"Fuck! Be careful, Cleo." I told her, furrowing my eyebrows when she pressed her fingers a bit too hard over the recently stitched wound on my lower abdomen.
She was changing my bloody bandages for the second time since we got back to my place, and this gunshot wound was much deeper than the others. I was lucky because it didn't hit any organs apparently, but it was dangerous. It took her longer to take the bullet out and I nearly passed out because of the pain.
A whole bottle of whiskey and a half had been drunk during that process, all while miss Cleodora was calling me out and scolding me like she was my mother. It'd been eight hours since we returned now, and neither of us had slept at all.
I wasn't drunk but the alcohol was making me a bit dizzy because of the adrenaline that was still coursing through my veins. The pain also contributed to my agitated state, I couldn't help but replay the recent events over and over while she took care of my wound.
"You have a pain kink, don't you? Why should I worry?" Cleo raised one eyebrow, clearly still pissed at me as she finished rolling the gauze around my waistline, making sure it was tightly bandaged.
I was standing up in front of her while she was sitting on the couch, the way she'd been pouting her lips was awfully distracting. I watched as she covered the ferns tattooed on my hips in the process, finishing what she was doing before she looked up at me with a very displeased expression.
Her pretty face was still covered in dry blood and I was sure she had forgotten about it, she'd only washed her hands so she could help me with the wound.
It was all worth it though... Zayn was safe.
He was currently asleep in the guest room where Cleo was sleeping because we couldn't manage to carry him to my room upstairs since I was quite incapacitated.
I thanked the adrenaline, after we found Zayn inside that dark room, all I could think about was getting him out and leaving. He was alone in the dark... fuck, the scariest chill went down my spine just thinking about it.
He was really hurt, his head had an ugly wound on the back and many bruises and cuts as well, I had no idea how he was conscious when we found him. It didn't last long, he passed out as soon as we untied him and Cleo went to get the car as I carried him out, not giving a fuck that I had been shot.
He needed some painkillers and we had to take care of him, Cleo cleaned his wounds and stitched him up as well, but he had a broken arm that I had to force back in its place before it could heal in the wrong way, and the way he screamed in pain as soon as I did it made me want to punch myself.
It had to be done... and now he had to rest. Cleo helped me remove his bloody clothes and I cleaned him up as much as I could, covering him with the duvet before I turned on the lamp and left him alone in the room.
There was no fucking way I'd leave him in the dark.
I just hoped he wouldn't get an infection or something worse, we couldn't manage to take him to a hospital, or call one of the doctors that were usually available to help my father or his men when he needed it.
It was dangerous to have anyone else coming into my house, I was kinda hiding Cleo with me and we had literally just killed five of Louis' men. Not that I gave a single fuck about them, I just needed to get Zayn and now I did... so I could finally focus on making the person responsible pay.
"You need to rest. And I mean actual rest, for at least five days without forcing that." Cleo snapped, standing up from the couch and running her fingers through her hair.
A few blonde strands were now red because of the blood, and I remembered the way she moved o fucking fast when she threw her knife and then slit that man's throat, with no hesitation at all.
I would be dead tonight if it wasn't for her, I was well aware of that.
She knew it, though... she had my back during the whole thing and she was the reason we succeeded because I honestly just couldn't control myself.
As soon as I heard those disgusting assholes talking about killing Zayn as if he was nothing, I simply snapped. There was no way I could let him die, I cared more about Zayn than I cared about myself... and that proves a lot.
He was the only one I had around during very difficult times and he was always genuinely interested in how I was feeling, and he never forced me into talking about things. He respected me for who I was and he was kind.
I wasn't very used to kindness, but his was much appreciated.
"I don't expect you to understand-"
"Fuck you!" Cleo interrupted me before I could even start, glaring at me with those big blue eyes.
I had to look down at her, she was barefoot and I often forgot how small she was. Even though I was almost scared of the rage behind her eyes.
"Cleo, we're alright." I sighed, grabbing the clean black button-down shirt she had gotten me from my closet, and I put it on carefully as she kept glaring at me. "Zayn is safe and we caught them all off guard. I doubt Louis will do shit now."
"I don't fucking care about Louis!" She threw her hands in the air while I took a seat on the couch, grabbing the half-empty bottle of whiskey I had yet to finish.
I took a long sip and placed it back on the floor since I still didn't have a center table. I had cleaned the small shards of glass yesterday but I needed to replace it soon.
"Cleo, stop overthinking." I sighed.
"They said 'them'. As in more than one person. As in Louis isn't working by himself and that means he teamed up with someone else to get to us!" She raised her voice again, pacing back and forth in the living room.
"I don't really care who he is working with. I'm going to kill him and whoever else was involved. Simple." I raised one eyebrow at her and she cursed under her breath. "I know I was reckless... I couldn't stop myself. But it's pointless to dwell on what happened, we're here and we're safe. For now."
"For now." She snorted, mocking my accent and walking closer to grab the whiskey bottle from the floor. She drank what was left all at once, throwing the empty bottle against my wall and watching it break. "You could've died! Do you have any idea how stupid you were? If I wasn't there then you'd be dead. Zayn would be dead. And for what?"
This was the most upset I'd ever seen her and I was very confused. Yeah, she was right about most of the things she said but now we had to focus on the present and the future. Why was she so hung up about this?
Our job was dangerous, she knew we could die anytime. "That was uncalled for." I used the same words she told me when I broke the center table, and she honestly looked like she was about to kill me. "I know what I did, I'm aware of it."
"We have so much to work on, Harry. And your wound is much more serious than the previous ones, the bullet was deep and I'm no fucking doctor! What if I fucked up when I removed it? You need to go to a hospital-"
"No hospitals, it's not safe. We should follow your plan and go to Mark's house... try to find something that can help us with the list now that Zayn is safe. I doubt Louis will do anything now, he has nothing on me." I stood up, limping my way closer to her and ignoring the sharp pain spreading through my body.
"Please, calm down, baby."
She grimaced, crossing her arms over her chest and chewing the inside of her cheeks, as if she didn't know how to voice how she was feeling.
"Don't you fucking die on me." She simply whispered, looking deep into my eyes before she turned around and walked away from me, headed towards the bathroom at the end of the hallway.
Something about her tone made my stomach clench in a weird way and I didn't know what exactly she meant by that. I knew we had a lot of shit to work on, and even though this was a setback, we had to handle it.
I took a deep breath and ignored the fact I was starting to get hungry, I needed to check on Zayn and I was going to wait for Cleo to see if we'd order something.
It was very sunny outside but all the curtains were closed today, having a house covered with wall-length windows didn't seem like a good idea anymore, especially now.
Fuck, I couldn't believe he was here.
I made my way to the guest room, opening the door slowly and finding him still sleeping on the bed. His face was less swollen but he looked so hurt... he was probably in a lot of pain and I wished I had found him sooner.
My dad didn't care about him but I was sure he was missed, especially considering the many meetings he usually had to sort things out. I couldn't care less about the drug deals and deliveries, his health mattered the most.
I walked closer to the curtains, opening them just a bit so the sun could come through the window. I looked outside and I could see a bit of the pool and the walls surrounding my house, the tall trees behind them, and the very bright sun in the sky.
Thank god for air conditioning.
I heard a soft groan and I quickly turned my head, watching as Zayn stirred on the bed and slowly opened his eyes, blinking a few times before he looked at me.
"Close that shit." He whispered, and I quickly closed the curtains again, watching as he screwed his eyes shut and let out a deep breath.
Fuck, just listening to his voice again was a huge fucking relief. He hadn't said anything last night and I was so worried. At least he was talking and awake, I needed this reassurance that he was okay, even if just a little.
He tried moving his arms and he winced, even though the bone was back in place, he needed to keep it still before we could properly immobilize it.
We only tended to his most serious head injuries and now that he was awake we could do it properly.
"How are you?" I asked him, taking a seat on the edge of the bed. "What do you need?"
"A new body." He groaned. "Everything hurts too much. I need some painkillers."
His voice was barely audible and I grabbed the pills I'd left on the bedside table, along with the glass of water. I was careful to place my hand on the nape of his neck so I could lift his head just enough so he could swallow the pills, and he nearly choked on the water.
"It's okay," I whispered, gently wiping the back of my hand on his mouth and laying his head back down on the pillow, and he blinked a few times as he cleared his throat. "Just rest, I'll be here if you need anything."
"What happened?" Zayn whispered, focusing his bloodshot amber eyes on me. "I remember bringing the guns to that storage unit... and then it's all black. My head is a mess, it hurts too much."
Fuck... they must've hit him in the head too hard, this happened to me once. The memories returned slowly and unannounced, but I had an ugly concussion back then and I was told sometimes the memories never returned.
"You're safe now, Z." I sighed. "That's all that matters. Please, rest."
"I had the strangest dream that Cleo Horan was with you." Zayn furrowed his eyebrows slightly, wincing a bit when he turned his head to look at me again, just when I heard familiar footsteps approaching the room.
"Is he awake-" Cleo started but she stopped as soon as she walked in the room, she had washed off the blood and gotten dressed in clean clothes, her wet hair was tied up in a ponytail now as she stared at Zayn.
I took a deep breath and glanced sideways at Zayn, his wide eyes didn't know if they looked at me or at her.
"Well..." I scratched the back of my neck, forgetting about my wound as the pain instantly followed before I looked at her. "Cleo Horan is with me."