SHADOW
“Oh no!” I ran towards Zack as he lay down on the floor naked, whining in pain. He was shot. “You’re gonna be okay. I will take care of you.”
“I can’t heal properly with a bullet inside me.”
“I know.” I grabbed the shredded clothes on the floor, balled it, pressed it against the wound on his left thigh, and then tied it tightly.
“Fuck!” He winced in pain. “A warning next time?”
“No more next time. You will not be getting shot again.”
“Alessandro?” Everlee called him, slapping his face to wake up, but he was knocked down cold. “Guys, I think the bullet that shot him is silver. It has a nasty wound. The poison is spreading.”
“The portal will be open soon. We only have a minute,” Calder said as he duck-taped his uncle’s mouth and then proceeded to the hands and legs. He took off his clothes for possible trackers. Kain was wearing nothing but his boxers.
“I’ll take care of the boxes,” said Everlee. “Cal, carry Alessandro. Babe-”
“I know. I got this piece of shit. I couldn’t believe he was about to kill us all,” he said regrettably, “but we have to hurry before another reinforcement arrives.”
“Hey. Can you stand up just for a few seconds?”
Zack nodded, grimacing, holding his wound.
I put his arm around my shoulder and helped him get up.
“Fuck.” He groaned, hissing.
“You’re gonna be okay.”
“I think I’m better than Alessandro. Poor guy.”
“Save your strength and stop talking.”
“Guys, the portal.” The portal just appeared inside the bloody living room. Califf said, “You both go ahead.”
“Are you sure it’s Zarah’s?”
“I said, shut up, Zack.”
As we walked in, naked Zack was cupping his groin to cover his goods.
“Whoa!” I raised my hand. My heart was still pounding so hard, and my fear was still flowing in my veins, and the first thing I met was gunpoint. I almost dropped Zack. At least seven heads pointed their guns at us.
“What happened?” Sebastien’s eyes widened, seeing Zack’s blood all over my shirt. “Are you shot? Are you hurt?”
“Oh, my. What happened?” Zarah gasped, her dark eyes bulging.
“I’m fine, but this big guy that weighs tons isn’t so much.”
One of Sebastien’s men helped Zack and took him from me.
“Be careful.”
“Take him to the nearest room,” Zarah ordered the man. “I’ll be there.”
“He still has a bullet in him, but it’s not silver. Alessandro is badly hurt, though. Califf is with him,” I informed them ahead.
Califf and Alessandro walked in, but Califf was bleeding.
“Oh, my goddess.” I felt like I couldn’t breathe. I gasped for air. Before I fell, my father caught me.
“Breathe. His walking. His wound is just a scrape.”
The next one walked in Everlee with boxes, and then Calder followed, carrying his uncle over his shoulder like a sack.
“Who the fuck is that?” The blond guy asked.
“Lady and gentlemen, this is my uncle.” He dropped his uncle carelessly. “This piece of shit almost killed us all.”
Kain was still knocked out, only wearing his boxers, and his arm was bleeding.
“Tend his wound. I need him alive,” my father ordered his men. Bring him downstairs.”
“Yes, Alpha King.”
“Guys, I need your help. Does anyone of you have medical training or has experience taking out bullets?”
They all shook their heads, including me.
“I’ll help you, sweetheart,” my father told Zarah, walking towards her.
“Great. Wear gloves. Alessandro was shot with a silver bullet. Take it out while he’s passed out.”
I went to Califf. “Let’s clean your wound.”
“I’m fine, baby. It’s healing.”
“Don’t be a hardass. I need to clean it.” I held his hand before he could protest. I went to the room where they brought Zack and Alessandro. I was shocked that they turned the room into a small infirmary.
“Wow. Does your father have an infirmary in all his properties?”
“Yes,” Zarah was the one who answered. “He just bought this property from a playboy billionaire months ago. Since you guys couldn’t just walk into the ER, he had to build a small infirmary like this in case of an emergency like today.”
“Now, sit down, big guy.”
Califf sat down without protest. What happened back there almost caught us off guard. When those bastards pointed a gun at Califf, I nearly froze. Thankfully, I managed to put everything I learned to good use.
“What happened after I came in?”
“There was a lookout guy. I was about to walk in when he shot at us. I was hit, but Everlee killed him.”
“So I owe her a thanks.”
“That’s not necessary. What friends are for?” she said behind us.
I smiled and launched myself into her to hug her. “Thanks.”
She chuckled. “Welcome.”
I went back to Califf, and he was smiling. I grabbed a cotton swab and pressed it against his wound.
He hissed. His smile was gone. “What was that for?”
“To remind myself that you’re still alive.” I cleaned his wound and applied a topical antibiotic. “Done.”
“You can be a good pack doctor.”
“Jeez. No thanks. I hated studying.” My reply made him chuckle.
“Son of a bitch!” Zack caught our attention. Zarah just poured alcohol into his wound. “Can’t you give me first anesthesia?”
“You want anesthesia? Here-”
“Califf!” I called him before his fist hit Zack’s face. “I’ve seen enough violence for today, and he’s already in pain for saving my ass.”
“I saved your ass, Shadow.”
“We saved each other today. Now rest, Alpha.” I glared at him. I went to check through the drawers to find anesthesia. I grabbed a small syringe and extracted five milli from the vial.
“I changed my mind.” Zack’s eyes widened to see me holding a syringe and injecting it into his wound.
“Do you know what you’re doing?” Everlee asked.
“We’ll find it out soon enough.”
“What did you give him?”
“Lidocaine. I should probably check his vital signs. I helped Kindra in the infirmary. She usually did it.” I put the cuff on his arm and the probe on his finger. I pressed the power on button on the monitor, then the green button.
“Oh, it works,” Everlee reacted. “It looks normal. No alarm or straight line thingy.”
“Asystole, as Kindra called it.” I turned to Zarah. “We should call Dr. Sallie.”
“Unfortunately, I’m exhausted,” Zarah said as she pulled the bullet from Zack’s thigh and dropped it to the basin.
“Then rest, sweetheart,” said Sebastien.
“Yeah. We got it covered. I will finish it.”
“Just clean his wound. He will be fine.” Zarah stepped away from Zack, who just dozed off.
I took off the cuff and probe and put it on Alessandro. I did the same process, but the result was different. The alarm fierce loudly on their hearings.
“Father, maybe he needs blood. His blood pressure is only seventy over thirty,” Alarmed, I told him.
Everlee went to check the monitor. “What should I do?”
“It’s a touch screen. Just hit the alarm button to shut it off,” Sebastien stated, pointing his bloody hand at the monitor. “He will be fine as soon as I get the bullet from his abdomen. He can’t die. He won’t die today.”
The alarm shut off.
“What can I help?” Califf went to the side of the bed.
“If you can find a Saline solution and a set, that would be great.”
“Okay,” baffled, he said.
“I’ll find it,” Everlee volunteered and opened some cabinets.
“Girls, that crash cart is complete. Check the lower drawer. The name is written on the label, usually blue color.”
“Got it!” Everlee announced proudly.
“The set.” I raised it for my father to see.
“Yes. Take off the cap, and insert on the-”
“Father, we got it.” I ripped off the plastic packaging, removed the protective cover, and then Everlee inserted it into the rubberized lid.
“I need it right now!” My father snarled as another reading popped up on the screen.
“It’s ready.” Everlee hung the solution and let it flow into the set.
“Give me the tube.” My father expertly shut off the solution from flowing. Then he took off his gloves. “Wear gloves, Shadow. The bullet won’t hurt you. Take it out from his wound before he dies.”
“Okay.” I took a deep breath before I grabbed gloves and put them on. Califf adjusted the lamp ahead. And then I poured my gloves alcohol.
“Why?” Califf asked.
“Kindra said these aren’t clean. Sterile.” I inserted my finger inside the wound, making me grimace. “I can’t find it. I need that thingy. Like tongs.”
“It’s forceps, daughter. I’m inserting a line.”
“Yeah. Whatever.” I grabbed it from the tray. I inserted it in his wound and blindly located it. “How do you know any of these?”
“Once in my life, I was once a corpsman.”
“Really?” My eyes widened with the newly found information about him. I wondered how old he was now.
“Just be careful you won’t cut an artery.”
Then, the forceps hit something. “I think I got it.”
***
I threw myself on the sofa and raised my feet on the coffee table. “That was exhausting.”
“You just saved two men today.”
I snorted. “They risked their lives for us.”
“No, baby. They risked their lives for the mission, ending those bastards from taking us down one by one.”
“Yeah, and thanks for having my back.” I smiled even though I was exhausted.
“More like you had my back, back there.”
“I will always have your ass.” I squeezed his knee as I rested my head on his shoulder.
Calder joined us, and he still looked pissed and guilty.
“What is your Uncle?”
“What do you mean?” He looked at Califf in shock.
“He’s not human or a werewolf. What is he? I tasted his blood, which didn’t taste like us or human blood, but he’s something else, and his scent is nothing I smelled before.”
“He’s a werecat.”
“A what?” I stood up. My eyes bulged as my father joined us.
“He’s a Lycanthrope, one nasty fella. Just like us, but stronger and more vicious than werewolves.” He gazed down at Califf and Calder, who looked terrified. “If you caught him, he let himself, and he’s here for a reason, for something. This is a part of the grand plan.”