Page 17 of One for the Money

Erik swore under his breath and stormed over to one of the cabinets. He rolled up the sleeve of the arm I shot and doused it in something that made him hiss. As the blood washed away, I recognized the symbol tattooed on his arm. The damn veterinarian had been in the Nepreeian military, and if I wasn’t mistaken, the addition of the angel wings meant he was a medic.

Once he bandaged his wound, Erik slipped on some gloves and approached Von. I studied every move, gun still at the ready and pointed at him. If he dared to do anything that would endanger Von, I didn’t care, I’d shoot his ass.

As though Erik knew what I was thinking, his gaze met mine. “You still think shooting me is the best plan?”

“It is if you try to kill her instead of save her, then I have no use for you,” I pointed out.

Erik shook his head. “I’m not a monster like you. This woman has done nothing to me. Why would I want to kill her?”

“Because that’s the way the world works,” I answered. “Stop talking and focus on her.”

Shaking his head, Erik began his examination, pulling a pair of scissors out of a locked drawer to cut off her clothes. Von was going to be pissed about the jacket, but at least she’d be alive to buy a new one. Cuts of various sizes covered her body, but the worst of it was her side and the head wound.

“Do you know how much blood she’s lost?” Erik asked, flushing out the head wound, but I only shrugged, having no idea. “I want to close this up so she doesn’t lose any more before messing with the glass. What the hell happened to her? She looks like some of the guys I saw who got hit by an IED.”

Realizing what he’d just said, he paused for a moment then continued on, not looking at me. Smart man, if he doesn’t look at me, I can’t throw it in his face that he lied to me. The stitches he put in were far better than anything I could have managed, and since it was just under her hairline, I was grateful. Not that Von would have given a fuck about the scar, but to me, seeing it would have been a reminder of how I fucked up. My entire purpose for living was to protect the goddess who’d saved my life. Von never should have been on her own. I was her human shield, and it was my body that should be covered in metal and glass.

“Look, I want to move her into the surgical room. It has everything we need should shit hit the fan,” Erik said once he’d finished stitching. “In order to do that, I’m going to need your help, and you’re gonna have to trust me enough to put the gun away.”

Growling, I shoved the muzzle of the gun under his chin so if I pulled the trigger, he’d be dead in a second. Erik didn’t back down but simply held my gaze and waited for me to decide. While I didn’t trust this man not to turn on me, I believed he wouldn’t use Von’s life to do it. No, he’d make his move once he did what he could. So, for now, I could trust his sense of duty to his patient.

Stepping back, I shoved the gun into the holster. “What do you need me to do?”

“I’m going to get the board we use to move oversized dogs. She needs to be as flat as possible to keep the glass from doing more damage, but it’s going to take both of us to carry her,” Erik explained.

Nodding my agreement, I helped to shift her so the board could slide under. Easy-to-grip handles were cut into the board, making the whole process as simple as it could get. The surgery room was much like what I’ve seen in normal hospitals but not quite as high-tech. A wall of locked cabinets with labels on the outside told me this was where everything I’d been looking for was kept.

Erik moved around the room, placing items on a rolling tray like it was his kitchen at home. Pulling on a gown, he handed me one, along with gloves and a mask. “I have no idea what I’m getting into and would rather have you ready to help than scramble. See the machine over there… roll it over so I can get an X-ray and see how bad the damage is.”

For as bulky as the machine looked, it rolled with ease. Erik adjusted the setting and motioned for me to join him in a small alcove. There was a computer connected to the X-ray machine, and once he hit the button, there was a low humming noise. Then a picture of a human torso appeared on the screen.

“Okay, this is looking good, really good, in fact. From what I can tell, the glass didn’t go deep enough to hit anything important. Your friend might be one lucky sonofabitch and dodge any serious damage. The only thing I can’t tell from this is how bad she’s going to bleed.” His gaze flicked up to mine. “I don’t think I need to point out we don’t have any blood on hand.”

“You just did,” I said, then left the alcove to return to Von’s side.

Her face was lined with pain, and her breathing was more shallow than it had been. Erik had done everything so far without giving her anything but a shot of antibiotics and local numbing for the stitches. Erik squirted some sort of brownish liquid over the wound and picked up a scalpel. My hand shot out, grabbing his wrist mere inches away from cutting into her skin.

“What the hell? I need to widen the wound just enough to get the glass out easily. Do you really think I’m going to kill her now?” Erik snapped.

Yanking him away from her, I slammed his body against the wall of cabinets. “She is a goddamn human, asshole. The reason she’s unconscious is because of a head injury. You start cutting into her without something for the pain or to keep her under, she’ll kill you before you know what’s happened.”

A shadow of guilt flickered across his expression. I wasn’t sure if it was because he actually forgot or was choosing to do it this way as a form of punishment. It was clear he believed us to be scum, and he might not be willing to kill her, but he didn’t need to make her comfortable.

“You’re right. We need to keep her still and calm. A faster beating heart means more blood loss,” Erik determined, opening a cabinet full of small vials of medication. “This one will make sure she’s out and help manage the pain. It will only last for two hours, but I think I can get this done in that time.”

The medical name on the glass bottle was Greek to me, but the guilt I saw in him told me I didn’t need to worry. He wouldn’t fuck up again. Back at the table, he injected the medications, and Von took a deep breath, relaxing as the pain diminished. Erik picked up a new scalpel and got to work. My attention shifted to watching Von’s face, knowing she’d tell me if there was something to worry about.

I couldn’t tell you how long Erik worked on her, but the dull ache in my thigh where I’d gotten hit told me it had been quite a while. He’d only needed my help once to hold a clamp so he could get to some bleeding at an awkward angle. Now that he was finishing the last stitch, he looked rather exhausted. I glanced at my watch, discovering it was now one in the morning. Once he was done bandaging her up, I’d need to find a way to get us the hell out of here and back to headquarters. That was the only place I trusted where Von could rest and recover. Not that she’d tolerate more than a day or two of sitting on her ass once she woke up.

“Well, it looks like I haven’t lost my touch,” Erik mumbled, stripping off his gloves, mask, and gown. “I’m giving her another shot of something for pain management since I’d really like for her to wake up. The head wound didn’t look too serious, but I should do a quick cognitive test to be sure.”

I watched as Erik pulled out a paper drape and laid it over her mostly naked body. The only things to survive were her bra and underwear. “Do you have an extra pair of scrubs to put her in?”

“Normally, I wouldn’t, but I knew I was staying over at the clinic to monitor one of my patients. Give me a minute to actually do that, and then I’ll grab them out of my duffle,” Erik said, then yawned into his arm. “Oh fuck, I’m beat.”

He left the clinic room and probably headed for the kennel area. Now that I knew he had personal items here, I went in search of them. I spotted a door that had ‘employees only’ written on it and led to a lunch room. A cot was set up along the far wall with a duffle underneath it. Snatching it up, I hurried back to Von and, being as careful as I could, got pants on her.

Thankfully, Erik was two sizes bigger than what Von wore, so getting the top on wasn’t as hard as I thought it’d be. Turning back to the duffle, I dumped it all out on the floor, and the sound of keys hitting the concrete floor had me grinning. Tossing things aside, I uncovered the keys and recognized the brand symbols of the car. It was an SUV, but I hadn’t seen one in the parking lot.