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Ursula frowned and considered. I could see her doing the math in her head, trying to weigh whether going with us would be safe or going back inside would be better.
Finally, she nodded once. “Fine. I go with them. But Robin better call soon.”
“She will. I promise.” I turned and stumbled down the block. I heard the girls talking to each other as they followed Reid and Oleg away toward the vans parked at the other end.
I saw the car up ahead as I grunted in pain. The bullet had gone through and I wasn’t bleeding so badly that I thought it hit anything serious, which was lucky at least. But it hurt like a fucking bitch.
Robin got out as soon as she saw me and came running. Several neighbors stood in their doorways and more peered out from their windows.
“Are you okay?” she asked.
“We have to go.”
“You’re shot.” She stared at my leg. “Oh my god, Leo.”
“I’m fine. Let’s go. You’re driving.”
She nodded and helped me into the car. Then she ran around and got behind the wheel. She started the engine and pulled out, driving fast back toward the city.
I kept pressure on the wound but felt dizzy.
“What do we do?” she asked. “Hospital? You need a hospital.”
“No,” I said, shaking my head. “There’s a doctor we can call. Goes by the name Chen.”
She sucked in a breath. “Are you sure?”
“I’m sure. I have his number back at the hotel. I just… just get me there. We’ll call him.”
“Leo, you look bad. I don’t know if we can get you inside like that.”
“We’ll do it anyway.” I grinned at her. “Oleg found a lot of cash. And we got the girls out.”
She nodded but didn’t smile. She drove faster, and I could see the worry all over her face.
Not that I could blame her. I probably looked like shit with a gunshot wound in the leg and blood splatter from the other fucks I killed.
But the operation went well at least. The girls were safe, and if everything played out right, this was going to be a huge hit to Maksim.
I just had to hope I didn’t lose a leg over this.22RobinDr. Chen was a thin man with angry eyes. His crisp button-down shirt was rolled up at the arms and tucked into dark slacks. He knelt down next to Leo and took a pair of sharp scissors up the length of his pants. Leo grimaced as he held my hand.
“How bad?” he asked.
“Haven’t gotten to see it yet.” Dr. Chen gently moved the pants aside and probed at the wound. He let out a series of hmms and ahhs and grunts while Leo’s face turned progressively whiter.
“Well?” I asked, losing my mind with worry and impatience.
“Bullet went through,” he said, turning Leo’s leg slightly and pointing. “That’s a good thing. Means minimal damage. From what I can tell, based on the bleeding, no main veins or arteries were hit, which is very lucky considering. It missed the knee by a few inches, which is also very lucky. All in all, this is a dream wound.”
Leo let out a breath. “So what’s that mean for me, doc?”
“Means I’m going to stitch you up, give you a prescription for an antibiotic to make sure this doesn’t get infected, and leave.”
“So he’ll be okay?” I asked.
Dr. Chen gave me a level gaze and shook his head. “This man needs a hospital. He needs a qualified surgeon to go in there and make sure there aren’t any bullet fragments left behind. He needs imaging and serious wound care. Unfortunately, I know that’s not going to happen anytime soon, so I’m going to do my best to keep him alive for now. Tomorrow I’ll come back with a portable X-ray machine to see if we can find any fragments, and we’ll go from there.”
“Thank you.” I had the insane urge to hug him, but I got the sense he wasn’t a hugger.
“Of course.” He looked at Leo. “And you’ll be paying in cash.”
“Sure thing, doc.”
Dr. Chen nodded, got out a needle, thread, gauze, and gave Leo several injections around the first bullet hole. He stitched it closed and repeated the process on the other side. All in all, it took about a half hour to get it cleaned, stitched, and bandaged.
“Good as new,” Leo said, grinning. “I feel like I could run a marathon.”
“I don’t recommend it.” Dr. Chen stood up. “Seriously, Leo, you need to stay off your feet for a while. At least a week, if you can.”
Leo shook his head. “Not going to happen.”
“Then I suspect I’m going to make a lot of money off you.”
Leo’s jaw clenched but I put a hand on his arm. “It’ll be okay. We’ll figure something out.”
“Good, see that you do.” Dr. Chen packed his things. “At the very least, stay off that leg for a day. I’ll come back tomorrow with the machine and see if we can’t find some fragments.”
