the Sixteenth Surgeon

Chapter 12 "A Compass Pointing South"

Carla threw an elbow into the door and opened it, rushing in with her pistol drawn and noticed Roman sitting silently on the sofa as Six slowly bled out on the floor.

"Nice to see you, Carla." he yawned.

"We need to get you to a hospital." she said grabbing Six by the hair and examining her for antidotes.

"She is pretty dead." Roman said shakily trying to light a cigar.

"You have been poisoned, we can use the body to find out what she used." Carla said, dragging her by the hair to the table.

"Don't bother. Best doctor in the world can't cure you if you die before you get there, I have everything under control. I probably got less than a minute to have this conversation, maybe two for a guy my size." he slurred.

"No, you can't die." she said, losing her professional composure.

"Sure I can, wanna try option B?" he asked. "How about you sit down and wait for the party wagon to get here. I already called them, probably 40 seconds before they get here. Everything is fine." he said dropping the lighter.

"Everything is not fine, Roman. You could be dead before they arrive and if not, you'll be dead before they get you anywhere." she hollered, searching the body for clues.

"You never do listen to me when I tell you I'll be fine. How many times have you been in a frantic mess trying to get me somewhere and I keep telling you that everything is fine, and it always is?" he assured, his face pale as death and his focus fading. She stopped and took a few breaths, trying to calm her nerves.

"I just don't understand how you can be so calm." she said fighting tears.

"It's called trust. Can you just trust me for once without a speech?" he asked.

"Yes." she nodded.

"Then do as I ask. I want you to take the body, dispose of it as usual. Then I want you to get some of that expensive ice-cream you like and some fresh Cubans. Be at the next hotel in an hour." he said.

"You hate that ice-cream." she said, in tears.

"Yes, but you love it, and I enjoy seeing you happy. I'll be there waiting and we can have dessert." he smiled. She didn't understand but she trusted him for some reason. He seemed to have things under control, despite his skin turning a waxy white as the poison sucked the life from him. She left the hotel room with a body wrapped in a rug. Roman sat, checking his phone and the little blip on it that was ascending in the elevator towards him.

"Minute 14 response time...we gotta work on that." he yawned, slumping back and closing his eyes as he exhaled a deep breath and the door flew open and 2 Asian ladies in Spa uniforms arrived with a stretcher.

As Carla drove to the body dump, she noticed a car that seemed to be following her. She had Roman on the mind, so she didn't think that much of it, until she stopped and the car that she expected to keep rolling, rolled behind her and stopped as well. She got out of the car, thumbed the hammer on her pistol back and stood silently. The other car's engine turned off and there was a tense lull in all sound and movement. The door opened and a woman stepped out, dressed in black and dark blue tactical armor, her hair pulled into a ponytail the opposite side of her head that had been buzzed short. Her eyeliner suggested a previous few hours of grieving, but she was dead-calm now.

"Is there a reason you are following me?" Carla asked.

"Someone owes me an explanation and a name." she said flicking her cigarette off the car's bumper and stepping closer.