Cut and Run 4 - Divide and Conquer

earlier had been put back in its corner, so he
    moved to the bed instead and perched on the edge. “I‟m sorry,” he
    offered lamely. “I should have been in there with you.”
    Zane shifted his hand against Ty‟s thigh. “Both‟d be here.” His
    tone conveyed that it would be a bad thing.
    Ty didn‟t respond other than to lower his head and look at Zane‟s
    hand. “Does it hurt?” he finally asked.
    Zane grunted. “Headache. I‟ll live.”
    Ty would have smiled at the absurd repetition, but he knew Zane
    couldn‟t help it after that hard of a knock on the head. He nodded
    silently, belatedly remembering that Zane couldn‟t see him. “You can‟t
    see anything?” he asked tentatively. “No shadows, nothing?”
    Zane was silent for a long moment as he blinked his eyes over
    and over. “Nothing,” he whispered.
    Divide & Conquer | 105

    Ty reached down and took his hand, squeezing it hard. McCoy
    had ordered him to go home, but what good was he there? On the other
    hand, Zane needed nothing but medical care, and Ty knew that when he
    was in the hospital himself, he hated having people with him. “What
    can I do?” he asked, feeling helpless and useless.
    Zane licked his bottom lip and opened his eyes, turning his face
    toward Ty. “Don‟t leave me alone.” His voice actually shook.
    Ty looked at him worriedly, and he put his other hand on top of
    Zane‟s, holding it with both of his hands and letting his fingers slide up
    his arm. “I won‟t go anywhere,” he promised.
    Zane nodded; it was a jerky, uncomfortable motion. He squeezed
    his eyes shut as if it would help. “I‟m a little rattled,” he rasped.
    Ty petted his arm ineffectually. He had no idea what else to do.
    “We‟re going to have to find a third wheel to take care of us when we
    get hurt,” Ty suggested. “We‟re not very good at this.”
    “ Too good. This is new,” Zane said with a soft huff. “Headache.”
    “Hey, I prefer my run of unlikely finger injuries,” Ty responded
    as he ran his thumb along Zane‟s wrist. “And it‟s not new, it‟s just
    more epic than what I did in New York.”
    Zane snorted and seemed to shrink into himself as the silence
    lengthened. “Sucks,” he finally muttered.
    “Think of it as… special training for your other senses,” Ty
    instructed, faking cheerful.
    Zane frowned and took a steadying breath. “If I could see you,”
    he enunciated, “I would slug you.”
    “Must be my lucky day then,” Ty responded wryly.
    Zane opened and closed his fist between Ty‟s hands, flexing his
    fingers before letting them rest, curling around Ty‟s wrist. “What
    now?”
    Ty opened his mouth to respond, trying to find either a joke or a
    silver lining or a nice whitewashed lie. But he could only manage a few
    soft sounds before closing his mouth again and shaking his head. “I
    don‟t know,” he answered instead. “I guess we just wait it out.”
    106 | Madeleine Urban & Abigail Roux

    “Wow,” Zane murmured tiredly, head lolling back against the
    pillow. “You‟re scared shitless if that‟s the best you got.”
    Ty pressed his lips together and looked at Zane helplessly. He
    met Zane‟s eyes, knowing Zane couldn‟t see him. He was glad for it,
    though. Zane didn‟t need to see his fear. If he was this scared, he
    couldn‟t imagine how Zane was feeling.

    BEING completely in the dark had taken on a whole new meaning.
    This wasn‟t just dark; it was pitch-black, no relief, no gray, no
    hint of light under a door, no bare twinkle of stars in the sky. It was
    utter nothing.
    Each time Zane woke up from dozing—no real sleeping, the
    nurse insisted, waking him up every fifteen minutes—it was easier to
    think, and his first thought was always that when he opened his eyes,
    he‟d be able to see. But then he did and… didn‟t.
    If it weren‟t for being able to always hear something in the
    hospital room, he would have totally freaked out.
    With a sigh, he shifted a little in the bed, very carefully, not sure
    if something somewhere would hurt when he moved. He heard Ty gasp
    suddenly and felt him jerk.
    “What?” Ty asked in a hoarse, sleepy voice.
    Zane frowned. “Ty? Were you asleep?”
    “I‟m not sure,” Ty answered in a voice that told Zane he had
    definitely been asleep and was still in the process of trying to remember
    where he was. Zane felt Ty‟s hand brush against his chest, as if making
    sure he was actually there and he wasn‟t dreaming. He raised