Morgery started the car as soon as Chen Zhao got in.
Looking at the bloody Morgery, Chen Zhao said after a stretch of silence, “Take off your shirt.
Morgery drove and tossed his shirt out the window at the same time.
“Where are we going this time?”
“San Diego.”
“What? San Diego? That far?”
“Yes,” Morgery replied simply.
“I thought you would hide deep into the forest. Why are we going to San Diego?”
San Diego was more than 100 miles to the southeast of L.A. However, Mountain Town was northwest of L.A, so going from to San Diego from here without taking main roads, it would be at least 300 miles.
“It’s close to Mexico,” Morgery said. “We plan on going into California Bay and getting to Mexico along the coast.”
“Is it okay for you to tell me your escape route?”
“I trust you,” Morgery said.
Chen Zhao didn’t know if he should be happy to be trusted by a gangster.
“How did you get this injury? All inflicted by sharp objects? Did you get into a fight?”
“Don’t mention it. It’s a woman.”
“You can’t even defeat a woman?”
“You won’t be able to either. That woman is a beast. No one can beat her.”
Chen Zhao couldn’t argue with Morgery on this. He was a doctor, not a fighter.
“I don’t think she went for the kill.”
“That’s why I say she’s a beast. She’s sadistic.”
“Pretty?”
“If she’s pretty, then there are no ugly girls in the world.”
“Good…it’s not her.”
“What?”
“Nothing.”
After exiting the L.A. area, the car went on a coastal road. One must admit that the scenery was beautiful. It had started cooling down and the ocean wind blowing into the window was chilly.
Chen Zhao had to keep the window open though. Otherwise, the car would be filled with the smell of blood. He couldn’t stand the smell.
Morgery couldn’t take the cold because he was shirtless… But he didn’t say anything because he was…a man.
Chen Zhao glanced at him. “The cold breeze helps scatter your internal heat and improve blood circulation. It will help make your blood clot faster.”
It was basically a type of heat consumption, just like jogging. Of course, if the heat dissipation wasn’t controlled, there would be problems.
People didn’t get better at combating the cold as they grew stronger. In reality, stronger people might be worse against the cold, because their heat sensations were more intense.
Bearing the cold took practice. Older people were better too, because their bodily functions and heat sensations had weakened. They reacted slower to the difference between cold and warm temperatures.
It was like how someone about to freeze to death would feel warm. For people freezing to death, their heat sensations were already dead, so they wouldn’t feel the change in temperature. Instead, they would feel warm.
Of course, with Morgery’s body, he wouldn’t die from some breeze. He’d just get a cold at most…
Achoo.
“Chen, give me your jacket.”
“I’ll get cold.”
“Me too.”
“No, strong men don’t say they’re cold.”
“Why do you see me like that? When did I say I’m a strong man?”
“So you’re not?”
“Give me your jacket first.”
“Giving a jacket to a man is disgusting.” But in the end, Chen Zhao still did so.
…
The car ride was around four to five hours. Chen Zhao got dizzy, either because of the car or because of the wind.
Morgery and his boss were hidden in San Diego but not in the city. After getting there, he drove down a small road and avoided the city.
The winding path probably hadn’t been maintained in more than 20 years. The surface was seriously broken.
Around two in the morning, the car parked before an abandoned train station. It was a grave for old-fashioned trains. There were a few rusted steam trains there.
One had to admit that it was a great place to hide in.
Knock, knock.
Morgery knocked on one car and it opened.
“Mr. Chen, you’re here.”
The dispirited man looked at Chen Zhao with pleasant shock. Chen Zhao remembered him. His name was something like Sanders and he was afraid of snakes.
The eerie guy named Nesta and the big boss were inside the car too. Nesta was still cold as before, but he nodded when he saw Chen Zhao.
“Mr. Chen.” The boss lay weakly in the corner. Nesta helped him up.
Chen Zhao put down his tool kit and Sanders immediately moved aside. “Mr. Chen, did you bring that snake again?”
“Seems like you miss Raymond. Raymond, come meet your old friend.”
Raymond slithered out of the box and started going for the man.
Chen Zhao went to the boss. “You look bad. Where are you hurt?”
With the help of Nesta, the boss turned with difficulty, revealing the bloodied bandage on his back. Chen Zhao opened it and was hit in the face with the smell of rot.
The wound under the bandage was three finger’s long, stretching from the left shoulder blade to the lower back. Most of it already had suppuration.
“This is at least three days old,” Chen Zhao said, furrowing his brows. “Why didn’t you contact me earlier?”
“I’ve had these injuries before and healed in like ten days without doing anything…” the boss replied weakly.
“That just means you were lucky, but you won’t be lucky every time. The same injury can have two possibilities under different situations. Some can heal itself with your immune system. Most will get infected.”
Chen Zhao felt the boss’s forehead. “You already have a fever. If you delayed it for another half day, you’d be going to the ICU.”
“Is it serious?”
“It’s mainly because you delayed it for so long. If this happens again, either contact me in time or find hard liquor to clean the wound.”
Thankfully, Chen Zhao brought rubbing alcohol. This was the only medical product that Chen Zhao could get his hands on.
However, cleaning the wound and cutting off the decayed flesh would be very painful without anesthetics.
In addition to cleaning the wound, alcohol could also lower an object’s temperature. Alcohol was highly volatile liquid. It could quickly take away heat when touching skin at room temperature.
Of course, he still had to use medicine. Chen Zhao gave the boss two Ibuprofen capsules. Most fever medicine were over-the-counter and could be bought at supermarkets.
Chen Zhao’s tool kit was always supplied with some over-the-counter drugs, such as fever medicine, pain-relievers, and anti-inflammatory drugs. These often came handy.
Finally, he stitched up the wound. The entire process took around 30 minutes.
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