Page 58 of Secret
CHAPTER TWENTY-FIVE
He'd never been happier to get home. It had been the longest four-day trip of his life. After finally getting back to the hotel the night after the sting, he'd spent the next few hours with Beau on the phone walking Bryon and Xander through making sure his arm was okay. Beau wanted them to hurry back, but Kasey refused. If they checked out and left town immediately after such a huge sting, they'd draw attention to themselves. While he stayed in the room and watched TV, he'd sent the other three out to gamble and act like they were celebrating Bryon's engagement.
In all, thirty-seven women and children were rescued, and the mayor of the town was being investigated since the warehouse was purchased by one of his businesses. How stupid could people be? It didn't seem that the police were looking for the team as much as trying to find out who the women and children were and get them back to their families. Unlike back home though, everything had been mentioned in the local paper, including the fact that seven men had been castrated. Reaction around the community had been shocked at first, but Xander said he was hearing more support as he sat listening to the locals' talk. Either way, it was done and over. He was finally home.
More than anything Kasey wanted a hot shower and to go see Noam. He'd missed him more than he thought he would. The few times they'd talked on the phone, Noam had been busy, and their conversations were short. He got the impression that something was bothering Noam, but he wasn't going to push him to open up about it over the phone.
With a relieved sigh, Kasey dropped his bag on his bed and fell down beside it. He was exhausted. It wasn't so much the injury that bothered him as everyone trying to make sure he was okay and refusing to let him do anything. Once he got the pain and bleeding controlled, caught a few hours' sleep, and was sure he wasn't going to need to go to the hospital, he was okay. Sure, it still ached, sometimes hurt, but it was a bullet wound. He didn't expect it to feel good.
He was almost asleep when his phone rang. Sitting up, he grabbed it from his pocket and groaned when he saw Beau's name. "Hello?"
"You were supposed to wait at the house for me to examine your arm." Beau was using his authoritative voice he usually saved for his patients' parents.
"It's fine. Nothing to worry about." Kasey rubbed the area below the wound.
"And you became a doctor when?" Beau didn't sound amused.
"Come on, I just got home. My pain level is okay, there is light swelling, but that's to be expected. The site is weeping just like any wound would. I don't have a fever. I'm not dizzy. What more do you want?"
"For a doctor to actually look at it," Beau said.
"Fine, let me shower and I'll head back over." Kasey sighed as he glanced at the clock, wondering if Noam was home.
"Why don't you just come let me in your front door? I decided to be nice and make a house call this time."
"Why didn't you just say so?" Kasey headed to the front door, working the lock. He glared at Beau as he opened it.
Beau disconnected the call and slid his phone into his pocket. "Because I wanted a chance to bitch at you for not following protocol, and I wanted to hear you say you'd come see me and do what was right." Beau stepped inside.
"You're an ass."
"I'm the ass who can get you drugs to make the pain go away, so you better be nice." Beau set a backpack down on the couch, unzipped it, and pulled out a pair of gloves. "Let me see it."
Kasey carefully pulled his shirt over his head, trying to hide the pain as he moved his arm. Once the shirt was off, he tossed it on the coffee table and sat down next to where Beau was standing. "Happy?"
"Not yet, but getting closer." Beau started to undo the gauze bandage that was wrapped around it. "Be honest with me. How much blood did you lose?"
"Maybe a cup? Hell, I don't know. You know how blood is. It looks like there is more of it than there is. It was bleeding enough to soak through the t-shirt I wrapped around it and leave a small puddle on the floor before I got it covered. I was dizzy, but other than when the bullet hit me, I didn't feel like I was going to black out at all. The worst was Bryon and Xander trying to play doctor. I would have been better off doing it myself."
"Yeah, because it's so easy to reach the back of your arm to clean it up." Beau gently turned Kasey's arm as he inspected the entry and exit wound. "You were damn lucky. This could have easily killed you."
"You don't have to tell me. I've had that nightmare three nights in a row." Kasey rolled his eyes.
"Trouble sleeping?"
"No, just the thoughts before I go to sleep. I'm fine. I know it was close. I know what could have happened. I know I'm lucky. You aren't telling me anything I don't already know."
"You going to care about scars on those pretty biceps of yours?"
Kasey raised a brow.
"Okay, no jokes." Beau grinned. "Seriously, I'm glad you're okay. This could have been much worse."
"We've had worse." He thought about the bullet Xander had taken a few years back.
"We have, and I hate them all. I don't want any of you guys hurt. It's like hearing my brother's been shot. So, quit doing it and save us both the stress." Beau cleaned the area, then started to rebandage it. "What about pain? What do you want?"
"Tylenol is fine." Kasey hated harder pain meds.
