Betrayal
Chapter Thirteen
"What the hell do you mean, you don't have him?!" Edward Mounds yelled into the
phone. Stilts winced as his ear was assaulted with the loud and angry voice.
"We shot him, sir. We would've had him, but an older woman and a younger woman
showed up."
"You couldn't stop an old woman and a girl?," Edward asked. Stilts could tell
that he was sneering and could hear the disgust in his voice.
"The old woman was speeding her truck right at us and wasn't going to stop, and
the girl was holding a weapon out of the passenger window! Some kinda gun!"
"Whatever. Did you idiots at least make sure that he was dead?"
Stilts sighed, wincing at having to explain, "We're not a hundred percent sure
that he's dead. But, he was unconscious after he got shot. With that beatin' he
took and getting shot, I don't think that he'll make it."
"That's why you don't get paid to think. I don't keep any of you around because
you're smart, you're not. I keep you fools around because you're good at putting
the hurt on people. Now, all of you get your asses back here. We've got plans to
work out." With that Edward Mounds slammed the phone down, silently cursing the
fools that he had working for him.
Stilts took a deep breath as he hung up the pay phone's receiver. "Bastard," he
mumbled as he walked back to the car, where Brown and Millard were waiting.
"He wants us back at the house," he informed them.
"He pissed?," asked Millard, who was driving.
"What do ya think?" countered Stilts. The rest of the drive was done in silence,
each of them wondering exactly how pissed their boss was. The man was crazy, you
never knew what he would do.
*****
"How is he?!" demanded Chris when they encountered Casey.
"He seems to be fine, considering. I don't know all of his injuries, you'll have
to talk to the doctor," Casey answered.
"What room?" Chris asked.
"Two-fifty."
Without another word, Chris started towards the elevators, the others following
behind.
"How are you, Sweetie?" JD asked his girlfriend of five months.
Casey sighed, "Alright. A little tired now that all of the adrenaline has worn
off."
JD nodded in understanding as they rode the elevator to the second floor. A few
minutes later, they walked into the hospital room that had the number two-fifty
on the door. Ezra was laying on the bed asleep, with an IV in his hand and a
monitor monitoring his heart and blood pressure. Chris went directly to his left
side, picking up his left hand and holding it.
"How's he doing, Nettie?" asked Vin.
Nettie could hear the worry, anger, and sadness in Vin's voice. "He seems to be
alright. The doctor wouldn't really tell us all of his injuries. He said he had
to wait for Chris, since he's his next of kin. But, I managed to convince him to
let me in to see him."
"Ya didn't go threatenin' him with your old scatter-gun, did ya?" Vin asked, a
twinkle in his eyes.
Nettie laughed, "Naw. I didn't have to go that far."
Just then, the doctor entered the room and asked, "Chris Larabee?"
Chris raised his head and the doctor said, "I'm Doctor Han. Would you like for
everyone to stay, while I tell you about Mister Standish's condition? Or, would
you rather they wait outside?"
"They can stay."
Doctor Han nodded and continued, "Mister Standish has sustained a severe
beating. As I'm sure you can tell."
Of course they could all tell. It would've been impossible not to notice the
swelling and bruising that was marring Ezra's face.
"He suffered a couple of cracked ribs because of the beating. And he's
dehydrated, so we're pumping fluids into his system through his IV. He was shot
in the side, but he was a lucky man. The bullet missed anything vital and passed
through the fleshy part and muscle. We've stitched the wound up and wrapped his
ribs. As long as infection or high fever doesn't set in, I expect Mister
Standish to make a full recovery. Given that he rests and doesn't move around a
lot, give the ribs and the gunshot wound time to heal."
"We'll make sure he rests," said a determined Chris. Ezra was going to be okay,
thank God! Chris was so relieved, he couldn't lose him. 'You're not out of the
woods yet. You still have to tell him about Mary,' a little mental voice
reminded him. He'd cross that bridge when he had to. Right now, it was all about
getting his lover well.
"I need to go check on some other patients. You all are welcome to stay for a
while longer. Let a nurse know if you need anything. I'll be here for a few more
hours, so have them page me if you need to."
"Thank you, Doctor Han," said Nathan. The doctor nodded, closing the door behind
him.