The beep. Beep. Beep filled the room and made Ian's stomach twirl in his stomach. He looked down at the agent in an over-sized hospitable gown amidst the fluffy white sheets that Ian knew from experience has a plasticy feel to them.
"Enjoying the sight?", the man in the bed asked, peering at Ian through tiny slits in his eyes. He half-grumbled and half-moaned, when he lifted himself up in bed. The pain was clear on his face.
Ian wanted to help the guy out but didn't know whether it'd be welcome. Instead he turned he turned to his secret weapon; being the jokester. "Hey, Granger. Taking a day off?"
"Thought I could need it".
"Looks like you need it".
"Yeah", Granger looked around the room. "Vacation days gonna come in handy", the ex-soldier said with half a smile.
Ian was silent for a while. "I'm sorry. I never meant for this to happen".
"Not your shot".
"I put you in line of sight, though".
"Hey", the ex-soldier shrugged his shoulders, which made him wince from the pain. "Comes with the job."
Ian grimaced. "I played it a bit off the book with this one".
"Since when have you ever played it by the book?", Granger asked with a half-smile and Ian couldn't help but smile himself. Touché.
"Look, Don came by and explained it to me. Your reasoningfor doing what you did. I still think you could've gotten around it in a different way, but we caught the bad guy, right? That's what matters. You and me – we're good".
Ian nodded, feeling that Granger was letting him off the hook a little easily but he was not about to fight him on it.
Granger stretched out his hand and Ian grasped it. The other man's handshake was firm, a witness to the fact that he was going to be just fine.
"But just to be clear", Granger said in a grave tone but with a glint in his eyes. "Once I'm out of here, I'm going to beat you up for putting me in a hospital bed".
Ian laughed, happy to feel the tension evaporate between them. "I'd like to see you try".