“A bad deal—the fuckers double-crossed us,” Crow mumbled as he continued to stare at the blank television screen.
“How the fuck didn’t I predict this?” Steel said.
“It’s the fuckers’ fault—not the Night Rebels,” Scorpio said before flopping onto one of the chairs.
“The damn badges will be here for sure. We got our story straight?” Sangre asked.
Chains nodded. “I told the doc that Eagle was out riding and someone shot him. I said Crow and I went looking for him when he never came back, and we found him on the side of the road.”
“It’s kinda weak, but we’ll have to go with it.” Steel locked gazes with Chains. “How’re you doing? You two have been real tight ever since you prospected together.”
He averted his eyes to the leaf-patterned carpet. “It fuckin’ sucks.”
Steel put his arm around Chains and gripped his shoulder. “Life fucking sucks sometimes.”
“A lot of the time,” Scorpio added.
“We cut outta there damn fast. Were any other brothers hurt?” Crow asked.
“Just minor shit—Doc Bones is patching up Aztec, Brick, and Shotgun. Nothing too serious. Paco said that there were casualties on the other side. They’re taking care of all that shit. I thought this would’ve gone down all right, considering we were dealing with an old man who belongs to a fucking country club.” Steel shook his head.
“The old man sent his fuckin’ son. I don’t know why, but somehow Los Malos got mixed up in this. We’re definitely gonna hear from them—some of their members were on the ground and not moving when Crow and I took off,” Chains said.
“Why the fuck were those asshole gangsters involved in this deal?” Scorpio said.
Chains shrugged. “Who the fuck knows. I think the asshole’s son wanted protection. He didn’t seem to trust us from the start. Maybe the family’s done business with Los Malos before, although that didn’t come up when I did the due diligence stuff.”
“And what happened to the motherfucker who did this to Eagle?” Sangre asked.
Chains crossed his arms against his chest. “I took care of him. He won’t be doing any more drug deals.”
Satisfied murmurs and grunts resounded from the bikers, then they lapsed into an anxious silence as they waited for any word on Eagle’s condition.
The minutes turned into hours. The badges had come and gone, and no one was left in the reception area except for the Night Rebels and a redhead with frizzy hair who had replaced the curly-haired intake worker. Finally the wooden doors opened, and a man in his mid-fifties, wearing green scrubs, approached the group.
“Chains?” the man said, a puzzled expression crossing his face.
Chains walked over. “Yo. Are you the doc?”
“Yes. Are you Mr. Mitchell’s brother?”
“Yeah. What’s going on with him?”
The doctor glanced over at the other men who were fast approaching.
“It’s cool,” Chains said, gesturing to the guys. “They’re here for Eagle, too, and need to hear this.”
The doctor slowly nodded. “I’m Dr. Chester, and I was the surgeon for your brother. He’s stable right now. He took two bullets, and he’s very lucky to still be alive. One of the bullets that I removed was embedded against the sternum—the breast bone—and only caused minor damage. The other one entered his left lung, and that was the one which caused the most problems. He’s very lucky that he didn’t die from severe bleeding into the lung. I was able to remove the bullet, control the bleeding, and repair it. The biggest risk is infection, so I have him on an IV antibiotic treatment. It was good that you brought him in as quickly as you did.” The doctor clasped the clipboard against his chest. “That saved his life.”
A mountain of relief washed over Chains, and from the sighs and throat clearings, he knew the other members felt it too.
“How long is he gonna be laid up?” he asked the surgeon.
“I’d like to keep him here for ten days. It’s the infection that I’m mostly concerned about at this point. After that, he can go home, but it’ll take a couple of months to fully recover.”
“When can we see him?” Steel asked.
“He’s still in recovery. It’ll probably be another hour at least and then he’ll be moved to a room. I’m keeping him sedated through the night. It may be better to come back in the morning, but it’s your choice. Are there any more questions?” The men shook their heads. “All right, then.” Dr. Chester turned around and disappeared behind the wooden doors.