Page 110 of Rio's Release

“What’d they say?” Zig snaps, worry stamped all over his face. “Is he okay?”

“I don’t know. They’re working on him now. The nurse told me they would probably do some imaging to get the full picture, but his vitals weren’t too bad, and that was a good sign.”

Blue reaches a hand and squeezes my arm. “He’ll be all right.”

I try to give him a smile, but I don’t feel it. Until I hear that from a doctor, I won’t stop worrying.

“You want some coffee?” Blue asks, always the attentive bartender.

“Not right now. Thanks.”

Zig puts his arm around me and walks me away. “Sit down. This could be a while.”

I drop into a plastic chair, and he sits next to me. Staring at the floor, I feel lost.

Zig reaches over and pats my leg.

“I didn’t get to tell him I loved him. They rushed me out.”

“He knows, darlin’. The important thing is you came back.”

“I should check in with Jenny. I’m sure she’s worried sick.” I get up and make the phone call, then return, taking my seat next to Zig. “Bella is fine. She’s sleeping.”

“Fuck, that door is damaged. I’ll send someone to fix it. I’d send one of the guys, but I know they don’t want to leave here until they know Rio’s condition. I’m sure I can find a company to do the work.” He steps away to make the call, then returns with a coffee for each of us.

“Thanks.”

We wait for hours, and I watch the big clock on the wall.

Finally, a doctor in scrubs comes out and calls my name.

I stand, and Zig does, too.

The doctor spots me and approaches us.

I try to read the expression on his face for some sign of what’s coming, but he’s got a good poker face.

“He’s stable. Abdominal gunshot wounds can be tricky. They can cause significant damage in the abdominal cavity. The trajectory of the projectile can be unpredictable. There’s always the concern that Internal organs may be affected such as the small and large intestine, the liver and vascular system. Your boy got lucky. In this case, no intraabdominal injury was found during imaging. No damage to large vessels was found,and luckily, there was no damage to his kidneys. There were, however, small bone fragments from his iliac crest, which is the upper part of the hip bone. Because of that, we did an exploratory laparotomy to confirm there was no further damage. Despite the trajectory of the projectile which crossed the abdomen, we found no other damage. We repaired both the entrance and exit wounds. He’ll stay in the hospital for forty-eight hours for observation, and then hopefully, he’ll be good to go home.”

I’m holding my breath the entire time he’s speaking, trying to comprehend his words. None but the last sentence really sinks in. “So, he’ll be all right?”

“He should be. Things look good right now. We’re giving him something to fight any possible infections. Like I said, he’ll stay for observation.”

“Thank you, doctor.”

“They’re moving him to a room right now, and someone will be down shortly to let you know that information.”

Zig shakes his hand. “Thanks, doc.”

The man walks away, and I turn and hug Zig. “He’s going to be okay.”

His arms wrap around me, and I sag against his chest.

I pull back, and wipe away happy tears.

He jerks his head to the others. “Let me tell the boys.”

I slump into the nearest chair, relief flooding through me.

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