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exploded from Luke s thigh.
Fuck! Luke cried as he dropped to the ground. His phone slid across the floor.
An operator s tinny barking sounded from the speaker, Sir? Sir, are you injured?
Sir!
Eric looked in horror at the gun in his hand and then tossed it away. No. No, no,
no, no, no, Luke! No. Shit, no, Luke. Did you see? Did you see he was attacking me? He
was going to hurt you. You tell the police that, okay, Luke? That s what you tell them!
Marshall swallowed hard, tuned out Eric s babbling, and scooped up Luke in his
arms, whispering soothing nonsense as if it would do any good. Marshall carried him
into the kitchen, laid Luke on the dining table to elevate his leg, and took off his own
belt to tourniquet Luke s wounded leg just above the bullet hole. Stay still, baby boy,
okay? Promise I ll take care of you.
Luke clenched his teeth and winced. It looked like the pain was coming in waves.
Marshall wished he could take it away as simply as Eric had given it to him.
Celibacy NOW 127
Marshall turned, still ignoring Eric, and found Luke s phone. Bringing it to his ear,
he said, Property owner was shot in the thigh. Tried to slow the bleeding. Please send
an ambulance ASAP.
He handed the phone to Luke to give him something to distract him, then
retrieved the gun, using a dishtowel to pick it up and place it on the table beside Luke
just in case Eric got desperate when the emergency workers arrived.
Eric continued his frantic pleading until he heard the muffled sounds of sirens
growing louder. Luke must ve had his address on a hot button, because that was the
fastest response Marshall had ever seen.
Luke glared at Eric. Shut the fuck up, Eric. You re going back to jail. That s right,
back to jail. I know you ve been in jail before, you Luke s angry voice gave way to a
wail as another wave of pain evidently hit him.
Marshall closed in to hold Luke tightly through it but kept a wary eye on Eric.
Eric looked between them, seeming increasingly fraught as he took in their
embrace, and tried one last time. He was in here robbing you. You weren t here, so
you don t know what he
Luke took a few panting breaths and then said, I wasn t here because I was at the
police station reporting you for selling crack to my students. I have video, Eric. You re
going to jail.
The blood drained from Eric s face. He gave them both a vicious scowl and said,
Fuck y all, then, and darted out the door.
Marshall kissed Luke s temple and hugged him close, not even considering
chasing Eric. He couldn t bear to leave Luke alone when he was suffering like this.
I m so sorry, Marshall whispered.
That Luke had taken a bullet for him blew his mind. As that fact sank in, Marshall
found tears in his eyes. Taking a deep breath, he gave Luke the most confident smile he
could muster and spoke louder. The ambulance is almost here. They ll get you patched
128 Clancy Nacht & Thursday Euclid
up, and you can show off your badass scar to your buddies in a few weeks. You re more
gangsta than I am now! Not bad for pretty-boy white bread.
The sirens grew to a deafening scream, and a moment later, Marshall heard the
EMTs in the hall. He shouted, In here!
Marshall backed up to let the EMTs load Luke onto a stretcher. From the hallway
of Luke s floor, he heard shouts, then Eric screaming. Marshall glanced at the EMTs,
who were still tending to Luke and not on the move yet, then peered out the doorway
to see Eric spread-eagled on the ground. An officer was securing his arms behind his
back with a plastic zip cord.
Tasered. Marshall had done him a favor disarming him. If those cops had seen a
gun in Eric s hand, they probably would ve shot him.
Move! said an EMT behind Marshall.
Marshall jumped out of the way and then followed the paramedics to the elevator.
Knowing they weren t likely to let him ride down in their car, he made for the stairs. By
the time Marshall reached the ground floor, they were wheeling the stretcher to the
ambulance.
Which hospital? Marshall shouted.
St. David, the EMT said as they loaded Luke into the back.
I m okay, Luke called to him. They said it looks like it went straight through,
so& Though he winced at the jostling, Luke gave an awkward, pained smile and
thumbs-up.
I ll meet you there! Marshall watched until the doors closed, then tried to make
it to his SUV. Instead, he was stopped by one of the police officers who d taken Eric
down. When Marshall glanced around, he saw Eric being shoved into the back of one of
the cruisers on the scene.
We need to take a statement, sir.
Celibacy NOW 129
Marshall blinked, trying to wrap his head around everything going on before he
refocused on the cop. Excuse me?
You were involved in an altercation with the suspect this evening. We need to
ask you some questions. The officer was eyeing him suspiciously; no doubt Eric had
been telling everyone in earshot that Marshall was a robber and had tried to kill him.
Look, officer, I will cooperate however I can, but my boy, er, friend just got shot,
and I need to get to St. David to be with him. Marshall s head was swimming, but a
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