Page 12 of Tesoro: Mayhem Makers

“And you,” Kate spins her attention and pointer finger in my direction. “Plant your behind on that gurney there and do not move.”

Glancing in the direction she motions, I find Frankie sitting on a bed beside the empty one I’ve been assigned to with a smirk on his face. Like a disciplined child, I put one foot in front of the other, not stopping until my ass hits the gurney.

“Angelo is in there,” Frankie nods toward the closed door on the opposite wall. “He didn’t look good, Boss.”

Keeping my focus on Kate as she tucks that wayward piece of hair behind her ear, Frankie's choice of words take a moment to register.

“I’m not the boss, he’s?—”

“Barely alive, Dante.” Frankie interrupts through clenched teeth. His voice gravely as if he’d smoked for a ton of years. “You know the rules, better than anyone,” he adds in a whisper.

I do know the rules, every goddamn one of them, by fucking heart. Memorizing them was my part of our plan to make Angelo the Don.

“He isn’t dead, Frankie.”I hope, the latter, a silent prayer I wasn’t ready to utter.

“He’s unconscious, which is practically the same.”

“But it isn’t,” I snap, straightening my back as a man dressed in scrubs walks into the room.

“Hello, my name is Garret and I will be your nurse. Is it okay if I have a look at that arm of yours?”

I don’t care for Garret, for one he isn't Kate, and two, well, one is enough.

“Where is Kate?”

“Kate?” He repeats, surprised, his face colored in confusion.

“Gorgeous woman, great ass, and balls bigger than yours.”

“Oh, you mean Romano?”

I found it odd he called her by her last name. Maybe that's how they did it around here, or maybe… My thoughts trailed off, down a path which surprisingly made me angry.

“You fucking her?” Not sure why I care, or don’t tell him to ignore it.

“Romano is tough, far too tough for me. She has to be since she was the only female in her program.”

“Program?” My curiosity is off the charts.

“Yes, she just finished her residency. I think she still has to pass her boards, but from what I understand it’s just a formality.”

“What makes you say that?”

“Well, she started as a nurse, but she constantly found mistakes the doctors were making, still does?—”

“I understand that, Dr. Raymond.” The sound of her angry voice interrupts Garret. “Three bullets went into that chest and only two made exit wounds, there is still one in there.”

Glancing around Garret, I find Kate standing in the doorway, her gloved hands have patches of what I suspect are Angelo’s blood. Her face is red and that goddamn tendril of hair is loose again.

“I will remind you who is the senior medical staff here and who is still a nurse.”

“Please, Dr. Raymond, have them repeat the x-ray.”

“No need,NurseRomano, he is officially surgery’s problem. I’m sure they will find this missing bullet that even the x-ray couldn't locate.” He snickers, removing his gloves before tossing them into the trash. “Since we have this under control, I believe you would be better suited working in ICU. Maybe get a few more hours of studying done up there.”

As I move to rise from the bed, ready to tell this motherfucker to do as Kate says, an alarm shrills overhead sending him running down the hall.

“See what I mean?” Garret snickers. “Dr. Raymond thinks he is all that. Thank god the surgeons upstairs will do another x-ray.”

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