"Nah. Books are nice."

"What kind of books do you like?"

"All of 'em."

"Well, that's convenient."

He grins. "That's me. Convenient as fuck."

Bella chuckles.

"I love you," he says, snuggling his crappy hospital blanket.

"You keep saying that. They may be overdosing you."

"Nah," he says comfortably. "Bet you twenty bucks I'll still love you when I'm off this shit."

"Is twenty dollars enough to motivate you to lie about that?"

He laughs. "No way. I can get twenty bucks anywhere."

"Really, what's your secret?"

"I suck a lot of dick."

"Ah. I guess that could do it."

"Not especially, but I'll survive the experience."

"Okay."

"And I'm sure you're already aware of and do not care about relevant laws regarding prostitution and the age of consent and so on."

"...Are you okay? Apart from the obvious broken bones."

"There's some less obvious broken bones, too," he says brightly. "I'm pretty fucked up."

"Are you okay apart from the physical injuries."

"Should I ask you about that when you aren't high?" Bella asks wryly.

"Better than asking me about it when I am."