Page 49 of Jackal

Lacy turned around. “I’ll be right out here. Just hurry, okay?”

Her big, blue eyes were round and panicked.Something happened while they were out.

Before she even closed the door, I threw the blanket off of me and started pulling my clothes on as fast as I could. I was still pulling the shirt down with one hand as I opened the door with the other.

Eagle and Lacy were whispering, but stopped when he noticed me over her shoulder. “Shiv, I need you to follow me.”

Lacy nodded as she grabbed my hand. We hustled down the hall and made it all the way to the door to the bar when she looked down, stopping our forward progress. “Where are your shoes?”

“Who fucking cares about my shoes? Let’s go!”

Eagle grabbed my arm and opened the door, Lacy sighing behind us. My mind was still catching up with being woken up and hurried out. I barely noticed how quiet it was in the bar before we went down the familiar hall where I’d most recently hooked myself up to a saline bag to cure a hangover.

When we made it to the door, Eagle stopped and his brown eyes softened. “Shiv-”

“Get out of my way,” I said, as I broke from his grasp and pushed my way inside, unsure of what I would find on the other side. But I had to see for myself.

When I opened the door, though, I gasped. Partly from fear, partly from relief. Jackal was sitting in a chair next to the hospital bed that held Hawk. They both looked ashen, but Jackal was able to sit up, while Hawk seemed to be going in and outof consciousness. “Shit. Move, move, move,” I said, pushing my way through men to Hawk’s side.

Mama Hen hustled inside and handed me a medical bag, the same one that had been shoved at me before. It held some basic tools and supplies.

As I dug around the bag for the scissors to get his clothes off, I said, “I need some kind of antiseptic, and go grab a saline bag.”

Mama Hen rushed out and shut the door. I grabbed at the leather cut but two hands gripped my shoulders. “I’ll get that,” Eagle said and pushed me aside.

Rolling my eyes, I climbed on the bed and cut his t-shirt down the middle. “Well, move your ass. Do you want to save the fucking vest or Hawk?” I shouted as I waved the scissors.

“Lil Bird,” Jackal said as he leaned toward us and winced.

“Don’t speak. No one speak.I’mthe captain now.” I always wanted to say that and it gave me a small sense of pleasure to tell all these guys that. But if they wanted my help, they needed to listen and get over themselves. Last time I did this I was still in shock from my own harrowing night, and I remember asking some questions, but letting them rush me. I only got some minimal snark out that night, but this was different.

Eagle pulled Hawk’s arm from one side, then the other before pulling it from beneath him. Once he moved, I climbed down and cut the arms from the t-shirt so I could be sure I knew where any wounds were.

Mama Hen came back in, setting a few things on the table. There was alcohol, peroxide, and some iodine. “Take those tweezers and that scalpel and pour alcohol over them. Hand me the gauze,” I told her. “Some of you need to get the fuck out. Not her.”

There were too many bodies in the small room. I needed space and to be able to work without them all staring me down.

“You heard her, go,” Mama Hen said, trying to shoo them out.

Falcon, Eagle, Red, and Rooster all made their way to the door, but I said, “One of you stay close in case I need help.”

Jackal stood as I was trying to clean some of the blood off Hawk’s abdomen, and I happened to glance up and realized the blood on his hands wasn’t Hawk’s. A line flowed down Jackal’s arm from under his shirt.

I stopped working on Hawk and stared at him. “Oh God,” I practically whispered. A lump in my throat prevented any more sound than that.

“I’m okay, Lil Bird.”

After swallowing the lump, I cleared my throat. “I said no speaking. No speaking unless you’re Mama Hen. Sitdown.” I pulled the large gauze from the bag and looked around.Shit. Walking around to the other side of the bed, I pulled his vest off that arm and moved the collar of his shirt. Looking back, Hawk was definitely in worse shape. I slapped the pile of gauze hard against the wound then grabbed his hand and put it over them. “Hold this, good pressure.”

His other hand gently gripped my wrist and when my eyes met his, he gently said, “I’m okay.”

My heart was beating wildly, almost out of rhythm. “I said no speaking.” I fought to keep tears from building in my eyes.

Walking back around, I grabbed Mama Hen’s hand. “I’m going to do my best. Just stay calm and do what I say, alright?”

She nodded quickly. She was a tough lady, but her son was laying in front of her with open wounds. All the biker lady in her couldn’t hide the fear in her eyes. “What do you need me to do first?”

After giving Hawk a shot of Dilaudid, fishing two bullets from him, and sewing him up, he seemed to be stable. We hooked up the IV for fluids and had some Codeine ready in case he wokeup. I didn’t want to completely dope him up because I needed to be sure he could feel everything. But I gave him the good stuff before I dug the bullets out so he didn’t come-to while I was doing it. Especially since I kicked everyone out.

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