#01.18

August was there with the water bottle before he could answer. He made sure Cordell got about half the bottle in him before he was able to talk again. “Was on my way to the ranch to talk to Stan. Coupla guys from North Side Nation ran me off the road. Stan knew ‘em,” he muttered. “That’s when he told me ‘bout bein’ all corrupt ‘n stuff.” 

Off in the distance, he heard the slam of a car door and the crunch of dirt beneath a boot. “Walker, you okay?” He lifted his head to see Micki kneeling in front of him. “Liam called me and told me where you all were going. Figured I’d come pick up the precious cargo. How are you?”

“Just peachy,” he muttered. “How’re you?”

“Feeling a lot better than you are, probably.” She rose to her feet. “I think I’ll wait until you’ve been seen by someone before I worry about getting anyone’s statements.”

“Been seen by a lot of someones today,” he said, half-joking in an attempt to keep himself awake. Micki rolled her eyes and shook her head but he knew that smile wasn’t just the concussion talking. 

“Ambulance is on its way,” Liam said, walking back over. “How is he?”

“He said a couple of Stan’s guys from North Side Nation ran him off the road earlier,” Stella said, worry clear in her voice. “I think he might have a concussion, definitely some broken ribs….”

He heard his family talking around him but the words were starting to blur together. He was just...tired. And hurting. He figured it couldn’t hurt to rest his eyes, just for a moment, while he waited for something to happen. He’d be fine so long as he didn’t fall asleep, right?

Yeah, that sounded right.

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Cordell heard the hospital before he saw it. Mostly because opening his eyes just wasn’t something he felt like doing. The beeping of the heart monitor, the buzz of the fluorescent lights in the ceiling, the general hubbub in the hallway, all combined with the faint smell of chemicals and sickness. At least he’d survived the journey there, though he didn’t remember much of it. Or any of it.

He took stock of his body (as much as he could without looking anyway). He no longer felt dried blood on his face and his head was feeling a lot better. He still felt some pain around his ribs but it seems those had been taken care of too. That made sense; he was in a hospital, after all. He was still in pain but it had been dulled, likely due to some quality pain meds. Overall, much better than he’d been feeling before.

He finally forced his eyes open and immediately brought a hand up to block the too-bright light beaming down at him. He groaned and closed his eyes again. Yep. He knew opening his eyes was a bad idea.

“Ah, Mr. Walker. You’re awake.”

He cursed internally and opened his eyes again to see a nurse by his bed. She smiled at him and adjusted his pillow. “You had us worried there for a minute. But you’re well on the mend and the doctor predicts you’ll be out of here in less than 48 hours.”

“Okay….” He’d say more but talking was hard when your throat was raspy as hell, likely from hours of not talking and/or drinking more than half a bottle of water. “Where’s….?”

“Your family waited until they got word from the doctor that you were stable, then they went home. I think your brother might still be around here….”

He nodded, not wanting to irritate his throat further.

“Anyway, I’ll just finish up here and then you can go back to napping.” She smiled and took some notes down on his chart.

“Cordi?”

He turned his attention to the door and smiled when he saw Liam. “Hey….”

Liam’s shoulder slumped with relief and he walked over to the bed. “Hey yourself. How are you feeling.”

“Little better,” he rasped. “Could do with water.”

Liam smiled and gave his arm a comforting squeeze. “How about I get you some ice chips and we go from there?”

He nodded. That sounded good.

“Alright. You get some rest, okay? Micki’ll be by tomorrow to ask you about everything with Stan and I know you’ll wanna be back on your feet as soon as possible for his trial.”