Page 101 of Omega

I could only nod.

When Thresh was gone, I took Harris’s hand in both of mine, leaned back in my chair, and watched him sleep. Watched the heart monitor, the oxygen machine huffing and pumping, his chest rising and falling, mouth slack, stubble darkening his jaw.

Eventually, a nurse showed up and moved us to a recovery room. I resumed my station at his side, his hand in mine, fighting sleep and tears.

Eventually, exhaustion won out.

19

WORTH IT

I jerked awake, hearing Thresh’s deep voice just inside the door. He had his cell phone on speaker and looked at me as he spoke. “Sasha. Talk to me.”

“I hear chatter on police radio. A man was found with many gunshot wounds, not yet dead. No identification, not able to communicate. He is at the university hospital.”

“Take care of it.”

“How?”

“I don’t fucking care. However you want. Just take care of it.Da,comrade?”

“You are stupid gorilla,” Sasha growled. “I am from Georgia, not Russia. ”

“You sound Russian,” Thresh pointed out.

“I speak Georgian, Russian, Armenian, Arabic, and English. I serve in the Russian Army for ten years, so I speak Russian most frequently.”

“You speak five languages?” Thresh sounded grudgingly respectful. “I’ll have to pick up another language so we’re even.”

“Americans are lazy. You expect everyone to learn your language, but most of you do not even speak it properly. Is embarrassing.”

“Can’t argue with you there. Get going. Give our friend Hell’s welcome.”

“I will get kill bonus?” This was so low I barely heard it.

“You get this done, Roth will give you a bonus so fucking huge your kids’ kids will have more money than they’ll know what to do with.”

“I would do it for free. But I still want the bonus.”

“No shit. You’ll get it. And Sasha? I need photographic proof of completion. There’s no room for error with this one.”

“I do not fail.”

“I know, buddy. That’s why I’m sending you.” He tapped the screen to end the call, shot me another glance, and then went back outside to stand guard.

I glanced at Harris, and saw that he was awake, sort of. Looking at me. He squeezed my hand, once, weakly, and then fell back asleep. I wondered if he’d heard any of that.

* * *

When I woke next, Harris was sitting up, awake, and spooning the last of a pudding cup into his mouth. Roth was sitting in the chair on the other side of the bed, Kyrie standing behind him, her hand on his shoulder.

“Layla! You’re awake!” Kyrie rushed around the bed and I barely had time to stand up before she slammed into me, arms going around my neck. “I was so worried, hooker. I never thought I’d see you again.”

“Sorry to disappoint you, slutty-buns.” I peeled her off of me, and then kissed her cheek. “I was worried you wouldn’t see me again, too. For a minute. And then Nick found me and everything was fine.”

“Nick? Who’s Nick?” Kyrie asked.

Thresh, standing just inside the door again, laughed. “That’s what I said!”