Gun Games - Faye Kellerman [104]
“Maybe I’ll call for an ambulance to the spot just in case,” Decker said calmly.
Gabe slumped in the seat. “Maybe you should call one for me. I feel like I’m gonna pass out.”
“For real?” Decker asked.
“No, no . . . I’m okay. One of the assholes punched me in the ribs. He mighta broken something.” He opened up his jacket and put his hand over the spot. His shirt was warm, wet, and sticky. He pulled out his hand, and it was coated with blood. Gabe was confused. “I musta cut myself.”
“Oh my God!” Yasmine gasped and drew her hands to her face. “Gabe, you’ve been shot!”
Again, Decker put the siren on his roof. He made an abrupt U-turn and headed for the hospital.
Chapter Thirty-one
The first call to Rina wasn’t an easy one to make, but it was a cakewalk compared to the next.
“This better be important,” Donatti barked over the phone. “You interrupted me at a very inopportune time.”
“It’s Gabe,” Decker said flatly. “He’s okay, but he’s been shot. You need to come down to L.A. immediately.”
The silence on the other end was agonizing. “How bad?”
“When they wheeled him into ER, he could answer their questions. He never lost consciousness. He’s in x-ray now—”
“Anything vital?”
“I don’t know.”
Donatti asked, “Through and through or is the bullet still in there?”
“I don’t know that, either.”
Another protracted, agonizing silence. “What happened?”
“I don’t know the details, but I’ll tell you what he told me,” Decker said. “He called me up about a half hour ago, saying he was in trouble. Apparently, his girlfriend was kidnapped by a group of teenage thugs . . . Did you know he had a girlfriend?”
“Yeah, someone named Yasmine.”
Even with all the distance, Chris still knew more about Gabe than Decker did. “From what I could glean, he caught up with these thugs and managed to save her, but he got shot in the process—”
“Who shot him?” The voice that broke in was calm.
Decker said, “I don’t know, and that’s the truth. We’ve detained some kids, but I don’t know if they’re even the ones that Gabe’s talking about. Yasmine is with me. We’ll leave for the station house when Rina shows up at the hospital. I don’t want to leave Gabe alone until Rina . . . Wait, the doctor is coming out. I’ll put him on the phone.” Decker handed the phone to an MD dressed in blue scrubs. “I’m talking to Gabriel Whitman’s father. His name is Christopher Donatti.”
“Thank you.” Into the phone, he said, “Mr. Donatti, this is Doctor Morland. First of all, your son is going to be fine. He’s talking and completely responsive. He does have a gunshot wound, but the bullet missed anything vital. I do recommend that we take him into surgery immediately. The x-ray shows a bullet lodged in his ribs. The bone is broken, and the sooner we can get the bullet out, the easier it’ll be for him to heal up.”
Silence.
“Hello?” Dr. Morland said.
“Yeah, I’m still here,” Donatti said. “He’s okay?”
“Yes, he’ll be fine. Nothing vital was affected.”
“The bullet’s in his ribs?”
“His ninth rib to be exact.”
“It was a twenty-two?”
“Beg your pardon?”
“The bullet,” Donatti said. “Something bigger would have shattered the bone and gone through his body.”
“Probably.” Morland paused. “Do I have your permission to operate?”
“Yes, you can operate.”
“Could you send me down a fax stating that you give the hospital permission to do what’s necessary for your son’s best well-being?”
“Yes, I can do that.”
“Would you like to talk to him before he goes in?”
“Why? You think he won’t make it?”
Dr. Morland was taken aback. “There’s no reason why he wouldn’t make it, Mr. Donatti.”
“Then I’ll talk to him when he’s out of surgery. Put Lieutenant Decker back on.”
The surgeon made a face and gave Decker his phone. “He doesn’t want to talk to his son. He wants to talk to you.”
Decker nodded. “What do you need, Chris?”
“Doctor says he’s all right. It doesn’t sound like I’m needed right away. I’ll try to come down tonight. If that doesn’t work, I’ll see him tomorrow.”
Cold, Decker thought. “Whatever works for you, Chris.”
“And Rina will wait with him?