Ramirez pushed open the door to the hospital and marched up to the desk.
"Sorry about that Dolores, I have an appointment with this young lady at my clinic, but my assistant made an error in the booking, I'll take it from here. Follow me please Ma'am"
He led the way out of the hospital and onto his waiting car, where he held open the door for Agent. In the privacy of the car he began to speak.
"I know he was supposed to be here by now, but with all the publicity his face has gotten, figured it was best to keep him at home. Anyway, he's awake like I said, and I remembered you wanted to speak with him as soon as he was able to, so once we get over there, I'll leave you be for a bit, let you talk, and then maybe we'll see about moving him back to his own place. My wife wants him out of the house as soon as possible, says we're technically harboring a fugitive. She doesn't understand who he is, just what's been on the news, anyway we'll be there in a minute or two"
---
Reaper forced himself upright, his chest burning with the stings as his ribs nagged him to lie back down. He exhaled slowly as he made the final push to a sitting position. Across the bedroom, he caught sight of himself for the first time since he'd woken up. His left eye was a swollen mass of blue and purple, a lot worse-looking than expected, no wonder he couldn't even try to open it. His nose seemed a little more crooked than he remembered, and made a mental note to ask Leo about it. Apart from that a few cuts and bruises lingered from his getting tossed around like a ragdoll, but for the most part, they'd been cleaned up excellently. Putting that aside, he got back to the task at hand. Next, he'd try and swing his legs off the bed and stand up. He could grit through it long enough to convince Ramirez to let him go, then he could head back out and get on the hunt for Vigilance and their giant. As he began to rotate in place, a knock sounded on the door.
"It's open" he grimaced.
Leo walked in, leading the way for Agent, dressed in civilian clothes.
"I told you to rest Captain, c'mon, at least sit back and lean against the pillows, I'll shove them up a bit for you. Oh yeah, and she wanted to speak with you as soon as you could, so, here she is. I'll leave you to it" He adjusted the pillows, forced Reaper to lean back, and then slipped out of the room.
"Hey kid" he said "Pull up the chair, have a seat. I guess I owe ya some thanks for the other night huh Agent?"
He pondered for a moment then thought 'fuck it'
"If we're gonna be havin a heart-to-heart here, I'm not callin' you Agent all day. It's probably been all over the news now, but if not... Logan Castle"
FourtyTwo