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The flashing lights broke my concentration momentarily but I knew Hakim and Maasai had everything under control.
“We got it,” Maasai said, his voice coming through my watch. “Keep doing what you’re doing.”
“Bet,” I responded, refocusing on Takia bleeding beautifully on my table. I’d made a midline incision but not deep enough to enter her abdominal cavity. Her blood loss was minimal compared to what it could have been. If I’d planned on letting her live, she would have had a serious scar but she wouldn’t have to worry about that shit.
Something in my bones told me she was the one who pulled the trigger that killed Rob. She never said she was the one but I knew. I couldn’t let her continue living after that. Not after the way she mocked his death in my face.
That shit caused a different type of fury to brew within me. I never wanted to be that person consumed by revenge and rage but this time…I had to. Rob didn’t deserve what he got.
When I looked at Sanai, her golden skin was flushed an almost undetectable shade of red and her tilted eyes were worried. “What’s wrong?” I asked, my eyebrows crashing together.
“Zee got shot. That’s who’s down in intake. Eli got shot at and so did Father but they’re okay.”
“Fuck.” I turned to Takia, who’d been moaning in pain after she hastily jerked while I was cutting her, making my incision turn jagged at her navel. The uneven look of the cut pissed me off because I didn’t do sloppy handiwork like that.
“She’s not going to bleed out or anything is she?” Sanai asked, her eyes darting between me and Takia.
“Nah. I didn’t go too deep. Why?”
“Because I want you to work on Zee. Please, Bakari. I’ve seen what you can do and your hands are amazing. Not that I don’t trust your brothers but…” I couldn’t say no to the tearful look in her eyes. I wanted to get this shit with Mrs. Sinclair over with but I loved Sanai too much to let her down.
I knew either Hakim or Maasai would be able to take care of a simple bullet wound but I also knew that I could do it faster.
So, I scrubbed up in the sink and rushed to the OR that they’d put Zara in. Maasai was already scrubbed up and walking at the same time as me. “I told you we had it,” he said, looking at me with confusion on his face.
“Sanai asked me to work on her sister. Get the anesthesia started. She’s been hit in the side. It’s going to be a little longer than I thought.” There was a bright red blood stain on her shirt spreading from the right side. I had to move quickly. Hopefully, Maasai wasn’t in the mood to argue with me.
He stood there for a moment, wrestling with his pride while he glowered at me. His dark eyes reminded me so much of Dad’s. Instead of losing his temper like our father surely would have if in the same situation, he nodded, then began prepping the anesthesia and cutting Zara’s clothes away.
Even though things were moving with Maasai at my side, I needed more help. I called Hakim over the watch. “You good?”
“I need assistance in OR 4. Maasai is here but I need you too, bro.”
“I’m on the way,” he responded quickly.
Normally, Rob would have everything handled because he was a brilliant and efficient nurse. It took two surgeons to do the shit he could have done in his sleep, but working with my brothers was a kind of therapy I didn’t know I needed.
“I’m scrubbed in,” Hakim told me, whizzing by and beginning surgical prep for me. “I got her vitals going. Get Bakari’s tools and I’ll start cell salvage. She’s lost a lot of blood.”
The rush that tingled through my fingertips reminded me of why I wanted to be a surgeon in the first place. Saving lives meant everything to me. This life in particular was special. I had to make sure she was okay. Not just because she was Sanai’s big sister, but because I knew how it felt to lose someone that close. I knew what helplessness felt like. I didn’t want Sanai to ever feel that if I could help it. I’d shield her from it as long as I could.
Zara would be fine by the time I was done.
I wasn’t going to let anyone else die senselessly because of Mrs. Sinclair.
Once I got Zee open, I saw the extent of the damage.
The bullet had nicked her liver but avoided all other major organs. The internal bleeding was minimal and I was able to restore the liver to homeostasis and stop the bleeding once the bullet and its fragments were removed.
“Goddamn, Bakari,” Hakim smiled beneath his surgical mask, his eyes lighting up with pride. “You knocked that shit out in an hour, my boy. Let me close her up. I can leave her scarless.”
“And I can’t?” I frowned.
“Not like me, lil brother. Your hands are nice, though. I can’t even lie. I’m impressed.”
“Hakim, start the transfusion and I’ll close her up. Y'all niggas over there having a pissing contest while we have a patient wide the fuck open.” He shot both of us a look that we knew better than to buck against.
Maasai had experience in both my and Hakim’s field of surgery. He was a master and watching him work was honestly awe-inspiring. Me and Hakim shut the fuck up and watched our big brother work.
