"Gumbo." He replied with a grin. "Lots and lots of gumbo. And Yankee t shirts." He chuckled. "I'll think of something,
so consider yourself with a pocketful of IOUs from me in the meantime. Why? Did you have a fee in mind?"
She smiled. A slow, secret, almost smug smile that stretched across her lips in a long pleased spread.
"Mm." She almost purred it, eyes watching his. "I might." Then she sat up, swinging long legs over the side of the
bed. "After all, you already owe me a favor." She added cheerfully. Absently running fingers through her hair, she
looked over at Cara.
"I suppose I'm staying for breakfast. Is there at least juice?"
"Orange." Cara said from her desk. "So, Sgt Garrett, you've got a choice. Dressing change before or after
breakfast."
"Uh....never?" Hector offered and reached for a piece of toast sitting up carefully, but far easier than the day
before. Course it also helped he wasn't tied down too!
"Not an option."
"But I always did like option c or d: none of the above." Hector said with a chuckle.
"Don't make me tie you back down."
"What is it with you people and the restraints?"
"Oh but you look so good in them." Cara stated seriously. Which made Andi almost cough into the juice she had
been suspiciously tasting.
"It wouldn't be necessary if you weren't so stubborn." Cara informed him calmly as if she hadn't noticed. Eyeing him
suspiciously as she stood up and started pulling on gloves. "You didn't pull out any of the IVs while I was gone, did
you?"
"Mm, toast." Andi commented.
"No, I didn't pull out any IVs." Hector said with a roll of his eyes as Cara pulled a chair to the other side of the bed
and grabbed a bedside table for the supplies.
"Go on and eat. Might distract you." She said and gave Andi a look to see if she wanted to come watch, knowing
that the other woman was a doctor with quite a personal interest in the patient's progress.
Andi's eyes shifted at Cara's look. She was trying to be so careful not to become an annoyance. Not so much in the
'Hector's girlfriend' area as in the 'strange doctor trying to tell me how to run my operation' way. So she was grateful
Cara understood how much she simply wanted to see for herself and pass her own judgement, even if she kept it
silent. Her imagination, and memory, were too vivid sometimes.
Careful not to jostle anything, she slipped off the bed and came around, leaving the questionable breakfast to its
own devices. Standing so that she wouldn't block the light with her cast shadow as she rested a hand on Hector's
shoulder. And her face relaxed when Cara took off the bandage and they could see what was underneath. But all
she mildly said was:
"He was right, you know. Jason did do a very good job with the stitches."
"I'll trust your judgment on that." Hector said as he kept eating with the hand opposite that side, ignoring the whole
process. He grimaced and grunted a couple of times as Cara prodded it and cleaned it and redressed it.
"You'll live." Cara said with a chuckle as s he stripped off her gloves. "And it does look better. Especially without that
bullet in it."
"Hey, I liked it. It was replacing the appendix that was stolen from me." Hector said. "No one asked me, they just took
it."
"Probably because it was overstaying its welcome, much like the bullet."
"He wants his bullet back." Andi told her as she settled down onto the bed and rested her cheek against Hector's
shoulder.
"I'd like to say that's a weird request." Cara stated, shaking her head with a smile as she walked back to her desk.
"But there's something wrong with the military mind set. You wouldn't believe how much I get that."
"Well, it was either that or his appendix." Andi volunteered. "And I didn't think the latter was going to be quite so
attractive."
"You'd hope not." Cara agreed. Pulling out a small plastic holder with a roll of her eyes and shaking it. "You would
NOT stop going on about it when you were in your mumbling stage" she informed Hector as she handed it to him.
"Well, again another situation where no one asked me, they just took the damn thing." Hector said with a laugh as
he took the plastic holder and opened it up, dumping the bullet into his hand. It was small, and squished, having
gone through a transformation of its own between entering his body then being taken out. "Cool. Maybe I'll have it
bronzed and put on a plaque."
"I told you there was something wrong with the military mind set." Cara said, laughing.
"He means thank you." Andi chuckled. Looking at how small the tiny piece of metal looked in Hector's large palm.
About as likely to touch it as she was to pick up a snake she didn't like the colors on. Such a little piece of metal to
do so much damage and almost cost her so much.
Mankind could be scary with the things they invented.
"One is enough to satisfy you now, yeah?" She asked him, still watching the piece of metal as if it might move.
"You're not going to try for a collection now, are you?"
"Nah, one's good." Hector said as he put it back in the holder and set it off to the side. "Just reminds me that I gotta
be more careful in the future." Not that this had happened due to recklessness. Just a lucky shot on the sniper's
part. He looked at her. "And I will be. Last thing I want is to get dragged back here anyway."
"Ducking is good." Cara offered from her desk again. "Telling someone when you first get hit is even better. Not
fighting when we're supposed to be taking it out is best of all."
Andi smiled briefly at Cara's comment, cheek still resting against him.
"Next time I think I'd like to come to see you and be able to see a little more variety." She raised her eyes and gave
him a smile. "Though the bed was nice."
"You're the one who turned down the tour of the anti aircraft missile range." Hector pointed out. "so the lack of
variety falls squarely on your shoulders." Sure, he'd been sedated, restrained and medicated up the ying yang, but
a walk along the missile range sounded good at the time. "But I guess as far as beds go in smelly infirmaries, it’s a
nice bed."
"The infirmary does not smell." Cara said.
"Does too. Like alcohol, betadine and who knows what else." Hector said. "Come on, you promised me I could show
you around the infirmary, remember?"
The edges of Andi's lips twitched upward.
"You know, everyone in here wonders how a sweet girl like me ended up with such a bolshy, stroppy boyfriend."
She told him, smile spreading. "And I said, *when* Cara declared it proper we could go for a short shuffle if you
wanted to without me fleeing the area." She glanced at the breakfast neither of them was eating. Corrected herself.
"Fleeing, screaming from the area." Looked back up at him. "But I think you should be sweet talking Cara over that
instead of insulting her clinic."
Cara raised an eyebrow. "There's nothing wrong with your legs. As long as you don't leave the infirmary." She
said. "Should you leave the infirmary, I'm sure I could arrange for your legs to not work as well for a short time. The
short time being measured how I see fit of course." She smiled and chuckled. "Finish your breakfast and if you're
up to it and she feels motivated, you can walk around a bit."
She was quite encouraging. Because she knew after a short walk he'd be reminded of just how grievious his injury
was. Seemed fine when one didn't move much.
"That's the spirit." Hector said and finished his toast and drank his milk. He wasn't sure on the eggs...after all, they
weren't supposed to have eggs according to the kitchen staff, which meant these were probably the fake
rehydrated kind. He looked at Andi. "Do I even want to know what bolshy means?"
"Petulant." She kissed the tip of his nose and finished her juice. "So probably not." She waited until he was done
and then slipped off the bed and back into her shoes. Thinking she probably looked a bit rumpled but really didn't
mind. She cleared away the tray.
"I'll take it when I go." She told Cara. She had several things she intended to do today and Hector was going to have
to fend for himself for a while as she ran the errands. But she figured he was more than eager to get out of bed
though and everything else could wait. Absent she wound her hair back up into a pony tail.
And then looked back at Hector.
"I suppose I'm ready when you are then." She told him with a grin.
Cara came over and unhooked all the IVs, less excuses for him. Maybe he'd admit his body was as infallible as his
spirit, she mused as she went to her desk to watch this spectacle.
"Okay." He said and swung his legs off the side of the bed and went to stand up.
"Slowly!" Cara said, too late as Hector stood up and sat back down, feeling immediately light headed, as was
common when being flat on your back in his condition for a time. He blinked a couple of times.
"Okay, let's try this again." He said.