Page 111 of Locke 2

“Did you sneak to my cabin alone?” the doctor wondered, peering down at him curiously. “Or did you come with your partner in crime?”

Strangely there was no fear in that question. The handsome doctor’s face lit up with excitement.

Jem groaned.

“It’s just a graze,” the doctor said as he crouched down before him. “You’ll bleed out from it, but not for a while yet. You know,” he mused with consideration. “We could have a lot of fun in the meantime.”

Jem didn’t respond.

He was fucking shot.

He could barely breathe.

He groaned again, and the doctor nodded as though he’d spoken. “Yes, I think you like the sound of that, too. Tell you what. I’m going to find that beautiful girl you came here with. The one that hid from me in the gas station. Kari, isn’t it? You don’t forget a girl like that.”

No!

Now Jem tried to move. He tried to curse, but his mouth filled with saliva instead as pain spread throughout his body.

“That’s what I like to see,” the doctor said. “All that life!”

Jem was in a bad place, but the thought of Kali being found made him stop fighting. He needed to conserve his energy so hecould lunge at this fucker before he raised that gun at him again—

“I’m not going to kill you,” the doctor said, as if hearing his thoughts. “Not yet. I’m going to find your little tart. I take it she’s looking for that boy. I wondered why she would mentioned Lenny to me in the coffee shop. I’d been so careful.” He hummed in thought. “Anyway, if she’s keen on that boy, I’m going to throw her in that hole you both were so intent on finding. In the meantime, I’ll give you a head start.” He looked down at his watch. “When I leave, I’ll start the timer. Do you feel capable of giving me a good chase?”

What the fuck?

Jem grunted, wanting to murder the fucker with his bare hands. He dropped his forehead to the ground instead and breathed deeply.

“Excellent.” The doctor stood up. “I’ll be right back, but I’m hoping you won’t be here when I am.”

Then he was gone, and Jem was alone with his violent thoughts. He needed to get to Kali before the doctor did, but the chances of that were nil.

He could hardly move. He just needed to rest.

Slowly, he turned to his side and roared in pain. His hand clutched at his stomach. He took a breath in and a breath out, but the world was spinning, and he needed to calm the fuck down.

“It’s okay,” he whispered. “You can do this.”

He could.

He’d been shot before, remember? He could handle a graze in his stomach that actually felt like it was more than a graze and an actual giant fucking hole.

Not a big deal.

You just gotta breathe through the pain. Wasn’t that what everyone said?

He groaned and dug his hand into his pocket. He felt for Kali’s phone and pulled it out. With shaking, bleeding fingers, he swiped at the screen and attempted to phone Locke, but there was no signal.

Of course not.

He bet his phone would have worked.

“Fuck!’ he sputtered out.

He knew that was going to happen, but it still hurt.

Locke would know he was here, though. He had to be coming. He just needed to be alive before he did.

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