“My hand,” she sniffed. “I think he broke my hand.”
“Fucker, you better have a good reason for trying to take that girl,” said Jonas, staring at the man. He was hiding his face, downturned so no one could see him in the light. He continued to back up toward the steps when JT gripped the ball cap the man was wearing and tossed it.
“Reverand Sizemore, or should we say Morley Standard,” growled Luke.
Sizemore pulled his weapon, pointing it at the crowd. In his other hand, he had a grenade with the pin pulled, dangling from his finger. The crowd panicked, screaming and running toward the other side of the decks, giving Sizemore the advantage.
“Get everyone to safety,” said Luke. “Follow him!”
“Luke, we need a boat to get Khloe back to the hospital. I think her hand is broken,” said Ajei.
Luke stared at the man racing his small bateau out of the bayou and then back at their new doctor. Instead of risking lives in the dark, he called his father to notify him of what had happened.
Sizemore was in their neck of the woods and didn’t even know it. It wouldn’t matter. He’d be removed permanently, one way or another.
“It’s broken, isn’t it?” said Khloe.
“I’m afraid so, honey,” winced Gabi. “He did quite a number for just having squeezed it. You won’t need surgery, but we will have to set it and put a temporary cast on it.”
“That means I can’t work,” she said in a shaky voice.
“You’re internal medicine, Khloe. You can still work, but you won’t need to. We’ll cover for you for the next few weeks. Just take it easy and heal. We’re not worried about you working, honey.”
“Are you sure? I mean, I just got here, and I’m already taking leave.”
“You’re taking leave because a psycho tried to kidnap you,” said Ajei. “Believe me, we all understand. You just get well.”
“Thank you,” she said with some relief.
“By the way, did Jonas say anything when he got you to the boat?” asked Ajei without making eye contact.
“What? Oh, no. Well, yes. He said I shouldn’t have done something so stupid as dancing with a man I didn’t know.”
“What the hell did he mean by that?” growled Gabi. “You were available to dance, and someone asked you. You had no clue who that man was. That little shit needs to learn some manners.”
“Oh, don’t worry about it,” said Khloe, trying to brush it off and hide her hurt. “I think I misunderstood everything. I thought we were getting to know one another, but I’m obviously not very good with men.”
“It’s not you, honey. It’s them,” said Gabi. “I swear to God that Zulu has his head up his ass sometimes. I hint at things, even say things or write them down, and he still doesn’t get it. Some days, I think I could walk by him stark naked, and he wouldn’t know what I was saying.”
“Oh, I damn sure would know what you were saying,” frowned Zulu at the door.
Khloe laughed at the big man with the mean face. She knew how incredibly sweet and kind he was, but that face made her laugh.
“Hi, babe,” grinned Gabi. “What’s up?”
“I’m just checking on the little one there. Heard what happened, and we all were ready to burn down The Well.”
“She’s going to be fine,” said Ajei. “Broken hand, but she’ll be good.”
Zulu moved inside the doorway, and a dozen men were standing outside staring at Khloe. She just looked at them, confused by their expression. Then, they jostled around and pushed someone to the doorway.
“Jonas,” she whispered.
“Hi.”
“I’ll leave you two alone,” said Gabi. “Ajei, let’s go, honey.”
“But I want to stay,” she pouted.
