he just stares at the world.

[notawastedlife]

They didn't exactly allow alcohol for clinic in-patients, and Tony hadn't been able to get out to sneak any in. He was sober. He had clairty of thought. He was undampened.

He wasn't fond of the state. Especially when all his remarkable mind was doing, right then, was running things over and over in his head.

I saw young Americans killed by the

Comments

[stayastranger]

It was, in a way, familiar territory for Sarah, coming to see someone she cared about in the hospital after they'd been injured by some lunatic bent on destruction. That part was awful, but it made sense in the way that she knew these things just didn't make sense, so you fought them however you could. Tony being the one in the bed, though, the injured party, was nearly as foreign as the notion of Peter going up against this Alton Hartford and possibly even more unsettling.

"Tony?" It was familiar, maybe, but it wasn't easy. Less so here. She'd just been talking to Chuck about how quiet it was not that long ago. How peaceful and boring. "Hi."

[notawastedlife]

"Sarah," Tony greeted, having graduated to sitting up by now, as staring at the ceiling was getting to him.

He was sketching, but he dropped the pad to the side to, after a moment's thought, pull the flowers Karen and Brodie had brought out of their container and thrust them at her.

"I got you some flowers."

The ends dripped water on the bed.

[stayastranger]

Sarah smiled, gaze dropping briefly to the bed. As quickly as they had come upon her, the thoughts were pushed aside. He was alive and he would get better. That was what mattered.

"You're getting water everywhere," she teased, walking around to take the flowers and sit in the chair near him. "Which of your admirers brought these?"

[notawastedlife]

"Brodie," Tony said. "He said it was Karen. It was Brodie. How are you?"

He was aware it was traditional to ask this of the person in hospital rather than be asked it. That was, in fact, why he had cut in with it first.

[stayastranger]

"Shouldn't I be asking you that?" Sarah looked down at the flowers as she asked, stifling a laugh. She didn't know Brodie, but she'd heard of him. This seemed consistent with previous reports. "I'm fine. I'm glad you're still arguably in one piece."

[notawastedlife]

"Arguably," Tony agreed. Which was veering dangerously close to talking about actual matters. "But, I mean, you know what I've been up to. It was in the paper. I don't know what you've been up to."

[stayastranger]

"Nothing worth printing in the paper," Sarah said wryly. She'd read that article. She'd read Vimes' official reports on the matter. Nothing in there was going to tell her how Tony actually was. "The same thing I'm always up to. I go to the beach, I spend time with my boyfriend, I work in the office. I don't get blown up or attacked." Not so much these days, anyway.

[notawastedlife]

"See? Good news," Tony said. "Just what I needed. Brightens my day."

The side of his mouth quirked. "Well, boyfriend, but you can't have everything. Right?"

This did not entirely sound rhetorical.

[stayastranger]

Sarah arched an eyebrow. "Right," she said, firm but smiling a little, and held up the flowers a little. "Are you sure you don't want to save these for someone single? Brodie can probably help you with that part, too."

[notawastedlife]

"I can't take them back," Tony said, canting his head to the side and giving her a look, like she couldn't be seriously suggesting that. "Keep 'em. Pass them on to whatsisname. I can get more flowers. I'm in hospital, people just bring them to you."

[stayastranger]

"Don't tell me you got injured for the floral arrangements," Sarah deadpanned. She settled the bouquet on her lap again. "How long have they got you in here for?" However long it was supposed to be, she wouldn't have been surprised if he didn't stick around for the duration.

[notawastedlife]

"A few more weeks. They're overstated it," Tony said. "A few more days, I'll be fine. Right as rai-" he went to lean over to grab his glass of water and groaned, mid-word.

"...as rain."

[stayastranger]

"Right." Sarah arched an eyebrow, picking up the glass and holding it out to him. "Or you could listen to your doctors and rest so you don't just end up back in here in a week."

[notawastedlife]

"I'll rest," Tony protested, taking the glass even as he said this. "I can rest places that aren't here. Better, I don't find this very... restful. All the injured people."

[stayastranger]

Pushing any further on that front would have been hypocritical, Sarah knew. She'd never been a particularly pleasant patient herself, on those occasions when it had been called for. "Reminding you you're one of them?" she asked wryly. "That does make things difficult."

[notawastedlife]

"Yes, that was... I was trying not to mention that directly," Tony said, with gravity, "thank you for bringing that up."