The Minus Faction, Episode One: Breakout Read Free

involuntary sneer. He took a deep breath and sat up.
    There was no getting around it. He had to leave. But the only place John could go was the last place in the world he wanted to be. He'd almost rather be dead. He looked down at his clenched, atrophied left hand.
    Almost.
    John liked to think he wasn't afraid of anything, but it wasn't always true. He had made the call that morning. It was a condition of the deal he made with himself. He could have one more trip. One more hitch. If he called first .
    Happy to have him at the house, his dad had said. Of course he could stay. As long as he wanted. They'd pick him up Monday. Be there around 2:00.
    After that, what little freedom John had left would disappear under his stepmother's burning gaze.
    There was a soft knock on the door. Nurse Brand poked his head through the gap and saw Regent was awake.
    "I hear you were looking for me."
    John grabbed the bracing bar and pulled himself up as a ruckus erupted from the nurse's station at the end of the hall. "What's going on out there?"
    "News crew." Ethan Brand stepped into the room. He was thin with neat blond hair laced in barely noticeable gray. His face narrowed at the chin, and he had a gathering set of crow's-feet at the corners of his eyes. His fingernails were manicured. He wore dark blue scrubs.
    "News?" Regent did his best to feign ignorance.
    Ethan walked across the room to check the morphine drip hanging from the back of John's chair. Unused. Pulled out. The needle trailed the chair like a tail. Ethan wasn't surprised. "You didn't hear? There was big a commotion today."
    "I made the call." John wanted to change the subject.
    "Time to take your stats." So did Ethan. He turned to open the shades.
    "Already?"
    The nurse stood by the window as light poured in. "I suppose that means you want me to put in a discharge request."
    John nodded and squinted from the sun.
    Ethan stepped to the wall near the bed and removed the blood pressure cuff from its holster. He wrapped it around John's good arm. "I wish you would stay."
    "It's time." John had been at the hospital for months. It was the only place he'd been since his return.
    Ethan held Regent's hand as the cuff inflated. It wasn't necessary, but the nurse held it firm.
    John nodded. He was going to miss his friend. He thought he better say that. Out loud. He liked to think he wasn't afraid of anything, but it wasn't always true.
    "I'll miss you guys."
    The pair had met John's first day at the hospital. That was five months ago. John was mean back then, but Ethan met the anger with compassion. Everyone always wanted to rush in. They were just trying to be nice, helpful, and it pissed John off. He'd been hurt plenty of times. He knew how to handle it. If he needed help, he'd fucking ask.
    But Ethan was different. He let John try things first. After his shifts were over, Ethan would often stay and listen with the other patients as John told stories from his missions overseas.
    John realized he might not see his friend again. He didn't know Ethan's schedule. That meant it was now or never. "Can I ask you something?"
    "You can ask me anything." Ethan ripped the Velcro and replaced the cuff on the wall.
    "Why here?"
    "What do you mean?" Ethan reached down to check John's colostomy bag. It was a testament to the men's trust that he didn't need to ask.
    John lifted his shirt and leaned out of the way. "I mean, why soldiers? You're good. You could work lots of places. Why here?"
    It was a special hospital, a joint program between the Veteran's Administration and the U.S. Department of Health, a halfway house for returning soldiers with major trauma or a home for anyone having real difficulty adjusting to civilian life. There were sister complexes, equally new and high-tech, in St. Louis and Sacramento. Attendance was voluntary, but for some strongly encouraged.
    "Ohhh . . ." Ethan nodded. "So it's my turn to tell a story?"
    John shrugged with his good arm as his nurse checked his pulse.