Chapter 14
The first thing Aaron noticed was the smell. Hard, biting, antiseptic.
Crisp sheets.
A feeling he was undressed…except for the small pressure of an all-too-familiar knot at the nape of his neck. Hospital gown. He was in a goddamn hospital. Again!
That’s when it registered that everything hurt. His chest, his hip, his—
Falling stone!
Aaron jolted up. “My leg! Do I still have my leg?” Two lumps under the sheet, thank god, not one. One was fatter than the other but at least there were two of them. He tried flexing his feet. One moved the sheet, the other met resistance and he could barely wiggle his toes. The familiar, choking embrace of a leg cast. Everything from his knee down began to itch all at once but that feeling too was an old acquaintance, perhaps even a friend. At
