Those Hollow Lies

True Darkness

07/29/09 – early morning.

The sun was starting to peek over the buildings and while Joe rested in the tidy hospital bed I paced the length of the room, running my fingers through my hair and swearing as the minutes ticked by. I hadn’t heard back from Roz since she had left the room the previous evening with a murderous look in her hazel eyes. The Quarter’s medical team who were diligently playing their roles as hospital staff and prison guards had reminded me nine times that I had to leave soon before someone noticed that I didn’t have clearance to be there or that I wasn’t working for the corrupted political team that had done this to Joe in the first place.

I was wondering if Rachel knew. Would Roz tell her? I shook my head, knowing that Roz would keep everything from the pregnant woman to keep her and those babies safe. She might come across as heartless and cold, and I did believe that to be true once, but now I wasn’t fooled by that; everything Roz did was done to protect the people in her life or to stop criminals from hurting anyone else. It was just heavily disguised with dark glares, perfected punches and cutting sarcasm, most of the time.

“Is Roz back yet?” I almost jumped out of my skin at the sound of Joe’s raspy voice.

“No. I haven’t heard from her at all.” I confessed, the worry evident in my tone as I moved to pour him a glass of room temperature water from the scratched plastic jug.

“You know her better than anyone, Russell. The girl can handle herself.” There was a tiny smirk on Joe’s lips, but the pain was clear in his expression.

“Yeah, and then she went and got herself shot and I realised that she’s not so invincible.” Shaking my head I pushed my fingers back through my hair which was now suffering from how much abuse I was subjecting it to.

“She got shot?”

“Yeah. It was a month ago and she died on the table but the doctors patched her up and brought her back.”

“But you can’t stop worrying.” It was a statement, not a question.

“I never saw her in that explosion. Granted, she wasn’t even in the building. But the only time I’ve ever seen Roz bleed was after the tunnels when the training session you two had shared came with a slip of a knife. It wasn’t even serious.”

“For Roz, neither is getting shot.” I could tell that Joe was trying to do his best to talk this through, to help, but the pain medication coming from the drip stand did not make matters better.

“Yeah. Like a football game is to me, right?” I reused the comparison Joe had once used before and the older man smiled sympathetically. “I know all of this and I know she’s incredible, but I didn’t come back into this just to watch her get killed.”

“She’s taking this hard. I saw it back when she first found out about this mission.” Joe shook his head and then settled back against his pillow. “I thought going after her biological parents would be hard on the girl, but this…this took her to a whole new level.”

“She’s cried over this, she’s run into things without thinking and she’s opening up.” I sighed and looked back towards the window. “I know we hoped for the last one, but it’s not all been positive.”

“It’s why she needed you back, Russ. You’re the only one who can reel her in when that happens.”

“Reel her in? I have a greater chance of catching and taming a Great White than Roz.”

“Poor choice of words, my bad. What I meant was that you’re the only person Roz can depend on. You’re the only agent who has her back even when she’s asking you to run through the fire.” I listened to Joe and realised that he was right. There were men back at the Quarter who respected Roz and who followed her orders, but I didn’t believe that any of them would be willing to risk everything for her. “She needs you. Even if she doesn’t show it in the best of ways. Roz has never had anyone in her life that she could turn to just because she wanted to. Her idea of trust has always been about finding a partner who won’t turn a gun on her. With you she has that and more.” Joe took a moment to lick his chapped, dry lips and then looked back across at me with a sad, watery shine glossing his blue eyes. “We ripped away her chance at a normal childhood and probably a normal life, but you’ve given her some of that back. I know, better than most, of how difficult she can be and I get that you’re scared of watching her get hurt again, but I’ll let you in on a little secret; Roz tends to go a little crazy right before she explodes with her greatest moment.”