Page 78 of Vas

Until that moment.

“Bad people?”

“Yes.”

Expression inscrutable and her voice holding a tone Vas couldn't read, she clarified her question. “Onlybad people?”

“Only the worst kind of bad, yes.”

More seconds passed. He could see her thinking but she’d yet to make a move.

“This is where you're supposed to cut your losses and run, but you haven’t yet,” he stated the obvious when he couldn’t stand the uncertainty a second longer.

“Do you want me to?”

“Anya,” he took a few steps to reach for her, moving too fast and tripping over who the fuck knew what, or maybe it was his own feet, the roomwasspinning just a bit.

Her bag dropped to the floor and she rushed for him. “Woah. Maybe you should sit down. You’ve lost a lot of blood.”

“I’m okay.”

“No, you’re not.” He felt a tug on his arm and let her lead him to the bed. “Sit.”

Sitting did help and the dizziness passed.

“When is the doctor coming?”

“Soon,” he gritted.

As if on cue, a knock sounded at the door.

“Oh, thank God.” Anya made to move, but he stopped her by taking hold of her forearm.

“No.” He struggled to stand. “I’ll get it.”

“Don’t be—” She started, but he interrupted her.

“I need to make sure it’s the doctor.” He took hold of her hand. “Promise you’ll stay… Please.”

The small jerk of her chin was barely discernible, but it convinced him she wouldn’t leave. At least not while he was incapable of stopping her.

Feeling a modicum of relief though he knew he wasn’t out of the woods yet, he popped into the bathroom on his way to the door to grab his knife. Through the peephole, he saw a man in a dark suit, with gray hair and a mustache.

Leaving the swing-bar lock in place, he cracked the door. “Credentials.”

A card slipped through the gap. Vas took it, read the information, and unlatched the door, opening it just wide enough for the man to slip inside.

“Dr. Oliver,” Vas greeted.

“I’m told you have a gunshot wound,” the man said with a slight British accent as his eyes drifted down. “Ah, yes. Let’s see it then.”

Vas lowered the towel.

Oliver whistled. “Got yourself into a bit of a nasty scrape, I see. Well, come along and we’ll get you patched up.”

The doctor got to work, pulling gadgets and gizmos out of his bag of tricks. He laid what suspiciously looked like a body bag out on the bed and indicated for him to lie down.

Vas felt the pinch of a needle and then his mind grew fuzzy and his body felt like it was floating on a cloud. His pain was fading. The bed shifted, and he could feel Anya sit beside him. Heard the sound of her voice, speaking words he couldn’t quite make out but was comforted by them just the same.

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