Total pages in book: 94
Estimated words: 88119 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 441(@200wpm)___ 352(@250wpm)___ 294(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 88119 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 441(@200wpm)___ 352(@250wpm)___ 294(@300wpm)
His eyes were closed in pain. No. I needed to stick to the plan. Keep Devon safe and try to find my mother. I put the key into the ignition and started the car. I checked the street. Four houses down, a driveway was vacant and the shades were drawn. It seemed like as good a place as any to hide in plain sight. I reversed the car and slowly drove toward the house. I backed into the driveway. That way I could make a fast escape if necessary.
“I think you’ll have to remove the bullet,” Devon said through gritted teeth. I jumped at the sound of his voice. He didn’t even question why I hadn’t sped away, but he probably had bigger worries.
“What?” I said. “But your body heals itself.”
“Yeah, it heals itself, but that’s the problem. It’ll close the wound and encase the bullet. And then later, once it realizes how bad the foreign material is for me, it’ll start rejecting the bullet very slowly by driving it out and then healing again.”
I stared at the wound that was already starting to close. The bullet was definitely still inside.
“Are you sure?” I asked.
“Yeah, I’m sure. It’s better to get it out now and heal all at once.”
I’d never removed a bullet. I’d read about it and seen a video tutorial, but that was as far as my experience went. I hadn’t really paid attention when Devon had removed the tracker from my arm, and that had been close to the surface. This bullet was lodged way deeper. I couldn’t stop myself from glancing at Carl’s house but he hadn’t stormed out to search for us yet. He’d hit his head pretty hard. As messed up as he was, I hoped we hadn’t hurt him too badly. My eyes drifted to the end of the street.
“Yeah, pretty sure. I once managed to get a huge splinter in my knee when I had an accident with my bike and fell on a log. Let’s just say that it wasn’t a pleasant experience to have my body repel that splinter by breaking open my skin. Hurt like hell.”
“That’s not very clever of your body,” I said, turning back to Devon. “It should avoid causing you pain.”
Devon let out a raspy laugh. “Agreed.”
“Okay,” I said slowly. “I’ll need a knife or anything else that’s sharp enough.”
Devon nodded toward his backpack. “Take my pocketknife.”
I unzipped the bag and rummaged in it until my hands closed around cool steel. I unfolded the blade. I took a lighter from the middle console and turned it on before I led it across the blade over and over again until I was sure that it was sterilized. Devon stuffed an old shirt into his mouth.
“This’ll hurt like hell,” I warned. “But remember, it’s going to be okay.”
Devon’s eyes pleaded with me to hurry. My gaze flitted over to the house and the end of the street again. Nothing yet. I forced my hands to steady. With a deep breath, I pushed the tip of the knife into the already almost-closed wound. Devon let out a groan, sweat glistening on his skin.
“I guess it makes sense to close the wound first,” I rambled to keep myself and Devon distracted from what was happening. I didn’t think I was doing a good job. “It stops the blood flow, and blood loss is probably a pretty big concern for everybody?”
The blade hit something hard. I changed the angle of the knife to wedge the tip under the bullet. Blood welled up and spilled over Devon’s shoulder and arm.
With a moan, Devon began to shake. His eyes rolled back in his head and he lost consciousness. I was actually relieved. At least, that way he’d be spared the worst pain. The skin around the knife kept closing, making it extra hard for me to get a good look at the bullet and the blood flow wasn’t exactly helpful either. When I was sure that I was below the bullet, I started pushing the blade up until finally the bullet came into view and I was able to pry it out. It landed on Devon’s jeans where it left another blood stain. As I watched the wound closing, I was incredibly thankful for his Variation. I took a small towel from my backpack and wet it with a bit of water from my bottle. Carefully, I wiped Devon’s forehead.
With Devon asleep, I suddenly felt afraid to be on the street alone. I’d been stupid to stay here to watch our pursuers. I put the car into gear and was about to pull out of the driveway when a black town car turned onto the street. It was too posh to belong here. Panic surged through me.
“Shit,” I whispered as I floored the accelerator and swung the steering wheel around.