“I can’t do that, honey,” I admitted. “It’s up to him. You know that.”
“Liv,” Rabbit called. “Doc needs you.”
“Come with me,” I said to Linda. “But stay in the hall, okay?”
She nodded and I led her down to the clinic, stepping inside to find Milky groaning.
“The local’s wearin’ off,” Doc explained, shooting something into Milky’s IV. “Givin’ him morphine now.”
“He was passed out a long time,” I observed.
“Yeah, I was lucky. If he’d come awake fighting, it would have been bad.” Doc made his way to the sink, and after removing his gloves, he washed his hands, pulling his bloody T-shirt off and chucking it in the trash with the gloves.
“Linda’s outside...in the hallway,” I said.
He raised an eyebrow but didn’t comment.
“She loves him, honey. Let’s find out if Milky feels the same way about her, then go from there.”
He sighed but gave me a slight nod. “She’s on a short leash, Liv.”
“Okay,” I said.
I mean, what else could I say? Linda had fucked up, and we’d gotten hurt because of it. But I was pretty sure she’d never do it again, and I hated to think that true love couldn’t prevail in this situation.
“Goddammit!” Milky bellowed as he tried to sit up.
Doc pushed on his shoulders and held him down. “Brother, you were shot. You need to stay still, or you’ll pull your stitches.”
“What the fuck happened?”
“Sugar Bear. Sucker shot. He’s been dealt with.”
“Eliminated?” Milky asked.
“Close enough,” Doc said, evasively.
“Jesus, this hurts like a mother fucker.”
“I know. You want more morphine?”
Milky glanced at me. “Nah, I’ll live.”
Doc nodded.
“Don’t be a hero,” I ordered. “If you’re in pain, take something.”
“I’m good, babe,” Milky said.
“Um, so, Linda’s outside. She’d like to see you,” I said.
He glanced at Doc, then back at me. “Five minutes.”
“Okay.” I pulled open the door and Linda flew inside and over to Milky.
“What the hell happened?” she demanded, and Doc guided me out of the room, closing the door behind us.
“You need to get off your feet,” he said.
