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“We’re going to crash.” For the first time all night, Jasper sounds calm as the car hydroplanes out of my control.
“Motherfucker—”
My gun is sliding off my lap, and I reach for it. The cool metal just barely meets my fingertips before I hear the sound of a gunshot.
There’s a roar of terror, and then the crunch of metal as we spin into a tree.
After that, there is only darkness.
43
ARSEN
“I think he’s waking up.”
My head hurts like a motherfucker, but I’m not so far gone that I can’t recognize Gedeon’s voice.
So far, so good.
I blink my eyes open slowly, taking pains not to make any sudden movements until I know the extent of the damage.
“Arsen?”
Dominik.I recognize him, too.
Little by little, I’m coming back to myself. If someone asked me what year it was, I’m eighty percent sure I’d get it right.
In regards to pulling myself from the tangle of scrap metal that must be my car, I’m a little less certain. But it has to be done. I have to get out of this car. Back to Laila.
But when my vision finally clears, I don’t see debris or darkness. I’m staring at the bright light of a hospital room. The smell of alcohol and disinfectant is so strong, it’s dizzying.
Or maybe that’s the concussion.
“How long have I been out?” My voice is a painful, raspy whisper. Judging from the fresh bruise peeking out from beneath the bandages around my arm, it hasn’t been long since the crash.
“A couple of hours. I wanted to do a house call,” Dominik rushes to explain, “but you were knocked out. We didn’t know how bad things were. So I brought you here.”
“And?”
I lift an arm and Gedeon grabs hold of it, pulling me into an upright position. The ache in my body is dull. I should be able to walk this off.
“You have a couple of bruised ribs, lesions along your arms, and a forehead contusion,” Dominik says like he’s reciting my chart from memory.
I shove the thin blanket off my lap to discover that I’m still wearing my suit pants. My shirt is draped over the arm of the plastic chair at my bedside. It’s covered in dried, red blood.
“Blyat’,” I whisper as the full memory of the night sharpens into focus.
“I’ve got clothes you can change into,” Gedeon offers.
“Where’s Jasper?” I remember the gunshot, but everything after that happened too quickly. I don’t even know if he was hit. “The gun went off.”
“I can’t believe he pulled a gun on you,” Gedeon growls.
“He’s an ungrateful bastard,” Dominik adds.
“It wasn’t his gun; it was mine.” I close my eyes and try to piece together anything useful, but there’s only the deafening shot and then darkness. “He tried to grab the wheel, and I pulled it on him.”
“That’s why you swerved,” Dom realizes.
