Guardian Angels – An Interesting Life (5)

Evan spent most of the day, while Vic slept, on the computer and the phone, staying in touch with the people who worked for him. At this point he was glad he could run his business from the house when necessary. He also checked on Vic at regular intervals. So far, the man had done nothing but sleep, it seemed, although at one point Evan noticed the bottle of pills had been moved.

It was late afternoon when Evan heard movement in the living room. Shutting down the computer, he went in and found Vic was sitting up.

"Bathroom?" Vic said succinctly.

"Upstairs."

"Of course it is." Grimacing in pain, Vic made it to his feet. He staggered, his injured knee obviously protesting.

Evan moved in, putting one arm around Vic's waist. "Lean on me and we'll get you up there." They made it to the top of the stairs and to the bathroom. "Need help?" Evan asked when Vic was inside.

Vic chuckled low. "I think I can deal with the basics on my own."

With a nod, Evan closed the door but waited a few feet away, just in case. He heard Vic flush, then the sound of water running. "Feel free to use the towel and washcloth," he called out.

"Am," Vic replied shortly. "I'd give my right arm for a toothbrush," he added.

"There should be a couple of spares in the medicine cabinet."

There was a brief pause before Vic asked, "Do you have overnight guests a lot?"

Evan laughed. "Nope, I just like to be prepared."

A few moments later the door opened. "I feel like a new man," Vic said. "Or at least a cleaner one."

"Cleaner is good. Are you hungry?"

Vic nodded. "Very, but you don't have to feed me. I really should get out of here, now that I'm mobile." His words were negated when he grabbed the doorframe to stay erect as he started out of the bathroom. "Okay, maybe no so mobile yet," he said wryly.

With Evan's help, Vic made it back downstairs and into the kitchen. He watched while Evan got out the ingredients for supper. "You don't have to go all fancy."

"Lemon swai and vegetables is hardly fancy," Evan replied, setting a skillet on a burner then putting butter, lemon juice, and lemon pepper in it to heat. He cut up the fish while waiting for the mixture in the pan to simmer then added the fish to it. Next, he made instant rice and microwaved cauliflower. When everything was ready, he dished it out onto two plates, setting one down in front of Vic. Once he'd gotten silverware and drinks for both of them, milk for Vic despite his wrinkling his nose, and coffee for himself, Evan sat down.

Vic ate slowly and carefully, which didn't really surprise Evan. He suspected his jaw hurt from the pounding it had taken. It wasn't until they were finished and Evan was cleaning up that he said, "I think it's time you told me what happened."

"The less you know, the better."

"I can't help you if I don't know."

"Why would you want to? For all you know, it was something illegal and I just got on the wrong side of someone."

"I'd say the wrong side is a given. Still, for whatever reason, I don't think you were doing anything illegal. Call it instinct or whatever, but the way I see it, you wouldn't be sitting here now if you had. You'd have taken off as soon as you woke up the first time to take more pills." He chuckled. "And taken them with you. So the question still stands, what happened and who beat you up?"