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)
Justin wanted to comment that they could have waited a day, but a doctor—and he used the term lightly because the kid looked like he was barely out of high school—pushed back the curtain and was followed by the nurse. Gabriel sent a dark look to the doctor and then glared at Justin.
“Are they letting children play in the emergency rooms now?” Gabriel snarled. “He does not have his license.”
“That shouldn’t bother you. I thought they didn’t bother with medical school in your country,” Justin teased.
Gabriel’s eyes widened, and he released a long string of curses that Justin couldn’t even begin to translate. It was probably best that he didn’t. He turned his attention to the nurse and doctor, who were watching them with looks of confusion.
“Ivan is wondering if you could give him something for the pain,” Justin said with a smile to the medical team.
“Umm…yeah, yeah, of course,” the doctor stammered. He dropped onto a rolling stool and moved over to sit in front of Gabriel. “How did this happen?”
“Ivan was making dinner for me and some friends. The knife slipped and went straight into his palm. Totally broke up the dinner party,” Justin quickly explained. “Blood was everywhere. One guy fainted. Steaks were ruined. I think they’re just going to order some pizza while they wait for us.”
The doctor nodded and made some noises, but Justin didn’t think the guy was actually listening. He and the nurse conversed back and forth. She typed things into the computer while he cleaned up Gabriel’s hand. Topical pain relief was ordered along with some mild painkillers. The hand was sewn up with little fuss, and a new bandage was put into place.
And it was just their luck that chaos followed as soon as the bandage was set. Both the doctor and nurse ducked out of the curtained area as screams of pain and shouted orders pierced the air. Justin followed behind them, peeking his head out to see several people being wheeled in on gurneys, their clothes torn and covered in blood. It looked like the result of a car accident. At least, he hoped it was a car accident and not something far, far worse.
“What is it?” Gabriel called.
“Our distraction,” Justin said, motioning for Gabriel to join him at the curtain. Justin watched as trauma specialists ran from one place to the next, gathering supplies, calling in for more help.
Putting his hand on Gabriel’s arm, he pulled his companion along, weaving them through the chaos toward another set of double doors that would lead them deeper into the hospital. No one noticed them. Justin was more worried about Gabriel silently leaning on him for support. The guy needed to get some food and rest if he was going to be of any use to either of them.
They strode down one hall and then another, cutting through the chaos. The corridor was mostly empty, just a couple of nurses checking rooms. The second they came to a bank of elevators, Justin stopped and hit the up button.
“Where are we going?” Gabriel asked, still speaking in Russian.
“Up.”
Gabriel glared at him, and Justin couldn’t hold in his little laugh. “There’s counseling on the upper floors. No one should be there at this hour. I want to borrow their computers.”
Gabriel grunted and led the way onto the elevator when the doors slid open. He leaned heavily along the back wall, cradling his hand to his stomach. Justin punched the button for the seventh floor and then the button to close the doors. He wanted to avoid running into anyone else in the hospital if at all possible.
“Should we have stayed for the drugs the doc promised?” Justin asked, finally switching over to English. It was hurting his brain to stay with the Russian. He was too out of practice.
Gabriel shook his head. “No. Just need some sleep.”
“I’ll try to keep this quick.”
When the doors parted again, they stepped out onto an empty floor. The reception area was dimly lit, and the receptionist’s desk was dark. Justin jumped over the desk to land on the other side. Gabriel more sedately walked around to stand next to him as Justin woke up the computer from its end of the day slumber.
“Justin, the security cameras?” Gabriel said tartly.
Justin just smirked as he typed in the nurse’s login. “I’ve already got something for that.”
“What do you mean? We didn’t need the nurse’s login information? I slashed my hand for nothing?” Gabriel grew colder and trembled a bit with his increasing rage.
“No, we needed that. I’ve had to pop in here a couple of times to take care of some business and needed to scrub my image from the security system afterward. I’ve got a login for that.”
“And you couldn’t use that to access the other information?”
Justin shook his head. “To protect patient information, everything is compartmentalized.”