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like you wrestled a bear.
 I could ve handled a bear. I pressed my hand over the wound.
She tugged at my wrist.  What are you hiding?
I didn t have the strength to wrench my wrist free.
Veronica touched my shirt around the wound.  Did you get
shot? Stabbed? She leaned close, sniffed, and pulled away in
horror. She let go of my wrist.  Is that smoke?
 Help me inside, I said.  I ll explain.
Her arm clasped my shoulders and I staggered beside her.
She led me to the breezeway.
 You got shot, didn t you? Felix, we have to call an ambu-
lance.
 Not yet, I told her.  Take me inside first and help me get
fixed up.
 I don t appreciate this, she said. Her voice lost its caring
tone and sounded frightened.  Gunshots are supposed to be
reported to the police.
 You a doctor?
 So what? Unless the cops 
 They didn t do it.
We entered the breezeway. Only another forty feet to the
stairs. I looked up to the landing on the second floor. It would
be an ordeal, like climbing to the top of a mountain.
 Then who shot you?
Veronica would have to haul me up the stairs. I could barely
stay on my feet, much less work up the energy to fend off her
questions.
 Okay, I told her.  I owe you that. I motioned that she
bring her face close to mine.
Veronica fixed her eyes on the lenses of my sunglasses. I ral-
lied the strength needed to hypnotize her and dropped the sun-
glasses from my face.
X- RATED BLOODSUCKERS 31 9
C HAPT ER 48
-     --     --  
Veronica s eyes dilated to the size of dimes. Her aura blos-
somed into a silky crimson.
I clasped her neck and brought her closer, so we stood nose
to nose. I wasn t sure of the strength of my flagging powers and
concentrated on giving her the maximum dose of hypnotism.
Her aura grew a fuzzy penumbra that vibrated like the cilia
of a microscopic creature. It wasn t much of a hold upon her
psyche. But enough.
 Help me up the stairs, I said.
Veronica pulled my right arm across her shoulder and
trudged upward with the grace of an ox pulling a stubborn
plow.
Near the top of the landing, the bullet shifted and an agoniz-
ing jolt sawed through me. My legs buckled and I collapsed
against the stairs. I dropped my bag. Lying still, I wet my lips
and waited for the pain to ease.
Veronica stared at me, her face impassive and dull.
I pointed to her door.  Pull me inside.
Veronica moved as if her thoughts swam through molasses.
She pulled the keys from her purse and opened her apartment
door.
Blood trickled from my torn shirt and splattered on the
steps, each drop turning into a poof of dust. My aura trembled
as would a burner flame set on low.
I raised my arm.  Take me inside.
I expected her to lift me to my feet. Instead she grabbed my
wrist and yanked my supine body up the stairs.
The pain strangled my howl. My head and feet hammered
against the steps as she tugged me onto the landing. She backed
into her apartment, dragging me in like a rug.
When my feet cleared the threshold I begged her to stop.
 Let go. Get my bag then come back and close and lock the
door.
Veronica did as I told her.
I didn t like being in the front room. What if at sunrise I was
still here? I crawled to the home office, where I knew I would
be safe. Veronica followed me, her aura flowing about her like
a cloak.
I lay on the floor and motioned her to kneel beside me. I
refreshed the hypnosis.
Time for the real pain.  Go wash your hands. Bring towels,
bandages, disinfectant, and your sharpest knives.
I unbuttoned my shirt and removed it and my undershirt. I
lay bare-chested on my right side, the wound a jagged mouth
drooling blood. Smoke drifted from the lipless opening.
Veronica returned with two terry cloth bath towels, a spool
of white adhesive tape, a bottle of hydrogen peroxide, a fistful
of kitchen knives, and a sanitary napkin. She sat and arrayed
the items on the floor between us.
X- RATED BLOODSUCKERS 321
I inspected the napkin. The label said it was for heavy-flow
days.
I pushed aside the butcher knives too big and selected
a paring knife with a four-inch blade. I ran my thumb along
the edge, and the blade cut like a fresh razor. A drop of blood
seeped from my thumb.
 Push the towels along my back, I said.
She unfolded both towels and shoved them between my
right side and the floor to catch my blood.
I handed Veronica the knife.
 Here, I said, pointing into the wound.  Feel in there for a
bullet and cut it out. I d risk an infection. That bullet would
kill me before any germ could.
Veronica s gaze fixed mechanically upon the wound.
I wound my undershirt into a roll that I inserted into my
mouth.
She extended the fingers of her left hand and inserted them
into the hole. [ Pobierz całość w formacie PDF ]