Free Love Immortal by Linnea Hall

a mental note to find out about the
young nurse as he wheeled himself back to his room.

Chapter 11
     
    “Well kid, it looks like you got yourself
into a bit of a pickle.” Percy said with a grin, striding into the
room. Percy was Collin’s uncle with whom Collin had lived as long
as he could remember.
    “Hey, Uncle Percy. It’s about time you
bothered to stop by. I hope I didn’t inconvenience you. I’ve been
practically dying for a week and this is the first you’ve bothered
to check on me. You didn’t even answer my calls.” Collin was a
little heated. Uncle Percy was the only family he had and he felt
abandoned when his uncle hadn’t come to visit.
    “You called? I must’ve been busy.” Uncle
Percy pursed his lips as he looked at Collin. Considering his
injuries, Collin looked pretty good. There were still some areas
that had the yellow hint of a healing bruise, and his broken bones
were rebuilding themselves at a remarkable rate but they would need
some more time to heal completely. Of course, Percy wasn’t
surprised; a little distressed, but not surprised.
    Percy knew that he would need to get Collin
out of the hospital soon. He could not only take better care of
Collin than the hospital could, but there were certain things
better kept secret that would become apparent if Collin were to
remain here for much longer. The doctors were already marveling at
Collin’s rapid recovery. Of course, the hospital had no idea what
Collin was, except for Dr. Babineaux, but there was only so much
the doctor could do to defer notice of this unusual person. If
Collin remained too long, the news crews would be back en
masse.
    Collin didn’t even know what he was. It was
bad enough that Collin had had the near death experience; it
wouldn’t help matters if certain people were to find out how fast
he healed. Percy wasn’t really concerned about the media, Dr.
Babineaux and Sheriff Payne had made it seem unremarkable so the
article was buried in the Local section, and quickly forgotten. The
whole article was two short paragraphs describing a car accident.
One driver, his nephew, was in critical condition. The other driver
would be charged with DUI. There was no follow up on the condition
of the driver in ICU. Thanks to the help of some friends, the media
was the least of his problems, though Percy knew that even with the
help he had, that could change quickly.
    “Actually kid, I was in here the day after
you came in. I saw you after they moved you to ICU. When I saw you
were going to be okay and that they were taking good care of you, I
left to take care of some things.” As Percy turned to pour Collin a
glass of water, he muttered under his breath, “Besides, you weren’t
practically dying.”
    Collin wasn’t sure if he was meant to hear
the last part of his uncle’s comment but he responded anyway. “What
do you mean I wasn’t practically dying? I’ve heard the nurses
whispering around here. They seem to think I’m lucky to be
alive.”
    “Let’s just say that my superior medical
knowledge and skill led me to believe that you weren’t in as bad a
shape as they thought you were.” He forced a grin, but his eyes
were hard, staring at Collin as if he knew something about Collin’s
injuries that he didn’t want to share.
    Uncle Percy had gone to medical school before
Collin knew him. Sometimes, when they stayed in one place for a
while, his uncle would find work in a hospital or clinic. Uncle
Percy said it was to earn money to keep them going, but Collin
doubted they needed the money.
    “So how’ve they been treating you in here?”
His uncle said, trying to lighten the mood as he took a drink from
the glass of water he had poured for Collin before placing it on
the tray next to the bed.
    “It’s been Hell,” Collin replied. “It seems
like every fifteen minutes someone comes in to give me a shot, or
check my blood pressure, or change my bed linens. I swear I can’t
get a moments peace. Even though