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I hear him first; the small sounds he makes as he shifts slightly in his chair. My awareness of his presence expands and suddenly I feel the warmth of his hand where it curls around my wrist. Funny how the comfort of that small touch spreads until I'm warm all over. His breathing is even and his heart rate is slow, but he's definitely awake so I'm guessing that I came through the surgery okay.
My eyelids feel like they're weighed down with lead, but I manage to force them open a crack. Just far enough to see that I'm in the recovery room and not in a regular patient's room like I expect. Doesn't surprise me that Blair's managed to circumvent the bureaucracy and be where he's not supposed to be.
Hell, he's not supposed to be in Cascade at all right now. Nope, he's supposed to be at the airport getting on a jet for Chicago to attend a big mucky-muck confab of some prestigious Anthropological society. He was invited to present a paper that he co-wrote with another grad student. Evidently it's a real honor to be invited and he's been bouncing off the walls for the last week in excitement over the trip. But if you'd asked me before they wheeled me into surgery if Blair would be here when I woke up, I wouldn't have hesitated with my answer. Of course he would.
How'd I know? I'm at a loss to say. If I could shrug, I would, but thankfully my shoulder is blessedly numb at the moment. All I can say is, I knew he'd be here. Why he's here, still riding along with me, I mean, well that's the real puzzle. I'm pretty sure it's not just because of that paper of his; if that's all this was about, then he would've been long gone by now. I'm hoping it's about friendship, but we've never really talked about it. All I do know for sure is, I'm glad he's here, you know?
I force my eyelids to open wider and I meet his concerned gaze. I try to smile reassuringly, but from his expression I don't think I succeeded.
"Hey." I hate the weak-ass croak that just passed my lips. I didn't realize my mouth was so dry until I tried to talk.
Blair reaches for the call-button over the bed. "They made me promise not to give you anything and to push the button as soon as you woke up."
I nod once and he takes a deep breath.
"Simon says you zigged when you should've zagged, man. You've gotta stop doing that." His smile is strained and there are shadows in his eyes.
"Yeah." I hope that nurse gets here soon so I can have some water and clear my throat. "What're you doin' here?"
He shrugs and tries to look innocent, but I've got that one catalogued. Can't fool me.
"I was watching KCDE on one of the TVs they have in the airport terminals and Don Hass broke in with a news story about a cop being shot during the foiling of a bank robbery." He shrugs. "The next thing I know I'm getting out of my car at the emergency room. I got here a few minutes after your ambulance arrived."
Huh. I wouldn't have thought that they'd release my name to the press that quickly, if at all. Not if Simon had anything to say about it. I must have said that out loud, because Blair shakes his head.
"They didn't."
"Then how'd you know to come to the hospital, Chief?"
He flushes and turns away. "I don't know." He looks me in the eye and says a bit helplessly, "I just heard the news and somehow I knew it was you, Jim. I didn't really think about it. I just got in the car and drove."
I'm trying to decide how to respond to that, when the door opens and a nurse enters, followed by my doctor. I'm relieved at the interruption, because I'm not sure I really want to deal with what Blair just said. It's too close a parallel to my own thoughts when I first woke up to make me comfortable talking about it.
"Good to see you awake, Jim." The doctor smiles at Blair. "You'll have to go back to the waiting room, now. Or you can head up to room 418. That's where we'll be sending Jim once I've poked and prodded him a bit."
"Thanks, Doc." Blair grins and heads for the door. He looks back over his shoulder and I'm surprised to see that he looks as relieved at the interruption as I am. "Give him a poke for me while you're at it. Maybe that'll remind him to duck faster next time." He slips through the door to the sound of the nurse's chuckles.
Every time I think I can predict Blair, I find something new. He's definitely a puzzle - one I kinda like having around while I figure him out.