Ash (Hounds of Hellfire MC #5)

Chapter 5

5

NORA

I never thought I’d agree to treat a bullet wound that couldn’t be reported to the police, but I hadn’t hesitated to grant Eli’s favor. Not when one of his club brother’s lives was at stake.

I didn’t really think about what I was about to do until I was back downstairs twenty minutes later, headed toward the door with my first-aid kit in one hand and my cell in the other.

“You just got home from work. Where are you going?” my mother asked.

I shifted my position, hoping it would make it more difficult to see the kit. “Eli is picking me up earlier than planned.”

Her nose wrinkled as her gaze darted down my body. “You’re wearing that for your date?”

Hearing the rumble of what I was hoping was his motorcycle, I replied, “Yup,” and slipped out the door.

Unfortunately, my mother wasn’t going to let me get away that easily. She followed me outside, where her wide smile of greeting quickly slipped from her face when she saw Eli. Straddling his bike in black boots, jeans, a black T-shirt, and his leather vest, he looked nothing like the lawyer she’d been expecting.

“Nora Elizabeth Stoll, you get back here right this instant,” she demanded.

“Sorry, Mom. No can do,” I called back as I handed Eli the first-aid kit to tuck into his saddlebag. Then I popped the helmet he shoved at me onto my head and climbed onto the motorcycle behind him.

I’d never been on one before, but being wrapped around his muscular body made me an instant fan. I also appreciated how quickly we drove off because my mom hadn’t stopped yelling since she realized I was actually leaving with him. I wasn’t looking forward to dealing with her, but I had a bigger problem to deal with first—treating a bullet wound.

With my upbringing, I wasn’t very familiar with motorcycle clubs, but I knew enough that I wasn’t surprised the Hounds of Hellfire didn’t want the cops notified about a bullet hole in one of their members. The situation when I met Eli was different because the woman who shot him was the head of some con ring who had targeted him, judging from what the media said about the whole thing afterward. How that woman had thought Eli would be an easy mark baffled me, but I didn’t expect to ever learn what truly happened.

Either way, that must not have been the type of business that could get Eli’s club into trouble. If he called me for help, this must be. I wasn’t exactly the best choice, considering I was an EMT who was studying to be a paramedic and had limited experience with things like bullet wounds, other than stopping the bleeding and getting the patient to a hospital.

Luckily, Mark had been a combat medic. He’d taught me all kinds of stuff typical paramedic training wouldn’t go anywhere near. My biggest concern was if the bullet was still in the guy…I’d have to insist they go to a hospital because they needed a surgeon to dig it out.

However, despite my internal struggle, I didn’t want Eli to think he couldn’t count on me. So I squared my shoulders and put a confident expression on my face.

“I’m guessing it’s safe to assume that you’re not going to be able to answer any of my questions even though my medical training has gotten me pulled into club business?” I asked after he parked his motorcycle in front of the clubhouse.

He flashed me an apologetic smile and shook his head. “Sorry, baby girl. There’s always gonna be stuff I can’t share with you, including the rare times when you have the right to be curious about what’s going on.”

Climbing off the bike, I heaved a deep sigh. “That’s what I figured you’d say.”

He waited until he grabbed my first-aid kit from the saddlebag to ask, “You gonna be able to live with that?”

“I wouldn’t be here if I didn’t think I could handle it.”

Some of the tension eased from his shoulders at my answer, but any concern that either of us had about how club business might impact our relationship was shoved on the back burner while I followed him inside.

“Where’s my patient?” I asked the first guy I saw.

He jerked his chin toward the hallway on the far-left side of the large room and answered, “In the medical clinic.”

”Medical clinic?“ I echoed once we were out of earshot of his club brothers.

Eli interlaced our fingers while he led me past several doors. “Two of the guys are doctors, Razor and Flint. They made sure that we were equipped to handle any kind of medical emergency.”

“And yet, here I am about to take care of a freaking bullet wound for you,” I muttered, wondering why I was surprised that their ranks included a couple of doctors when Eli was a lawyer.

“I’m sorry I had to ask you to risk your career for me, baby girl.” He squeezed my hand. “Couldn’t pull either of them out of the hospital fast enough to take care of Ink. I swear, I won’t make a habit of this.”

As he reached for the knob on the door at the end of the hallway, I tugged on his other hand so he looked at me over his shoulder. “I might give you crap for making the call, but if you’re ever in a similar situation again, I expect you to do exactly that. My job is nothing compared to someone’s life.”

“Fucking hell,” he growled before turning toward me. Cupping my cheeks with his large hands, he tilted my head back to claim my mouth in a passionate kiss that took my breath away.

Unfortunately, it ended too soon…when Echo flung open the door behind him and grunted, “Do that shit on your own time. Ink needs her help now.”

“Sorry,” I mumbled, my cheeks filling with heat.

“You got nothing to apologize for,” he reassured me, jerking his chin toward Eli. “He’s the one I was dishing that shit out to.”

“Damn well better have been me,” Eli retorted, pressing against my lower back with his palm to guide me into the room filled with equipment any clinic would envy. “She’s risking herself to help us out.”

“I sure as fuck appreciate it,” the man sprawled on the exam table rumbled. “Really don’t want any of you to have to tell my mamma that I got shot, let alone died.”

“Nobody is dying here today,” I reassured him, rushing over to the sink to wash my hands before tugging on a pair of gloves. Then I began my examination of him.

“I’m Ink, by the way,” he said through gritted teeth while trying to smile. “Figured you ought to know if you’re gonna be getting up close and personal with my body.”

“You got a death wish, Ink?” Eli snarled.

“No, sir,” he replied immediately.

“Then keep your fucking mouth shut and your eyes and hands away from my woman.”

I held back a smile at Eli’s display of jealousy. It probably should have bothered me…but it was so hot.

“Nora,” I told Ink.

First, I assessed his airway, breathing, and circulation while applying pressure to the wound in his thigh, which already had a square of gauze covering it. Once I confirmed his ABCs were good, I murmured, “Your pulse and blood pressure are a little high, but that’s to be expected when you’ve been shot.”

“Hurts like a motherfucker,” he admitted.

“I’m sure.” Turning to Eli, I asked, “Can you apply pressure to the wound while I perform a brief neurological assessment?”

“Sure,” he quickly agreed, gently placing his palm over mine and giving Ink a giant smile.

When I slid my hand away from Ink’s thigh, he pressed down. Ink groaned in pain. “Shit, man. Do you have to push down so fucking hard?”

“Yes, he does,” I replied, retrieving my penlight from my bag to stimulate his pupils.

Ink shot a dubious look at Eli but didn’t protest again.

The direct and consensual responses were good, so I quickly swung the light back and forth between his eyes to check his pupillary responses. “There doesn’t seem to be any issues with the optic nerve, and your pupils are equal in size without being abnormally dilated or constricted.”

“That good?” Ink asked.

“Yup,” I confirmed with a nod, tucking the penlight back into my bag. “Just need to check your temperature, and then I can get to work on that gunshot.”

After I confirmed he didn’t have a fever, I gestured for Eli to lift his hand. Peeling the gauze away from Ink’s skin, I peered at the entry wound. “The good news is that you were shot in the lateral aspect of the thigh.”

“Why’s that good?” Ink asked.

“The muscle mass is thick enough to allow a bullet to pass through without hitting major blood vessels or bone,” I explained as I prodded at the edges to test how much blood seeped out. I was relieved to see that the bleeding was controlled. “But it depends on the bullet’s trajectory, so I’m gonna need to take a look at the other side of your leg to make sure there’s an exit wound and see where it is.”

“That makes sense, but I gotta admit that getting up here wasn’t as easy as I made it look.”

At Ink’s confession, Eli and Echo moved to either side of the exam table and helped him roll onto his side. I nudged the hem of his athletic shorts up a little to get a better look at the exit wound. “Looks as though your muscle tissue provided a path for the bullet to travel without coming out this side too quickly.”

“I woulda thought the faster, the better,” Echo muttered.

I continued to prod at Ink’s wound while I explained, “It seems counterintuitive, but the faster the bullet goes through your body, the more damage it does along the way. The higher kinetic energy creates larger tissue displacement.”

Ink hissed in pain at my delicate exploration of the hole where the bullet exited his body. “I’m just glad I have an exit wound, unlike when Ash got shot. I’d hate for you to be stuck digging the bullet out like Razor did for him.”

My head jerked up, and I glared at Eli. “I knew you were trying to hide that there wasn’t an exit wound that day, you big lummox.”

Shrugging, he didn’t look the least bit embarrassed to have been caught. “Sure was.”

“I know you have two club brothers who are doctors, and it’s been weeks since you were shot, but I’m going to want to take a look at your shoulder to see for myself that you’re okay since you didn’t let me do my job properly in the first place.”

“No need to get sassy, baby girl.” He winked at me. “Just say the word, and I’ll strip down for you whenever you want.”

“Quit flirting with the girl and let her fix me up,” Ink growled.

Eli glared at him, and I muttered, “Sorry.”

I gathered the supplies I needed to clean and pack the wound. Once that was done, I announced, “You’re going to need stitches, but not until the initial swelling goes down. If one of the club doctors can’t do it for you, you’ll be forced to go to the hospital. My training only gets us so far.”

“Thanks, but I’m sure Razor or Flint will handle it,” Ink assured me as I strode over to the sink.

After pulling off my gloves, I washed my hands again while Echo and Eli helped Ink off the exam table. Then Echo guided Ink out of the room, leaving Eli and me alone.

He brushed his lips against my cheek and murmured, “Thank you.”

“I think you can show me your gratitude better than that.”

I was aiming for a kiss because I couldn’t get the one he’d given me after our date out of my head, but I got more than I was bargaining for.