Chapter 8

I shifted and bolts of pain shot through my back. I tried to move my arm and the pain moved to my ribs and forearm. Son-of-a-bitch, it hurt. I opened my eyes, and saw nothing but gray and white.

I heard footsteps, and a hand was on my shoulder. I tried to push it away and had to stifle a scream.

"Relax, Mr. Jeffery, don't try to move," I heard a strange voice intone.

I looked over and saw a figure in white standing over me.

"You've been injured," she said calmly. "Don't move."

I was lying on my side, and after trying to shift again, I knew she was right. I shouldn't move.

"Where..."

"Mount Sinai," she said. "You had us scared there for a while. You've got a lot of worried friends driving us crazy. If you'd settle down, I could check on you, give you something for the pain, and maybe we'll let you see a few of your buddies."

"Sheri."

"Shh. Be still. This will only take a minute."

It took a lot longer than a minute, but by the time she was done, my mind was clearing up and the pain was down to a dull roar.

The door opened, and in moments I was surrounded. "Stupid fuck," Dan said, standing at the head of the bed, looking down at me, anxiously.

"You ... look like ... shit," I said. It was hard to get the words out. My head felt like it was full of cotton, and my tongue was too big for my mouth.

I was right though. He did. He had his arm in a sling, and his face was swollen. Bandage on the side of his face, and a black eye tinged with reds and oranges. The split lip was an improvement.

"Look who's talking, dipshit. Couldn't wait for the cavalry could you?"

"Your face ... looks better," I told him, trying to look around. Mark was present, looking fresh as a daisy, and behind him were Robert and Sandy. She looked like she'd been crying. I noticed that most were out of their party clothes, except Dan and Sandy.

"Sheri?" I asked.

"She'll be alright," Dan said softly. I could see he was hurting, and I don't mean physically.

"Not your ... fault," I told him. I knew the guilt would be killing him.

"I fucked up, Steve. God, I'm so sorry. I was watching her, I swear I was. I don't know how she got away. I know you must hate me. I'll leave if you want." The poor fucker was practically in tears.

"No. I ... love you man," I said, doing my best to grin.

He chuckled, wiping his eyes. "You're not getting my Bud Light." Old inside joke.

"Where?"

"Jaime went for her. Relax. You did good, jerkoff."

I learned a little of what happened, in bits and pieces. Mark couldn't get the limo down the alley, and had to park it. He started at the wrong end, and was late getting to the scene. Dan never got past the first guy, and though I managed to delay anyone else joining our little get-together, when the asshole I'd knocked into the wall climbed on my back and started to make a pincushion out of me with a knife, things were looking bleak.

We thought we'd taken good precautions, but we hadn't planned on the back door. I always knew there was a chance she'd freak out. Mark had been by the car a few door down from the entrance, and Jaime had been stationed a short ways down on the opposite side, in case she made a run for it in the wrong direction.

When they got the call, Jaime had to crash his way into the party, across the entire house, then guess which way we'd gone. He'd heard the ruckus and got there in the nick of time, although a minute or two earlier would have been nice.

I looked up during a pause in the story-telling, and Man-mountain was stepping through the doorway. The crowd parted and I saw he was carrying Sheri in his arms. She looked rough, bruised, her hair a mess, dress missing. She had a hospital gown on, and her leg was in a cast.

Jaime was grinning like there was no tomorrow. He stepped forward and gently sat Sheri down on the bed by my feet. I felt the tears starting to well up. I had been certain I was going to lose her.

She put on a brave smile, and reached for the hand I extended to her.

Jaime stood over her, protectively. "Jesus, Ace! Where'd you find this one? If I hadn't shown up in time, I think she was going to kill the lot of them herself. Friggin' maniac. Crazy girl was spitting out half a guy's ear before I managed to clean things up."

I looked down at her.

She grinned sheepishly. "No way I was going to portal again. We'd wipe together or not at all." She looked back at Jaime. "You never told me that our resident Witch-Doctor was a real-life barbarian."

Jaime was six feet seven inches of rough and tumble. The left tackle on our high-school football team, and a loner, except for me and Dan. We'd gotten him out of trouble once, and we never could get rid of him ever since. Loyal as an old hound-dog. The fucker could write code like nobody's business.

He'd taken the bat from the guy coming out the door and laid half-a-dozen guys out cold before Mark showed up with the heavy artillery. One shot from his .45 stopped everything. Apparently in his wake, half the party had shown up in the alley, and the police were only a few minutes behind. The guys weren't about to wait, not with me bleeding on everybody, and a couple of minutes later we were loaded in the limo headed for the hospital.

With the story out of the way, everyone decided to give me a little space, especially when the busy-body nurse came in shrieking it was supposed to be only two at a time.

Which meant one at a time, since it looked like it would have taken a platoon of marines to get Sheri out of there.

I was alone with Sheri and her cousin, when Sandy had the brilliant idea of leaning over and giving me a hug, nearly killing me. "You big idiot. No more heroics."

"Don't you have a party to go back to?" I asked, teasing.

She wiped her eyes. "Right. That was Friday."

"Friday?"

Sheri squeezed my hand. "It's Sunday. You had us worried."

"Shit. No wonder I'm so damned hungry. Sounds like you got something to eat. An ear?"

My girl grinned. "Tastes like shit. And believe me, getting eye goop from out from under your nails is next to impossible."

"Eye goop?"

Sandy giggled. "You've got to hear Jaime tell it. We must have made him repeat it at least a dozen times. Spider-Monkey girl was making mincemeat of the guy who stabbed you. She clawed one of his eyes clear out, bit off half his ear. She was going for the jugular when Jaime dragged her off the stupid bastard. Hardest shot he took all evening was from her elbow, and he almost lost a finger to those teeth of hers."

"It wasn't that bad," Sheri whined. "He only got a few stitches." She leaned forward. "I think he likes me."

"Don't let his wife hear that. She may not be much bigger than you, but I think she could take him, two out of three falls."

"Wife?"

"Yeah, he and Mark are both married. I'm surprised the women haven't shown up yet. I'm going to catch so much hell."

I tried to move and I got another blast of pain.

"Stop that!" Sheri snapped. "You'll tear the stitches, even if you don't start internal bleeding again."

"How bad was it?" I asked.

"If the idiot on top of you knew how to use a knife, you'd be dead now," she snapped. "Then where would I be, you stupid asshole? Why couldn't you have waited for the others?"

"They ... they were touching you."

"So what? I've been touched before. More than touched. If you ever do anything that stupid again ... I'll ... oh Hell, I'll just die."

"How long will I be in here?" I asked.

"Couple of days. You had a bad concussion, a collapsed lung, and lost a lot of blood. The knife got stuck in your ribs, or it would have been a lot worse."

She looked upset, and more than a little angry.

"What are you wearing under that robe?" I asked.

Sandy laughed out loud. "That's my cue to go. I'll give you two a couple of minutes alone. I think he's going to be fine."

Sheri was glaring at me. "Did you actually ask what I had on under this stupid robe?"

I nodded, grinning. "You promised the girls would entertain me."

"If you were good. In the limo. And I said maybe."

"Ok, oh for three," I pouted. "What have you got on under there?"

She giggled. "You are bad. Panties. That's all. Not much of them either."

"You're killing me, beautiful. Half naked and only an arm's reach away."

"I'm still mad at you."

"I still love you."

She leaned her head down on my leg. "You big idiot. You could have died."

"Not when you have my back," I said.

"You made Jaime cry. I don't think I've ever seen a sadder thing. He was running down that alley, cradling you in his arms, blubbering like a baby."

I grinned. "Yes! He's so never going to live that one down."

She slapped me on the leg. "Asshole. He saved your life."

"Fine. I owe him one. He's still going to get razzed."

She looked over at the door, then bounced her butt up the bed a couple of feet, sending jolts of pain through my back. Whatever they were giving me wasn't near strong enough.

"Stop wincing you big baby," she said.

She grabbed my hand, and put it on her breast. I cupped it through her gown.

"Second base," she giggled.

"I don't think we've even got much of first base yet."

"You need to get healthy for me. I've got a lot of catching up to do, and the boobies and booty are dying for a little attention."

"How about a lot of attention?" I teased.

"How about, when the doctor clears you, we try for a home-run?"