Thrash by Kaylee Song Page A

two of us, distinctly irritated.
    “Are you two going to bicker all day, or did one of you come to actually tend my wounds?”
    When I’d first seen Hawk I instantly disliked him. With his cynical attitude and his dark humor, he reminded me too much of me. I didn’t like the reflection as much as I wanted to.
    His face was ripped open. His body had been beaten to the pulp, once when he was kidnapped, and then again, right after he had been released from the hospital.
    Aggravating or not, this bastard had gotten a raw deal.
    Then again, maybe if he learned to shut that big-ass mouth of his, he might be able to stay out trouble.
    Of course, that idea would never occur to him.
    “I thought you said you weren’t treating my ‘ungrateful ass’ ever again?” Hawk’s mouth screwed up into a shit-eating grin as he looked her over. He was enjoying every single moment of this, making Desiree squirm a little. But she was tougher than people gave her credit for.
    She rallied like the best of them.
    “They’re paying me a small fortune for this.” She pulled out her medical supplies and looked him over.
    “Aww, now tell me how much I’m worth to you, pretty woman. Really make my day.” He laughed as he said it but he wasn’t fooling anyone.
    The sheen of sweat against his pale grey skin indicated that infection had set in. His condition was worse than Strike let on, maybe even worse than he knew. He was out of breath just from sitting up to flirt with Desiree.
    Desiree ignored him like a pro and took a loose measure of his temperature with the back of her hand. “You are hot. Really hot. Why didn’t you call me sooner?”
    “Because you didn’t want to see me again, remember?” He said, the pain in his face evident. The fact that he let that opportunity go really did show how sick he was.
    She grabbed a thermometer out of her bag and put it under his tongue. Then she lifted up his shirt.
    The wounds were red and alarmingly swollen.
    Desiree’s eyes widened. “You need powerful antibiotics, Hawk. I, I need to get you to the hospital.”
    He shook his head and with good reason. “You remember that this –” He pointed to his face. “– happened to me the last time I got out of that fucking place? No. No hospitals. You’ll have to get what you need and fix me up, right here.” The steel in his eyes let us both know that, sick or not, he meant every word.
    Desiree would find a solution, because she was that good, but for the first time, I worried that she might have to get her hands dirty to do it.
    “Fine,” she told him. “I’ll do what I can. It won’t be easy, though. I’ll need supplies that I can’t – and won’t – take from the hospital.”
    That didn’t trouble him. “I can arrange that.”
    I was proud of my sister: she didn’t even bat an eye. “I know you can. I’ll also need to have double time pay and hazard pay on top of that.” She smiled at him, her most saccharine smile, and drove the bargain home. That smile was a lady’s verson of ‘take it or leave it, I can walk.’
    I stared at them both. Hawk could have acquired any of a dozen of his own contacts to treat him.
    Naturally, I had wondered why my sister?
    The answer was obvious. The way they were looking at each other, circling and staging and testing boundaries. It had to be her. She didn’t take shit, and he was used to giving it.
    Fuck, the last thing I wanted was my sister involved with the mob.
    “You two done making eyes?” I snapped. “It’s time to get out of here.”
    Desiree shook her head and waved me off. “He’s ripped a couple of his stitches, I’ll need to put new ones in, and clean and dress it. I have some antibiotic ointment with me, and ciprofloxacin in my bag.” Her fingers snapped for me to get them for her. This was how she was, and I caught Hawk smirk over her shoulder. I just gave him a look and took my time getting the meds.
    “You sure it’ll work, my pretty woman?” he pushed.
    She