buddy story - part 6

Danny sat on the floor for a minute stunned. He'd been warned but hadn't believed it would happen that morning. He almost didn't hear the kind things Mary said to him while she took care of his small wound. The side of his shirt was soaked with blood but he didn't care.

"Are you okay?" Mary asked, a little concerned.

"We've to get out of here." Danny answered as he snapped out of the trance. "The cops will be here soon or another round of shots. Either way we don't want to be here."

His reaction surprised Mary. She looked around to make sure all injured were attended to before agreeing. But she didn't want to have to answer to the cops in New York. "Okay."

Danny led her to a safer block, one that he knew was being monitored by the family. They were stopped only once, by one of the henchmen.

"Who's this?"

Standing up for Mary, he replied, "She's a friend of the family from the west." That was a sufficient answer and they were left alone. There they found a quiet place to talk.

After a few minutes of explaining the family and how they wanted him to take over, he asked, "What should I do?"

"Well," Mary wanted to be careful with her word choice. "You're not with that scum cop anymore. So you don't have a reason to say no."

Looking at the ground, Danny muttered. "I think I love Mike."

She didn't know what to say. Her own experience with cops made her want to tell him to move on but having lost Jesse made her reconsider. After a few minutes of thought she decided to ask him what he wanted to do.

Biting his lower lip he decided, "I'm done running away."