Out of Control ✔

THIRD CHAPTER

Juanita had spent a lot of time on the shooting range growing up. Her friend had a crush on a guy who was working there and had brought her along. He had shown little interest in her friend but Juanita had caught his eye. It had led to some intimate moments in the storeroom, which had embarrassed her to death and she never dared to tell her friend what was happening, ultimately causing a huge fight and a rift in their friendship that they never fixed.

The thoughts about Nestor still made her cheeks flush. Behind her friend's back they had seen each other, until Juanita felt so bad about it she no longer snuck out of the house at night to go and see him. It was the most rebellious thing she had ever done – and while it was nothing compared to what her brothers had been doing she couldn't handle the deceit. Not much later her mother had died, making her father grim and drunk, causing the chain of events that had forced her to leave town.

During the time she spent with Los Olvidados she had expanded her shooting skills, resulting in a firm hand and a good aim.

There was no way she was going to miss now, even though she'd never shot at a living being before.

A grunt escaped his lips as the bullet hit his thigh. A loud curse followed.

"What the fuck man!" the man snarled incredulously. "Have you lost your fucking mind?" He moved his weight to his other leg and pressed his hands to the wound, still cursing under his breath.

"I warned you. Now leave," she told him, not a hint of remorse in her tone. "The next one will be in your head."

The gun was still in her hands and she aimed a little higher.

"How the hell am I supposed to leave with a fucking bullet in my leg, you stupid whore," he hissed, his jaw clenched in pain.

"Be a man. Ignore the pain."

"Easy for you to say," he spat. Ignoring her threat, he went down onto one knee and tried to see the damage. "Damn it. This is bad."

Slowly Juanita's resolve seeped away. He wasn't pulling a gun, he wasn't paying attention at her at all, he was completely preoccupied with his injury. Suddenly the moon broke through the clouds and revealed the man's appearance.

Her eyes went wide when she recognized the cut he was wearing. "Holy shit."

The man looked up, his dark eyes peeking through the black hair hanging in front of his eyes. "Yeah? Finally got your brain back?" He snarled, spitting on the ground.

"I told you to go away," she muttered petulantly to the guy who was probably a friend of her brother. Had Angel shown him a picture of her? Would he recognize her?

"I'm stubborn. And besides, I never thought you would really shoot me."

"Then who's the crazy one here?"

He held her gaze for a second. "Think we both are."

With a sigh Juanita put away the gun and motioned him to come closer to the fire so she could see the damage she'd done. "Lemme see."

"Didn't have to shoot me to get me out of my pants, ya know?" He stumbled towards her and she grabbed his shoulder to help him maintain his balance.

He took off his belt and slowly lowered his pants. Right beneath his boxers his leg was bleeding, in the front and the back.

"The bullet passed through," she concluded. That was good – but he was still bleeding like hell. "Give me your shirt."

"This a striptease now?"

She rolled her eyes, but couldn't hide a smirk. She had to admit it: that man had balls. Most people would have been freaking out in a situation like this. She took the shirt from him, ripped off a strip and rolled up the leg of his boxers to tie it tightly above the wound.

"I can go back to camp to get some medical stuff."

"You're an assassin and a doctor now?"

"This place is better than school."

He snickered. "Yeah yeah. Well hurry up girl, I'm too young to die."

She stared into his brown eyes for a moment, still overwhelmed by his indifference. He gave her the feeling he was shot by girls daily.

"I'll be right back," she promised.

"You better be. I'll haunt your ass forever if you let me bleed to death in this god forsaken place." Groaning he sat down on the ground, his hands pressing on the provisional tourniquet.

Juanita took the flashlight out of her backpack and ran back towards the camp, hoping she could sneak in and out without being seen.