“Oh, hey, Harry,” the doc greeted.
“Hey, Bill,” Harry replied, then he walked to the side of the bed Mabel wasn’t on.
“How you doin’, Mabel?”he asked her.
“I’m pissed as shit, that’s how I’m doing,” she returned.
Harry looked to Hutch and raised his brows.
Hutch’s body was shaking with laughter, so he didn’t trust himself to speak.
“Hold still,” the doc ordered.
Hutch got a lock on it.
“So, I think I don’t have to tell you, they’re all fine.Bullets dug out.Stitched up.In recovery,” Harry reported.
“I will repeat we’ll be discussing this,” Mabel warned.
Hutch turned to her.“Baby, I’m not gonna shoot five men dead in my front yard.”
“Why not?They shot at you…and me,” she pointed out sassily.“They weren’t there to trick-or-treat Hutch.”
They were not.
He looked to Harry.
“Why were they there?”he asked.
“We haven’t been able to talk to them.Worst one is Enstrom.Hannibal chewed right to the bone.He might lose that leg.They got him stabilized, and they’re sorting an escort and prepping him for a trip to Seattle where there’s a specialist who might be able to save it.”
“Good,” Mabel spat.“Though, not the saving it part.”Then she went on like Harry was going to leave and slap the cuffs on their dog.“Hannibal was defending himself.He got shot.If you could gnaw the leg off a man who shot you, wouldn’t you?”
“Maybe she needs some sedatives,” the doc suggested.
“I have a hurt dog and a hurt guy.I’m not taking a sedative,” she retorted hotly.
“May, baby, everyone is okay.It’s all fine.Cool it,” Hutch urged.
She glared at him and repeated her huff.
The curtain moved again, and Doc Riggs was there.
“Hey, Doc,” Harry greeted.
Doc leaned to the side and looked at Hutch’s feet.
He then gave his diagnosis.
“Jesus, brother.”
“He jumped out of the attic window onto the glass of said window that he broke with the butt of his rifle,” Mabel informed him.
Doc grinned at Hutch.“Badass.”
“He nearly gave me a heart attack!”Mabel snapped.
“May, again, I’m fine.Chill,” Hutch ordered.
