I helped him clear away our plates, and we left for the casino, making the ride there entirely in silence. Stepping out of his car in the parking garage, I heard a strange sound. It seemed like popping noises and then metal hitting metal as bullets glanced off the car. That was quickly followed by a loud groan from D as he grabbed his open car door and slammed it shut again.
“Janessa, get down. Get back in the car, now!”
I did exactly as he asked, barely getting the door shut before the car was in gear and backing out rapidly from the parking space.
“What’s happening? Why is someone shooting at us?”
I felt panicked as I looked around, trying to see who was out there. I had realized the noises I heard were gunshots when they began hitting the car, but I wasn’t hit. As I looked at D, I realized that he was. Blood poured from his right arm as he tried to steer with one hand.
“Fucker shot me. Hold on, Janessa.”
The car weaved and bobbed through traffic at a high rate of speed. I felt like I might be sick with the car practically being hurled along the highway toward our destination, wherever that was. We weren’t headed back toward the house, and he was bleeding heavily. I was afraid he would pass out from the blood loss, and we’d crash. Relief flooded over me as we pulled into a parking lot and parked on one side of a large brick building that said it was a veterinarian’s office.
“Go in, ask for a nurse named Rebecca. Tell her quietly that I’ve been shot and to let me in the back door. Don’t tell anyone but her.”
I was out of the car in a flash, running toward the front of the building and approaching the front desk. There was no one there. I hit the bell on the desk several times until an irritated young woman came out and scowled at me from behind the desk.
“Can I help you, ma’am?”
“I need to see Rebecca right away.”
“She’s with a patient right now.”
“I need you to get her.”
“I’m sorry, ma’am, but I can’t disturb her right now.”
“You can and you will. Go get Rebecca.”
My words were stern, spoken through clenched teeth. No doubt the woman saw something in them, that I wasn’t going to take no for an answer. She sighed loudly and disappeared, returning a few moments later with a young redhead in tow.
“Rebecca?” I asked.
“Yes?”
“I have Damian Diaz in the car. He needs your help with a wounded animal. He said you would let him in the back way.”
“Oh, yes…D. Go back out to the car, and I’ll be right around to let both of you in.”
True to her word, by the time I got back around to the car and was helping D out of it, she was opening a back entrance designed for large animal care and motioning us in. I could see that D had lost a lot of blood already. He was pale and unfocused as I helped him from the car and staggered under his weight to get him inside.
“In here,” she said, motioning me toward another inner door that said Large Surgical.
“Get him on the table and get his shirt off. I’ll get the doctor.”
“The vet, you mean?”
“Yes, only kind we have here.”
“Great.”
The nurse, who was actually a vet tech, I was guessing, disappeared and left us alone. I began helping D out of his shirt, reaching for a nearby towel to hold against the open wound so that it would stop bleeding so much. He groaned and closed his eyes. I couldn’t believe I was standing there waiting for a vet to take care of a gunshot wound rather than a doctor, but I understood why. A hospital would automatically call the police if a gunshot wound came in. No doubt there was a long history with this vet. I just hoped he knew what he was doing.
“What do we have here, D? Time for your rabies shot? Flea dip? Maybe got the mange?”
D chuckled a little and then winced as a pain hit him. The doctor noted the towel I had pressed against his arm and took over, pulling it away to get a look at what he was dealing with. He grimaced as he saw the hole in D’s arm near his shoulder.
“Gunshot wound?” the vet said more seriously now, studying the wound closely between holding the towel down on it to stop the bleeding.
“Yes. Someone took a shot at him while we were getting out of the car. We came straight here.”
“Doesn’t look too bad. Bullet went through clean, doesn’t appear to have hit anything devastating. Just need to get this blood stopped and get you stitched up. We’ll start with a coagulant, a local to numb it while I sew it up and then I’ll give you some meds to help with the pain afterwards. Just have to make the prescription out to Fido.”
“You’re a funny guy, Doc,” D said in a pained, hoarse voice as the vet set about getting him cleaned and stitched up. It seemed to take forever, but he was finally done and bandaged.
“Now, you’ll need to keep this clean and dry. It’s going to weep a good bit. Change the dressing at least every four hours. I’ll give you a pack of gauze to take with you and you can pick up some more at the pharmacy when you get the canine script filled. Might want to pick up a sling too. Best to keep it a still as possible.
“You don’t have any slings here?”
“Not much need for them with my usual patients. I can put a cone around your neck if you’d like.”
“I think I’ll pass on the cone, especially if it includes the neutering that usually comes with it,” D said. “Thanks for patching me up. I’ll have Simon come by and settle up with you later on.”
“Good enough. Try not to get shot again before this one heals up.”
“I’ll do what I can. You just never know who isn’t going to appreciate my good looks and charm.”
“I know. I have the same problem with people coveting my gorgeous head of hair,” the vet replied, shaking his balding head for effect.
“Yeah, right. Okay. We’ll let you get back to the real animals. Thanks for the help.”
“Anytime, D.”
“Janessa, I think I’ll let you drive back to the house. We’ll stop by the pharmacy on the way back.”
“Sounds like a plan.”
“Hey, Janessa. Hold on. Let me get you another shirt if you are going in the pharmacy,” the doc added.
I looked down, realizing for the first time that I had blood all over the white top I had been wearing. The doctor returned with a dark green top and handed it to me.
“Sorry. All we have around here are scrubs, but much likely to not answer as many questions about wearing scrubs as you are about wearing a bloody shirt.”
“Thanks. I appreciate it.”
The vet nodded and left the room. I pulled my own top over my head and put on the scrub top instead.
“That’s damned sexy.”
“Did the doctor give you pain meds already?”
“Just a couple to take the edge off.”
“I thought as much. Let’s get you out of here.”
Less than an hour later, we had made it back to his house and inside. He was a little less loopy now that the pain meds were wearing off just a bit.
“I want to make some calls and then I’m going to take a couple more pain pills and lay down for a while.”
“Okay. I’ll give you some privacy. How about I go grill those sandwiches Nadine prepared and maybe heat up some soup to go with them?”
“That sounds good. I probably need to eat something before I take any more pain meds anyway.”
“I would have to agree.”
“Thanks, Janessa.”
“No problem.”
“No, I mean thanks. Thanks for everything.”
“Just return the favor, D.”
“I will, Janessa. I will.”
I walked away as he picked up his phone and hit speed dial. I could hear him talking to Simon in the other room as I left to start our lunch, but his voice faded to a mumble as I began working around the kitchen. Everything was almost ready when he came into the kitchen. His face was pale and I could tell he was in pain. I plated our sandwiches with dill pickle spears and Doritos, setting a hot bowl of tomato bisque by each. D brought over a couple bottles of water from the fridge and sat down.
I couldn’t help but notice that in addition to how pale he was, he also looked very tired. I had a feeling that it was about a lot more than just getting shot today. It was bound to encompass all that came with that. He was under a lot of stress with all going on at the club and now things had escalated drastically. I was surprised at how calm I was about the whole situation, but I supposed that I had been so busy making sure he was taken care of that I had been forced to ignore my own anxiety over the situation.
“Here, D. Why don’t you take these while you eat? They’ll kick in by the time you’re done.”
“I like that idea,” he said with a grimace.
“I’m sure you do at the moment.”
“Yeah. I’m going to have a rough day tomorrow, but today I think I’ll just take some me time.” He laughed.
“What are you going to do about this, D? How will you be safe from this happening again?”
“Hell, Janessa. I’m never safe from this. It could happen at any time, anywhere. Rival clubs, gang bangers, some pissed off guy who lost too much money at the casino. You never know what people like the ones I come into constant contact with will do from one minute to the next.”
“And which kind do you suppose was the one who took a few shots at you this morning?”
“That was very personal. Someone who knew my schedule, knew I’d be there. It was well timed to hit me before I even got in the doors. I’ve already got some folks working on it.”
“That’s good, then.”
“In the morning, you and I walk into that casino as if nothing happened. I can’t have anyone thinking that either of us is bothered in the least by a couple of shots fired.”
“Shots that could have killed you, killed us both.”
“No. Those shots weren’t intended to kill us, Janessa. Someone was just sending a message. You don’t send a bad shot to kill someone. If they had wanted either of us dead, we’d be dead. They just wanted us to know they are around.”
“Who are they?”
“That part I’m not sure of. Hopefully I will be closer to that answer by the time we roll into the casino in the morning.”
“Why don’t I clear away these dishes while you go lie down.”
“Thanks, Janessa. I think I will.”
I watched as he got up from the table and moved very slowly up the stairs. It was odd to see him so vulnerable, weakened. It made me want to hold him and I couldn’t. I was persona non grata. He wasn’t keeping me close to protect me. He was keeping me close to protect himself and his interests. I could pack up my things and go home. In his current condition, he couldn’t stop me. He wouldn’t even know I was gone for a while. So, the question was, why did I stay?