Page 45 of Fight (Kitsune #2)

I woke the next morning feeling a lot better than when I'd gone to sleep but Devon wouldn't let me out of bed, at least until after Alexis checked on me.

"Can I at least have something to eat?" I reasoned.

"I'll heat you a couple of slices of pizza, if that sounds good to you?" He kissed me on the top of the head before sliding out of bed.

"That'll make a good start." I pushed myself up until I was sitting, leaning against the headboard. The pressure of pushing myself upright hurt the broken bones in my arms, but just an ache, not the sharp burning pain it had been.

"Here," Devon tossed a shirt at me. "you'll want this." He pulled a pair of jeans up his legs and tugged a tee shirt over his head before going into the common room. He returned a few minutes later carrying a plate.

"Here," He handed me the plate. "I warmed them for you. Alexis is ordering some breakfast from room service and if that's not enough, we can go out later. She'll be in to check on you in a few minutes."

"That's fine." I took a large bite from one of the three slices he'd brought me.

I was just finishing the pizza, when Alexis knocked softly on the still open door and came into the room.

"How are you feeling this morning?" She asked cheerfully.

"Not bad, all things considered." I set the empty plate on the table beside the bed. "Actually, I feel a lot better this morning."

"That's good. Let me check on you real quick and see how you're doing, then we can get on with the day."

"Do you want anything from me, or do you just want me to sit here?"

"Just sit, this won't take long." She sat on the edge of the bed beside me and held her hands to either side of my arms, not quite touching my skin. She closed her eyes and held still for several seconds before dropping her arms and opening her eyes. She took a deep breath and let it out in a rush.

"You're right. You're a lot better. The fractures in your ribs are almost healed, as are the ones in your arms. They're not completely healed but they're well on their way.

You'll still need to be careful not to be too rough on them but if you continue healing at this rate, they should be fully healed in another twelve to twenty-four hours. "

"That's good."

"The bruising isn't healing as quickly but that's probably because your body is busy healing the more serious injuries first, concentrating on the breaks before the bruising."

"That makes sense." I nodded.

"As long as you continue to eat plenty so that you can to heal, and you're careful of your injuries, there's no reason you can't go out today."

"That's great." I was thrilled. I was already sick of sitting around waiting for my body to heal.

Alexis smiled back. "I thought you'd think so." She stood and went to the door. "I'll let you get dressed, the breakfast I ordered should be here soon, then we'll see about going out, depending on how you feel." She pulled the door closed, leaving me alone in the room.

I threw the blankets back and slid my legs off the side of the bed.

Pushing myself to my feet, I found that my legs were a little wobbly, likely from the amount of energy I'd burned through the night before.

I steadied myself on the headboard until my legs steadied, then quickly took a shower and got dressed for the day.

I chose a long sleeve sweater to make sure the violent purple bruises on my forearms were hidden.

I paired it with some jeans, and a pair of comfortable running shoes, not that I planned on running but I wanted to be prepared if something happened and I needed to.

I went into the living room and found that room service had gotten here while I was dressing. I joined the others at the table.

"Did the shower help?" Devon asked.

"Tons." I said brightly, determined to hide that I was still a little tired. I was already sick of sitting around and I wanted to get out of the hotel. "Though I could use some help with my hair after breakfast, if you don't mind."

Alexis gave me a look that said I wasn't fooling her, but I hoped she wouldn't interfere, I was getting restless and I needed to get out.

"Of course." He set a plate in front of me. "Once your finished I'll get the brush and we'll figure something out."

I smiled back, my mouth too full to answer.

After we finished eating and Devon had brushed out my hair and pulled it back into a low ponytail, we went for a leisurely walk through the area around the hotel.

We went to a nearby park and enjoyed the little bit of open space.

We were lucky while we were at the park and what seemed like the perpetual gloom we'd seen so far, cleared, letting the sun shine through.

I was thrilled to feel the sun on my skin, warming me from the outside in.

We hadn't been out more than a couple hours when my stomach started growling.

"Hungry?" Devon asked tolerantly.

I nodded, embarrassed.

"Me too." He whispered, making me feel better.

Alexis smiled. "You're healing, you should expect it. I'd be worried if you weren't hungry."

We started looking for someplace we could eat, and soon found a small restaurant just opening for the day and stopped for brunch. I had the feeling I was going to be eating full meals several times a day until I'd healed.

We'd ordered our food but it hadn't arrived yet when Alexis's PCD rang, startling me.

I almost jumped out of my seat at the sudden noise and tried to calm my speeding heart as she answered.

I heard a man's voice on the other end of the call but I didn't try to make out what was being said, that just struck me as rude.

Alexis spoke into the communications device with mostly "yes, sir," and "no, sir," responses and only spent a couple of minutes on the call before disconnecting.

"That was Ridges." She said. "He has something to talk to us abou,t and he'll be at the hotel in two hours."

"Any idea what he wants?" Devon seemed concerned.

Alexis shook her head. "He didn't say, just that he needs to talk to us. Nickie in particular."

"Two hours should give us plenty of time to finish here and get back to the hotel." I said, eying the waitress as she approached with a large tray full of plates.

"That's what I figured." Alexis leaned back as the waitress started serving our food.

After eating, we walked back to the hotel for the meeting with the Anikitos, taking our time and enjoying the continued sunshine.