Page 72 of Rune
“How?” Carmen asked.
“By slamming my fists into hard things. Mostly people’s jaws too many times. I’m basically a broken hand expert, so I can tell you that it’s gonna be a sucky four to eight weeks, but you just need to immobilize it.”
“With a cast?”
“Eh. I think we can get away with a good brace, if you promise to take it easy.”
“She will,” I assured him.
“I’ll go rummage around in the brace tote.”
“You have a brace tote?”
“A one-stop orthopedic shop,” Spike confirmed. “Sit tight for one minute, love.”
He got to his feet and nodded toward the basement door.
“One sec,” I said, touching the side of her head, then following Spike. “What’s up?”
“Got a feeling she’s bruised up in places she don’t want me to see. You know how to check her ribs?”
“Yeah. Broke and bruised mine, shit, three times. I know the signs.”
“Good. I’ll grab the brace, icepacks, and some pain meds and meet you in your room in twenty.”
“Thanks, man,” I said, slapping his shoulder before going back to Carmen.
“He’s nice.”
“Yeah,” I agreed. “And it’s lucky he knows a thing or two about this kind of thing. Aside from the hand, what hurts the worst?”
“Everything hurts everywhere all at once.”
“From the fall onto your face?”
“Yeah, I think so. Each step hit me in a different spot.”
“How are your teeth?”
“They’re fine.”
“Didn’t bite your tongue?”
“No.”
“What about hitting your head?”
“My head hit one of the steps—the flat side, not the edge.”
“Any blurry vision, nausea, light sensitivity, dizziness?”
“No. My head hurts, but other than that, no.” She paused, watching my face. “It looks bad, doesn’t it?”
“You haven’t looked?”
“No. I was focused on trying to drive with one hand and not break down.”
“In that case… you look great. Never better. Not swollen or bruised at all.”
