"Bruno?"
"Boots!" Bruno was out of bed in an instant and by his friend's side the next. "Are you okay? Does anything hurt? Are you all right?"
"Yeh," Boots mumbled, struggling to sit up. "M'fine. Where are we?"
"Hospital," Bruno said quickly. "Don't hurt yourself. Lie down. How'd you know it was me? It's dark in here!"
"You were snoring." Boots gave a weak smile. "I know your snores."
"I don't snore," Bruno said self-righteously. He grinned. "I'm glad you're okay enough to think you heard me snoring. I'm really glad."
Boots rolled his eyes. "Bruno, you were snoring."
"Must've been the guy from the next room," Bruno insisted. His grin widened. "I am so happy you're okay!"
"I gathered that." Boots touched his side, flinching. "What happened?"
"A lot," Bruno related, scooting back onto his own bed. "Scrimmage is under investigation. The robber is in jail. Our riot is over. Both schools are safe. You're a hero, Boots."
"That's good," Boots murmured. "That's good. What happened to me?"
"Scrimmage was aiming at the robber, but I was in front of him and you shoved me away and the bullet nailed you in the side." Bruno shuddered. "It went right through. You sort of gasped, and then you fell over and kind of stopped breathing."
Boots sucked in a breath. Bruno shivered again, and he wrapped the thin blanket around himself. "I was really scared. The lights were all flashing on and people were running everywhere and I was afraid you'd get trampled, so I tried to get you out of the way, and I was screaming, but nobody was listening, they were just running everywhere, I even got my fingers stepped on, and you were just lying there and bleeding-"
He broke off. Boots shifted uncomfortably in bed, wincing at the slight movement. "Look, Bruno, I'm sorry-"
"About me getting my fingers stepped on?" Bruno demanded. "I would've been shot!"
"Yeah," Boots admitted, grinning a little. "Kind of a stupid apology. Everyone else is okay?"
"Yeah," Bruno replied. "Everyone's fine. The Fish might have burst a couple of blood vessels, though."
Boots grinned again. "When Miss Scrimmage shot me, or when you insisted on staying here at the hospital with me overnight?"
"You were awake then?" Bruno asked in surprise. Boots shrugged.
"Sort of. Everything was hazy from the stuff they did to knock me out. But I could hear you yelling, and the Fish telling you to be reasonable."
"Not happening," Bruno said with great dignity. Boots laughed weakly.
"Bruno, can we talk again in the morning? I'm really kind of-"
"Tired," Bruno interrupted quickly. "Yeah, you should probably go to sleep now. I'll stop talking. You should go to sleep."
"So should broken finger victims," Boots yawned. He pulled his blanket up to his chin. "Hey, you think the Fish'll be here tomorrow?"
But Bruno was already snoring.