Devil With a Shotgun

Chapter 16

Chapter 16

<Gavin Forrester>

The knife is poised in her hand, which thankfully isn't shaking. I draw in a deep breath as she holds it a few inches above my forearm.

"Let's just get this over with." I mutter and narrow my eyes at Ainsley.

"Sorry, I'll try to make this as painless as possible." She bites her lip and then focuses on my forearm, the knife still gripped firmly in her hand.

She brings the extra sharp tip down so that it's just touching my skin. The cold metal adds to my nerves and all I want right now is for her to slit my skin with it because I get the feeling that the first cut will be the worst. Also, I really don't enjoy being operated on by a pre-med ex-assassin, so getting this over with is one of my top concerns at the moment.

"Take in a deep breath," Ainsley instructs, not moving the knife from its position of touching my skin.

My lungs expand with a deep breath and then I close my eyes tightly. I feel the knife in my skin and I let out a pained breath, my eyes opening instantly. I bite my lip hard to keep myself from yelping out in pain and then I watch Ainsley drag the knife along my skin, lengthening the gash. She then goes back and cuts it a bit deeper to make finding the tracker easier. The first thing I notice when she takes the knife away is the amount of blood pouring out of my arm. The crimson liquid stains my skin and the white gloves on her hands. Ainsley motions for Victoria to get the gauze pads and soon enough the gash is shielded from my view. Red soaks through the pristine white of the pad and makes me feel nauseous.

"Are you sure you didn't hit a vein?" I struggle to say between deep breaths.

"Believe me, you'd know if I hit a vein." Ainsley remarks calmly.

She removes the gauze pads and the bleeding has been reduced to nothing more than a large trickle. I watch as she sets the knife down and opts for the pair of tweezers.

"I'm going to have to spread your skin apart a little. I'm not going to lie, it'll hurt like hell." Ainsley gives me a serious look before going back to staring at my arm.

I wipe my sweaty brow with the back of my free arm and then nod at her to continue. She holds my gaze for a few seconds and then begins to spread apart the skin. I make a few pained noises and then go back to biting my lip. Victoria looks like she's about to pass out and her eyes travel all around the room but never once catch mine. I stare at my arm and almost throw up because I can see the inside of it.

I'm not supposed to be able to see that. There is skin covering it for a reason.

I can see the deep, bloody red of my muscle tissue but no sign of the metal blob Ainsley said was in my arm. I'm starting to feel intensely nauseous and I use the table to brace myself from passing out. My head is spinning and the agonizing pain in my arm isn't helping much.

"How much blood have I lost?" I struggle to say as small black spots appear in my vision.

"Ainsley, you can't have him pass out. What's going on with him?" Victoria shouts in a horrified tone.

"Blaze, please get Gavin some water and food. He hasn't lost enough to knock him out but if we don't find this tracker soon, he might." Ainsley admits and then goes back to poking her tweezers around my injured arm.

My eyes bulge out of my head and I lean forward so I'm closer to her.

"I am not going to pass out." I mutter as if it's my decision to make.

"No you won't. As long as we find it soon." Ainsley whispers in a breathless tone.

I back up and watch her continue with her careful work. Ainsley hunches over my arm and uses her tweezers to move around the tissues in it. She hits a particularly tender spot and I flinch unwillingly. She apologizes and then I feel her tweezers actually hit something seemingly metal. Blaze comes back from the kitchen with a bottle of water and some crackers. He hands them to me and takes his seat at the breakfast counter once again.