Dean turned his head just enough to look at him. "That," he said, "is perhaps the least comforting thing anyone has ever said to me in a hospital."
Nero barked a short laugh.
One of the physicians coughed into his hand in a way that was not especially convincing.
Arion did not move from where he stood, but his gaze held Dean's steadily. "If I had been fighting with all my might, the session would not have lasted that long."
Dean absorbed that.
Then he looked at his own bandaged ribs.
Then back at Arion.
"That is grotesque."
"Yes," Arion said.
Dean's mouth twisted. "You say yes to disturbing things much too easily."
"You ask disturbing questions very efficiently."
"That is because I'm intelligent under pressure."
"You are insolent under pressure."
"I can be two things."
