Page 32 of Gemini
“You’re all banged up, baby, we have to.”
I tried to ignore his endearment and repeated, “Please…no. Get…Andrea.” She could at least check me. I might be in pain, but I refused to believe I was so bad off that she couldn’t decide if I needed to go or not. If I could avoid the look of devastation on my family’s face, I would. I would endure this pain over that any day.
Leslie was quiet for a moment, then he stirred, moving me on his lap. “Dom.”
Dom signed something at him with one hand, not once taking his eyes off the road.
Leslie cursed under his breath before I felt him shifting around. I saw the flash of his phone before he lifted it to his ear.
“Andrea. Yeah, it’s Lez.”
My body shook. Not from pain or fear but because I started to laugh. Even though it hurt like hell, I couldn’t help it. Just eight months ago, he had shot her, now he was calling her for help.
Leslie hugged me a little closer and I could hear the urgency in his voice. “We need you. It’s Lena, she’s hurt.” A pause and then, “I know but she doesn’t want to go. And honestly, I don’t want to go in there either.”
He was talking about the hospital. Did it remind him of that place he and his brother were trapped in as kids? I could see that. I could see how they’d want to avoid that place as best they could.
He gave Andrea an address, then stashed his phone away. “Andrea’s coming,” he said to Dom. “Go back to the clubhouse.”
The clubhouse. Their house? Guess it didn’t matter. As long as Andrea was there and I wasn’t alone.
The car sped up a little. I didn’t try to fight Leslie’s hold any longer. I even let myself drift off again, focusing on his breathing, feeling his heart pumping at my back.
Eventually the car slowed. When I opened my eyes again, we were parked in some dark courtyard and I could hear music playing somewhere close by. Dom got out and opened the back door while Leslie, hooking an arm under my legs, carried me out.
There were a few other cars coming into the courtyard as Leslie and Dom headed for a side door into a building with graffiti along the wall. There were other people here, but I could hardly make them out. I could feel their eyes on me though as we walked past and I really didn’t like that.
"Shit, man," said a large man at the door, gaping at me. "They got her good, those snake fucks." He let them in and they took me through a maze of dark passageways, then up a set of stairs until Leslie was kicking in a door. They entered what had to be someone's apartment, with a black couch and large TV to one side and a home gym on the other. They took me to the couch, Leslie setting me down carefully. I hissed in pain as I sprawled across the soft black seat, worried at first I'd get blood all over the furniture until Dom found a few towels and put one under me. Another he soaked with warm water. As he brought me into a sitting position, holding me up against his back, Leslie took the soaked towel and started to carefully clean the blood from my face. I flinched enough times that he had to hold my chin with one hand to keep me from turning away. Blood stung my nose. I could still taste it on my tongue.
When he cleaned me as best he could, he started to press his fingers along my skull. “She’s got blood in her hair,” he mumbled. He let his hand drift across my head through locks of my hair, letting them fall back over my shoulder. I could see the rage flash in his eyes. He stood and threw the towel down.
As he disappeared into another room, Dom took the towel and continued to dampen my hair, hoping to wash out some of the blood before he moved down the side of my face and neck.
I had no words. I felt nothing. I was so numbed out I could only sit there as he cleaned. My legs hurt, I was certain damage had been done. How much was yet to be determined.
Lez reappeared, and this time he had a black bag in one hand and a very intimidating pistol with a sight at the top in the other.
Dom smacked the side of the couch to get his attention, before signing something at him.
“I’m going back out. I’m taking Kris and everyone else we can get tonight with me,” he responded, checking the site on his gun.
Dom tried to sign something else, but Lez shook it off.
“I don’t give a fuck. They messed with what’s ours. Bullet or knife, someone is getting fucking obliterated tonight. And I think I know where to start. That should get Jasper’s attention.”
Before Dom could try to reason with him, Leslie was heading for the door. “Stay close to her. Make sure Andrea checks her good. If she has to go to the hospital, go with her.” Then he was gone, the door slamming behind him.
I could feel Dom’s anger, the heat radiating off him warming my back. He went to rinse the towel and returned a moment later to wash whatever blood was left.
Not long after, Andrea finally showed up. She looked much the same as I remember from our time in the church, only her hair was a little shorter. Her mouth was set in a hard line as she rushed over to our side.
“What happened?” she asked as she kneeled by the couch, setting down her medical bag and snapping it open.
Before Dom could sign anything, I replied, “Jumped.”
Her head shot up, eyes widening. “Jumped by who?”
“Long…story,” I slurred, the pain making me a little lightheaded. Everything was starting to come crashing down as the shock wore off.
