“There is a burner in my trunk. There was a click of six brothers I found up there. I took pictures of all six of their IDs to ensure they wouldn’t open their mouths since I can easily find their family.”
I whistled and the scrambling stopped. “Somebody get eyes on Nicki but don’t touch her and locate the burner phone in his trunk!”
With the twirl on my pointer finger they were in motion again. I went into the backroom where I kept a few bottles of liquor. Besides the room full of tarps and a few torture supplies, there wasn’t anything else in here. I carried the bottle of D’Usse outside and drank it straight from the bottle while I called Quori to get an update on Lil Q and Quincy. If I called anybody else, they likely wouldn’t answer. Quori didn’t fuck with me like that, but she always kept the door open.
About thirty minutes later a truck sped down the gravel road that led to the warehouse. One of my men stepped out with Tevin’s burner phone. He passed it to me, and I took another swig from the bottle while I thumbed through the pictures of IDs he was referring to. I locked the phone and placed it in mypocket on my trek back into the warehouse. I pulled my nine from my waist and sent two through the side of his head, sending his body flopping back on the tarp.
“Martin, you will handle Tevin’s duties from now on.”
“Bet!” He smiled, pulling out his phone to call the clean up crew.
I swaggered out of the warehouse, texting Damon to set up my flight back to Tampa. I had a bloodline to wipe out.
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
Marissa Bentley
My hand was locked in Yaseer’s as we barreled through the hospital and into the ICU room that Lil Q was in. An audible gasp escaped me when I saw my baby laid up in that bed with tubes and monitors surrounding him. The rhythmic beeping filled the silence as I approached his bedside. His face was pale, and the oxygen line resting beneath his nose brought another round of tears to my already puffy eyes.
I heard movement behind us and spun around to face the doctor. Yaseer pulled me into his strong embrace as the doctor stepped forward, her apologetic facial expression notifying me that she was about to deliver more devastating news.
“Hello, Mr. and Mrs. Bentley,” she started, and we didn’t bother to correct her because they made it clear that only family was allowed in the ICU room. “I’m Dr. Blake, and I performed surgery on Quinten Jr. when he was brought in. During surgery, we discovered that one of Quinten’s kidneys was already functioning poorly…”
“Really?” I blurted, my face frowned up.
“Yes,” she nodded. “It’s actually not uncommon for reduced kidney functioning to go undiagnosed until something serious happens. Unfortunately, the bullet caused severe damage to his other kidney by tearing through major blood vessels and destroying enough of the kidney tissue that it couldn’t be saved. Removal was the only option to stop bleeding and prevent further complications.”
“What does this mean?” I seethed, just ready for her to spit the shit out.
“Quinten’s remaining kidney cannot support his body’s needs alone. We’re starting dialysis to manage his kidney function, but the reality is that he needs a transplant very soon.”
My heart felt like it stopped, and my knees buckled beneath me. Yaseer held me up, ushering me over to a chair. “Because timing is critical, we’re going to need to test close family members immediately to see if anyone can be a living donor to help bypass the long waiting list and give Quinten the best chance.”
“Lil Q is O negative, so I know that’s going to make the process harder. I’m the only other one in our household that’s O negative! Quincy and Quinten Sr. are not,” I fretted, taking short, labored breaths.
“I’m O negative,” Yaseer gently informed me. “We can both get tested.”
“Really?”
“Yeah,” he nodded.
“That’s great news,” Dr. Blake chirped. “O negative is rare, but having two possible living donors gives us options.”
“Can we get tested today? Right now?” I quizzed.
“Absolutely.” She offered a comforting smile. “We will begin with a blood draw to check your compatibility. Blood type, tissue markers, and a few other things. If everything looks good, we’ll schedule full evaluations.”
“Where do we need to go?” Yaseer inquired.
“You guys don’t have to move a muscle. Relax here, and I’ll have the transplant coordinator send a nurse up to draw your blood right here so you guys can stay with your son.”
“Thank you so much, Dr. Blake,” I offered a tearful smile.
“You are very welcome. Let’s remain optimistic and take everything one step at a time. Quinten is still under sedation and will likely be drowsy or drifting in and out of sleep for the rest of the day. He’s stable, and as long as there are no complications, he’ll remain in the ICU for a couple more days before we move him to a step-down unit. From there, it depends on how quickly his body heals and whether he’ll need dialysis support. Right now, we’re estimating a one to two week hospital stay. Upon discharge, he’ll still need to rest at home, avoid any strenuous activity, and return for follow-ups and lab work.”
I nodded, processing everything she said with Yaseer rubbing my back.
“Understood,” he responded to her.
