Dominic
“Room three-twelve. Shit, there it is up there. You gonna be able to make it up the stairs?”
“Don’t got a choice, do I? Let’s go.”
Alannah pays the cab driver and makes her way around to my side of the car. She opens my door for me and helps me to stand up, which is unbelievably difficult with this bullet stuck in the back of my leg, but I manage with her help. I thank the driver again—our third one since all the shooting earlier today—and the two of us head for the dreaded stairs.
We switched cabs because we didn’t want the one that picked us up to be the one that dropped us off, just in case Victor and Giovanni got the idea to start asking cab companies about us. Better safe than sorry. We came to a place that we didn’t think people would expect us to stay, somewhere completely out of the city and with a level of luxury far lower than that of River City or any of the casinos I own. We’re in room three-twelve of King’s Court Motel, some half-decent place on the side of the road as you exit the city heading up towards Wisconsin. After all that has happened, we need to lay low, and going back to any of the places I own would be a death trap, plus I don’t make moves without knowing what’s going on.
While, it’s obviously fair to assume that Victor got permission from the Commission to have me whacked, I don’t know that for sure, and I don’t know why. I could also assume it’s because we owe him money and never paid, but it was Jimmy who started all that and he should’ve been the one to have to pay, so I’d expect the Commission to put a contract on Jimmy before me. But Victor has a lot of pull when it comes to New York, so he could’ve placed the blame anywhere, and the Commission would go along with it. So, I’m in the dark for the time being. The most important thing right now is catching my bearings, getting some rest, and protecting my woman and my baby. After I lock all those things in, then I’ll start to think about my next move. So for now, I just focus on struggling up these fucking stairs.
Alannah has an arm around my waist while mine is draped over her neck, holding on for dear life, but each step feels like a giant knife being twisted in the hamstring of my left leg. Couple that with the sharp, burning sensation in my left shoulder from the bullet lodged there, and my entire left side feels like it’s being stabbed with syringes that have fire inside of them. I wouldn’t be able to do it without Alannah here to help me, but with her, I manage to make it up the first flight, only to stare up at the second flight with nothing but discouragement.
By the time we’re up to the third floor, I have sweat pouring down my smooth face, and my formerly-nice shirt has been soaked through with blood and perspiration. Even Alannah is sweating and breathing like she just sprinted a mile, but she’s as determined as ever to get to the room. We hobble across the concrete balcony to room three-twelve, and I standby, trying to maintain my balance on one leg while Alannah uses the key—shaped like a crown—to open the door. I push away the desire to laugh at the fact that this motel is still using actual keys on their doors, and throw my arm around Alannah again as we complete our struggle and make it to the bed. I let myself collapse onto the mattress while Alannah closes and locks the door behind us. We made it. Finally.
While I lay on the bed, Alannah walks around the room, doing her best inspection before finally sitting down beside me. First, she looks at my shoulder, wincing at the sight of the blood with tears in her eyes, because my pain is her pain. I watch her as she inspects me, thinking about what set of her nursing skills she can use to fix me up, and I feel nothing but pride and love for her.
This woman is incredible. I watch in pure adoration as she starts to unbutton my shirt so she can get a better look at the wound to my shoulder. She looks so concerned, and I can’t help but marvel at her level of commitment and love for me. Since we met, she’s seen some pretty terrible shit. She’s been kidnapped twice and shot at twice, yet here she is, concerned aboutmywounds, caring for me when she should be thinking about herself. She’s an angel, and I’m truly the luckiest son of a bitch in the world for having her. I need this woman in my life like I need air to breathe, like I need my heart to beat in order to live. She’s everything to me, and now she has my child growing inside of her, so now she’s everything to meandmy child.Ourchild. I’m truly astonished by her very existence.
“This one isn’t so bad,” she says just after removing my shirt and investigating the wound on my shoulder. “It’s a graze, albeit a deep one. Let’s have a look at the one in your leg. Gotta take these pants off.”
I’d like to make a joke at that statement, but when Alannah starts unbuckling my pants, the pain of the hole in my leg shoots out in all directions, ending at my toes and reaching all the way up to neck. I struggle to choke down a scream, biting down on my lip as she slides the pants all the way off and forces me to turn over so she can get a better look.
“Shit, this oneisbad,” I hear her say once I’m settled and burying my face in a pillow to keep her from seeing me grimace. “The bullet’s still in there. I’m gonna have to get it out, Dominic.”
I push my face deep into the bleach-scented pillow and prepare myself for the pain that’s coming. Alannah doesn’t wait for me to respond, she just plunges her fingers into my leg and starts fishing for the bullet. I bury my face into the pillow so hard it hurts my nose, while Alannah struggles to get her fingers deep enough to touch the metal lodged in my leg.
“I’m sorry, I know this hurts,” I hear her say, but her voice is muffled for some reason.
I feel light-headed and hot all over, and I squeeze the pillow to try keep from moving too much, but the pain is becoming unbearable. Alannah pushes her fingers down even further, and even though my eyes are closed, I start to see tiny white sparks popping into my vision.
“I can feel it. Almost got it,” Alannah says to let me know the pain won’t be much longer, but it might be too late.
The white sparks in my vision become bigger and brighter, and my breathing is becoming labored as the pain sends blazing fireworks through my nerves. I start to let out a scream, but before the sound can become audible, Alannah shifts her fingers again, and the white sparks fade into nothingness.
My eyes begin to flutter, slowly revealing the ugly motel room: brown and green comforter, tan-painted walls, dim light in the corner coming from the bathroom, hideous wooden desk in front of me, occupied by the most beautiful thing I’ve ever seen. Alannah. She’s wearing a plain white t-shirt and black leggings, with her brown hair in a ponytail. A black and blue St. Louis Blues jacket rests on the back of the chair she’s seated in, and a white hat sits on top of the desk in front of her. Even with her back to me while she watches the small TV, she’s breathtaking. She glows like a goddess that can’t be denied, even in my groggy state.
“Hey,” I mumble, just as I look down and see that I’m still wearing nothing but my underwear, and my leg has a white bandage around it.
Alannah turns around and flashes her exquisite smile.
“Hey, you’re awake!” she replies, her voice highlighted by her excitement. “I’m sorry that was so painful. Are you okay?”
Alannah gets up from her chair and walks over to the bed, sitting on the edge next to me as she rubs my face with the palm of her hand.
“Oh yeah,” I say with a grin. “Better now.”
“Well, I gave you some medicine to help with the pain, so you should be feeling better by now,” she answers. “I didn’t even realize you’d passed out until I was done.”
“I didn’t know I had passed out until I woke up just now.” We both laugh together, and it feels good to be able to laugh with her. Seems like it’s been a while. “Where’d you get the bandages? And I noticed you’ve changed clothes.”
“I left while you were asleep.”
“You did what?” I snip, suddenly shocked. “What the fuck did you do that for?”
“We needed supplies, Dominic,” she answers. “And it was honestly probably safer without you.”
“Maybe, but it’s a big risk to take. I need to be there to protect you.”
