“Okay. What are we going to do in the meantime?”
Melissa's eyes traveled down and then back up my body. They locked onto mine and a smile grew across her face – a sexy, seductive smile. She snapped off the blood-covered latex gloves she was wearing without even looking at them and tossed them into the trash. Melissa knelt down and put her hands on my knees, spreading my legs apart.
“I don't know if you're in the mood after everything you've been through today, but I can think of something we can do that will take your mind off the pain – for a little while, at least. Well, it's not something we can do. It's something I can do to you.”
“Whatever could it be?” I asked with a smirk. “Is it something you've done to me before? Something I really, really enjoyed?”
“It just may be,” Melissa answered and winked, then stood up. She handed me a few pieces of gauze and said, “Here. Hold this on the wound and come with me. Let's go into the living room and get comfortable.”
I followed her out to the living room and had a seat on the couch. I started to unbuckle my belt but Melissa stopped me.
“Uh uh,” she said, shaking her head from side to side. “You're not to do anything except sit here and enjoy what I do to you. I'll do all the work.”
“Yes, ma'am,” I replied.
“Although, once my ribs are healed and your arm is feeling better, I want you to come over here and bang me all over my condo. Will you do that for me?”
“Again: Yes, ma'am.”
“Good,” Melissa said and smiled. “Now let me get a little more comfortable. We're not in the middle of a music store this time – we're in my cozy, private condo.”
Melissa was wearing a tee shirt and sweatpants with nothing on her feet. She'd kicked off the flip flops she was wearing as soon as we walked in the door. Before getting the call from me, she was just relaxing at home, recovering from the car accident. Though I'm sure she probably wanted to, I don't think she changed before coming to get me – she was in too much of a hurry. To be honest, I thought she looked incredibly sexy in what she was wearing. I've always been a fan of the lounging-around-the-house look. But Melissa looked even sexier in what she'd be wearing a moment later: nothing.
She took off her tee shirt and bra, wantonly tossing them on the floor. Her ribs were still bandaged up, but the way they were wrapped actually made her breasts look even bigger and perkier than they already were. Next, Melissa dropped her sweatpants to the floor, followed by her pink panties. She gracefully stepped out of them and came over to me. I was already starting to get hard, which Melissa would find out a moment later when she took off my shorts. After unbuckling my belt, she pulled them off and threw them on top of her sweatpants.
Aside from the bandaged ribs and a few bruises, her body was flawless. Melissa got down on her hands and knees between my legs and gently ran her fingers up the insides of them. It sent a chill up my legs right to my groin. Her touch felt incredible.
Before long, it wasn't just Melissa's hands that were touching me. She kissed her way up my inner thigh with her soft, wet lips before finally wrapping them around my manhood. The second she did, I threw my head back and unleashed a moan that echoed throughout the entire condo. Melissa began pleasuring me with her mouth, driving me wild.
“How's it feel?” she asked a minute later. “Is this taking your mind off the gunshot wound?”
“What gunshot wound?” I asked.
Melissa didn't reply – she just smiled, then went back to doing what she did so well. I relaxed on the couch, being careful not to move my arm. Even moving it an inch in any direction hurt. Melissa really took her time, teasing and pleasing me for the better part of a half hour. By the time she was done, the painkillers she gave me were starting to kick in and my arm was feeling a little less sore. Being the wonderful woman that she was, Melissa cleaned me up and helped me get my shorts back on. She, too, put her sweats and tee shirt back on but left her panties and bra on the living room floor. We went back into the bathroom so she could stitch me up.
“I'm going to inject something to numb your shoulder,” she said. “Then, I'll sew you up.”
Melissa injected something into my arm and, a couple minutes later, my skin was numb. She took out what almost looked like a sewing kit – and in many ways, it was – and began threading a thin piece of string through my skin. It was a really strange sensation. I was watching the whole thing, thinking that it should hurt, but it didn't. I didn't feel anything at all, really. After all the pain my shoulder had been through, it was nice to feel nothing for a little while.
She finished stitching me up and wrapped my arm in some kind of bandage. After putting her medical supplies away and washing her hands, we went out to the living room and talked for a few minutes.
“If the stitches come out before it's healed or if the wound somehow opens up on its own, come see me as soon as possible,” Melissa said. “It's gonna be sore for a while but it shouldn't be too bad. If it really starts to hurt, come see me. I'm sure you're not going to listen to me, but you really should try to move your arm as little as possible.”
“I'll do my best but that may not be easy. I have some very important stuff to do that may require a lot of physicality. Anything else I should know?”
“Yes. There's one more reason that I want you to stop what you're doing and come see me.”
“And what reason is that?” I asked.
“Any reason. Any reason at all. You just want to say hello? Stop by. You want to come make love to me all night long? Stop by. Seriously. I still owe you my life.”
“I've told you before and I have a feeling I'll tell you again: You don't owe me anything. But thank you. Once your ribs are healed up, I'm going to take you up on your offer.”
“Promise?”
“Pinkie swear,” I said, offering her my finger.
We locked pinkies and swore on it. Melissa walked me to the door and gave me a big hug and a kiss, being careful not to touch my shoulder.
“You want me to give you a ride somewhere?” she asked.
“Nah, I'll take the T home. I think I'm just going to stay in and relax for the rest of the day.”
“Okay. I'm glad you called me, James. It was nice to see you.”
“You, too!”
We said goodbye and I left Melissa's condo. I spent the entire T ride home staring blankly out the window, lost in thought. The fact that I'd been shot was just then starting to really sink in. It was the first time in a while that I'd been alone and had time to think about everything that'd happened. I couldn't wait to get home to tell Kasie and Amber about everything. Even more, I couldn't wait to just lay down and relax.
13.
I got off the T and walked to my apartment building. The anesthetic that Melissa injected into my arm was starting to wear off and it was getting a little sore, but just a little bit. I couldn't wait to lay down and relax. Getting shot takes a lot out of you – mostly blood, but energy too. I was feeling tired and noticed that my hit points had dropped another fifteen points. Looking to the left, I saw:
Level: 3
Hit Points: 115/150
“Hopefully a big meal and a good night's sleep will increase my hit points,” I thought to myself. “As soon as I tell the girls what happened, I'm eating something, taking a few ibuprofen, and laying down.”
Unfortunately, as soon as I got to my apartment, I realized that I wouldn't be doing any of those things – not anytime soon, anyway. The door was wide open and I could hear several voices coming from inside. Once I got close to the door, I realized that it wasn't just opened – it was kicked open. There were pieces of broken wood on the floor from where it'd been smashed.
My heart rate instantly doubled. Part of me wanted to run inside to find out what was going on. Part of me wanted to turn around and run like hell. I did neither. Instead, I did my best to be as quiet as possible and stood outside the door, listening to what was happening insi
de the apartment.
“Please,” I heard Amber plead, “just leave me alone. I don't know anything. Honest.”
“You don't know much. I'll give you that,” I heard a man with a deep, raspy voice reply. “But you must know something. Paul gets killed and then you're nowhere to be found all of a sudden? You don't answer your phone even though you've got it on you. You're not at your place. You're hiding, which means you know something.”
“How did you find me?” Amber asked.
“You really don't know much, do you?” I heard a different man say, his voice not quite as raspy but just as deep. “We tracked your phone. Led us right to you.”
Damn. I didn't think of that but I should've. When Amber told me that she needed to hide from the Southie Soldiers and that they had several cops on their payroll, I should've told her to get rid of her cell phone. Or, at the very least, take the battery out of it, if possible.
“Please don't hurt me,” Amber begged.
“Oh, we're not gonna hurt you,” the first male said. “Our new boss wants to have a word with you. He made it very clear that he wanted us to bring you to him in one piece. Whether you leave there in one piece is up to him.”
I heard a short burst of laughter come from several guys – from the sound of it, more than two. And I'd heard enough. I knew that I had to do something. I wasn't going to let them take Amber. Not if I could help it.
I did my best to muster up the courage to go into my apartment. Looking briefly over at my shoulder, I knew that if I got into a fight, it was going to really hurt. Amber's safety came before my comfort, though, and I took a deep breath. I didn't know what I'd find once I walked into my apartment but I was about to find out.
“Get your hands off me!” I heard Amber say. “Ow, that hurts!”
It was go time. I ran into my apartment and saw Amber sitting on the couch with four large men surrounding her. Two of them I instantly recognized from the pool hall in Southie. The other two, I'd never seen before. There was no doubt in my mind that they were all members of the Southie Soldiers.
Each one of them was bigger than me. I did my best to summon as much confidence as possible, trying to remember all the asses I'd kicked over the past couple days, but it wasn't easy. All I could picture was getting tossed around my own apartment like a rag doll by the four massive men – massive monsters was more like it – in my living room. I walked toward them, taking one more deep breath.
“Get away from her,” I said, trying to sound as authoritative as possible. In reality, I probably sounded like a twelve year old boy because when I said “Get,” my voice cracked.
All four of the men turned to face me. None of them looked particularly threatened by what I'd said. In fact, two of them turned around and went back to pulling Amber off the couch. The other two started walking toward me, one of them cracking his knuckles in the process.
“This must be the dead man who's been hiding her,” one of them said, a man I'd never seen before.
“You're the kid that was in our pool hall earlier,” the other one coming at me said, a man I recognized from Side Pocket. He turned to the other man coming at me and said, “Don't kill him or hurt him too badly. I think the boss is gonna wanna put a bullet in his head personally.”
I knew that, if I wasn't able to somehow get me and Amber out of there, we'd likely both be dead by the end of the day. I didn't know what would happen if I was killed in the simulation and, frankly, I didn't want to find out. Looking around my apartment, I tried to find something I could use as a weapon. There was a knife in my bedroom, but there was no way I'd be able to run in there and grab it before one of them grabbed me. Then, I spotted something that I could use as a weapon but not with my eyes – with my nose and my ears.
I caught a strong whiff of coffee and heard the brewer percolating in the kitchen. I could run in there to grab it, but then they'd have me trapped. There was only one way in and out of the kitchen. It was either that or stay in the wide-open living room and fight them there. Either way, I knew I'd have to fight them both. And then, if I somehow miraculously subdued both of them, I'd have to fight the other two in the TV room to save Amber from being dragged off.
Coffee had never let me down before, so I darted into the kitchen as quickly as possible. The two goons followed me in there, walking slowly. It reminded me of the Friday The 13th movies where Jason would just casually stroll after his victims who were running away at full speed. He knew he'd get them eventually so there was no point in overexerting himself trying to catch up. That way, he could save his energy for all the killing he loved to do so much. I had a feeling the guys coming after me had a similar mentality.
It was a small kitchen and the goons were so large that they could only come in one-at-a-time. The coffee maker was on the counter all the way in the back. Amber must've put a pot on a little before the men arrived because it was still brewing but almost done. Either that or Kasie had, but I didn't see her anywhere. I couldn't recall at the time, but I thought she'd said she had to work that evening.
I stood at the end of the kitchen with my back against the wall. The man who I recognized from the pool hall was the first one to enter the kitchen, followed immediately by the one I didn't know. I wanted to wait until the last possible moment to grab the coffee pot so he'd be right in front of me. He kept walking toward me, seemingly unaware of what I was planning.
“Two more steps,” I thought to myself as he came closer. “One more. Now!”
I grabbed the three-quarters-full coffee pot and lunged at the man coming at me. I'm right handed, but the coffee pot was to my left. I picked it up with my left hand and, when I did, my shoulder felt like it'd been shot all over again. I did my best to ignore the pain and launched the coffee directly at his face.
“Arrrggghhhhhh!” he screamed.
In front of me popped up:
Skill Increase
[Physical] Improvised Weapons: 1/10 (+1)
As soon as it appeared, I thought to myself, “close.” I was happy to have gotten a skill increase, but I needed to focus on my situation. The words disappeared instantly.
I couldn't imagine what it felt like to get an entire pot of hot coffee thrown in your face. I'd only gotten a little bit on my hand and a few drops on my legs and it burned like crazy. The man grabbed his face and dropped to his knees, screaming the whole time. I quickly passed the coffee pot from my left hand to my right and cracked it over his head – literally. The coffee pot smashed into a thousand pieces and all that remained in my hand was the plastic handle with a few pieces of jagged glass sticking out of it.
“Out of my way, you fool!” the man behind the one I threw coffee at yelled, pushing past him.
I was about to drop the coffee pot handle and raise my fists but decided to hold onto it. As far as I could tell, one of two things was going to happen: It was either going end up breaking and slicing up my hand or it would stay together and work like a pair of brass knuckles. Well, maybe not brass knuckles: more like glass knuckles. There were a few pieces of glass still sticking out of it and, in the right hands, could be used as a weapon. Whether or not my hands were the right hands, I was about to find out.
With the man on his knees still clutching his face and screaming, the other man was now in front of him and directly in front of me. He flashed an evil smile consisting mostly of crooked, yellow teeth. With nowhere to go, I had no choice but to fight him. He took a step closer to me and I lunged at him, trying to slice his face with the jagged glass sticking out of the coffee pot handle but missed. I missed his face, that is – but I accidentally hit him in the neck, slashing open his carotid artery.
“Ahhhggghhhggghhh!” he screamed.
The massive goon clutched at his throat with both hands and fell to his knees. Now I had two large men on their knees in my kitchen. The only difference between them was that one had blood gushing from his neck and would likely be dead before long. I didn't have time to thin
k about whether or not what I'd done was right or wrong at the time but I wasn't trying to kill the guy – I was just trying to defend myself.
I stood back against the wall for a few seconds, watching my kitchen floor go from white to red. I can only imagine what the look on my face must've been like. Blood poured out of the guy in front no matter how hard he clutched at his neck. It was only a few seconds before he collapsed to the ground, face first into a pool of his own blood. When his face hit the floor, some blood splashed on my all-white sneakers. For a brief moment, I glanced down and thought about how cool the little droplets of blood looked on them. What I did next ruined the cool pattern, though.
The man I'd thrown coffee at was still on his knees and clutching his face but starting to calm down. I took a couple steps forward and kicked him right in the face, knocking him out instantly. He fell forward, his face landing right in the middle of the other guy's butt. It was kind of funny, though it was hard to see the humor of it in the moment, especially with Amber screaming in the other room.
“Let go of me!” she yelled.
I hopped over the two guys in my kitchen and ran into the living room. The other two men had grabbed Amber by the arms and were dragging her toward the door. I still had the coffee pot handle in my right hand and raised my fists. One of the men let go of Amber and took a step toward me. The other one stood behind Amber clutching her upper arms, holding her petite body in place. Being the little firecracker that she was, Amber kept trying to get free but it was of no use. He was twice her size and much stronger.
“You're done,” the man coming toward me said.
I didn't reply: Partly because it wasn't a question and didn't warrant a response, but mostly because I was too busy trying to figure out what to do. The man holding Amber was twice her size and the man coming at me was twice my size. He was the biggest out of the four of them and by a large margin.
Now standing right in front of me, he flashed a smile even more evil than the guy in the kitchen had. I don't know if they don't have toothbrushes down in Southie or what, but his teeth were a shade of yellow so dark that they were bordering on being brown. The disturbing smile disappeared as quickly as it had emerged and he launched a quick right jab at my face. I snapped my head to the side and ducked, narrowly dodging the attack.
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