Page 2 of Consequences
Except, when I open Tennant up around the bullet entry, I see a problem.
“Shit,” I say. Donovan cleans up my field of vision, and I get a clearer look at the mess inside of Tennant. “Better get some blood now, Soren. I have to remove his spleen; it’s too damaged.”
Soren curses, but leaves his post, racing to the fridge and grabbing what we need.
“You two.” I look up enough to meet the eyes of both Bosses. “You need to leave.”
Allesandro shakes his head. “I’m not leaving Emilio. I can’t.”
Cristian sets a hand on his counterpart’s arm. “You don’t want to be here for this, Amico Mio.”
“Out, Allesandro,” Dr. Ranlen snaps, backing me up without looking up from her patient.
With a bit more grumbling, and long, lingering looks at the boy on the table, Cristian is able to usher the Martelli Boss out of the room. A bit of tension eases from not having them looking over our shoulders. I know they won’t go far. Hell, I’m sure the fucking hallway is packed with people waiting for news. Too bad they’re going to be waiting a long time.
“We need to get him to the hospital,” Dr. Ranlen says. “The bullet nicked his lung.”
“Kail knows what to do, and how to set up a ventilator,” I say absently.
“I’m worried about the lung collapsing.”
“We’ve dealt with it before,” I reply. “There isn’t anything we haven’t dealt with in this office. If I thought Cristian would have allowed it, I would have amputated Enzo’s leg myself last year. As soon as Donovan graduates, that will be an invalid argumenton his part. But…you know your Family best, Dr. Ranlen. If the situation is as dire as you think, do what you need to.”
My hands stay steady as I work on cutting Tennant’s spleen out. The work is delicate, and I’ve never removed an organ before, but I trust in my abilities, and that of my staff. Not even discussing the possible death of the Martelli Second, and future mafia spouse, interferes with how careful I am in every movement I make.
Alarms from the other side of the room blare. I keep an ear out should they need assistance, but focus on extracting Ten’s spleen, dropping it into the tray Donovan has ready.
“Time to go a huntin’,” I mutter. Louder, so Donovan can hear me, I say, “See if the bullet’s in the spleen, before I go digging around in his guts?”
“It's our lucky day, Doc,” Vonny replies.
“Good, because I need more blood. Hurry and close him up, Doc.” There's an edge to Soren’s voice that is full of warning.
A glance at the monitor tells me Tennant’s vitals are dropping. Fucking hell.
Double checking all of the arteries are tied off, I exchange the cauterizing tool for the suture kit.
“I'm calling it,” Dr. Ranlen says. “He needs a hospital.”
Fuck. The last thing I want is to undermine my colleague by insisting she not move him again. I know my team can handle it, but if it were me in her position, I know I'd make the same choice.
“Soren, Kail, go with her. Have James drive. Rose, switch places with Soren.”
There's a lot of commotion from moving bodies, and trying to get Emilio stable enough to transport, but I don't deviate from my task of stitching Tennant up. Donovan moves to clean and close a wound on Ten’s arm, and soon enough, it's only me, Donovan, and Rose left in the room.
“Go give them an update, Vonny,” I say, halfway through my suturing. “Seeing Emilio leave for the hospital is going to cause chaos, give them some good to hold onto. And then have one of your brothers call the clinic for you, I need an update on the situation there.”
“Yes, sir.” He tosses his gloves and washes his hands, before leaving the office for what I'm sure is the congregation in the hall.
“How's he looking, Rose?” I ask, finishing off my suturing.
“Vitals are improving, I’ll run the tests to see if he needs any more supplementing once you’re done.”
Looking at the numbers on the screens, I agree with her assessment. “I'm just about done here, go do a quick check of our supply—I have a feeling we'll have to call Murry for a fast restock—then we can start cleaning up.”
“Yes, sir.”
She dashes off, and I drop my tools onto the portable tray.
