Yet, it’d still burst my eardrum.
What’d injured me was the fact the son of a bitch had then started opening fire on the room after he’d jumped behind one of the empty desks. For some reason, his focus was Judd, who’d been standing in front of the desk I was hiding behind. Seriously, it was like the world’s worst video game ever.
Judd was recovering from the three bullet wounds he’d sustained, and I’d had the slivers of wood removed from my hands and arms.
None of us had died. Well, aside from the desks.
The S.W.A.T. officers had shot through the desk Terry was behind to get to him, so it was now a jigsaw puzzle that’d never be put back together again. The building was now being cleared of debris, and any holes would be filled in and painted over tomorrow.
I wish the same could be said about my eardrum.
Yeah, the places I’d had stitches put in were sore, but they were tolerable. What was really causing me issues was the pain in my head and ear.
Thanks, Terry, you fucker, for throwing your movie prop in my direction.
What was even better was that the powder from the prop had made my eyes water and made me cough—with a perforated eardrum. By the time the paramedics had got to me, I was holding my head, convinced I was dying of an aneurism or something.
I had an appointment with my ENT doctor in three days where he would make sure I didn’t have an infection and that I wasn’t going to lose my hearing permanently. Until then, I had an awesome patch to put over it when I showered, and I was stuck on bed rest. I may or may not have also have a small concussion which was the reason for the bed rest, though.
“Wanna play another game?” Cody asked from his spot on the floor in front of the couch I was lying on.
The poor kid had gone through a lot emotionally with what’d happened. When he was at home, he stuck close to where I was and constantly asked if I needed anything. He’d even tried feeding me apple sauce in case my ear affected my ability to chew, going as far as to hold the spoon to my mouth.
I didn’t want to hurt him when he looked so worried, so I’d suffered through every spoonful that he’d fed me while my shithead son chuckled behind Cody’s back because he knew how much I hated apple sauce. It was like cranberry sauce—not sauce and totally unnecessary with its existence.
“Yeah, we’ll do one more, and then I’ll head and pick up some food,” DB agreed, leaning forward in his chair with his game controller.
Looking over his shoulder at me, Cody held the controller out. “You wanna have a go this time? I can go get us some drinks. You haven’t drunk anything in over an hour, and you can get something that makes it burn when you pee.”
DB’s head snapped around to look at the kid. “Where’d you learn that, little bro?”
Cody blushed. “Online. I looked up how to look after someone who’s sick, and that was one of the first bits of advice.”
I think I felt as relieved as DB looked at that information. A burning sensation when you peed could also be attributed to an STD, and the kid was freaking eleven. He didn’t need to have that level of information about it in his head.
“It’s called cystitis or a urinary infection,” DB began but stopped when Cody frowned as he got up to look more closely at my face.
I ran out of space to lean away from him, so eventually, I asked, “You okay, Cody?”
“Is your right eye itchy?”
Well, yeah. It’d been giving me shit since last night, like I’d gotten a mosquito bite in it.
“Yeah, how did you know?”
DB got up and leaned over Cody’s shoulder to see what he was talking about. When he saw my eye, he whistled. “Damn, that’s red.”
“There’s gross gunk in the corner and around it, too.”
Thanks, Cody.
“I think you need to go and see the eye doctor, Dad.”
And would those nosy assholes listen when I said I was fine… no.
DB picked up the phone to make an appointment with the eye doctor, and Cody rang Evie to narc.
Clothes were thrown at me to change into, and then like I was an invalid who couldn’t walk, Cody helped me to the bathroom, his arms stretched in front of him like he was going to catch me if I fell.
By the time Evie arrived to take me, every word I’d said had been ignored while they decided how it was all going to happen. They’d stay back and look after the dogs, Cody was on chicken duty because DB hated them, Tabby would bring Sheena around, and then DB would go out and collect something for them to eat.