Chapter 25: Come Over

Tristan was waiting in the car. He looked at his watch. Sam had gone up too. It should be no problem.

Then he saw Ed come out with a person in his arms. Tristan, who could keep a stiff upper lip in any case, felt his heart skip a beat. He pushed the car door open.

Ed put the person in the back seat and told him, "A little too ugly for my taste."

Indeed, it was horrifying. The person's face was as white as paper, and her left arm lay out from her body in a strange direction. He asked, "A dislocation?"

"Looks like it."

"Go to the hospital," Tristan ordered.

Ed hesitated. "Shouldn't we wait for them?"

"What could happen to them? Let's go."

Ed sat up straight, started the engine, and turned the car around, but he heard a voice say from the back: "Stop."

The car stopped. Tristan looked at the person who was curled up and shivered. He pushed back the sweaty hair on her face and said mildly, "Kate. Hold it."

And then he turned her body to face him, supporting her left elbow in one hand and grabbed her shoulder with another hand. With a sudden push, he snapped the joint up with a sound, followed by a scream of pain. He pushed her shivering body into his arms and patted her back, saying, "OK. It is OK now."

He felt her suppressed sobbing and said, "Cry out if it hurts."

Ed looked on from the rearview mirror and was dumbfounded. The two people huddled together. She was sobbing silently, and he was comforting her in a low voice. The air was mixed with the sticky smell of blood. He felt he was redundant in this situation.

Sam came down after he finished his business. He opened the car door and wanted to get in but was shocked at the scene. He turned to Ed, who shrugged his shoulders, showing that he was in the same awkward situation.

As they were planning to get away, Tristan raised his head and asked, "Where is the medical kit?"

Ed got it from the trunk. And then they left.

Kate tried to get out of his arms once she regained consciousness. She was still weak and couldn't quite raise herself up yet.

Tristan continued holding her for a few seconds and then put his arms down. His eyes flashed with slight disappointment.

But his attention was caught by the half of Kate's face that was swollen and the black on the corner of the eye. He frowned and opened the medical kit, found the swab, and dipped it in a disinfectant solution. He said to her, "Come over."

She didn't react, and hence he pushed her face. "Don't move," he said when he saw her trying to dodge.

His tone was undeniable, and so Kate didn't move anymore. She knew this one was not much kinder than the previous one. To her surprise, he did the job very accurately and proficiently. When he was applying the medicine to the corner of her mouth, he leaned closer. When she smelled the alcohol on his breath, she stopped breathing.

After he finished, Tristan thought, what a small face, not much bigger than his palm. Her chin look sharper than before. The skin was thin and fine, which made the wounds and bruises more frightening and the abuser eviler.

He put away the medical kit and asked after a pause, "Do you have other wounds?"

Kate paused and then shook her head hastily.

And seeing him staring at her with suspicion, she added, "Really. No other wounds."

Tristan felt relieved and called Ed to come back and then ordered him to go to the hospital.

Kate gave him a glance and wondered what they needed at the hospital since he had already treated her.

He seemed to read her mind and said casually, "They can do it more professionally." But then he thought of the effort he took just now and tried to find an explanation for it. "Your arm was dislocated. They will give you some disinfectant."

The car started, and they drove to the hospital. Ed then realized that he turned the car too fast earlier and caused pain to the idiot girl. The boss thus asked him to stop and did the doctor's job himself… So he drove carefully and slowly this time.

It was very quiet inside the car. Only the sound of the engine was heard.

Kate had experienced torture both physically and mentally and now was exhausted. She was not out of danger yet, but her strained nerves relaxed a little bit. When she was going to fall asleep, she heard the man beside her asked, "How did you offend them?"

She woke up immediately and saw his eyes, which were as calm, cold, and unavoidable as usual. She told the story roughly and omitted the part Jimmy was involved in. The story did not sound very convincing, but she was too tired to bother with it. Whatever, believe it or not.

Tristan heard this and muttered, "A fall into the pit, a gain in your wit…" but he stopped in the middle. He realized that these words were not appropriate because the experience she had had was their doing. But he looked at her with contempt for her stupidity anyway.

Kate didn't notice his expression. She also wondered why she was always the victim of kidnapping. Even the man behind the scenes of her first kidnapping despised his victim. She said sulkily, "Bad luck."

It was bad luck, indeed.

Since Kate saw that man in the restaurant, she had been very careful. But after a week without any incidents, she relaxed a little. She went to the college that evening and tragedy had struck.

After they got to the hospital, the doctor examined Kate and prescribed medicine. With Tristan's suggestion, she stayed in the hospital for the night. Sam returned the satchel that had been left at Buck's place.

Kate called her roommate and told her she would not be back at their apartment tonight. When the drugs took effect, she fell asleep, under the surveillance of Tristan's goons.

Seeing her fall asleep, Tristan left. He asked Ed to arrange for someone to stay and watch her.

After he got into the car, he asked, "What did you do with that guy?"

"Beat him up. Broke his arms." Sam replied calmly.

Tristan snorted. "A light punishment for him."

Ed chuckled. "Right. We should castrate that guy."

Sam squinted at him. "Will you go?" He turned to his boss. "Or I should ask someone to repair him again?"

"No. It is enough."

After a pause, Tristan said, "Call his daddy. Tell him to watch over his baby son and make sure he doesn't step into Los Angeles again, or he will disappear."

Ed said seriously, "We didn't mention your name today. It is better to keep it low."

"Whatever."

Ed scanned the rearview mirror and found his boss was hostile today. He felt strange and thought he should consult Chapman, the old fox when he got back. He would probably know what was up with their boss.