Total pages in book: 43
Estimated words: 40524 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 203(@200wpm)___ 162(@250wpm)___ 135(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 40524 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 203(@200wpm)___ 162(@250wpm)___ 135(@300wpm)
Stitches repeated his instructions several times all the while moving the stethoscope around to different parts of Scarlet’s chest and back. She stiffened a couple of times and once she grunted but immediately looked up at me and shook her head.
When Stitches was done he stood back and looked at her intently. “I think you’ve got a couple broken ribs on that left side, honey. I’d like to do an X-ray just to make sure you don’t have a punctured lung.”
“She ain’t your honey, Stitches. And if we take her to the hospital, they’ll want to know what happened. If we tell them, they bring the cops. If they do that, we can’t kill that son of a bitch Hammer.”
“Regardless of what you think of me, Mars, I’m not a complete dumbass.” Stitches gave me a cheerful smile even when I knew he was aggravated with me. And probably more than a little insulted. “I can get her some images off the books at a friend’s clinic. Broken ribs I can’t do much for other than tell her to rest and give her pain medicine, but if she’s got a pneumothorax, I won’t have a choice but to get her to a hospital.”
“Fuck,” I muttered as I turned away, scrubbing a hand through my beard. “Just… fuck!”
“It’s OK.” Scarlet wrapped her arms around herself. When I sat beside her in a chair next to the exam table, she reached out and put her hand over mine. Immediately, I turned mine over to lace my fingers with hers. When I did, my mind settled and the pressure building inside my chest eased. “I’ve got a fake ID I can use if necessary. I’m sure if you can get hold of my dad. He can help with the money.”
“Honey, we ain’t worried about the money. Iron Tzars can take care of any hospital bill you rack up. If you’ve got a fake ID we’ll get it to Wylde and let him tighten it up. That way it can hold up to scrutiny if necessary. We don’t want the cops being able to find you after the fact.”
“They won’t.” She sounded sure of herself. “Crush is the best at what he does.”
“Crush?” I squeezed her hand, bringing her attention back to me.
“Yeah. He’s… Uh…” She cleared her throat and color rose to her cheeks. “Nothing.”
“If you’re afraid of giving out information you shouldn’t, don’t be. Wylde is on it now. He’ll know everything there is to know about Grim Road before he’s done.”
She nodded and sighed. “Maybe. Crush is the computer person for Grim Road. Dad kept me away from men in Grim Road and I never knew more than their road names, but I met Crush a few times.” She lowered her gaze and looked away. “Right before Dad gave me to Hammer and we ended up here.”
I looked up at Stitches, whose expression had hardened. It was sounding more and more like Claw had sold out his daughter. I knew I was supposed to reserve judgment until Wylde gave us as many facts as he could, but this whole situation was fucking jacked up to shit and back.
“How about we take it one step at a time. All right?” Stitches gave her a reassuring smile, but I still bristled. Once again, I couldn’t stop the growl that emerged from my throat.
Scarlet’s smile was quickly smothered, but not before I noticed. “You think this is funny?” I wasn’t certain I kept from scowling at the poor girl, but she didn’t seem to mind. Instead, she gave me a full-on smile, one she gave up fighting.
“Maybe a little.” Her voice, though soft and a little tentative, wrapped around my heart and squeezed. “But I promise I’ll be scared if it will save your reputation.”
Stitches outright guffawed at that. I ignored him and gave her a crisp nod. “See that you do. My brothers’ll never let me live it down if they knew you laughed at me.”
“Well, if you promise not to leave me alone, your secret’s safe with me.” She still smiled, but now her lips quivered slightly as if she were trying to fight off tears.
“Baby.” I brushed my finger along her cheek, catching one tear that fell from her eye. “I’m with you as long as you need me to be.”
Without another word, Scarlet reached for me. I gladly pulled her into my arms and held her while Stitches met my gaze and nodded.
“I’ll tell Sting. If you need me, you know where to find me. I’ll set up the X-ray for later tonight. In the meantime, see she drinks plenty of water and gets some rest.”
“Tell the old ladies she’ll need some shit.” I stood with Scarlet’s arms wrapped tightly around me. I couldn’t say I didn’t cling to her, though I tried to be mindful of her bruised and battered body.