Taking the opportunity to examine the rest of him and make sure the bullet wound was the only thing I needed to worry about, my heart stuttered when I found another wound directly over his heart.
This was not a bullet wound.
It was a fucking burn and a really bad one. I looked closer, confused at how a burn could make a shape like that. It was purulent, red, and angry. It might even be infected.
I gently touched the outer edge of it with my gloved finger, and Cal hissed in pain beneath my touch.
“Ginger… snap. That…hurts,” he whined, and I glanced at him, but his eyes were crushed closed. He was sweating now and so pale he was nearly green.
I wanted to ask him how he got the burn, but I didn’t think he would be able to answer right now. He was in too much pain.
It almost looked like it formed the shape of deformed letters.
DB? OP…?
I shook my head. It was the lesser of his two injuries. I would ask him about the burn later; right now, I needed to make sure the bullet wasn’t still in his body.
I glanced up at Vox, who was staring at the angry mark on Cal’s chest with a murderous look on his face.
“Hey, snap out of it,” I barked, getting his attention. His eyes darted to meet mine, and the rage I saw burning in there was so intense I almost took a step back.
Shaking off the moment of discomfort, I did my best to focus on the task at hand.
“I’m going to check and see if the bullet passed through his body. If it has, we’ll have to do our best to keep him from bleeding out while we wait for help.”
Vox gave me a curt nod, and I walked to his side of the table.
“I’m going to try to roll him a bit. I need to check and see if there’s an exit wound. Try to keep pressure where I showed you, and keep him steady. We need to move him as little as possible.”
Vox nodded and immediately moved to follow my orders.
Together, we were able to lift Cal enough for me to check his back. I let out a sigh of relief when I saw there was an exit wound, which meant the bullet wasn’t still inside of him.
Thank god.
I brushed my gloved fingers over his uninjured flesh. Though I couldn’t see much, I wasn’t surprised to find that Cal’s back seemed to be just as heavily tattooed as the rest of him. It looked like a large piece made up of black feathers, but it was hard to tell, considering how much blood he was covered in.
Gently laying him back down, I turned to Vox.
“Stay here; keep pressure on his wound exactly like that. I’m going to get some pillows so we can elevate his legs.”
Vox, silent as ever, just gave me a determined nod, and I rushed from the room.
I was gatheringup all the throw pillows from the couch in the living room when Cass appeared.
“I found someone willing to help. He’ll be here in ten minutes.”
“Good,” I grunted, rushing past her to get back downstairs.
“Hey.”
“What?” I snapped, agitated with the interruption. Though, when I glanced up and took a moment to take in her expression, I softened.
She looked just as scared and worried as I was. Her face was nearly white and there was a fine tremor in her hands. I had never seen her look so vulnerable.
“Can you tell me, uhm… is he…?”
“He’s stable for now,” I reassured her. “Get the doctor downstairs as soon as possible. Maybe let him know we might need antibiotics and blood. Do you know his blood type?”
