"Hey, great! You'r awake!"
"Where are the others? Are they alright?"
"Everybody's fine. They all been in here to see you, don't ya remember? They got us camped out over in officer's country… Not as fancy as we're used to but pretty nice digs." Casino surveyed their leader from the doorway, bandages padded his shoulder and his left arm rested in a sling, he was propped up in bed with a plate in his lap and he was pushing some unidentifiable Army food around with a fork. "What ya got there?" He wandered across the room and settled into the chair sitting next to the bed.
"Eggs." There was very little enthusiasm in the answer.
The safe cracker's eyebrows rose when he heard an audible 'clunk' as the fork finally pierced the resistant food. He watched as the Warden carefully placed the morsel in his mouth and bit down on it. The bruise on the side of his face made him look like someone had gone after him with a two by four or a baseball bat. "Can you chew that?" Casino asked.
Garrison shook his head, bit down once more and then gave up and swallowed the mouthful down. He didn't object when the safe cracker lifted the plate off his lap.
Casino stared at the plate in his hand. Jeeze! If food could be ruined the Army would find a way to ruin it. Pushing up out of his chair he hauled the offending mess over to the door. Looking up and down the hall and not finding anyone he gave a whistle and waited, as soon as an orderly appeared he stuck the plate in his face. "He's s'posed to have soft food ya know?!"
"Eggs is soft, Mack!"
Casino took up the fork and cut through the mess with a snap. "Not after you guys get through with them!" He held the plate out until the man finally took it and turned away. Making his way back to the bed he sat down again, shaking his head. "You got a learn when it's time to complain, Warden."
Garrison gave a quick laugh. "I'll bet you could teach me."
"Sure!" Casino settled more comfortably into the chair. "Be happy to give you some pointers."
The orderly stalked through the door and dropped a new plate on the table that sat beside the bed, turning he made his way straight back to the door and disappeared down the hall without a word. Casino lifted an eyebrow as he considered the offering. It didn't look like much of an improvement. He picked it up and handed it over anyway.
Garrison fished a lump off the plate, waited for it to stop dripping and forked it into his mouth. Well, it was soft… After a moment he swallowed. "I think I liked the other stuff a little better… at least the charring gave it some flavor."
Casino snorted a laugh and the Warden swung his head towards him, his eyes caught up a split second later. "That must be some pretty good stuff they give you." The safe cracker said with a grin.
"I don't like it."
"Why not?"
"Don't know what's going on. I ask the same questions all the time, like where we are. None of the answers stick…." Garrison fixed a frown on his explosives expert. "Where are we?"
"Take a look around. See if you can get it for yourself first."
The doctor explained that some of the confusion was probably caused by the drugs the Warden was getting for pain. An effective dose carried a bit of amnesia along with it. But there was also the head injury and they just weren't sure if that was messing things up so each time he wanted an answer he had to work for it first. The first day he'd been awake was a total loss, all they had to do was turn their backs and he'd forgotten what they told him. The next day was a little better, at least he kept what they told him in his head until they changed shift. A different guy in the room just seemed to make the whole world new for the Warden. Today, at least he knew he wasn't remembering stuff. That had to be an improvement.
Garrison frowned and looked around him. "Hospital," he said, but that was easy. Anyone lying in bed wrapped in bandages would probably be in a hospital. "Army hospital." That was apparent too, by the quality of the food. He closed his eyes a moment and laid his head back against the pillows that had been stuffed behind him so he could eat. "Military base in North Africa somewhere."
"Great! How'd ya figure?"
"Light's different. There's hardly any green in it." And somewhere in the back of his mind he remember lying flat on his back and seeing that same light pour in another set of windows.
Casino gazed at the gauze covered window. He hadn't noticed until now but the Warden was right, the light streaming in didn't have the soft green overtones that he'd grown used to back in England, it had a white hot golden tone.
"And back there, there'd be extra blankets not fans."
"Well you figured it out for yourself so maybe it'll stick this time," Casino assured him, but he could have saved his breath. Courtesy of those drugs the Warden had wandered off into dreamland again.