Page 8 of Bazooka
“No hospital,” Luz growled, straightening up with a groan of pain.
I looked at him in disbelief because… couldn’t he see himself in the mirror?
“Are you insane? Someone beat you to a pulp, Luz. You could have internal bleeding.”
“I mean it,” Luz said, wheezing. “Stop the car.”
I ignored him, but he reached for the handle and opened the car door. When I heard the cars whooshing past us and realized the lunatic was ready to jump, I slammed on the brakes.
“Okay!” I exclaimed in alarm. “Close the damn door. Fuck! Did you commit a crime, or what? Is that why you won’t go to the hospital?”
Luz closed the door, sniffling. “No. I’ll… I’ll be fine, okay? I just need to rest, that’s all.”
He was being unreasonable, yet I had no other choice but to consider my other options. After deciding on one of them, I made a quick call, stopping only when we reached my building. When I opened the car door and scooped him up in my arms, he groaned in pain. I carried him into the building and climbed the stairs that led to the first floor. Once in my apartment, I put him on the bed before bringing him a glass of water.
“Drink this,” I said, raising his head and holding a glass to his mouth.
He took a sip, but his eyes remained closed.
“How are you feeling?” I asked him the stupidest question in the world because he looked like shit.
“Fine.”
He wasn’t fine. Both his eyes were swollen and half-closed. His cheek was badly bruised, as if someone had dragged his face over the asphalt. His lips were cut in a few places. The laceration above his eyebrow was still bleeding, so I went to the bathroom to get the first aid kit and towels. When I returned, I pressed the towel to his forehead and held it there for a minute or two.
“Help is coming,” I said, breathing a sigh of relief when I saw that the bleeding had stopped.
Luz muttered something incoherent while I reached for my phone and dialed a number.
After a few moments, a deep, lazy voice answered.
“Isn’t tomorrow your first day on the job, Bazooka?”
“Hey, Adam. It’s something else. Luz was attacked tonight. Can you send someone to the crime scene? They jumped him in the parking lot behind Pete’s.”
Adam “The Scarface” Markland was the longest-serving police officer in the LD, mostly thanks to his shiny personality. There wasn’t one toe he didn’t step on, so he wasn’t leaving the LD anytime soon.
“That little shit is in trouble again, huh?” Adam said, sounding bored.
“Yeah. I can’t leave him alone; otherwise, I would do it myself.”
“I’ll tell Jordan to send someone. That weirdo has too much time on his hands, anyway.”
“Thanks.”
Just as I hung up, my doorbell rang. I hurried over to the door and opened it, letting John Smith inside.
“Thank you for coming.”
John Smith ran his fingers through his hair, looking fidgety as always.
“You know I usually work with dead people, right?” he said, pushing his glasses up his nose.
John Smith was a forensic examiner for the Losers Division, but I didn’t know who else to call on such short notice.
“Just take a look at him,” I said, pointing toward the bedroom. “If you can’t help him, I’ll take him to the hospital whether he wants it or not.”
After John Smith opened his bag, I left the room, giving them privacy. I put on some coffee, looking out the window at the city enveloped in darkness.
