Free The Thought Pushers (Mind Dimensions Book 2) by Anna Zaires, Dima Zales Page B

conversation. But one thing I do get from it: Mira seems to care about me. At least she’s upset that Eugene’s lack of regard for her earlier concerns resulted in my injury. As I think this, the feelings of warmth in my body intensify. What drug did they give me? Maybe I should get a prescription.
    “I really am sorry, Mirochka.” Eugene sounds genuinely remorseful. “In the future, I will do what you say when it comes to paranoia.”
    She gets pissy about the word paranoia , and they argue some more, with occasional lapses into Russian. I feel myself slowly floating down from whatever cloud the pain medication had taken me to. Their sibling squabble is totally ruining my buzz.
    “I can’t believe Darren took the bullet for me,” Eugene says at some point, and the comment catches my attention.
    Truthfully, I can’t believe it either. Well, strictly speaking, that was not my intent. I’d hoped to save everyone. But still. His remark makes me feel good, though some of that might still be the drug.
    “He did,” Mira responds thoughtfully.
    They sit in silence for a bit, and I feel the buzz coming back, intensified. As it gets a hold on my body again, I feel decidedly drowsy and don’t fight it. My consciousness flees, and I find myself going for a nice nap.

Chapter 10
     
    “Are you Bert?” I hear Mira’s voice again as I wake up.
    “Yes,” Bert responds. “Thank you for calling me, Mira. Nice to meet you. How did Darren get hurt?”
    I open my eyes.
    “He—”
    “Wait, I think he just opened his eyes,” Bert cuts off Mira’s explanation.
    “Darren,” she says, looking at me worriedly. “How are you feeling?”
    I examine myself.
    I’m hooked up to a monitor and have an IV in my arm, but the effects of the drug they gave me must’ve worn off. My head is throbbing again. But it doesn’t seem to be as bad as before, which could be remnants of the medication, or a result of healing. I’m not sure which it is. The whole thing still feels a lot like a hangover, but at least the nausea has lessened, and having my eyes open doesn’t make me feel like I have icepicks piercing my temples.
    “Okay.” I try to sound brave, but my voice comes out hoarse and pathetic-sounding. “Better.”
    “Here.” Mira hands me a cup of water from the little table near my bed, and I drink it carefully.
    “Where is Eugene?” I ask, looking around in confusion.
    “He went to visit Julia,” Mira says, and I detect a note of disapproval in her voice. Is she mad he left before seeing me recover, or does she just disapprove of him visiting Julia?
    “How is she?” I ask.
    “You’re worried about Julia, now? She’s doing better than you , I can assure you.”Mira smiles. “She didn’t get shot in the head.”
    “Oh, right,” I say. “How am I doing?”
    “I don’t know,” she says in frustration. “They took you to get X-rays of your head. Don’t you remember?”
    “No, I was kind of out of it,” I say.
    “Yeah, it must be the stuff they gave you for the pain. You looked quite loopy, drooling and mumbling something. In any case, that was a long time ago, and I haven’t seen a doctor with the X-ray results, or even a nurse.”
    “Hmm,” I say worriedly. “That sucks.”
    “Tell me about it.” Mira frowns. “I’m thinking of getting you some food, and if they don’t give you some attention by the time I’m done, I’m going to go around and try to talk some sense into these people.”
    The way she mentions talking to them sounds rather sinister. I wouldn’t want her to piss off my doctor at this stage. But I really wish the X-ray results would arrive, so I could find out what’s going on with me. Head trauma is nothing to sneeze at, especially for people who like to use their heads as much as I do. Also, I realize that Mira is planning to give this hospital’s staff a hard time on my behalf, which is a strange idea.
    “Bert, will you keep him company while I grab him something to eat?” Mira