Razor hadn’t taken his eyes off Ava’s. “In that case, there’s something I need to tell you. Come closer,” he said. “I love you, Avarie.”
“I love you, Tabon.”
20
He hated for Ava to leave, but the nurses refused to let her sleep in the ICU until the doctor released her from hospital care, which wouldn’t be until the next morning.
“Goodnight,” she said as he pulled her in for the twenty or thirtieth kiss.
“I don’t want you to go,” he said, winding his fingers in her hair.
“Ahem,” said Doc, standing in the doorway.
“Yeah, yeah. Okay, I’ll let you go, but only if you promise to sneak back up here in an hour or so.”
Ava smiled, kissed his forehead, and waved at Doc on her way out.
“Your mother said the doctor warned her that your recovery might be slow.”
Razor smiled. “He doesn’t know me.”
Doc laughed. “I said exactly that.”
“Catch me up.”
“You sure you’re ready?”
Razor nodded. “Where the fuck is Petrov, and who the hell shot me?”
“I don’t know, but we’re working on it.”
“The bastard got away? Jesus. How?”
“Someone helped him, but we aren’t one hundred percent sure who.”
“Why don’t you know who shot me? Do you think it’s the same person?”
Doc nodded. “We do.”
“You said not one hundred percent, but you have a theory.”
“Gunner disagrees.”
“Raketa-fucking-Ishakov?”
“Yeah, but it’s Ivashov.”
“I don’t give a fuck what it is. I knew that goddamn bitch couldn’t be trusted. She almost fucking killed me.”
There was a rap at the door and Merrigan slipped inside. “We can hear you all the way down the hallway,” she told him. “You have two choices: you can lower your voice and Doc can stay, or you can continue making the rest of the patients very uncomfortable and he can leave. What’ll it be, Sharp?”
Razor closed his eyes and let his head rest against the pillow. “So she’s gone?”
Doc nodded. “And so is Petrov.”
“I would’ve killed him.”
“I would’ve too if I’d been there.”