearing a spiffy new suit.