Vin's eye cracked open and a quiet groan escaped. He closed the eye, then opened both and looked around.
"Welcome back," Chris Larabee said as he leaned forward in the chair he occupied by the hospital bed.
"How long and what's the list," Vin asked, his voice cracking slightly.
Chris stood and took the water glass off the bed side table, offering Vin a drink as he caught the man up. "You've been pretty much out of it for about 20 hours. You've got a concussion and the usual assortment of scrapes and bruises. Oh, and a broken leg. Didn't need surgery, so you're in a cast."
Vin nodded slightly, trying not to move his head more than necessary and closed his eyes. Both eyes popped back open suddenly though. "Ya didn't let Buck choose the color of the cast again did ya?"
"Nope," Chris replied and Vin relaxed once more, closing his eyes again. "We let Ezra pick."
"Kay…" Vin paused then cracked one eye again. "He ain't still mad about the…"
"Purple dress?" Chris finished for him. "I'm thinking so," he added as he flipped back the blanket over Vin's leg to reveal a hot pink cast starting above the knee and ending at the toes.
"Aw hell…."
"Gets better," Chris added, pulling out his cell phone and swiping at the screen. "He decorated it already too. Didn't figure you could see it so I took a picture." Chris turned the phone toward Vin so he could see.
Along one side of the neon pink cast Ezra had painted three animals; one teddy bear, one kitten and one unicorn, all dressed in leotards, tutus, and ballet shoes in various shades of purple and lavender.
"Ezra let Buck decorate it too," Chris added as he took the phone back and swiped the screen to the next picture before handing it back to Vin. On the inside of the cast was painted a pin up girl. A blonde, buxom, nearly naked pin up girl dressed in a barely there g- string and pasties.
Vin pulled a pillow out from under his head and placed it over his face. Chris could hear mumbling from under the pillow.
"Didn't catch that Pard," he said, lifting the pillow up from Vin's face even as Vin tried to pull it back down. "What did you say?"
"Kill me now. Just kill me now…" Vin let out a groan as he pulled the pillow back down.
Chris chuckled as he sat back down, propping his feet against the frame of the bed and picking his book back up. "Pay back's a bitch alright."
The End
