Cut and Run 6 - Stars and Stripes

off. The antidote had made him restless briefly, but it hadn’t woken him.
    Zane found his eyes drifting shut and his head drooping. He jerked awake and looked around, surprised.
    “Zane.”
    Zane surged forward, kneeling on the edge of the bed to look down at Ty, but Ty’s eyes were closed and he wasn’t moving. There was no indication that he’d spoken at all.
    Zane suspected he was beginning to imagine things. “Baby?”
    Ty’s eyes fluttered open for the briefest of seconds before closing again.
    “I know you’re in there,” Zane whispered. He leaned closer, brushing his lips against Ty’s cheek, then stretched out next to Ty and laid his head down. He stared at Ty’s profile, willing him to move, praying to see another flutter of his eyelashes.
    Ty finally parted his lips, taking in a deep breath. He said Zane’s name, a mere puff of air. Zane pushed up and looked down at him, brushing his hand over Ty’s face and then sliding his finger over Ty’s lower lip, just like Ty did to him when he was asleep. Ty’s eyes opened again, staring past Zane at the ceiling.
    “Ty?”
    “Did we get hit?”
    “No, Ty, no. You aren’t there. You’re here with me. You’re safe.”
    Ty reached for him, gripping him with alarming strength. His eyes closed, and he started speaking in Farsi.
    “What? Ty, I don’t understand.”
    Ty opened his eyes to look up into Zane’s. He spoke again, sounding desperate and almost scared.
    Zane had heard his lover speaking Farsi before, oftentimes in his sleep. But never in a waking dream, never while Ty was looking into his eyes and trying to communicate with him. He licked his lips and reached to the bedside table for Ty’s phone. He wasn’t too proud to call for help.
    Only after Nick O’Flaherty answered, sounding sleepy and sullen, did Zane realize it was the middle of the night. He winced, but he was too worried to apologize.
    “It’s Garrett, I need your help.”
    “Yeah, what’s wrong?”
    “Ty’s speaking in Farsi and I need you to translate.”
    “What?”
    “Just . . . I’ll explain later, I’m afraid he’s going to fall asleep again.” Zane pushed the speaker button and held the phone out.
    “You people get into the weirdest trouble,” Nick said.
    “What’s he saying?”
    Nick was silent as Ty mumbled. After a few moments, he said, “Well first of all, that’s not Farsi. It’s Dari.”
    “Does it matter?”
    “It does if you don’t speak Dari.”
    “Do you speak Dari?”
    “Yeah. Just expect a little more accuracy from the likes of you.”
    “O’Flaherty, come on.”
    “He’s saying he’s thirsty. And he’s asking if you can help him. ‘I’m U.S. military, can you direct me to the nearest base?’ Garrett, this sounds a lot like what we were both saying after they picked us up in the desert. I asked for directions in my sleep for months after. Is he drugged? Hurt?”
    “Animal tranquilizers.”
    Nick was silent. “Of course. That should have been my first guess. He’s also saying the ground is cold, if that means anything.”
    “No,” Zane said with a sigh.
    Ty spoke again, the words slurring. Nick started laughing.
    “What? What’d he say?”
    “He said his hovercraft is full of eels.”
    “What? Is that code for something?”
    “No.” Nick still sounded amused. “He’s just muttering, Garrett. He’s high. Lost.”
    Zane inhaled deeply and nodded, almost disappointed that Ty hadn’t been trying to communicate something more than his need for water and a blanket.
    “Hey,” Nick added solemnly. “He’s okay until he starts speaking Russian.”
    “Russian? Since when does Ty know Russian?”
    “He doesn’t. You guys need help? Where are you, what’s going on?”
    “No, no. We’re okay. Just a dustup in Texas.”
    “With animal tranquilizers.”
    “He’ll fill you in later.”
    “If you’re sure.”
    “I am. You sound hungover.”
    “It’s Canada Day.”
    “So?”
    “So, I’m in Canada.”
    “Why?”
    “Because it’s Canada Day! Come on, Garrett!”
    Zane snorted.
    “Call me when he wakes up, okay? Tell him I said to take it easy on the hard stuff.”
    Zane huffed and set the phone down, then reached for the glass of water by the bed. He offered it to Ty, helping him raise his head. After a few swallows, Ty was calm again, his eyes closed, his face relaxed and serene as Zane laid his head back on the pillow.
    Zane studied him like the unsolved mystery he was. He remembered overhearing