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)
“Well, let’s see what we’ve got here, Mr. Denisovich,” she calmly said. Grabbing up several clean pads and gauze, the nurse edged over and carefully took the napkins Justin had wadded up and pressed to his hand. She tossed them away and nodded before pressing the pads in to slow the bleeding again.
“She’s going to make a record, right? Get on her computer?” Gabriel asked.
The nurse looked up at Justin for a translation and he smiled at her. “He’s worried the cut is too deep. That he’s going to lose strength in his hand,” Justin lied.
“Oh, no. I don’t think it’s that bad. He’s going to need stitches, but he should recover completely. We’ll get the doctor to take a quick peek at it and then get it fixed up.”
Gabriel could easily understand her, but Justin still had to reply, pretending to be translating. “Don’t be an idiot. Let her try to get you fixed up. Everything has to go into the computer.”
“You’re the idiot,” Gabriel murmured but he was smiling and nodding at the nurse.
“He’s grateful for your care.” Justin smirked at his companion.
With the bleeding stanched, the nurse hurried over to the computer on the mobile station, pulling off her bloody gloves as she went. They both nearly sighed with relief. “I just need to get some basic information.”
Justin joined her at the computer and did sigh with relief to see her type in her password. He knew some hospitals were changing to bio-passwords like fingerprints, retina scans, and vein scanners. He quickly memorized her keystrokes, running them again and again through his head. It was Caroline#May2010. He was willing to bet it was her daughter’s name and birthdate. Not the most original of passwords but definitely more complicated than some of the dumbass things he’d seen people do, and it likely met all the requirements set by the hospital’s IT team.
The nurse asked some basic questions about “Ivan” and Justin either made up an answer or repeated the question in Russian, to which Gabriel told him to suck his cock or some other variation in Russian. And then Justin made up an answer for the nurse.
After a moment, she stepped away to get a doctor, and Justin wandered over to Gabriel’s side.
“Did you get it?” Gabriel asked softly. He was still speaking in Russian so no one could eavesdrop on their conversation.
“Da.” Justin carefully reached over and looked at the cotton pads pressed against Gabriel’s hand. The same hands that had carefully removed a bullet fragment from his side and sewn him up again. His fingers were rough and calloused with several long scars from cuts and other injuries over the years. He didn’t have any tattoos on his fingers. They started farther up his arms near his elbows and were sprinkled across his chest. There was an artful image near his throat that looked like wings, but the majority were names and words written in Cyrillic script, or dark images, all of it in thick, black ink. He was sure that the tattoos, for Gabriel, weren’t about art. They were reminders.
Part of Justin was itching to ask him about the ink, to hear the stories behind each one, but even if they’d been close friends, he’d be afraid to ask. Something in their black lines promised that they also carried a heavy story. And Justin would much rather see a smile tugging at Gabriel’s lips than a sadness in his eyes.
“Are you going to be able to hold a weapon in that hand?” Justin asked, releasing Gabriel’s hand.
“The wound won’t impact my use of a weapon.” Gabriel flashed him a rigid smile. “I still have your back.”
Justin nodded. “I know.”
“I’m sorry about yesterday. I…I should have been faster,” Gabriel started. Tense lines dug deep furrows in his face, making it appear even more harsh than normal.
Justin stared at him in surprise. It took him a moment to realize that Gabriel was tying his injury to his promise to protect him, keep him from being shot. How could Gabriel think he could have done anything to stop what had happened? Sometimes a job just went a little sideways. It was no one’s fault. A tendril of unexpected warmth uncoiled in Justin’s stomach at Gabriel’s determination to keep him safe.
“Yesterday wasn’t your fault. I should have been more careful. I wasn’t expecting them to be a car full of idiots.”
“I should have expected that.” Gabriel shook his head again and then swayed for a second where he sat. “We did not live this long by not being prepared for anything.”
He swayed again, and Justin caught him by the shoulder. “How much fucking blood have you lost?” he hissed.
“Not that much.” Gabriel growled again, but Justin didn’t get the impression that it was directed at him. “I have not eaten or slept much in the past several days. This…” he paused, holding up his injured hand, “was poorly timed.”