Page 97 of The Prodigy

“For me. I don’t know what y’all’s visitation rules are, but I’m gonna have two people outside my room tonight. I need you to let your staff know.”

He nodded slowly, having gotten the message. “Very well.”

“Also, my next of kin is Malika Windermere. She’s the only one who can get information from your staff. If anybody else asks questions, refer them to her.”

“Of course. There’s a form—”

“Have the nurse bring it in.”

“Right.” He looked at his clipboard. “We have you on a morphine drip right now. We typically start to wean you off so you can make the switch to pills, but if you like—”

“Nah, you can taper that off right now. And I don’t need pills. Just have them bring me some Advil.”

“Okay, but—”

“The strongest drug I want in my system is Advil.”

He nodded. “Very well. I’ll inform my staff. But…are antibiotics okay? Actually, I’m afraid I have to insist on those.”

“Yeah. That’s fine.”

He looked relieved. “Mr. Windermere, I’m…well, typically with gunshot wounds, the police come to the hospital and—”

“Don’t worry about it,” I snapped. “Ain’t nothin’ criminal goin’ on. It was an accident.”

The doctor nodded and left, probably relieved to escape.

I found the button to move the bed and used it to elevate my upper body. My left arm felt like it weighed two-hundred pounds, but I could handle that. What I couldn’t deal with was the fact that this was the second attempt on my life. And worse than that, it was somebody in my circle. Had to be.

Before I could torture myself trying to figure out who, Malika opened the door. She stood there and stared at me, her eyes full of fear. The air rushed out of me when I saw her, which was weird. I was relieved to see her. I felt it.

She approached me slowly, her eyes filling with tears. That shit touched me.

“I’m okay,” I said. “It’s just my shoulder.”

She burst into tears then, and I felt bad for making her cry.

“Calm down.” I reached out with my right hand. “Come here. Malika. Come on.”

She finally came within arm’s length of me. I grabbed her hand and pulled her closer until she was sitting on the edge of the bed. I wrapped my right arm around her.

“What you cryin’ for?”

“I don’t know,” she whined. “Seeing you in this bed with the IV, it just…it scared me.”

“I’m fine. Just a few stitches, but I’m good. They can’t take me down. Alright? I ain’t goin’ nowhere.”

“I asked you if you were safe. This is what I was talking about.” She squeezed my hand. “This is serious. Somebody really tried to kill you. Again.”

“I know, but—”

“Why the fuck were you even out without security? The first time wasn’t enough of a warning?”

“I—”

“What’s the security guy’s name?”

“McGrady. I already—”

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