With Hazard leading the way, Doc walks the few rows of seats to get to us and that’s when I can see the large gash on her forehead, which is being held together by Steri-Strips.
“Shit, Doc! Are you feeling okay?” There’s a bruise starting to form underneath and around the Steri-Strips.
“I’m good.” She holds up her medical bag, not making direct eye contact with me. Something’s up with her, but we’ve got no time to have a powwow about it. “This hit me when we went down. It bounced about and the corner smacked up into my head. Hazard fixed me up.”
I look over at him and he shrugs, like it meant nothing. Prez has a little thing for the doc. I can see it in his eyes. He turns away from me and starts murmuring to Slade.
What’s with all the secret squirrel?
“Slade, could you please take Edge up the back while I see to Whisper?” Doc’s definitely acting odd and Hazard knows why.
“Sure.” Slade looks a little too enthusiastic.
That’s it I’ve had enough of this BS. “Nope! Not Happening.”
“Yeah…as your President, it fucking is.” Hazard’s pulling rank. “Do as Doc says, because your girl needs to be looked at right fucking now, from the noises she’s making. If it makes you feel better, Phoenix can help Doc out, but your ass is up the back with Slade.”
I choose to have a stare down with my Prez.
“Edge…please.” Doc’s eyes hold fear, and I don’t like seeing that on her. “I need to check her out. Hazard’s only speaking on behalf of me. You can look after her again once I’m finished.”
“Edge… need… help,” she says through gritted teeth. I get put in my place by Whisper. My ego is not important here.
Shit. She’s really starting to come out of her numb cocoon into a world of pain. “Everybody back up so I got me some room to move”—my voice lowers as I snap out—“Phoenix!”
“Right here, Edge.” Of course she is. The cabin is only about twenty feet in length.
“Make sure Jenny, her ragdoll, stays with her.” I wait for Phoenix to take the seat I was occupying so I can lay Whisper down in her arms.
“Anything I should know?” Doc is all business.
“She’s been drugged with some kind of paralyzing juice and it’s wearing off fast.” Remembering the almost empty syringe I had pocketed, I pull it out and hand it to her. “For you to test the juice… when you can.”
She takes it from me, finds a zip-lock in her medical bag, and drops it inside sealing the bag closed.
I look at Phoenix. “I’ll leave it up to you to discreetly let Doc know about her hands and feet.”
She nods.
I ain’t being told where I can wait, so I move to the front of the cabin and stand my ground. From the front I can at least angle myself to see what was going on. Slade’s right by my side, ready to slam an arm across my chest if I chose to move forward.
‘Edge, you’re doing better than I would be, if it was Phoenix in Whisper’s place, and I would expect you to do the same for me,” he murmurs beside me. “Doc knows what she’s doing and you need to let her do her thing.”
“Don’t think I didn’t notice you and Hazard gossiping between yourselves. Care to share?”
“Nope.”
“Fuck you, Slade.”
“Love you too, man. Just remember why you asked me along in the first place.”
“Don’t make me regret it,” I rumble at him.
Whisper has settled down. She must have been given a painkiller, which makes me relax a little.
Doc’s now muttering things to Whisper, that weren’t for my ears. I catch the surprised look on Phoenix’s face before she wipes it clean, but she can’t stop her eyes from wandering over to mine and then Slade’s. What the fuck was going on in this female huddle?
Doc’s doing a lot of talking while she swiftly cleans and bandages Whisper’s hands and feet and then Phoenix is rolling the stained stockings back onto her legs.
Lethal and Blueblood yank the cabin door open. “Agusta has arrived,” they announce together. I was so engrossed in what was going on in the female huddle that I didn’t even hear it arrive.
“Edge, you can take her now, she’s comfortable.” Doc says without looking at me. She’s busying herself by placing everything back in her bag as I walk over to them.
“Hey…” I touch her arm gently. “You got something to say to me?”
“Doctor to patient confidentiality has come into play—sorry. I’m under oath. I’m respecting my patient.”
WHAT THE FUCK?!
***
We arrived in the Agusta at the hidden surgery, which Mathias directed us to, without a hitch.
Torque, Viper, Drill and Billy had already performed a B&E before we arrived. No alarms were set off and the place was swept clean and deemed secure. We didn’t expect any trouble, because everybody was dead. Kane had been the last roach standing and he was now a slurpee.
The building was in a dead-end street, which backed onto a park. The surrounding buildings were either under renovation or up for lease. My guess: a very deliberate act on Cezar’s behalf.
The printing business appears to the outsider as shut-down. CLOSED FOR RENOVATION signs are plastered across the windows, but behind closed doors a fully functioning surgery is still operational if needed.
I haven’t seen Mathias since he’d been helped off the helicopter by Slade or the whereabouts of Ruby’s body—and I didn’t ask. My mind was too occupied with Whisper.
Doc had quietly informed me and Hazard, when she was finally free to clean our bullet wounds and stitch us up, that the bolt injuries Whisper had sustained had affected only the soft tissue in both hands and feet, which was better than through bone. She would make a full recovery in time. I tried for more information about her mental state or what was being said in the female huddle, but she quickly excused herself to check on Mathias.
I haven’t heard anything since.
I’ve been shut out.
All communication locked down.
Not since the flight here, have I been able to see her.
Not once in all the thoughts going through my mind did I guess what Doc’s secret was.
Not fucking once.