Page 38 of The Love of Priest 2

Britain nodded her head. She kept her eyes on her hands, still examining them after drying. "Are you gonna be okay?" J'Ru asked her.

He was concerned about her. J'Ru knew Priest never really introduced Britain to the malicious downfalls of his life, like death, so this was going to be hard for her.

She was always kept safe, and now, her safety and security had been severely compromised.

Recovering from this wouldn't be easy. She may not have been the one who was injured physically, but she was the one who was injured mentally.

Healing from that could take longer than anyone could imagine.

Britain shook her head. She was an honest person.

She was always upfront with her feelings and emotions.

It definitely pained J’Ru to see her admit that she wasn't going to be okay.

He was expecting her to suppress her feelings and emotions and push through this.

Britain wasn't that type of person, though.

Her orbs glistened with tears as she bit down on her bottom lip with the intention of preventing her tears from falling.

J'Ru sighed lightly as he opened his arms, pulling Britain into an embrace.

He was sure she would much rather have Priest comforting her more than anyone, but whenever Priest was down, J'Ru always stepped up and made sure everything was handled.

Britain was special to Priest, so he felt obligated to make Britain's feelings a priority.

She fell into the embrace. She cried lightly on his chest, a mild shock going through her body as the events of the day replayed in her mind.

She went from hugging her father goodbye this morning to applying pressure on her boyfriend's gushing bullet wound.

Britain needed time to process, but she wasn't granted that time.

Things were moving too fast for her, and she wasn't sure if she could handle it.

Back in the front room where Seven kept a controlled environment to keep Priest stable, she pulled her orbs from Priest and set them on Jeremy and Kaymen.

"I'm about to start stitching him up," she began.

"His first reaction will be to fight me off, but I need the both of you to secure his hands.

If he moves too much, the suture won't hold, and I'll just have to do it all over again," Seven explained with detailed instructions.

Kaymen glanced down at Priest before nodding his head, agreeing to Seven's instructions.

She shifted her attention to Jeremy, awaiting his response.

He followed suit with a nod, which gave her the go-ahead to proceed.

"If the pain becomes unbearable for him, he may pass out.

If and only if that does happen, I need you, Kaymen, to monitor his pulse to ensure that he's still alive. "

"And if he isn't?" Kaymen throated out to Seven. She sighed lightly before clearing her throat.

"Things look fine right now," she assured. "I stopped the bleeding and cleaned the wounds the best that I can. If he wanted to die, he would have died in the car. He's okay. We just need to be prepared for the worst."

Kaymen nodded his head. He knew that Priest being treated on a foyer floor on a dozen blankets was pretty unconventional, but if Priest put his life in Seven’s hands, then he had no choice but to do the same.

Despite the excruciating pain and the high chance of infection, Seven seemed to be doing the best she could.

She only had a limited number of resources to work with and still managed to keep Priest alive.

Seven shifted her eyes between Kaymen and Jeremy to ensure they were ready to stomach Priest's pain.

Both men nodded their heads as they secured Priest's arms in their grips so he wouldn't be able to fight Seven off, even if he tried.

Once the medical thread was weaved through the small opening of the needle, Seven let out a light breath.

She recited a silent prayer in her mind before dipping the sharp needle into Priest's thick skin.

The first puncture caused Priest to instinctively clench his jaws as his eyes widened.

Veins bulged out of his arms that were being restrained by Kaymen and Jeremy. "Priest, I need you to stay still," Seven instructed as she pulled the suture through the second puncture.

At the sound of Priest's outroars of pain, Britain immediately wiped her tears, preparing to head back to the main room where Seven was stitching Priest up. J'Ru was able to pull her back, restricting her from heading back to Priest.

"I'm fine," Britain asserted with a confident shake of her head. Tears still stained her face; however, she had stopped crying.

J'Ru shook his head. "You going in there will only do yourself more harm than good," he warned Britain.

"I said I'm fine," Britain gritted out as she shook her arm from his grip.

J'Ru maneuvered his way in front of Britain, stopping her from exiting the kitchen once more. "You don't think you've seen enough today?" His oak brown orbs peered down at her.

A look of guilt covered her face. Her eyes went from searing into J'Ru's oak orbs to quickly looking away.

Everyone was right: Britain just didn't have it in her.

"Quit putting yourself though all this fucking trauma for him.

You've solidified your place in his life enough, and he sees that.

You don't have to prove yourself to him anymore," J'Ru preached to her. "You've done all you can."

Britain bit down on her bottom lip in hopes of keeping her tears from pouring out.

J'Ru's words resonated with her, and she couldn't help but feel that he was completely right.

She still wanted to prove herself to Priest, not knowing that she'd already done so.

She didn't need to sit and put herself through the misery of seeing him in so much pain and agony because she wanted him to know she was there for him.

Priest was aware. Britain might not have been in the same room with him, but Priest knew she was there and hadn't left his side yet.

J'Ru couldn't read Britain as easily as Priest could, so he wasn't sure what to make of her silence.

A short sigh emitted out of him before he stepped aside.

"If you want to put yourself through that because you feel like you have something to prove, then do so," he conceded and shrugged his shoulders.

"I can't stop you more than I already have. "

Britain watched as J'Ru walked away from her, claiming a seat at the dining table where he was sitting prior to her entrance.

J'Ru was immune to the shouts of pain and the tight feeling that arose in his stomach, so he seemed calm.

What he wasn't immune to was seeing Priest hurt.

That was the only thing he couldn't bear, and he wasn't about to put himself through that.

Britain let out a sharp breath as another wail of pain screeched out of Priest and flooded her ears.

She turned around, pulling out a seat at the table alongside J'Ru.

She cleared her throat before asking J'Ru a question.

"How do you tune it out?" She pointed in the direction of the room where Seven was treating Priest.

J'Ru couldn't possibly expect her to stay away from Priest when all she could hear was his screams. J'Ru’s hands drifted down his face in full distress. "That's the one thing I haven't mastered yet," he admitted with a shake of his head.

Britain huffed as she sulked and hung her head low. She still had to suffer.

In the front of the house, Kaymen and Jeremy wrestled with Priest to keep him down. Seven had a few mishaps due to his constant squirming, which caused two of the stitches to not hold. Going back to put Priest through even more pain than she wanted to was a lot for her, but it had to be done.

"Just pass out already!" Seven bellowed, almost as a desperate plea once another suture tore.

Priest's pain tolerance was unbelievable.

Someone who had not only endured a through-and-through shot but also stitches with no anesthesia would have already gone unconscious.

Priest, however, remained alive and awake.

"Hurry the hell up, Seven!" Remy ordered her as he and Kaymen continued to fight with Priest.

Seven cut her eyes at him for a brief moment. "I'm trying! Just shut up and let me fucking do this!" she spewed back at him as she pulled another stitch through.

Seven managed to successfully close the entry wound, causing her to let out a deep breath of relief. Momentarily, Kaymen and Jeremy released Priest's arms before Seven went ahead to sewed up the exit wound.

"Priest, how are you feeling?" Seven asked in a doting tone. At this point, he was going through torture. She couldn't remain that serious and emotionally detached doctor she would’ve been at the hospital.

Priest slowly nodded his head. His body was going through the phase of exhaustion, which meant Seven had to hurry up and sew the next set of sutures.

She did just that. Priest's pain tolerance seemed to be giving out on him as his head drooped and his eyes grew hooded.

Seven decided not to give him any grief about not staying awake.

She preferred him unconscious for this part anyway.

While he was unconscious, Seven was able to close up the exit wound. Kaymen kept close watch on Priest's pulse to ensure he remained alive.

Eventually, they called for J'Ru to assist with carrying Priest to a much more comfortable place in the house. Jeremy let Priest rest in a guest room, putting everyone at instant ease.

"Thank you," Britain expressed her gratitude to her mother as she wrapped her arms around her.

Seven kissed the top of Britain's head as they rocked back and forth in the embrace. She was absolutely relieved. She wouldn't have known how to deal with Priest dying in her hands. It would have been a lot of guilt to carry with her. "He's fine, Mocha," she assured Britain.