Avery awoke in a hospital bed, groggy with a very dry and painful sore throat. Everything in her body ached, as if she'd had all of her blood flushed out and replaced with some kind of heavy, toxic fluid. An IV bag was hooked up to her arm. A heart monitor bleeped from somewhere outside of her view.
The room was filled with balloons and flowers.
On a chair beside her, slumped over in sleep, was Ramirez. He was just as relaxed and perfectly dressed as the first day they'd met. A shiny blue suit adorned his form; the white shirt was bright and highlighted his tan and his slicked-back dark hair.
A nurse walked in.
"You're awake," she noted in surprise.
Avery opened her mouth.
"Don't try to speak just yet," the nurse said. "I'll call the doctor. You must be hungry. Let me see what I can rustle up."
Ramirez roused himself from sleep and yawned.
"Black." He smiled. "Welcome back to the land of the living."
Avery whispered a very painful, scratchy question.
"How?"
"Three days," he said. "You've been out for three days. Oh, man. That was some crazy shit, I can tell you that. You're at Watertown General Hospital. You OK? You want to rest more? Or do you want me to talk?"
Avery never felt so vulnerable in her life. Not only was she laid up in a hospital bed practically unable to move, but she could barely speak.
She nodded and closed her eyes.
"Talk."
"Well, you are one crazy loca, Avery Black. At least somebody gave you the good sense to call me, and to dial 911 when you were in the house. Now, if you'd waited, maybe you wouldn't be here today. But that's for another time.
"You got him," he said.
The smile came again.
"Three shots, every one of them hit. One in the groin, one through the heart, and the last one in the face. He's dead. No more girls for him.
"You're lucky to be alive." He whistled. "You know that? He pumped you full of some real nasty stuff. Paralyzes the body for about six hours and it slowly eats away at your insides until you die. Doctors had never seen anything like it, but they were able to concoct an antidote based off the syringe he used. Still, it was touch and go there for a while."
She glanced at the flowers and balloons.
"You had a lot of visitors," he said. "Cap came by, Connelly. Even Finley. Wasn't a big deal for them, really. They all followed me to the house."
She gave him a look.
He smirked.
"You might be crazy," he said, "but I'm not. I called Connelly the second you got off the phone with me. I needed backup!"
Avery gave him a deep, curious look. His dark brown eyes, typically playful and inquisitive, reached out to her with a warmth and care, as if to offer more.
"You?" she asked.
A blush painted his face red.
"Well," he mumbled and had a difficult time getting the rest out. "I've been here for a while, that's true. Just wanted to make sure my partner was all right. Besides," he shrugged, "I still have to rest up the wound, right? I just thought: why not just do it here? Gets a little lonely sometimes in my apartment, you know? Anyway, I'm glad you're all right," he said and had trouble meeting her gaze. "I'll leave you alone. Doctor keeps saying you need rest."
"No, " she whispered.
Meekly, she reached out her hand.
Ramirez gripped her fingers and held them tight.
