Silver Shorts 2012, Week 14 (Silver Shorts #9)

Welcome to the Silver Shorts! Every week, we will be giving the Silver Publishing authors a prompt or four to play with and one week to submit flash fiction and short stories to be offered as free reads to our customers. This week's themes are:

"It was a great day until..."
"I sent the wrong text to him/her, it should have been..."
"Did you see him/her eating..."
"Move over, it's my turn to..."



This week's anthology includes:

Fallen Angel by Freddy MacKay
Minuet in Blue, Part 2 by Cherie Noel
Table for Five, Part 3 by S.A. Garcia


Check back every week for new anthology releases, and happy reading!


Excerpt:

Fallen Angel
Freddy MacKay


Stephen moaned. He felt like he had been hit by a truck--wait, no... the guy from Shepard's Haven hit him... many, many times. What was the jerk's name? Frank? Felix? Stephen snorted. No way a guy that big had a cat's name. Fucking hell, what had been the asshole's name? Fagan? Yeah, that one sounded right. The man's name had been Fagan. Stephen needed to remember it so he could press charges once he didn't feel like he was about to throw up, and could open his eyes.

Did the lights have to be so bright?

Every part of him hurt, Stephen wasn't sure what to move, or if he even wanted to. He wiggled his toes, fingers and hips. Yup, everything worked; he had sharp pains shooting up his back to prove it. Stephen allowed his eyes to open a fraction, just into tiny little slits. His long eyelashes helped to block the glare from the lights. Not wanting to vomit immediately seemed like a good sign.

Slowly, Stephen scanned the room. He didn't want to jostle himself any more than necessary. Not until he figured out how badly he had been... was he in a hospital room? Stephen shifted, his body protesting the movement with pins and pricks everywhere, and noticed the IV just beyond the bedrail. His stomach churned when the uneasiness began filtering into his system. Now the damn lights wouldn't matter. Just knowing he had been dumb enough to land himself in the hospital would make him puke.

"Fucking hell."

Stephen sluggishly moved back to his previous position on the bed. It was possibly the one position he didn't feel like getting sick in. His nerves screamed for some kind of relief, tension and adrenaline had kicked in when he started to remember why he landed in the hospital. How would he explain being in the hospital to Turner?

Stephen's heart stopped. No, he didn't have to explain anything to Turner. His partner had Gil now.

An overwhelming pressure settled in Stephen's chest. He tried desperately to breathe, but his lungs just didn't seem to want to work. Beeping noises filled the room, and Stephen shot the monitor by the IV a look, nearly losing yesterday's lunch. His blood pressure was shooting way up. Since when did... he hadn't even noticed the other attachments to himself.

Damn.

A woman burst through the door. They made eye contact, and she walked quickly to Stephen's side. "Is everything all right?"

"Um--"

Her green gaze went to the monitor that had stopped beeping, and she smiled. "Wondering where you are?"

He nodded. Sure, why not?

"You're at Greenback City Mercy Hospital." She patted his arm. "Could you stand a few questions and a visit from the doctor?"

Stephen frowned.

The nurse straightened up, crossing her arms, and fixed her assessing eyes on him. "How about we start with some questions?"

"Dora?"

The woman turned towards the sound of her name. "Yes?"

"Everything all right with the patient?"

"He just woke up, that's all," answered Dora. She turned to Stephen, effectively pinning him with her stare. "Isn't that right?"

"Yes ma'am."

Stephen was rewarded with a brilliant smile. The other nurse nodded, but didn't move, apparently waiting for something. Stephen's nurse glanced back over her shoulder. Dora patted his arm again, but continued watching her colleague as she talked.

"He's a little jumpy, understandably," she said. "I'm going to ask him a few questions regarding his health history before the police barge their way in here with Dr Morris."

The other woman nodded and left, the door swooshing behind her. For a moment nothing was said. Stephen and Dora just stared after the nurse who had left them, but his reprieve didn't last for long. Dora turned her vibrant green eyes back on him.

"As Kara said, my name is Dora, just hit this call button if you need me," she began to explain as she moved around. "I'm going to need your name, have you answer some questions on your health history, take some vitals, and then I'll bring Dr Morris in here. He's going to let you know what your injuries are. Okay?"

"What?"

"Which what?"

Stephen narrowed his eyes on Dora. Was she fucking with him? "Did you say you needed my name?"

"Yes, you didn't come in with wallet," Dora gave him a sympathetic smile. "And unfortunately, the bar staff had been unable to find it either."

Well, didn't that just pile on more shit he had to deal with?

"So--" Dora placed her hands on her hips "--what is your name?"

"I don't know." Did he just lie? Yup, he did.

Dora's face fell, and her shoulders slumped. Stephen's stomach should have revolted at the idea of lying, but it had been surprisingly easy. More than anything Stephen didn't want to face reality yet. It hurt too fucking much, kind of like the rest of him.