Page 79 of Mile High Ruin

Marek, sitting opposite us, lowers his head.

Anton closes his eyes.

I turn toward Sloane. “That doesn’t give you permission to diagnose me.”

“No, the blood soaking through the replacement dressing does.”

I look down. The cloth at my side is darker than it was ten minutes earlier. “That is inconvenient.”

Sloane stares at me. “You are unbelievable.”

The hospital has already been contacted before we arrive.

That’s another advantage of employing people whose loyalty is purchased professionally rather than emotionally. The security agency has arranged a discreet entrance, and a private physician is waiting with two nurses when we pull into the underground access area.

Sloane tries to follow me immediately. One of the guards steps in front of her.

She stops, and her expression changes.

I don’t like it.

“She comes with me.”

Anton turns. “Vadim.”

“She comes.”

The guard steps aside.

Sloane looks at me. “You really do enjoy ordering everyone around.”

“Only when they waste time.”

“I’m beginning to think that’s your favorite excuse.”

The doctor examines the injury in a private treatment room while Sloane sits in a chair near the wall. The bullet has torn through the flesh along my left side without entering deeply. Painful, bloody, but fortunately uncomplicated. The doctor cleans it, checks for debris, gives me a local anesthetic, and closes the worst of it with several sutures.

Sloane watches everything, but she pretends not to. Every time I look in her direction, her attention moves somewhere else. Anywhere except my bare torso and the physician working near my ribs.

I enjoy this more than I should.

When the doctor finishes, he applies a dressing and begins explaining what I should avoid for the next several days.

“Strenuous activity,” he says.

Sloane looks at me.

I look at her.

The doctor continues, unaware. “No lifting, no excessive twisting, and I would strongly recommend avoiding anything that puts unnecessary strain across the abdominal muscles.”

Marek would enjoy this conversation far too much. Fortunately, he’s outside.

Sloane’s mouth twitches.

I wait until the doctor leaves. “Don’t say it.”

“I didn’t say anything.”