“Who was that?” Erica asked.

“It was a toilet struggling to flush.”

Morris narrowed her eyes and turned away.

“Eww, are you talking to me on the toilet?”

“Yeah.”

“That’s disgusting.”

“Look, I’ve got to go—”

“And unblock that toilet.”

Rory snorted, and the burning sensation returned to his eyes. “I love you.”

Erica blew down the phone, then whistled. “Now I am worried.”

“Just say it back to me, you git.”

“Love you, baby brother.”

Rory ended the call, and without glancing up, he held the phone out to Morris.

“That was sweet,” she muttered.

“Shut up.”

The door opened, and Hamish strolled inside with a big grin spreading his lips. “Great news…”

“What?” Rory asked.

“You can go back to the prison tomorrow, the doctor at the prison can treat you from your cell.”

“Great,” Rory said through his teeth. “That’s great news…”

Chapter Five

He’d been nervous the first time he’d stepped onto the wing, but coming back from the hospital was ten times worse. His stomach fizzled, and the pain in his side pulsed with each step he took. The pain radiated into his chest, making it hard to breathe. It was a fight or flight response to danger, and his body wanted him to spin around and run the hell away, but he went against the urge, and walked back on the wing.

One of them had stabbed him, but he didn’t know who. Heads lifted from their meals, and a heavy silence began suffocating the room. Pauly blew him a kiss, Sebastian directed a smirk his way, and then Rory looked at Captain, and the bubbling in his gut stopped.

He gave Rory a warm grin, then circled his finger in front of Ollie, so he’d turn around. Ollie turned and widened his eyes. He flung his chair back, took three big strides across the room, then wrapped his arms around Rory in a quick hug.

“You had me worried. You’ve been gone ages.”

“At least someone missed me.”

“And Captain, he asked about you every day.”

Rory glanced at their table and gestured to Teddy. “He sits with us now?”

“Yeah, he’s good, I promise.”

Rory clutched his side as he walked over to the table, then sat down beside Captain. He offered his hand, and Rory grasped on immediately.

“Glad you’re back.”

“Thanks, although the hospital food tastes better than this slop.”

Captain and Ollie snorted, but Teddy tilted his head, frowned, then resumed scooping up his eggs.

“Anything changed?” Rory asked.

Ollie looked pleased with himself. “Captain’s been teaching me knife combat in the gym.”

“How to disarm an attacker with a knife,” Captain corrected.

“What do you do when they come up behind you in the dark?” Rory muttered.

“For starters, turn the light on.”

“It was broken.”

“And the second you realized, you should’ve got out of there.”