She looked at Shaylah. “Is there a back room where I can look at Elias’ shoulder?”
“Yes, of course. Come with me.”
Noah helped Elias to his feet. “One of us could have taken care of the problem. Let us help next time.”
“I didn’t want the situation to end in gunfire.”
His teammate frowned. “You didn’t trust us.”
“Noah,” he began.
“That will be a problem on this assignment, Elias. If you don’t trust us, the other MC will know and wonder why. We’re a team, buddy. Start acting like it.”
“Yes, sir.” Great. Not only had he ticked off their second in command, Elias might have damaged his shoulder in the process of acting like a lone wolf.
Shaylah hurried down a dimly lit hall and opened a door near the exit sign. “Here. Will this work?”
Violet glanced inside. “This is perfect. Thanks. We won’t be here long, Shaylah. I just need to check Elias’ shoulder. He had surgery on it yesterday.” She motioned with her hand. “I don’t want to keep you from your duties. I can handle this.”
“If you’re sure. Let me know if you need anything.” She left the room, closing the door behind her.
“Iona, keep watch in case those bikers circle around and come back.” Noah glanced at Violet. “Do you need his shirt off?”
“It would be best. You okay with that, Elias?”
“Sure.” To be honest, he didn’t care about anything but making the pain stop. He was close to barfing.
With Violet and Noah’s help, Elias shed his shirt and sat in a chair near a small table. For the next few minutes, Violet examined his shoulder, poking and prodding much as the doctor had done the day before. She finally sat back. “I don’t think you popped the stitches, but you’ll need to ice the shoulder frequently today and take your pain medication. This isn’t the time to be macho and suffer in silence.”
“I hear you.”
“What time did you take your last pain pill?”
He thought a minute, blinked, and shook his head. “I don’t remember.”
Violet scowled at him. “Then it’s been too long. Stay ahead of the pain, Elias. If you don’t, the pain will be hard to kill. Look, we need you to have a clear head, and you can’t do that if you’re in excruciating pain.”
“I won’t be clearheaded if I take what the doctor prescribed for pain, either.”
“Fair enough.” She turned to Noah. “Get my mike bag, love.”
He nodded and turned an intense stare on Elias.
His lips curved as he nodded. Yeah, he’d monitor Noah’s wife. Like he would ever let anything happen to her. However, he understood how the operative felt. When you found the woman who made you complete and made the darkness bearable, you did anything necessary to keep her.
Noah returned in less than a minute with Violet’s mike bag over his shoulder. When he set the bag on the table, Violet unzipped it, searched for a beat, then pulled out a small bag of capsules. “Try these. Sorenson gave me a supply to try onoperatives with more serious injuries. Do yourself a favor, Elias. Sleep on the way to our destination. Rest will help you heal. I realize we’ll be short on sleep when we’re amid the MC, so help yourself before getting into the thick of it.”
“Yes, ma’am. Thanks for checking my shoulder, Violet.”
“I’ll check it again tonight when I change your bandage.” She glanced at Noah. “Let’s take care of the bill.”
Elias popped two of the capsules and swallowed them dry before he turned to Iona. “Are you okay?”
She nodded. “I’m glad you didn’t injure your shoulder again.”
“So am I. To be honest, I didn’t consider the shoulder. I just reacted to prevent bloodshed.” Elias eyed her, unease growing inside him by the second. “Something is wrong. Talk to me.”
“Not wrong. Just an observation.”
