Hate or Love?

Chapter Four

Jayce sped down the road, one hand gripping the steering wheel tightly and the other hand, the one Andreas had crushed, was on his shoulder. It hurt, it hurt bad. Both the bullet wound in his shoulder and his hand.

"Pull over at that motel, Jayce. We need to get you cleaned up." Lucas ordered, his concerned gaze locked on Jayce's shoulder.

"I'm fine. We have get as far away from him as we can." Jayce retorted, and Lucas frowned.

"Jayce, I'm serious. I'm not having you pass out from blood loss. Pull over at a gas station or something, we can get right back on the road. Plus, we don't have much daylight left, and we should sleep." Lucas insisted, and Jayce sighed, glancing at his watch. It was already six o'clock, and Lucas was right.

"We'll stop at the next place we see for the night." Jayce replied curtly, and Lucas sighed, giving in. It was the best Jayce was going to give him, because with Andreas hot on their tail, he knew that it was dangerous to stop. But they had to sleep, and Jayce had to clean his shoulder and make sure his hand wasn't broken. The next little motel they saw, Jayce pulled off the highway, parking the car and going to the front office. He locked the car after Lucas got out, keeping his gun in the waistband of his pants. He walked into the front office, ringing the bell for service and waiting. A man appeared from the back, with a can of Pepsi in one hand and a donut in the other. He took one look at Jayce and frowned in confusion.

"Um... can I help you?" he inquired, and Jayce nodded.

"We need a room for one night." Jayce replied, and the man nodded slowly. He sat down at the desk, grabbing a piece of paper.

"Sign at the bottom there, just an agreement that you'll pay for damages to the room." the man explained, and Jayce grabbed the pen with his good hand, but unfortunately on the same side as his injured shoulder. He winced a little, signing the page and reaching into his pocket for his wallet.

"It's $20 for the night. You're in room six." the man handed him a key, and Jayce handed him the money. The man counted it, before nodding.

"Go ahead, enjoy your stay." the man dismissed them, glancing one more time at Jayce's shoulder as they left. They went down to room six, opening the door and going inside. There were two beds, a desk pushed to the far corner of the room, and on the opposite side, a door to a bathroom. Jayce took off his jacket, putting it on the bed closest to the door and sitting down at the desk.

"Come on, let's go check your shoulder out." Lucas grabbed his good arm, bringing him to the bathroom and sitting him on the toilet, reaching under the sink to find a first aid kit. He opened it up on the counter, turning on the sink. Jayce used one hand to unbutton his shirt and pull the shirt off one broad shoulder, muscle flexing as he waited for Lucas to start cleaning the wound.

"This is going to hurt, so I'm sorry in advance." Lucas apologized, looking through the first aid kit.

"Shit, we don't have forceps." Lucas cursed, frowning.

"Check my car. Glove box, there should be a first aid kit, everything you need will be in there." Jayce instructed, and Lucas got up, running out and leaving Jayce alone in the bathroom. Jayce stared at the running water, quiet. He reached over, turning it off. It had a drip, and he watched each drip gather at the top, and eventually fall into the sink. Lucas came back in, opening Jayce's first aid kit over the motel's and finding the forceps.

"Alright, this is going to hurt, but we have to get the bullet out of your shoulder okay? Want something to bite or something?" Lucas offered, and Jayce unbuckled his belt, pulling it off and folding it.

"I got something." he replied, and then put it between his teeth, taking a breath. Lucas nodded, and gently nudged Jayce so his back was to him.

"Here we go." Lucas took a breath, and Jayce felt an excruciating pain in his shoulder. He gasped, and his other arm - which was leaned on the bathtub - buckled, but he tried to stay still.

"Are you okay?" Lucas pulled the forceps out, and Jayce nodded, panting. He could feel beads of sweat on his forehead, and Lucas put the forceps back in. Jayce bit down hard on the belt in his mouth, trying not to make any noise as he felt the forceps leaving his shoulder.

"I think I got it!" Lucas exclaimed and Jayce didn't answer. He felt tears in his eyes, and he bit down as hard as he could to keep from crying. He felt the forceps leave his shoulder, and he could feel hot blood rolling down his back. He heard clinking in the sink, and Lucas gasped in happiness.

"I got it!" Lucas exclaimed, and Jayce gave him no answer, biting on the belt. He heard movement behind him, and focused on the tiled floor rather than the pain in his shoulder. It was an off white colour, but every few tiles were a light blue.

"I'm going to clean it." Lucas informed him, and he heard the bottle of rubbing alcohol sloshing around in the bottle as Lucas got the piece of toilet paper ready. He felt Lucas pressing gently, first wiping up the blood then cleaning the wound.

"I'm going to wrap it." Lucas warned, and gently wrapped gauze around his shoulder. Jayce let go of the belt, and it clattered to the floor.

"Are you... alright?" Lucas asked hesitantly, looking at him. Jayce nodded, wiping his face and taking a breath.

"Just hurt. That's all." Jayce replied, getting up and leaving his shirt unbuttoned and going back into the room.

"I'm going to get a shirt, I have a few spares in my trunk. Stay here, away from the windows." Jayce ordered, and walked out, going to the car. He took off his shirt when he got to the trunk, opening it and grabbing a blue one. He put it on, doing a quick scan of all the cars in the parking lot. No black Impala, thank god. He went back to the room, walking in and locking the door.

"I'm back!" he called, and Lucas walked out of the bathroom.

"Just cleaning up there. Looked like a crime scene." he joked, and Jayce chuckled.

"Let's order in, then get some sleep." Jayce decided, and Lucas nodded.