The Love Of Money - Episode 174
30-07-25 (04:06)
Victoria's Secret models I seemed to surround myself
with. I blinked at him, and he looked down at me and
huffed, his bushy, iron-grey mustache fluttering.
"Looks like the patient is awake," he said in the gravely
voice that was probably inherited from decades of
smoking. He reached down and ripped the velcro cuff
off my arm. "Welcome back. Glad you're not dead. I'd
have only been paid half my rate"
He turned and strode over to a table where' a gym bag
lay open, its contents half spilled across the surface a
stethoscope, a white case marked 'first aid, a large
bottle of hand sanitizer, a few masks, and a few other
small-to-medium-sized instruments. He dropped the
blood pressure monitor on top of a box of gloves and
started shoving his tools back into the gym bag.
"So?" a woman's voice said from just behind me. I
slowly looked back and saw Erin leaning against the
wall, biting on a black- painted nail as she eyed the
doctor with her dark brown eyes.
"So?" The Einstein lookalike repeated, still packing his
equipment. "So, young lady, it looks like your man here
will make a full recovery in a few weeks. Nothing's
broken. He has several contusions on his fibula and
tibia, as well as his ribs." He stopped packing to look at
the pair of us. "That's doctor speak for your shins and
ribs are bruised." Despite sounding like our presence
annoyed him, something in his eyes gave me the
impression that it was at least partly an act.
He turned, got in my face, and flashed a small pen light
in my eyes, watching them closely as he continued, "He
has a concussion. In fact, that's the worst of it. I
wanted you awake so I could check your
responsiveness."
"That's what was in the needle?" Erin asked.
"Yes. Just something to wake him up. It should wear off
in about thirty minutes to an hour. He should be fine to
sleep after that. In fact, I'd recommend it." Seening
satisfied with my pupil activity, he turned off the
perilight and pocketed it.
"Besides that, you have a couple of loose teeth and lots
of bruising. That should go away in a few days. All-in-
all, I'd say you got off pretty lucky, considering what
they told me you went through."
"Lucky," I said and tried to sit up. "You're not the first to
tell me that." Erin immediately laid a hand on my chest.
"Hey, Just stay lying down. I'll get whatever you need."
"I'd listen to the young lady, Mr. Upton," the doctor said
as he zipped the gym bag closed. "Women. They're
usually right." He wagged his eyebrows at me. Erin
looked over at him, then back at me with a self-
satisfied smirk. I rolled my eyes and laid back down,
the last thing I needed was Erin with more self-
confidence than she already had.
"My whole body was screaming earlier," I said. "Why
does it feel like a dull roar now?"
"That would be the painkillers I gave you, son.
Something new, fresh off the FDA's radar. Costs a small
fortune, but I'm told you're good for it."
"Oh," I said, unsure how I felt about being given drugs
that were still hot off the presses of government
regulation. "Well, they work."
"I'll let the attorney general know," he said, standing
next to me with gym bag in hand. "Don't be a fool
though, bay. You may not be able to feel it, but you can
still damage yourself pretty badly if you're not careful.
So don't try doing handstands or anything. One more
thing. Your cholesterol is a tad high. It's not much, but
I'd recommend getting a jump on that."
"Thanks, uh..."
"Doctor Samuels," he said. "Now, there's a young lady in
similar condition to you that I need to look at, and then
someone with a bullet in her shoulder. I've done all I
can. The rest is up to God and time."
He exited the bedroom without waiting for a goodbye.
"What time is it?" I asked Erin.
"Nearly four."
"In the morning?"
"Yes," she said quietly, sitting on the bed next to me.
I looked around at the walls and furniture. "We're on
the plane?"
She nodded. "We took off as soon as you arrived." Her
face grew grim. "Boss, you and Natashya..."
"Is it as bad as it feels?"
"Probably worse since you're drugged up." She looked
around the room and muttered, "If only I had a mirror."
"Don't worry about it," I said, placing a hand on one of
hers.
She looked down at it and bit her lip. Then she looked
up at me, and I could have sworn her eyes looked a
little brighter than usual.
"Hey," I said. "We made it out."
She nodded. "I know. It was just really scary. You were
missing for three days."
"Does anyone know what happened or why?"
"No," Erin said, brushing her dainty fingers through my
hair. "We must have shown up 10 minutes after the
police did. I don't know how Chloe did it, but she and
Jon managed to get into the crime scene. Ashlee, Shea,
and I were going insane the whole time. About thirty
minutes later, they came back with John. The other
John is in the hospital." I started to say something, but
Erin beat me to it, "He'll recover and should be back in
New York in a few more days. It's being handled."
"Ray," I said, the image of his lifeless body dropping in
front of me was something I'll never forget.
"Yeah," she said. "I've already called Mack and gave
him the news. The body's back in New York, and we're
working with him to arrange the funeral. We're paying
for it... I thought you would want that."
"Yeah, I would," I said, swallowing the lump in my
throat. "They were going to adopt."
She was quiet for a long moment, then said, "I didn't
know that."
"I offered to help."
"That was very kind of you."
I didn't say anything. He died because of me. I didn't
feel like I deserved the praise. Don't forget to leave a Comment 
