Total pages in book: 102
Estimated words: 93984 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 470(@200wpm)___ 376(@250wpm)___ 313(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 93984 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 470(@200wpm)___ 376(@250wpm)___ 313(@300wpm)
“I’m allergic to bees,” Gabriel volunteered, his tone softening just a small amount when Justin remained silent. “I swell up when I’m stung.”
Shit. Now he had to share. Gabriel was the last person to give out personal information, and he believed Justin was being honest with him. “Penicillin. But it’s not lethal.”
Gabriel nodded and turned his attention to the kit. “Won’t need that,” he said, almost talking to himself. When he returned, he poured a couple of white pills into his hand and set both the bottle and the pills on the nightstand. He pulled the gun from its holster at the small of his back and smashed the pills with the butt of the gun.
“What the hell?”
Sweeping the broken pills into his hand, he dropped the bits into Justin’s free hand. “Take it.”
“What is it?”
“Painkiller.”
“But—”
“You need to get that working in your system as fast as possible. Now, take it.”
Grimacing, Justin tossed the bits of pills into his mouth, wincing at the disgusting chemical taste that coated his tongue. He eagerly accepted the water bottle, washing the remains of the pills down with several large swallows of water. “What was it?” he demanded again as he put the water bottle on the nightstand. He watched the play of muscles in Gabriel’s broad shoulders as the man dug around in the shaving kit.
“Something like your OxyContin.”
“Are you fucking kidding me?”
“You’ll live. Now lie down.”
Justin rolled his eyes but dropped onto the bed as he’d been directed, positioning one of the thick towels under him to try to keep the blood from soaking into the sheets. When Gabriel turned back, he had a syringe in hand. He pulled Justin’s T-shirt aside and jabbed the needle in near his wound.
“It’s a local,” Gabriel said before Justin could ask. “It’ll numb you so I can work. The painkillers should catch what the local doesn’t. Just tell me if you have trouble breathing or your heart rate speeds up.”
“Why? Is that a sign that I’m dying?”
“Probably.” Gabriel lifted his dark gaze to Justin and flashed a rare grin.
Justin’s heart gave a strange flip-flop, but it had nothing to do with the drugs pumping through his system. Gabriel was just…sexy. His wicked good looks, no-nonsense attitude, and those fucking lips…Justin wanted to reach up and pull the man down on him so he could kiss them both absolutely senseless.
Instead, he rolled his eyes at Gabriel and looked away. Now was not the time for such things. Fun like that took place when he was no longer at risk of bleeding on everything.
“You do this often?” Justin asked a couple of minutes later. He could feel Gabriel poking around inside him with some kind of hard instrument, but there was no real pain. Just a strange, unnatural pressure that left him feeling uneasy and wishing he were done already.
“What? Dig around inside another person?” His voice sounded distracted, as if he weren’t really aware of what he was saying because he was concentrating on his search for the missing bullet.
Justin threw his free arm over his eyes to further shield them from the bright light beside the bed. “Yeah.”
“No. Not often. I’m usually just stitching myself up.”
“Ever stitch up a partner?”
“Shut up,” Gabriel grumbled. “I’m trying to find this bullet. Or would you rather me just leave it in you?”
Justin paused, taking in the other man’s suddenly brusque tone. No talk about partners then. “You ever play that game Operation as a kid?”
“What?”
“Operation. You had to pull out things like spare ribs or a bread basket or water on the knee from little openings in this guy’s body without touching the sides.”
A few seconds ticked by, and Justin licked his lips, waiting.
“What happened if you touched the sides?” Gabriel asked. His voice was lower than it had been, almost cautious, as if he were trying to edge out on the limb of uneasy friendship with Justin but he wasn’t quite sure he really wanted to.
Justin lifted his arm from his eyes so he could look at Gabriel. “His big red nose would light up and there was this loud ehhhh sound.” Gabriel gave a little start at the horrible noise, and Justin chuckled. “This is a lot like that game.”
Gabriel groaned and returned to his work. “You’re a disturbed man.”
“True.”
“But I would have beaten you at that game,” he said with a note of triumph as he held the bloody, battered bullet aloft with a pair of silver tweezers. Justin snorted but didn’t say anything as Gabriel returned to work, sewing him shut.
“You didn’t expect tonight to go like it did.” Gabriel’s voice rippled through the silence unexpectedly, and for a moment, Justin couldn’t tell if he was asking a question or making a statement. It sounded like a little of both.
Justin sighed heavily, dropping his arm over his eyes. The room was slipping away from him a little more with each passing second. At this rate, he wasn’t going to be conscious for much longer, and he really wasn’t sure if he wanted to pass out around Gabriel. “No. The hit on the doctor was done by a professional. The cops could tell at least two people were in the house, but they’ve found nothing else. I stupidly assumed that the same professional would be watching the house.”