Page 100 of Constantly Cotton
Burton looked at him in surprise. “You’re what?”
“He’s barely okay. I’ve been nursing him for a week. He’s not going anywhere without somebody who knows what antibiotics he’s taking and what painkillers he can have. He’s not all right yet. You can’t simply take him somewhere and expect him to do… to do—” Cotton waved his hands. “—whatever you did there. Not until he’s better!”
Burton paused. “Sir?” he said, voice soft. A civilian, but one apparently familiar with the sitch. It was Constance’s call.
“I want him out of danger,” Jason said, and Lee could hear him desperately trying to assume command. “He should stay—fuck.”
Cotton turned in time to catch Jason as his knees went out.
“Goddammit,” Jason muttered. “Not now. You should stay here.”
“Not until you’re better,” Cotton said. “I get it. You’re a hero. But you don’t get to go be a hero until your body can keep up with the rest of you.”
“Fuck!” Jason rubbed at his eyes with his palm. “Cotton, this is not going to be safe for you.”
Cotton looked up at Burton, supporting Jason as he led him toward the couch. “I can have him dressed and ready in fifteen minutes. We’ve got go-bags packed. Jackson warned me. I just need to put together his medical supplies.”
Burton nodded. “I’ve got a man down outside. I need to make sure he gets to the hospital, and Ernie can get him home. I’ll be back.” He grimaced. “And make it ten. I don’t know where this asshole came from, but I don’t imagine we’ve got much more time before another one shows up.”
When he got down the stairs, Jai was struggling to get to his feet, Ernie at his elbow, snarling at him. “No—no, don’t take it out. No, don’t. Don’t. Because I said so. Dammit—Dammit, Cruller, make him listen to me!”
Jai gave Ernie a pat-on-the-head sort of look. “It is in my shoulder,” he said patiently. “If I take it out, I will not gush blood and die.”
“But it looks serrated,” Ernie snapped. “Which means youcouldirreparably damage something. Goddammit, could you just listen to me, you big doofus? Ilikeyou and I would rather you notdie.”
Jai looked at Burton in frustration. “Can we not do something about him?”
Burton nodded. “Yeah. Ernie, I’m going to give you keys to Lance’s car—and you’re going to take Jai to the hospital.”
“What are you going to do?” Ernie asked, confused.
“I’m going to get Jason the fuck out of here, and then I’ll contact you with more info later.”
For a moment, Ernie’s expression was Burton’s greatest fear. Lost, like one of the kittens he protected with such dedication. And then, just when Burton’s heart was going to crumble, when he was sure he’d lost Ernie’s devotion, that the last cranky week of close quarters and no physical contact had broken him, Ernie’s dark brows snapped together and his spine straightened.
“Get me the keys and I’ll clear out mine and Jai’s stuff,” he said. “I don’t want to leave him in a car without AC.”
Burton almost cried. All the shit he’d seen, all the shit he’d done, and watching Ernie pull himself together and bethat guy, he almost wept in gratitude.
“I owe you so much, baby,” he said, not caring who heard him. “So much.”
Ernie flashed a grin. “Don’t tell me that,” he chided. “I can do so many things with you, you have no idea.”
Burton squeezed his eyes shut and then opened them and pivoted on the wooden staircase landing, trying to get a move on.
IT TOOKthem ten minutes to clear out, which, considering the extent of the flustercluck, should have earned them all medals.
Ernie and Jai were gone first, but after checking the area for other assassins and loading Cotton and Jason into the Crown Vic with emergency duffels packed, including everything Constance would need medically, Burton called one of the members of his team back in the hidden base and gave him the low-down.
“My package has been retrieved,” he said shortly, knowing that Owens would understand. “Must hide until Christmas. Shopping center is a bit of a mess.”
“How big of a mess?” Owens asked, and in the background, Burton could hear the clicking of the keyboard.
“A body that needs to be identified, in an apartment that’s going to get very busy very soon,” Burton said, glancing at Cotton in the rearview for confirmation.
The young man nodded and then checked to make sure Jason was propped on enough pillows to be comfortable. For his part, Jason had his arm extended, like he expected Cotton to curl up in his embrace.
When the kid did exactly that, Burton almost swerved into an oncoming lane.