Chapter 17
Chapter Seventeen
HAVEN
Idon’t know what kind of person Apex thinks I am, but no way in hell am I leaving him to bleed out on my watch.
NOT AGAIN.
I fling open the door, and more shots hit the truck.
“GET IN NOW!” I slide across into the driver’s seat and start the truck.
He doesn’t even have his whole body in the cab before I peel out and almost lose control, avoiding a tree. He finally gets the door closed and then immediately grabs his right shoulder.
“Where are you hit?” I brake as we go over a hill and land hard on the other side, five feet from the main road.
I swerve into traffic, causing two cars to collide and a dozen horns to blare at me.
“Shoulder, back, arm. FUCK!” He curses as I try to get my bearings.
We’re closer to the Metro hospital, but I don’t have privileges there, plus I need to get him inside with as few eyes on me as possible. I glance at the time on the dashboard clock.
“Hang on.” I slam the brakes and turn sharply left, almost flipping the motherfucker to pull the worst U-turn in history.
I floor it and make it to the city morgue in five minutes flat.
“Diesel stay!” Apex moans out in pain.
“Fuck, woman, are you trying to kill me?” I park in the back and run around to his door.
I yank it open and help him out.
“Well, it’s usually the only way you can get in here.” He looks up at the building’s sign and curses.
“I gotta get the bullets out. Move,” she groans as he loses strength with every step.
“Don’t you fucking pass out. I can’t get you inside alone.” I stick my thumb into the bullet wound in his shoulder.
It’s like I hit him with that taser again.
“You fucking bitch!” I nod.
“I know, but you’re moving.” Plus, it’s plugging the wound with the worst of the bleeding, so it’s the winner.
We get inside, and I breathe a sigh of relief when the place is empty. It’s not unusual for people to work late, especially if there’s been some type of emergency in the city.
“This way,” I basically drag him into my office and seat him at my desk.
“Gotta grab supplies. Don’t move, and don’t you fucking dare pass out. I’m serious, Apex! Keep those eyes open.” His head lolls to the side, and his breathing is all fucked up as he grins up at me.
“You gonna give me a prize if I do?” Is he fucking flirting with me as he’s actively dying?
“Oh, I’ll blow your whole world. We gotta deal?” He sits up straighter, finding the strength from God knows where.
“After a promise like that? Sweetheart, I won’t die before I feel your lips around my cock. I fucking promise.” Wait what?
I don’t have time for this.
If that was what his half-dead brain heard, and it keeps him breathing, then fuck, I’ll suck his dick. I gotta learn sometime, right?
I rushed from the room and grabbed everything I needed and then some. I get back to my office less than sixty seconds later to find him trying to dig the bullet in his arm out with my letter opener.
“Are you out of your mind! We’re in the City morgue, and you’re putting unsterilized foreign metals into your body? How have you survived this long doing stupid shit like this?” I slap it out of his hand and open the bottle of iodine.
I grab the collar of his shirt and rip it open, then spray him with the reddish brown liquid.
“FUCK!” He grabs the table for support and groans through the pain.
“Hold still,” I grab his arm and raise it to get a better look at what I’m dealing with.
“Okay, one exit wound. Three bullet holes. Let’s get to work.” I offer him a small stack of tongue depressors.
“Bite down. This is gonna hurt.”
Apex is passed out on my couch with his shoulder wrapped and arm in a sling. I dug out the bullets the best I could and stitched him up. He’ll need X-rays to make sure all the fragments are out, but for now he’s stable and resting comfortably on a shit ton of Ketamine.
I run my hands through my hair and sigh.
It’s been hours since we got here. I went out and brought Diesel inside, and he’s asleep at my feet. They’re both snoring in sync, and it causes me to giggle hysterically. I cover my mouth so I don’t wake them, but it’s no use.
“Oh God.” I grab my stomach, not being able to stop, while my brain supplies the reason why.
You’re in shock.
I try to take a deep breath to stop the panic attack that is taking me under, but my body has had enough, and I can’t get off this ride.
I stand, but my knees give out, and I catch the side of the table, trying to stop my fall.
The chair I was sitting on flips over in the process, and Diesel barks in concern.
“Haven, oh fuck.” Apex moves faster than he should to get to me.
I clutch at his good arm, gasping for air like a fish out of water.
No matter how hard I try, I can’t get a full breath. My vision is fading and tunneling in on itself. I can hear him calling my name. I feel him shaking me, but he looks so far away.
Out of reach, but still I claw at him like a lifeline as my ship sinks under the dark water and I float in a black abyss.