Redemption (The Protectors 8)

“The burn is really bad…bad enough that I think it will get infected if it isn’t treated properly.”

“We have to finish making dinner,” he said quietly. I was beginning to think he might be in shock because he seemed out of it.

“I’ll call Father O on the way. I’m sure he can ask Sherry or Patrick to come in early…we finished most everything anyway, remember?”

Levi managed a simple nod.

“So, you’ll go?” I asked, not sure what I’d do if he said no.

Another nod. “Please don’t tell Father O what I did.”

“I’ll just tell him you burned yourself while cooking.”

“I just wanted it gone, Phoenix,” he whispered suddenly.

“I know you did, baby. Let’s just get you to the hospital so they can get you feeling better, okay?”

“Yeah,” Levi murmured.

I got the injury wrapped as best I could and then led Levi to my car, locking the soup kitchen door behind us. Once I had Levi settled, I called Father O and told him the story I’d come up with to cover for Levi. I was certain lying to a priest had to count as some kind of sin, but since I’d been doing it from day one, I figured adding another falsehood to the list wasn’t going to matter much.

The ER was a zoo when we arrived, but fortunately we didn’t have to wait too long after seeing the triage nurse. But as I got up to go with Levi to be examined, Levi dealt me yet another blow when he said, “Can you stay out here?”

I nodded, but said, “You sure?”

He nodded and then followed the nurse down a hallway through a set of automatic doors. I dropped back down into a waiting room chair to begin the wait. I kept replaying the moment in my head when I’d discovered that damn tattoo. Instead of hearing Levi out, I’d turned my back on him.

So much for earning his trust.

The minutes turned into an hour and then another. I’d had enough sense to call Levi’s work, since I hadn’t been sure if he had his phone on him. I’d spoken to his boss, who’d merely introduced herself as Betty, and explained that Levi had had an accident. The woman had been beside herself with worry, but after promising I’d have Levi call her as soon as he was feeling up to it, she’d settled down and told me to let Levi know to take as much time off as he needed.

I suspected it would be a challenge getting him to take off even the one night.

“Mr. Jones?”

I jumped to my feet and searched out the person who’d called my name. A young man in a long white coat was standing near the double doors leading to the treatment area.

“I’m Phoenix Jones,” I called as I hurried to him.

“Mr. Jones, I’m Dr. Clark. I’ve been treating Levi for the burn on his wrist.” The man glanced at the tablet in his hand for a moment before he finally focused his attention on me. “Levi has given me permission to talk to you about his injuries and the treatment plan.”

Thank fucking God!

“Okay,” I said, hoping my voice sounded more in control than I was feeling at the moment. I wasn’t a big fan of hospitals.

“Levi has sustained a third-degree chemical burn to the inside of his right wrist. He tells me the burn was caused by oven cleaner. As you may or may not know, some oven cleaners contain sodium hydroxide, also known as lye.”

I nodded. “Yeah, I saw the bottle. It had lye in it.”

“Lye doesn’t instantly burn the skin; it takes time to actually cause damage. With the severity of Levi’s burn, I estimate he had the oven cleaner on his skin for at least fifteen minutes. He would have been in quite a bit of pain at that point.”

I wanted to throw up. I’d spent those fifteen minutes ignoring him because I’d been so pissed. “I didn’t know what he was doing,” I murmured.

I felt a hand on my shoulder and realized I’d dropped my eyes at some point. Worse yet, they were blurry from the tears I was trying to hold back.

“He told me why he did it,” Dr. Clark said as he removed his hand. “You were right in how you treated the burn before bringing him here. The good news is that the fact that he was in so much pain means the nerves weren’t permanently damaged. We’ve given him a mild painkiller to help take the edge off while we’re cleaning and dressing the wound. It will likely become more painful as it starts to heal, especially as the skin begins to scab over.”

“Do you have to do skin grafts or debridement or something?”

“Surgery is an option to try and reduce the scarring, but Levi has declined that line of treatment. He says he doesn’t care if it scars or not. His biggest concern is whether or not the tattoo is gone.”