Page 2 of Little Fury

I reach into my center console and remove my compression bandages. Putting them on while driving will be challenging, but I don't have a choice. I still have a solid 30-minute drive till I arrive at my destination and to him. I'm able to get the first one over my shoulder reasonably quickly, putting the strap in my mouth and pulling hard to get it as tight as possible. Getting the one over my abdomen to stop the bleeding from my side is trickier. I'm pretty sure the bullet went straight through, but I need to slow the bleeding. After about 3 minutes of struggling, I give in and pull over, using both hands to get it on and done up.

Bandages secured; I grab my burner phone out of the glove box. I drive in the quiet until I’m close, and I make a call. He answers on the second ring, I can hear the smile in his voice.“Hi beautiful, I didn't expect to hear from you tonight, but this is a delightful surprise.”

“Jake,”I say, cutting him off mid-word.“Jake, I need you to do what I’m about to ask you, no questions asked, no hesitation. I need you to trust me and do it, and I’ll explain when I get to you. Can you do that?”

I’m not sure what he hears in my voice, but whatever it is, he understands I need him to do it and do it now.

“Okay.”

“Go to your garage and move your car out of its spot and onto the street, leave the door open to the side the car was in. Then go back in the house and get your medical bag. I will be there in less than 5 minutes. I have two gunshot wounds. One is a through and through, and the other, the bullet is still in my shoulder.”

“Do it now, Jake,”I snap at him. My voice is hard, but I need him to do what I ask right now and without question.

Wonder what the Doctor would have done had I used that tonewith him in the bedroom?

Jake likes control in all things, so being told to do something without him being allowed to ask questions is probably making him angry. I hear the garage door opening and a car starting.

“Jake, I’m hanging up, but I’ll see you shortly. Be ready to close the door the minute I’m in the garage.”he starts to say something, but I’ve already disconnected the call.

I turn onto his street, slowing my speed to below the limit. As soon as I’m in, the door begins to close. Putting the car in park, leaning my head against the headrest; my hands ache from my death grip on the steering wheel. He has my door open, leaning in before I even notice him.

“Jesus, Ava, what the fuck is going on?”

I chuckle at his question. He pulls me from the car and carries me bridal style through the garage into the connected house.

Jake sets me on his kitchen counter and steps between my legs, instantly going into doctor mode. He looks over my face and chest, my side where the bullet exited. Jake moves from between my legs to the edge of the counter and gently nudges me to turn, giving him better access to my back. He asks no questions as he works, and that, I find surprising.

Coming around to my front, he removes the compression bandage from my shoulder, eyeing it curiously.“I had them made for me. I cut my leg badly one time while surfing, and I used my scuba jacket sleeve to compress the wound and to slow the bleeding until I could get to a doctor to have it stitched. It worked well, so I had some made for any future incidents.”

He doesn't ask me any follow-up questions even though he wants to. He has a tight reign on himself, I think he’s worried to spook me. His dominant side is at war with his doctor's side. The doctor in him needs to fix me. To tend mywounds the way he wants. The boyfriend in him is supportive and understanding, knowing that I’m not ready to talk about what happened.

The dominant alpha in him? Well, he is working ridiculously hard to suppress his urge to wrap a hand around my throat and force answers from me. He looks at me for a moment. Pausing his inspection of my shoulder, he aggressively exhales out of his nose, and I notice his left eye twitch. His carefully controlled anger is bubbling below the surface, and he is not enjoying it.

I bet his hand is fucking twitching to show my ass just how little he is enjoying this situation.

Jake is a very structured man and keeps his life very predictable. This situation must be testing every‘keep calm’technique he has.

When he was young, his temper and poor impulse control got him in trouble a lot. So, he learned that structure and predictability kept him and his life calm. He plays sports and works out a ton. He played football and was on the wrestling team in high school. A wrestling scholarship put him through medical school. Now, he is a general surgeon at one of the best hospitals in the country.

“Ava, I need to get this bullet out, and I’m assuming going to the hospital and being in an actual operating room is not something you’re going to let happen?”

“You would be correct there big guy,”I quip.“So how about you just take a deep breath and do what needs to be done so that I can stop bleeding all over your beautiful kitchen.”The humor in my voice doesn’t seem to be helping the situation. I think he’s getting angrier, to be honest. I swear there is actual steam coming out of his ears.

I wonder if I lost more blood than I initially thought because I’m finding this situation funnier than I probably should.

This moment with him is so familiar to another in a different kitchen. I sigh, as thoughts of Marcus stitching up my leg years ago invade me. The memory hurts. The beginning of so many things that ended today in a hail of bullets started in that kitchen, in that house. So many things shattered today, so I decide to let this moment with this man take the place of the other one. This memory will be the one I hold onto. I close my eyes, breathe, and let that first kitchen slip away.

My emotions are under control; Jake, however, only seems to have one emotion. Severe annoyance, with a touch of seething anger. So, two emotions. He’s grinding his teeth, and his eye is still visibly twitching, but he seems pretty docile.Docile isn’t the right word. Compliant? No. Resigned?

Cutting up the back of my shirt to reveal the bullet wound, he releases another aggressive exhale and growls his words at me.“I’m going to freeze the area, but it won’t do anything to stop the pain from me digging around in there to get the bullet out.”I look over my shoulder at him.“It’ll help with the stitches.”Still looking at him, I mutter under my breath, knowing that he can hear it.“You could at least use your best bedside manner to help it hurt less,”his hands pause.

“No, Ava, I can’t. My good bedside manner is for patients who go to the fucking hospital when they have multiple gunshot wounds. It is reserved for patients who get in an ambulance and let the paramedics drive them to the hospital, not for patients who get in a car where they drive for God knows how long while bleeding heavily. So no, Ava. There will be no good bedside manner for you; patients like you get the bedside manner you are currently receiving and are happy about it. Besides, you aren't even in a bed. If you were in a bed, I’d be reminding you very sternly with my hand on your ass why we go to the hospital when shot and not to myhouse to sit on my kitchen counter bleeding all over my fucking quartz!”He chuffs at me.

I don’t reply; instead, I gently nod my head about 25 times, letting him know I’ve been properly chastised for my behavior.

“Now, be a good fucking girl and take a deep breath because this is going to hurt, and not in any of the fun ways.”

I take a deep breath preparing for the pain, but when some giant tweezers start to prod inside a bullet hole, no amount of preparedness is enough. White tinges the edge of my vision, and in that moment, I regret certain life choices. Specifically, the ones that led here to me sitting on this counter while my angry boyfriend digs a bullet out of me. I say nothing; I clench my teeth and keep breathing. Breathing is the first thing you learn with Harry. You learn that if you don’t breathe through it, whatever it is will win every fucking time. Never forget to breathe no matter the pain, I hear that old bastard telling me.

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