Chapter 39
Leo
Islowly peel my eyes open, confused as to why it’s so hard.
Then it hits me like a ton of bricks. The shooting.
The searing hot pain slicing through my stomach.
The yelling and screaming. The rush back to the house.
Ryder carrying me into the house. It got really blurry after that.
The last thing I remember is Alessa’s ex-boyfriend saying he was my blood type.
I turn my head to the side, and I’m met with Gage’s sleeping face, his arm awkwardly over his head, his other hand tucked securely into mine. When I look the other way, Les is lying the exact same way.
They both stayed with me.
I remember Les whispering she loved me last night and the instant relief it brought from the pain for a split second.
“You’re awake,” Gage says sleepily, pulling my eyes back to him.
“Yeah,” I croak and then wince. What the fuck did they give me? I feel like I can fall back asleep, but other things are screaming urgently at me. “I have to piss.”
Alessa giggles, and I realize she’s awake too. I look over and take in her beautiful face. “You can’t get up, so it’s Gage or me helping. Take your pick.”
Gage rolls smoothly off the side of the bed onto his feet and snatches a urinal bottle off the dresser, wiggling it in his hand. “Gage,” I say without hesitation. No way she’s holding my dick while I take a piss. I don’t want Gage to do it, but I’ll take him over her. “No offense,” I tell Alessa.
She kisses my cheek. “None taken.” She rubs her hand down my face. “It’s so good to see your eyes,” she says softly before gently sliding off the bed and padding out of the room.
Gage professionally helps me take care of business while I’m dying of embarrassment.
He walks to the bathroom; I hear the toilet flush a minute later, then the water running.
He walks back empty-handed and stretches out on the bed beside me with his head propped up in his hand.
I can see the worry lining his eyes, something I’ve never seen on him.
“I’m fine,” I assure him. “How bad is it?” Thankfully I was knocked out the whole time; Doc pumped some serious pain meds into my veins.
“Man,” he sighs, “It was bad. There was all this blood.” He swallows like he’s seeing it all over again. “We thought you were going to die,” he whispers.
On instinct, I reach over from the good side and grab his hand. “I didn’t, though.”
“Doc still has to stitch you up. That’s why you can’t move yet. After that, he said you could; you just have to take it easy.” He kisses me gently, surprising me. “You can’t leave me.”
“I’m not going anywhere,” I promise, knowing with all my soul that I will never leave him or Les.
“You want pain meds before or after I carry your ass back down the stairs?” Ryder asks, striding into the room. His usual gruffness with me is back, but his eyes aren’t hard anymore.
“Thank you,” I tell him, remembering him apologizing for hurting me and getting me out of the car.
He nods. “Yep,” he answers, and I realize that’s as good as I’m going to get.
“If I say before, does that make me a pussy?” I ask because it’s already hurting.
Ryder snorts, “Fuck no.” He pulls a syringe from his pocket with a grin. “Your leg or your ass?”
I look at Gage, alarmed, and he’s struggling not to laugh. He gestures to my hand where the IV still is. “It goes in there.”
I look back to Ryder. “How do I know you aren’t trying to kill me?”
He rolls his eyes. “If I wanted you dead, I would have let the bullet wound take you out.” He walks over to the bed. “I’ve done this before. Doc loaded it downstairs,” he says, softening his voice a little.
“When?” I ask, giving him my hand.
He swipes an alcohol pad over the top of the IV and then uncaps the syringe, screwing it on the top with a twist. Huh.
I guess he wasn’t lying. “Too many to count,” he finally answers, slowly pushing the plunger.
“Hospitals ask too many questions, so we were taught to take care of ourselves and each other.”
That makes sense. I heard Les tell Zane to take us back to the house and was confused at the time, but now I realize why.
“The time that fucker broke Les’ arm,” Gage answers the unanswered question, ticking them off on his fingers. “The last gunshot wound that I got, the stab wound to Les, the gunshot wound to Dex’s leg. I can keep going,” he says, looking at my stunned face.
I look at Ryder. “You took care of them?”
He shrugs uncomfortably. “It’s my job. They take care of me in turn. Doc can’t stay here twenty-four seven.”
“What the hell was in that?” I ask when he unscrews it again; my head is already fuzzy, making the pain sink into the background.
“No clue,” Ryder laughs. “It’s Doc’s special concoction.”
I don’t even have it in me to be worried anymore. I hear Gage chuckle, but it sounds too far away. “He’s ready.”
“Hold your breath,” Ryder repeats the same thing he said to me last night. I suck in a breath, and he slides his arms under me, lifting me up.
“Fuck,” I groan.
Ryder winces but doesn’t comment. He goes as slowly down the stairs as he can, and I try to keep the expletives from falling out of my mouth. He goes straight to the room I was in last night, the one I didn’t even know was here, laying me on the table.
“Next time you fucking walk,” Ryder quips, walking out of the room. Gage laughs, following him out.
Doc walks over, snapping a pair of gloves on. “I need to unpack the wound and stitch you up.”
“Great,” I mutter.
His sweet blonde wife Loretta walks over, grabbing my hand. “He’s going to numb it. That hurts the worst.” She frowns. “You’re still too pale.”
“We’ll get blood levels,” Doc says, all business.
He peels back the tape holding the gauze on, and I have to grit my teeth to keep from screaming.
She squeezes my hand tighter to distract my attention from the sick feeling of him pulling gauze out of the wound.
I take a quick glance and wish I hadn’t.
It’s huge and ripped right through the Perez part of my tattoo; I don’t miss the irony.
“A few sticks, and then you won’t feel a thing,” Doc says, pulling something up into a syringe. I close my eyes when he starts coming near me. “First one,” he warns.
“Motherfucker,” I grit out when he sticks again. With each one, the pain fades away until I don’t feel anything. I still don’t open my damn eyes.
“You might feel a tug but no pain,” Doc says, and I nod. I don’t trust my voice. The pain meds are still swirling through my head but only dulling the pain.
“Leo,” Loretta says softly, and I crack one eye open. She gently smiles. “I’m going to draw some blood; we need to check your blood levels just in case you need another transfusion.”
“Something tells me my donor from last night won’t be up to donating today,” I joke, but I’m still grateful as hell that he was here. I’m sure Les found out why he was in that limo.
She laughs softly. “They made a supply run last night, and we have plenty.”
“What did they do? Boost a blood bank?” I ask.
Doc snorts. “You probably don’t want the answer to that.”
Fair enough.
She gets to drawing my blood, and I don’t even feel the stick. She puts a tiny band-aid over the stick and drops the tubes into a bag with ice.
Thankfully, Doc finally puts a fresh gauze over my stitches, taping it up. “Keep them dry and clean. Alessa knows the drill, and I’ve left plenty of pain meds. If you need anything, she has my number. Move freely but carefully.”
“We’ll put a rush on the blood and give her a call with the results,” Loretta finishes for him. “If you need another transfusion, we’ll be back.”
“Thank you,” I tell them both.
Doc finally smiles. “Alessa is like a daughter, and we worked for Luca. My dad did too.”
“How does one get into being a doctor for the Mafia?” I wonder.
Doc chuckles. “That is something else you probably don’t want the answer to.” He bustles out of the room and comes back with Gage in tow.
“Come on, Pretty boy.” He helps me from the table, steadying me when I sway on my feet, causing him to frown. “Do you want me to get Ryder?”
I put my arm around his neck and shake my head. “It’s just the pain meds.”
We make our slow trek to the living room, where he gets me set up on the chaise, his usual seat.
He tucks a throw pillow under the wounded side, and I sigh in relief from the pressure it takes off.
“Micah’s fixing breakfast. I’ll be back when it’s done.
” He squeezes my hand and goes in search of food.
I hear Mateo laugh in the kitchen and smile that they stayed here last night.
I vaguely remember seeing their faces last night, and it shouldn’t surprise me that they’re still here, but I’m not used to having people by my side besides my mom.
Although a little dysfunctional, I’m glad I found Evander and Mateo and my found family with Alessa.
I must have dozed off because the next thing I feel is Alessa’s soft hand on my forehead. “Leo,” she says softly.
I open my eyes and stare into her blue ones, so much love washing over me for this woman. “I love you,” I tell her sternly.
“And I love you.” She kisses my lips. “Do you want to eat in the dining room or here?”
“I need to move,” I tell her honestly.
“I’ll be right back,” she tells me, holding her hand out for me not to move. She comes back with a grinning Mateo.
“At your service, bro,” he quips, helping me from the couch and wrapping my arm around his neck. “Don’t ever fucking get shot again.”
I laugh weakly. “Not a problem.”
He starts walking forward. “Seriously though, man. You scared the shit out of me.”
“I’m fine,” I say for what feels like the hundredth time today.
“No chance of me talking you into going back to your mom?”
I roll my eyes. “No. I’m not leaving them. Or you guys.”
“Stubborn ass,” he mutters, leading me into the dining room. I feel like such a fucking invalid, but I know they’re just helping because of whatever strong shit Ryder pushed into my IV.