“He’s going to die,” I say to Lily, after inspecting his wounds.
I would never say those words in front of a patient in the normal world, but I left that world a long time ago.
“We need that to not happen,” Lily says grimly.
“If your father really wants him to survive, then he’ll get him to a hospital. But, even then, it’ll be too late. He has burns to at least thirty percent of his body. His lungs and airways are probably compromised. Infection has probably already set in.”
I run a frustrated hand through my hair.
Max is a fucking monster.
Nothing hurts like a burn.
“You know he isn’t going to agree to that.”
The events of the last twenty-four hours catch up to me, and I feel my last nerve snap. “How do you stand it?” I ask, unable to hide the accusatory tone from my voice.
She takes a step back. “What do you mean?”
“Look at him.” I point to the biker on the bed. “Is this really okay with you?”
“No, of course not.”
“It must be, or you wouldn’t stand for it. If you had an ounce of compassion, you’d make Daddy take him to hospital.”
Lily’s eyes narrow. “First of all, my daddy won’t listen to anything I have to say. I’ve already tried convincing him to get him medical help, which he refused. And secondly, fuck you for accusing me of thinking that any of this is okay. Get your head out of your ass, doctor. If I thought this was okay, why would I have done everything in my fucking power to help him?”
She glares at me, and I glare right back.
And I hate noticing how bright her eyes turn when she’s angry.
Worse than that, I hate how much it turns me on.
With a growl, I turn away. I don’t have time for this.
“The best thing we could do would be to fill his veins with the last of the morphine… and put him out of his misery.”
“And what do you think will happen then?”
I turn back to look at her. “What do you mean?”
“Keeping him alive is the best chance you’ve got—”
She stops talking when the door opens, and Max appears with his not-so-mini-me walking close behind him. By the way Otto glares at me, I don’t think he likes me. Which is heartbreaking for sure.
“How’s the patient,” Max asks.
“He’s stable for now, but he needs antibiotics and clean wound dressings. Not to mention more morphine and a proper IV set up,” says Doc, unable to hide his anger.
“That can be arranged.” Max turns to Otto. “You know what to do.”
“Onto it, Prez.”
Max looks at this daughter. “Tiger Lily, go with Otto to make sure you get what the doc needs.”
Lily tenses beside me, and when I glance at her, I see the fear on her lovely face. “No, she needs to stay here,” I say quickly. “I’ll need her to assist me.”
Before Max can disagree, I pick up the notebook and pen I always keep in my medical bag and scribble down a few more items that I need.
“Listen, I don’t know where you plan on getting the morphine, but given that it’s the middle of the night, I can only assume the plan is to break in somewhere. I don’t know, and I don’t want to know. Just get me all the morphine you can.” I tear out the page and hand it to Max. “There’s a list of everything else I need.”
Max thinks for a moment. I’m being ballsy and probably pushing my luck demanding Lily stay behind while Otto gets everything on my list, but the pounding in my head makes me unsurprisingly less friendly. I don’t plan on making any of this easy for them. These assholes wanted me...
Well, here I am, motherfuckers.
Otto’s eyes remain fixated on me as Max speaks. “You heard the man, Otto. Take Lucien and get everything the good doctor needs to help Odin.”
Otto takes the list, and with one last glare in my direction, leaves the room.
Max is still looking at me. “Just a word of warning, doctor… this is my club, meaning I make the demands around here. You will do very well to remember that.” A tense moment tightens in the air between us before that sinister smirk breaks across his stony face. “Now, if you two will excuse me, I’m going to check on Sunshine and Bluebell.”
When he leaves, I turn to Lily. “What’s the story with you and the Neanderthal?”
“You mean Otto?”
“Yeah, the crazy bald guy who can’t keep his eyes off you.”
She looks down and starts to play with the charm bracelet on her wrist. “We used to date.”
“And I’m guessing by the way you’d rather stick needles in your eyes than go anywhere with him, it was a while ago?”
“A lifetime ago.”
“And it ended badly?”