38. Doc
“ C ome here, baby,” Soren orders in a soft tone.
I ignore him and continue my pacing, the antsy, jittery feeling running underneath my skin is almost too much for me to take. I hate this, knowing the people I consider friends are preparing to rush into danger, and all I can do is sit here and prepare to put them back together again should the worst happen.
I knew what I was signing up for when I said yes to Cristian’s offer. I lived through a brush with death, and am very aware of what happens to those who disobey the rules Cristian and Tennant have laid down. I chose to stay because, at twenty, I was looking for a way out of the life I’d found myself in. They offered me that and more.
So, being here, knowing the men who gave me my new life are risking theirs, it’s a hard pill to swallow at times. Time and understanding doesn’t make it better. Honestly, I think working on so many men, seeing the horrors of what could happen to a person, has made the anxiety worse.
Soren steps in my path, halting my pacing. “Stop, Doc,” he says gently, reaching for me.
I move back, not wanting him to touch me when my nerve-endings are already a livewire.
“Now isn’t the time, Soren.”
“You mean it isn’t the perfect time to stay still and breathe? You’re working yourself up and you're only going to make it worse, you know that.”
I glare at him. “Don’t act like you know me, Soren.”
He steps closer. Despite me trying to back away again, he doesn't allow it. “The thing is, Ashby …” he says as he moves in and sets a hand on my hip. “I do know you. I’ve spent months getting to know what an irritating, salty bastard you are. I also know how much you care about the people you’re closest to, so I know this is killing you because you can’t do anything to help.”
Pressing against me, Soren looks up into my eyes and my breath catches at the intensity of his gaze.
“But you know, being here, ready to jump in and keep them alive, prepared to do anything and everything that's asked of you, that is important, Doc. So let me help you hold yourself together for a moment, until you’re needed. Let me take care of Ashby, so Doc can do his thing when he needs to.”
I smile at the ridiculous man in front of me. “How is it you know me so well in such a short period of time?”
“It’s what good Daddies do. Now, down on your knees.”
“Yes, Daddy.”
It’s easy to lower myself to the ground, even though I’ve tried to keep my distance here in the office since the day Roman walked in on us. It's even easier to rest my head against Soren’s thigh, my tension and muscles easing when he places a hand on my head, fingers threading through my hair.
“That’s a good boy,” he whispers. “You know you’ll be punished later for not listening to your Daddy the first time, or calling a safeword.”
Letting out a shuddering breath, I nod against him. “I know, Daddy. I’m sorry.”
“I know, baby. Now, shh. Rest here for a moment.”
Closing my eyes, I take a deep breath and relax, trusting him to take care of me.
Multiple gunshots sound through the speakers on Hollis’s computer and he curses, even as he follows Roman and Tennant on the cameras in the Manassero home.
“Roman, you stupid fucking idiot,” he mutters.
I don’t bother paying attention to the screen where Roman is running down the hall with his death wish in full force. Instead, I focus on the one showing Jude Manassero.
The camera quality is clear, but the angle is shit. Though it’s not hard to see he’s barely hanging on, clutching the desk behind him like it’s the only thing holding him up.
I hate being on this side of things, but no matter how many times Cristian tries to convince me it’s not a good idea to watch with Hollis and Leandro, staying in my office, waiting for the bodies to show up, would be worse.
So when Jude collapses, both Hollis and I curse. Hollis switches the feeds and pulls up the one showing the office on his main monitor. Things happen quickly. Once Jude hits the ground, Roman rushes to him, tearing at his clothes and creating makeshift bandages.
When Tennant scoops his lover up into his arms, I try not to flinch, the implications of how many wounds he’s aggravating rushing through my mind. Shifting on my feet, I’m ready to run back to my office when Hollis asks, “What’s his status?”
I wait on bated breath as Tennant reports back on what he can see. “ Multiple gunshot wounds, unsure how many, but from first glance, at least three or four. His mouth has been cut open, and his shirt is torn to shreds, cuts litter his torso.”
“Fucking hell,” Hollis mutters.
If Ten says anything else, I don’t hear it as I tear out of the office, and out of that wing of the house, heading straight for my own. It’s only a hall away, but in life and death circumstances, it always feels like a million miles.
Kail, Soren, and Rose are waiting, the room prepped for our incoming patient. As soon as I enter the office, I ask, “What’s the blood situation?”
Kail answers. “We’re still low on O-Neg. The emergency kit from the hospital helped, but De Luca still used up a good amount. The next drive should even that out though.”
“Okay. Where’s Jude on the chart? He’s our priority, unless?—”
Rose cuts me off. “Unless Roman comes in more critically injured, we know, sir.”
“Yeah, except, if you let his lover die, he’ll kill you,” Kail says, half-teasing, half not. “Jude’s AB-Pos, by the way. Lucky fucker, we’ve got him covered either way.”
“Good. From what Ten says, he has multiple GSWs, and a host of other injuries, so it’s going to be a long night for us all.”
Moving over to the sink, I scrub my hands and then don gloves, readying myself for what’s to come.
“How far out were they?” Soren asks.
“They were leaving the Manasseros’ when I left, so I expect we’re about to be hit at any moment. Have any of you been in contact with the clinic?”
“I have,” Rose says. “They’re prepared. You know how many need medical services?”
“Not a clue. They’ll call it in when they’re on their way. We were prepared though, and I don’t think any of our people are the ones who need help. It really depends on if they left anyone aside from Jude’s family alive for the Boss.”
Before Rose can respond, a call comes through from Leandro, and I rush out the door at the same time I bring the phone to my ear. “They pulling up?”
“Yeah, sixty seconds. Hollis is going to be locked in here with me for a while, so you’re on Roman duty until then.”
I scoff. “You think he scares me? He knows the rules. I’ll keep you updated.”
“You do that.”
He hangs up and I shove the phone into my pocket just as I reach the front doors. The car pulls up and Kail—who followed me out—and I rush down the steps towards it as Tennant throws open the back door. It’s a tight fit, but we manage to get Jude out and transfer him onto the backboard Kail had the foresight to grab. He’s my first assistant for a reason, since the beginning, he’s always been able to read my mind and anticipate my actions.
It takes a little bit of maneuvering, but the two of us manage to get him up the stairs and into the house, with some help from the nearby guards.
Rose and Soren jump into action as soon as we transfer Jude to the table, while Kail and I change out our gloves.
“What are we looking at?” I ask, sidling up to the table.
“Wounds to his hip and shoulder are both bleeding profusely. Don’t think any of the bullets hit anything major, but between everything, he’s lost a lot of blood,” Soren replies.
“Set him up for a transfusion. I want to get some blood in him before we do anything else.”
“I’ve got the blood,” Rose says, rushing off to the storage fridge.
Soren gets the IV set up, and like a well-oiled machine, everyone slides into place, checking Jude’s vitals, pumping blood, other fluids, and meds into him, getting his tattered clothes out of the way.
He hasn’t regained consciousness, which is a good thing, between the blood loss and the pain, being asleep right now is the best thing for him. Kail pushes through a sedative and sets up to keep him under while we work on him, as the last thing we need is for him to wake and panic.
“Okay, are you guys ready?” I ask. “First plan of action is to get the bullet out of his hip. I clocked one in his thigh as well. Soren?”
“There’s a graze on the top of his shoulder, and the other shot was a through and through. I’ll check it for particulates though.”
“Rose, monitor him and assist Soren as needed. Kail, help me with field of vision.”
“Jayden will kill you if you fuck him up too much,” Kail tells me.
“Well, I’m not a fucking surgeon,” I bite back as I go digging around for the bullet in Jude’s hip.
“What happened to asking the Boss to find one?” he snaps.
“Because surgeons are just walking around on the street, waiting to be picked up as a mafia associate,” I bitch.
Kail grumbles something under his breath but I ignore him, letting out a hiss of victory when I finally extract the bullet.
“I know someone,” Soren says.
Looking up from where I’m suturing up the wound in Jude’s hip, I meet Soren’s eyes for a moment. “Really?”
He shrugs a little. “One of my best friends is in his second year of med school. He wants to be a surgeon. I think he said he was going to try pediatrics?—”
Focusing back on my task, I interrupt him, “Tell him to expect a call from Doctor Aidan Murry, to discuss his future internship.”
“Good luck with that,” Soren says absently. “Vonny doesn’t take phone calls.”
“Clean and bandage this, K, I’ll get to work on his thigh.” At his affirmative, I shift my focus. “How’s it going up there, Soren?”
“All done, I’m changing out his blood bag and then I can assist.”
“Stats, Rose?”
“Not in critical danger, for now.”
“Perfect. Back to your friend, Soren, why don’t young people take phone calls anymore? It’s much more personal than a text. I don’t like talking to people much either, but for something so important, he’ll have to get over that.”
Kail snorts. “That’s if there’s an open spot for him, and you can get Murry to agree to mentor him. He didn’t seem to be a big fan of yours, Doc. Doubt he’d do you another favor.”
“I can be persuasive,” I respond, put out.
“It’s not that,” Soren says as he comes back from getting more blood. “He’s deaf. Theoretically, his CIs connect to bluetooth, but according to Vonny, he’d rather cut his implants out himself than try to understand someone on a phone call.”
“Impressive,” Rose says. “I thought nursing school was hard enough, I can’t imagine being deaf or hard of hearing and going all the way through med school.”
Soren chuckles a little. “Vonny’s ambitious.”
“Skype then?” I muse, moving aside when Soren sidles up to suction the blood out of the wound, so I can see what I’m doing. “I’ll make sure Murry knows to have an interpreter.”
“I’ll start cleaning and closing the wounds on his torso,” Kail says.
“Good. How’s he looking, Rose?”
“Well, he’s not going to die tonight,” she replies. “Blood pressure’s a little low, but that’s to be expected. Everything else is normal range for his condition.”
“I don’t know if Vonny will go for it,” Soren says, going back to our previous conversation.
“Get the pan, I have the bullet, and am pulling it out now.” Soren holds the tray with the other bullet steady and in reach, so I can drop the one from Jude’s thigh into it as well. “Why? You know Cristian pays well. The hours will be more manageable than working in a hospital, and so long as he doesn’t mind patching up guys at the clinic when there’s not an emergency like this that needs his attention, it’s a good gig.”
“He has two brothers; he won’t go anywhere without them.”
It’s a feat not to roll my eyes and mess up my stitches. “Everybody leaves the nest eventually.”
“Trust me, when you meet them, you’ll understand.”
Something in Soren’s voice says there’s more to the story, but I let it go for now. “I'm done here, clean it up?”
“Yes, sir.”
Leaving Soren to it, I move over to help Kail, and between the two of us, we get Jude’s torso stitched and bandaged, and then do the same to his face.
“I think we’ve done all we can here,” I say, stepping back and surveying Jude.
“I’ll clean him up a little more,” Rose says. “We don’t need any of them freaking out because there’s so much blood on him. He’s getting stronger, his BP’s good.”
“Let the bag finish emptying and then we’ll switch out his IVs. I want to get some painkillers in him now, and ease off the sedative. We’ll assess him when he wakes. You can clean him up after we switch everything out.”
“Sounds good.”
“I’ll update Tennant and Leandro,” Kail tells me.
“Hollis is probably pissed we weren’t able to send anyone along sooner, but don’t let them give you any grief.”
“Never do, sir. I know how to handle them.”
I nod, trusting Kail.
Rose and I begin cleaning up while Soren switches the IVs, and Kail leaves the office. We’re all exhausted and bloody, but this is part of the job, and we all take it very seriously, otherwise we wouldn’t be here.
“I’m serious about setting something up for your friend, Soren,” I tell him when we’re both by the sink. “Talk to him. Cristian wants to take my idea seriously, but the pool for surgeons we can trust is non-existent.”
“I will. I wouldn’t have brought it up, otherwise.”
“Good.”
I move to step away and he stops me. “Thank you, Doc. For considering it.”
“Of course. I know my limits, and those of my team. The Family is getting bigger, and while we’re strong, it means so are our enemies. I’d be a fool to not consider the opportunity when it presents itself.”
“Even if he’s deaf?”
I roll my eyes. “Like I give a shit. I know ASL, and the main Family does as well. I’d need to brush up, but that won’t be a hindrance. I already knew I needed practice because of Jude coming into our lives. If you trust him and think he has what it takes, I want to meet him.”
Soren smiles. “Well, you’d be meeting him anyway, since Donovan and his brothers are my closest friends.”
“Great, see, it’s fate.”
He snorts. “Yeah, sure. We’ll see.”
“Have a little faith, Daddy. And come help me transfer our patient to an actual bed.”
“Brat,” he mumbles just loud enough for me to hear, but he follows me across the room anyway.