Free The Bleeding Crowd by Jessica Dall Page A

passed
the needle through his skin. She finally finished, tying off the
thread and smoothing some salve on the cut skin before she wrapped
it in gauze.
    “Done?” He glanced at her.
    “Yes. Be careful not to move your arm too
much, you don’t want to rip out the stitches and have us have to do
that all over again.”
    He nodded shortly.
    She studied his face. “Are you all right?
You’re very pale.”
    “I’m fine.”
    She looked at him for another moment before
moving. She pulled the pillow out from under the covers and stacked
them behind him. “Lay back.”
    He didn’t argue and leaned back with a sigh,
letting her clean up.
    She replaced everything she had used, dumping
out the bloody water, throwing out the needle, and setting her bag
back by the door. She couldn’t put it off any longer. “So?”
    He turned his head to look at her. “So?”
    “So,” she repeated, “what happened?”
    “Minor turf war broke out.” He shrugged with
his right shoulder. “I... the guards broke it up pretty quickly,
but Eli—this jackass who is intent on fucking me over—somehow got a
goddamn switchblade. I’m lucky he only got my arm.”
    “I’m sorry, were you speaking English?”
    “What else would I be speaking?”
    She just looked at him, waiting for him to
explain.
    He managed a smile. “Another guy that me and
my friends have issues with pulled a knife on me. Got my arm.”
    “My friends and I,” she said.
    “What?”
    “Never mind.” She waved it off. “Well, you
were lucky he didn’t cut deeper. Another couple millimeters and you
could have bled out.”
    “Lucky then,” he said.
    She crossed her arms. “You’re going to have a
scar.”
    “I have enough of them.”
    She studied him for a long moment, critiquing
him. “You feel all right then?”
    “A little dizzy now,” he said. “I think that
pain killer’s doing its job though.”
    She nodded and picked up a piece of chocolate
from her desk. She unwrapped it and offered it to him. “Here. You
need to get your blood sugar up.”
    He accepted it, taking a bite. “I’m sorry if
I stained anything. I tried to keep some cloth...”
    “Don’t worry about it.” Dahlia sat down. She
paused. “Ben?”
    He looked at her, taking another bite of
chocolate.
    “Why are you here?”
    “I told you, I needed a doctor. A good
doctor.”
    She nodded slowly. “Tell me how you managed
to get here.”
    Ben looked at his arm, touching the bandage.
“My friend. He knows a thing or two about electronics. He made it
look like you sent for me.”
    She frowned. “He can hack into our
computers?”
    “He’s a genius or something,” Ben said,
giving her a pleading look. “Please. You can’t tell anyone. You’ll
get him moved off to god knows where. He only did it to help me. He
could have let me die.”
    Dahlia frowned. “It’s a security risk.”
    “Please.” Ben held her gaze.
    She sighed, hands clenched, and then forced
them to release. “I can’t deal with guards tonight. I think we’ve
both had more than enough excitement for the day.”
    He gave her a weak smile. “Thank you.”
    She stood. “I’m going to give you something
to help you sleep.”
    “I don’t need anything.”
    “Trust me. When the anesthetic wears off,
you’ll want a sleep aid.”
    “And you?”
    “I think I’ll manage without anything.”
    “Then I’m fine.”
    She sighed. “What about tea? Will you drink
some tea?”
    “Tea helps you get to sleep?”
    “Valerian tea,” she said. “Valerian’s a
natural sedative.”
    Ben frowned, eyeing her with caution. “Are
you going to force me to take something?”
    “Pretty much,” she said. “Doctor’s
orders.”
    “I suppose I’ll take the tea then, Doc.”
    “It will help you fall asleep,” she said. “I
don’t have anything else that’s a painkiller other than willow
bark, and I can’t give you that.”
    “Why not?”
    “Blood thinner.” She moved to her bag. “The
last thing we want to do to