The two of them sat in silence, one on a bed and one on a stool. Lauren opened her mouth to ask something, but Joe silenced her with a finger to her lips. "Wait till I get this done with, then I'll be free to answer your questions to the best I can." Lauren clamped her lips, allowing Joe to cleanse her wound. He was all too aware of her presence. She had her top off leaving her bra on, and was only in a brassiere to give him better access to the bullet shot. Joe had to exert an enormous amount of self-control to prevent him from going all pervert on her. He groaned inwardly. This was torture. The door to the room suddenly swung open to reveal Jeff Blim standing there. Jeff's jaw dropped in shock before he face turned tomato red. "I-I'm sorry," he stuttered, retreating in a hurry as he tried not to stare at her cleavage. "I had no idea that you were going to be here with her Joe. I'll just get going and-" Lauren's laugh interrupted Jeff's rambling. Her eyes twinkled at him as she turned around, slightly. "There's nothing going on here, Jeff. Joe's just helping me to clean up a wound." Joe scowled. He was more than fine to let Jeff misunderstand, dang it. Jeff saw the gunshot wound and immediately rushed over and crouched in front of Lauren. "Do you need medicine? Bandages, how could you be so careless?!" She smiled kindly at Jeff's worried face. "Some guy was shooting and chasing us-"She was interrupted. "It's my fault." Joe spoke up abruptly. He stood up, letting the bandages on his lap fall to the ground. He left the room and slammed the door shut, leaving Lauren and Jeff sitting there confused and more than a little stunned.
An hour passed before Lauren went out of the room and walked over to Joe who now set in the living room. "Oh god, Lo… I just want it to end." He spoke the moment she sat next to him. Joe let his head rest on her good shoulder as she placed an arm around him. "Joe, this was not your fault." Oh how he wished she was right. "You don't understand… Lauren… the man who shot you was trying to kill you…" This shocked her. "What? Why?" Slowly, Joe moved from her grasped, instantly missing her warmth. "I owed his Boss money… he gave me two days to pay up and then went back on his word… now trying to get to me by killing you. Because…I care about you… you are my best friend." Joe thought she was about to leave, the silence told him she was thinking and before he could blink she was hugging him. "But, you saved me." This made him smile a bit, yes he did.