Page 80 of Under Their Protection

“The bullet got close to your spine, so I wanted to ensure we didn’t miss paralysis. I’m going to check the incision, okay?”

“As long as you don’t stab it like you did my foot,” I say.

“Nice to see you are still you, Ani,” Mia laughs.

Dr. O’Brien washes his hands and then puts on his gloves. He then pulls the blanket down enough so he can pull my gown up to reveal my bandages. He gently peels off the bandages and hands them to the nurse to throw away. He carefully presses on my abdomen in various places. I have a three-inch incision on the left side of my abdomen and he presses down.

“Ow!” I wince.

“You have an incredibly high pain tolerance,” he states. “Expect some pain once you are moving around though.”

“Meh. It’ll heal. I still managed better than the other guy,” I say.

“Did you know him?” he asks me.

“Yeah. He was my ex-fiancé. I would say I dodged a bullet by leaving him but I clearly didn’t,” I say, and Mia giggles. The doctor and nurse exchange a glance and smirk so I know they are painfully curious.

“I see you just got married?” The nurse asks me.

“Girl, the tea ishotwith this one,” Mia laughs.

“I am painfully curious,” Dr. O’Brien laughs.

“So, I left Isaac like three weeks ago because I came home from a business trip early and caught him in bed with my sister. I ended up staying with Rowan, who is my boss. I’ve worked with him for eight years. Then I realized Max was his best friend. Max I know from The Cherry. My sister is in kidney failure so my parents were going to deem me incompetent so they could sign and force me to donate a kidney to her. I got married to Rowan to block them from that. I ended up in court for that. Emma is Max’s sister and my lawyer. Emma brought Theo in to evaluate if I’m nuts or not because he’s a psychiatrist. Annie is his wife. Andrew is Annie’s boyfriend. Mia is my best friend,” I explain. They look confused so I continue. “So Mia is my best friend. Rowan is my husband. I am dating Max and Theo. Theo is married to Annie. Annie and Andrew are dating. Mia is dating Emma. And we all apparently live in the same house now… Oh Emma owns The Cherry. Isaac followed me, Rowan, Max, and Theo there.”

“So you’re poly?” The nurse asks.

“Yeah,” I laugh.

“I couldn’t have two wives. I can hardly keep track of one,” Dr. O’Brien says and Theo laughs.

“It helps when they both have a boyfriend or husband,” Theo chuckles.

“Or both,” I shrug.

“So your ex shot you because he cheated on you with your dying sister and you moved on?” The nurse asks as Dr. O’Brien is redressing my incision.

“Yup. Oh, and Theo was the one who shot him,” I say.

“I can tell you right now how you have a high pain tolerance,” Mia snorts. The doctor looks at her before smirking and shaking his head.

“When can I leave?” I ask.

“Well, since I know you will have plenty of people to look after you, I’m going to let you go home tonight. Just do me a favor and rest. Make those three men of yours wait on you hand and foot. You will need help for a while, so let them,” he says.

“You are talking like I’d refuse help or something,” I say, acting shocked.

“Anika, I’ve been doing this a long time. If it takes three men to handle you, I’m willing to bet you are painfully stubborn and independent,” he says.

“I think he just called you a brat,” Rowan says, grinning.

“I won’t give her a choice. I’ll be with her during the day while they work,” Maria says.

“I am definitely working from home,” I say.

“What do you do for work?” The doctor asks.

“I am a publishing agent for Genesis Press,” I say. “I’m sure a few of those authors have blown my voicemail up by now.”

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