Chapter 4: Minnesoter

Lisa stared at the walls as Cheryl lead her down a hallway. This place was amazing. Did the family come from money? She tried to picture Jackson as a silver spoon kid, still playing her game. Thinking of Jackson meant not thinking about her dad, her arm, or the general situation. "Yellow Submarine" ran out of lyrics while they were on the third floor, which didn't really matter because she stupidly shifted her bag, which jostled her arm and made her hiss in pain, making her forget her game.

Cheryl stopped in her tracks and made her turn around. "Looks like we're going to see Caleb first," she said knowingly.

"Why?" Lisa replied, confused.

"He'll fix that arm. Bullet?" Lisa furrowed her eyebrows. She had never met anyone like this family. The woman could somehow tell she was injured, seemed to know exactly from what, and said it all like she was asking if Lisa preferred Coke or Pepsi. "He's a doctor," Cheryl continued, leading Lisa back down to the second floor. "He should make you good as new."

Cheryl walked into a room and turned to look at Lisa. "He should be right in. I think he's downstairs with Jackson right now." She headed out, and turned back. "Do you want anything to drink?"

"Maybe just a water?" Lisa asked, sheepish. "Um...Cheryl? I'm really grateful that you and Caleb are letting me stay here."

Cheryl's smile stretched thin. "Of course," she replied, suddenly colder than she had been. She walked out quickly, leaving a bewildered Lisa. Did I say something wrong?

Lisa dropped carefully into a chair. She wanted to sleep. Or wake up. Either would work at this point. The room was starting to rock, like she was on a ship, and she had to close her eyes to block out both the red dots scattering across her vision and the feeling of nausea that the movement was giving her.

"Lisa?" The redhead's eyes snapped open at that voice. Not him, but Jesus, it looked like him. Her green eyes widened to the size of saucers when she took in the man before her. Same eyes, same chiseled jaw, but the brown hair was shorter. His face was softer. She let out an involuntary whimper of fear as he approached her, and pushed back in her chair. This caused her to moan in pain, her eyes screwing shut.

This man wasn't Jackson, but close enough to bring the terror rushing back. His hands on her throat, the look of pure rage and hatred in his eyes, the knife in his hand. She could see it clear as day, each image of that night flashing through her mind in no particular order, and she battled to keep the tears at bay.

"...shirt on underneath?" She was snapped back into reality when she realized that Caleb was talking to her. He was kneeling in front of her now, and she quickly realized that he didn't smell like Jackson. Jackson had smelled of cologne, whiskey, and power. This man smelled more natural- a faint trace of soap and cigarettes. This surprisingly calmed her, and she cleared her throat.

"I'm sorry..." Lisa said softly as it occurred to her that Caleb was waiting for a response. "I didn't..."

Caleb smiled warmly. "I said that I''ll need you to remove your sweatshirt so I can look at your arm. Do you have another shirt on underneath?" She shook her head meekly. "Alright, but you still need to get that sweatshirt off. Can you lift your arm?" Another small shake. She couldn't move it at all. Caleb sighed. "Okay, I think we'll have to cut it off. Are you okay with that?"

Lisa hesitated. Ever since her attack, she had only been to female doctors. She didn't feel comfortable with men seeing her exposed, and it definitely didn't help that this man just so happened to look like the man who had given her a whole new kind of violation. But he wasn't Jackson. He was a doctor. And her arm hurt too badly for her to be hung up on the sex of a person who could fix it. She nodded, and allowed Caleb to cut a line down the front of her hoodie, pulling the sleeve over her arm.

Caleb removed the bandages, frowning. "This isn't going to be pleasant," he said, looking her arm over. "The wound hasn't been cleaned properly, and it's definitely infected. The bullet isn't deep enough to require surgery, but it looks like it has wormed its way down. I can get it out with a tweezers, but it's going to be extremely painful and I only have a local anesthetic...it can only help so much."

Lisa sighed in frustration. "Aren't you treating Jackson?" She quieted when she said his name and her eyes widened again. "I mean-"

Caleb held up a hand in understanding. "No, it's fine. I have been giving him anesthesia, but we can only use what we had in the ambulance and it ran out. I can't very well go taking it from work, now can I?" He gave her another warm smile. "Ready?"

Lisa nodded. What choice did she have? She whimpered slightly when Caleb injected the needle into her arm, but when he started to pry the bullet, she let out a sharp cry. When Caleb gave her a stern look, she bit down hard on her lip, breaking the fragile skin. Hot tears streamed down her cheeks, and she couldn't help but squirm in her chair.

"You know," Caleb said soothingly as he worked the tweezers, "you're a brave woman." Lisa shook her head, her eyes twisted shut and her teeth still clamped on her lips. She heard him chuckle. "Don't give me that shit. I don't remember that last person who came out on top against my brother. You came here despite the fact that DHS is trying to hunt you down-"

"I don't mean to put you-" she gasped out, but Caleb interrupted her.

"That's not what I mean. They won't find you here, and Cheryl and I aren't worried about them. I mean that you made it this far and with everything that happened...and you're just someone in the wrong place at the wrong time, with the wrong job." He chuckled again. "Ah, and here we are-" Lisa heard the clink of metal on metal, and knew the bullet was out. She opened her eyes. "Now, let's just work on getting this wound healed." He winked playfully. "Who knows? Maybe you'll keep the arm."

Lisa released her poor lower lip and allowed her breathing to steady again as Caleb began dabbing with alcohol. His actions stung like crazy, but it was like a mild sunburn compared to the last few days.

"Um...how is he?" she asked nervously, avoiding eye contact.

"Mad as hell. He still needs rest, and his voice is kind of shot, but he should be ranting and raving again in a day or so. It hasn't been a picnic, let me tell you." Caleb tossed the bloody pads into a bucket sitting on the floor, and reached into his bag. "I need to give you another shot. Antibiotics to help with the infection." Lisa nodded. As much as she hated to admit it, she was started to feel at ease with Caleb. He reminded her of the Tex Mex Jackson, before he had become Manager Jackson. She sat in silence as he continued talking.

"The biggest problem was blood loss. We had to do a blood transfusion." Caleb snorted in amusement. "Looked like an episode of MASH in the basement. I mean, I'm his blood type, but Cheryl and I had to do the transfusions ourselves with some pretty basic equipment. We were successful, but it was a little touch and go." Another laugh, and a sting when she felt the shot in her arm. "You're a hell of a woman, but a lousy shot."

Lisa smiled as he went into the details of Jackson's injuries. She realized that she had been wrong. Caleb was Tex Mex Jackson on crack. They had just met, he was fixing a bullet wound, his brother had almost died, and here he was going on and on like they were friends who hadn't seen each other in a while. She also realized that her pain had started to substantially subside. She tiled her head. Two brothers. One seemed to be a very gifted doctor, and the other a cold blooded killer.

"Lisa?" She snapped into reality again upon hearing his tone straighten up, "What exactly do you think we can do for you?" She blushed, dropping her eyes to watch him bandage the wound.

"Um, I didn't know what else to do," she admitted softly, "I have no idea what I'm supposed to do, Caleb. I though that since Jackson was able to-" she cut herself off, frowning. "How did he get here? He was taken off in an ambulance, and Keefe's men think he's dead." Caleb shrugged.

"I don't think you want to know," was all he said. Lisa was going to ask another question, but was cut off when the door opened.

"Caleb? What the hell is she doing here?"