Page 48 of Waiting Game

Antoni and Rome were then instantly by our side.

“Follow them,” Toni ordered the group of other men who had just arrived.

They each nodded once, and then drove off after the men who had followed us.

“I’ll get the kit,” Rome said, rushing towards their car.

She came back with an arm full of fabrics and dressings and dropped them on the floor in front of us. I began packing the wound, but blood was pooling out.

“This is going to hurt, I’m sorry,” I mumbled to Ren as I knelt my knee above the wound, using my body weight to keep the pressure on. His face scrunched up but he didn’t make a sound.

“We need to call an ambulance,” I said to Antoni.

“No. I’ll put him in the car,” he said, shaking his head.

“Toni, he needs to go to a hospital,” I spat.

“No hospitals,” he said simply, “I will call our doctor on the way home.”

“Toni, he’s your friend.”

“Which is exactly why I’m not taking him to the hospital. They will call the cops,” Antoni said, as he and Rome lifted Ren into the car.

“Sit him up,” I instructed.

I slid into the backseat of Antoni’s car with him and Rome hopped into the driver’s seat again. Antoni got into Ren’s car and followed us home.

He laid down on my lap, and I felt his pulse.

It was getting weak and I felt the anxiety grow.

The packing was already soaked through, so I removed it and put new ones in place, shaking my head at the wound.

I kept my fingers pressed to the wound, and my hands were now stained with blood.

Both Ren’s, and of the man I had killed.

I could not take back what I had done.

I would not be able to wash off the stain.

14

Chapter 14

Ren

It was the second most painful experience of my life.

But while I was laying in her lap as she stroked my hair, it didn’t feel quite so bad.

“Please take us to the hospital, Rome,” she begged.

Rome looked at her through the rear view mirror with sympathy in her eyes, and then she stole a quick glance at me. I shook my head.

Going to a hospital like this was dangerous.

As soon as they saw that it was a gunshot, the police would be called and an investigation would be launched. As soon as they realised that The Family was involved, we would all be going down. Australia was not like the States, the firearms laws being much stricter and therefore, casualties of gun fights generally attracted a lot of scrutiny and unwanted attention.

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