a good look at him. With friends like you, this guy d

h a gunshot wound before?" Jesse asked.

rible pain. Explain to me why you aren't willing to take him to the hospital? Is it because of insurance? Because if it is, they still have to treat him in an

s no other way to make you understand our position here. A rival motorcycle club, the Liberators, have put a hit out on Flint. Six months ago, they murdered one of our crew in a shootout over in Tennessee. So they mean bu

ever paid much attention to the gossip. Occasionally, in the summer, she would see a group of motorcycles riding dow

es and I don't like being put in this kind of position. I'm not licensed to treat people and could lose my veterinarian's lice

s?" Jesse replied. "Since you're not a m

valid poi

iable pain in his voice pushe

time. Do you understand?" She looked around the room, slowly making eye contact with each man to let them know she woul

"I'm begging you to help him. W

e clinic might need to get in touch with me. And don't worry, I promise not to call 911. Not unless he takes a t

rom his jacket and handed it back to

ged through her medical bag and found only animal medication. Not even a bottle of ibuprofen. "

e front door. "Get the stuff, Rocco," he ordered. Rocco hurried out of the room and came back a m

rphine, Percocet, Vicodin, Oxycotin, Ativan, Xanax, Valium. Upon closer inspection, she noticed the labels included names of people who obviously weren't s

wing the answer before she asked. The black mar

ncomes in the community need cash, so we buy their unused medications." He shrugged as if it wasn't a big deal.

e continued cleaning Flint's wound while she talked. "To junkie

ered. "Quite frequently it seems

the pile and shook out three pills. "Can someone get a glass of water? I need to get these pills in him before I try to

Flint's forehead. She tried and failed to ignore the faint

nt?" she asked f

no

h to swallow the pills. "Come on buddy! You need to open your eyes so I can g

d into the greenest eyes she'd ever seen; tantalizingly deep and penetrating. She hesitated for a moment, completely caught off

he fought against the pain to stay conscious. "Someone get me a cold

ugh for her to place the pills on his tongue. She held the glass to his lips and encouraged him to

econd, making contact with hers for an in

need a couple of you guys to hold him down in case he comes to again while I'm working on him.

landed just a few inches lower. Flint twitched and jerked in pain while she worked, but he didn't regain consciousness. Once the wound was cleaned to her satisfa

pain to hit him first. You have to stay ahead of it. Also, if at all possible try to get him to eat a few bites of something so the paink

n. The Liberators hit us in two places at once. They threw a Molotov cocktail through the window of my younger brother's tattoo parlor. Luckily, nobody was hurt. The authorities are there now a