Page 69 of Toxic Vengeance

“Okay, let’s lay you down here so Heath can doctor you up more,” Jesse said as he helped Zack into the small bedroom at the rear of the cabin.

Oh, yes, thank God for the bed in the back.

Zack kept one hand pressed to the entry wound and entered the cabin, then gingerly stretched out on his uninjured side while Heath pulled on a new pair of gloves and came to crouch beside the bed with his med ruck. The bandages he’d wrapped around Zack earlier were completely saturated. He dripped blood onto the sheets as Heath unwrapped his waist.

Zack clenched his teeth at the sudden, intensified burn as the air hit the wounds.

“We’re gonna need an ultrasound done on your left kidney when we get to the UK,” the former PJ said, reaching for his ruck. “In the meantime, I’m gonna put in some stitches for now. Don’t have any lidocaine on me, but I think I’ve got a fentanyl lollipop in here somewhere if you want it.”

“Nah, I’m good.”

“You sure? No shame in it.”

“I’m sure.” These guys barely knew him. He wasn’t gonna pussy out and suck on a damn lollipop just for some stitches. But he wasn’t gonna look while Heath put them in, either. “Go ahead.”

“Got a tongue depressor here. Wanna bite down on it?”

“Just sew me up,” he said curtly, sick of bleeding all over the place and just wanting it over with.

“Okay.”

Turned out that having his hide stitched back together without any anesthetic sucked, he decided a few moments later. Heath held a penlight in his teeth while he sewed Zack up with the curved suture needle. Having a needle stabbed into torn flesh wasn’t any fun, and neither was the thread as it pulled through—especially when Heath just kept going. And going.

“How many stitches are you putting in me?” he bit out.

“Enough so you don’t leak all over the place,” Heath responded around the penlight. “Shoulda taken the lollipop.”

Zack was clenching his jaw and trying to think of something else when Eden walked in a moment later. “Hey, how you doing?” she asked softly, coming to kneel in front of him so they were at eye level. She took one of his hands, her eyes full of concern as the engine noise increased and the plane started forward.

Christ, she was beautiful. Just looking at her eased his pain. “Good.”

She looked at Heath. “Did you give him any pain meds yet?”

“Nope. Just about done with the stitches now. When was your last tetanus shot?” he asked Zack.

“Can’t remember.”

“Okay, so you’re getting one of those, too.”

Awesome. What was one more needle stick on top of everything else he’d just gone through?

“How bad was the exit wound?” Eden asked, peering anxiously at Heath’s hands as he worked.

“About twice as big as the entry wound. He’s missing a decent size chunk out of his hide, but he’s lucky. Shock wave could have pulverized his kidney.”

Eden stroked her thumb across the back of Zack’s hand while Heath tied off the last suture and then gave him the tetanus shot in the side of the ass.

He’d barely withdrawn the needle when hurried treads came up the aisle on the other side of the door, then Trinity yanked it open a second later. “Get ready for immediate emergency takeoff.”

Eden shot to her feet and spun to look out the small window as Zack bit back a groan and pushed up on his right elbow. “More shooters?” he asked, tensing.

“Two vehicles racing for us,” Trinity answered, moving to watch over Eden’s shoulder.

“They’re coming up fast,” Eden said, her posture stiff. “How long until we’re on the runway?”

“Under a minute, hopefully.”

Zack thought fast as Heath wound a fresh bandage around his waist. “Have we got any rifles on board?”

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