“It’s going to be over soon; I know it.”
“Mr. Hendrix?”
I turned toward the sound of my name to find a doctor in clean blue scrubs. “Yes.”
“I’m told you’re Pennsylvania Garrand’s partner?”
“I am.” I wasn’t going to say it felt like so much more—this wasn’t the time.
“I’m Dr. Chen, one of the doctors caring for Mr. Garrand.”
“How is he?” Why was she talking so slowly? Why wasn’t she telling me his prognosis?
“There were a few concerns upon his arrival. The knife in his abdomen was one of them. We had to perform a laparotomy to repair a tear in his liver and see if there were other organ issues. Fortunately, he was lucky. But there is still a chance even after the surgery that bleeding, bile leaks, or infection can occur, so he has to be closely monitored.”
I swallowed and nodded. “So he’s okay?”
She carried on as if I hadn’t asked anything. “There was some intercranial pressure that concerns us. We need that pressure to go down, and so we’ve put him in a medically induced coma. He’s suffering from fractures to his cheekbone, nose, and ribs, and a broken leg. He’s a mess, and no question, will be in a lot of pain.”
“Actually, he won’t,” I interrupted. “He has a gene mutation, FAAH-OUT. It’s extremely rare, but he feels no pain and no fear.”
Her eyes went round. “That’s very important to know. Many times we assess progress by asking their level of pain. He will be unable to tell us. I’ll have to inform the other doctors.”
“Will he be okay?”
“Mr. Hendrix, we are doing everything we can. Right now it’s up to Mr. Garrand. We’re watching him closely.”
“Can I see him?”
“He’ll be going up to ICU shortly. One person at a time. I’ll have a nurse come and get you when he’s settled.”
“Thank you, Doctor.”
Her chin dipped, and she walked out through the double doors. A hand on my shoulder pulled my focus to my brother.
“A fighter, like I said.” With a light squeeze, he let go. “I’m going to call Rita.”
I moved back to the seat I’d vacated and breathed a sigh of relief. He wasn’t out of the woods but he was still here, still fighting, and Dean was right—Penn was strong.
“Boss.” Danny sat beside me. “We got a lead on Lorcan.”
It was as if someone had hit a switch. Anger flooded my veins, and I focused all my attention on Danny. “Where is he?”
“Airport…only has two guys with him.” He grinned.
“Airport? Fucking hell, Danny. We don’t have time.”
“Wait.” He stopped me as I made to leave. “He’s going to be held up with the TSA for a while…trust me, all it took was an anonymous call. Toni has a connection to the Federal Security Director there, and he will make sure Lorcan Anders is held until we arrive.”
Fucking finally.“Get him.”
“Already on it. We’ll get him all ready for you and as a bonus, the other two fuckholes he’s with.”
I needed this to be fucking done, and as much as I wanted to end this and put it to bed, Lorcan was going to feel all the anguish Penn couldn’t.
“Let me know once he’s ready for me. I want to see Penn first.”
“You got it, Boss.”
