She changes direction.
“It means you have to adapt to whatever life throws at you. Adapt or perish, that’s what he said.”
“Clever man,” she sighs with effort as she helps me sit on the edge of the bath.
“In there,” I point to the cabinet. “Red bag.”
My head is aching and still dizzy. My eyes feel heavy. I shrug my jacket off and let it fall into the bathtub behind me. Then I loosen my shirt buttons. Movement hurts. Unclipping my gun from my belt holster, I set it on the basin counter.
She lets out a groan of horror as she kneels in front of me with the med bag next to her.
“There’s so much blood,” she whispers.
“It’s ok. You’re going to take the bullet out and stop the bleeding.”
“I’m going to what?” she blurts out.
“You’ll be fine. It’s easier than it sounds.”
Athena doesn’t look like she believes me. She’s biting down hard on her lower lip as she fumbles with shaking hands through the medical kit to find the items I’m listing.
“Step by step, ok. We’ll go slowly. Just make sure you keep breathing, and it’ll be ok,” I tell her.
“I’m not the one who got shot,” she says, embarrassed.
“I know, I know, but you are in shock after what you saw today. I can see that. I just need you to hang in there a little longer, ok?”
She nods, letting out a slow breath.
Despite her shaking hands, she does an amazing job, following my instructions to the detail. Luckily, the bullet isn’t deep, and it missed anything vital. But it hurts like hell, and the more she twists the long tongs inside me, the more I fight the urge to pass out.
“Talk to me, please,” she begs, clearly struggling too.
“What...do you want me to… tell you,” I murmur through clenched teeth.
She pulls her hand back; the long needle nose tongs pull from my body, and locked in the tip is a bullet head. Distorted and mushed.
As soon as it’s out, the pain halves, and my muscles relax at least partially.
“Fuck, that really hurt,” I groan.
She drops the bullet onto the basin countertop and places the tongs next to it. “What now?” she asks.
“Now you have to disinfect it and bandage it.”
“I will, but only if you tell me what the hell happened,” she says suddenly.
I can see she’s fighting to keep it together. Fighting to stay in the moment and not let the panic take over.
I pull my mouth tight, my jaw clenched, and my stomach knotted. But I owe her the truth. She deserves to know who I really am, or I’ll be just like her father to her. A man hiding his true identity.
“The warehouse is one of the many illegal businesses I run. I have a legitimate cover to hide the illegal activity, but where I really make my money is on the illegal side.”
She picks up the disinfectant and works while I talk.
“My family is one of the most influential and powerful families in the underworld of this city. We are all a part of the mafia. I grew up in the mafia, as did my father and his father.”
I notice her eyes drifting toward the gun. Can I blame her? What I’m telling her must be terrifying. Especially after what she saw today.
