While Zac was returning home with Dario's cell phone, Kai was in another part of the city, in a building that, from the outside, looked like another one of Walney's many abandoned buildings.
Inside, however, was a small secret hospital where The Viper doctors came to treat members of that faction when necessary.
Kai stood in front of one of the two medical rooms, where the two men he had sent here a few days ago were still hospitalized.
Even though one of the men had only been kicked in the testicles and the other had been electrocuted, they had both suffered enough for the doctors to ask that they be kept under observation for a while.
In other situations, the group would simply discard those two since their value wasn't high enough to justify the group's medical expenses. But Kai wanted to know what had happened to them during the incident at Zac and Amy's house.
Anyway, the doctor left the room where one of the two men was and found Kai waiting for him.
"So? How are they?" Kai asked as he looked at the doctor, who couldn't have been older than 28 years.
The man sponsored by The Vipers looked at the glass partition he had just passed and commented. "They're both going to be fine if that's what you want to know. But Sam's going to have to take testosterone for the rest of his life.
I don't know exactly how he was injured. Still, the fact is that his testicles stopped producing testosterone and began to atrophy.
As for Bobby, his situation is worse. He was electrocuted in a way that we usually only see similar cases associated with lightning victims in the medical literature."
"You mean he was struck by lightning?" Kai asked strangely.
"That's what the tests indicate." The doctor sighed, aware this could not be the correct explanation, given the circumstances under which the man had been found. "I don't know what could have happened, but Bobby's nervous system was badly damaged.
He will need physical therapy and a long course of treatment. He may return to have a normal life in a year or two, but don't expect him to be able to do everything he could before."
"What about his memory?" Kai asked, as he had talked to Sam before and was frustrated by the man's answers.
"I don't know about that. The mind is more complex than you can imagine, Mr. Ellis. I'd need a neurologist with decades of experience to analyze him and give you a guarantee. We'll find out when we start the tests." The doctor said sincerely.
"And when will that be? What happened that day was different from what was ordered for these men. That's not common in our group. You should know that." Kai explained.
"I know you're looking for a justification. We can start today. Bringing Bobby out of his current state won't harm his condition, but the best thing would be to let him wake up on his own.
Either way, I'll leave that decision up to you."
"What are the risks of forcing him to wake up now?"
"He won't die if that's what you're worried about. But he might have some motor problems and irreparable consequences."
Kai asked. "But will that affect his memory or speech in any way?"
"It's unlikely, but anything is possible."
"Then let's wake the bastard up." Kai agreed as he walked over to Bobby's bed.
The doctor knew Kai was one of The Vipers' boss' most trusted men, so he didn't hesitate to have his team give Bobby the necessary medication to wake him up.
After 10 minutes, the man who had tried to shoot Zac in the head after seeing the young man control something with his own mind opened his eyes.
"Bobby? Bobby, calm down. You're in our hospital." Kai approached the man and looked into his eyes.
"Mr. Ellis?" The man frowned as he felt a severe headache coming on.
"Bobby, we don't have much time. You need to get back to sleep to recover. But for now, tell me what happened the night you broke into Zac Small's house." Kai said aloud, slowly speaking so that Bobby could understand him.
"Zac Small's house?" Bobby repeated as he remembered Dario and the men Dario had sent to teach Zac a lesson.
His headache increased a few notches, causing him to shake violently as his vital signs changed.
"Shit! He's going to have an epileptic episode!" The doctor shouted as the three nurses moved to do something.
"Bobby, answer my question!" Kai shouted as he tried to get the guy to talk.
"I... I... No, I don't remember." Bobby said with great difficulty before the medical team pulled Kai away from the man and began to properly restrain Bobby.
"Shit!" Kai yelled as he stormed out, kicking a garbage can in his path.
...
Meanwhile, Zac stood in the shadows on a street corner near his house.
From where he stood, he could see the building where he lived, but he stood still as he watched the screen of Dario's cell phone because he had just seen an important message between Dario and Kai.
[Kai]: "Brat, your godfather hired someone to look after Zac's little ass. Don't get into trouble with him for now. If we find something wrong with that little shit, we'll deal with him when the time comes.
In the meantime, don't give us any more trouble. His sister still has some value for the boss."
[Dario]: "All right, Mr. Ellis. I won't get involved with him, but if he tries to make trouble with me, I'll take care of this loser."
[Kai]: "Just don't do anything that will get the group leader or send the little shit back to the hospital."
[Dario]: "I know."
That was the last message between Dario and Kai from three days ago.
Kai and Dario didn't exchange many messages. Their first contact had been four months ago, and only in the last two weeks had they talked more.
Kai was an old member of The Vipers, while Dario had only been in the group for a few months. So, there wasn't a very close relationship between the two.
But that wasn't what had caught Zac's attention. In addition to discovering that someone was following him, Zac realized that Amy was somehow involved with The Vipers.
He couldn't believe she was part of this group out of her own free will or lack of character. At the same time, Zac didn't believe she knew about what had happened to him recently.
When he realized she was involved with this dangerous faction, he thought about what made the most sense. The Vipers were the dominant criminal group in her neighborhood, and Amy needed money. So, she was probably involved with them because of her financial needs and her relationship with Kai.
His sister loved him, so she was hardly involved in Dario's plots against him. In fact, it seemed that his name had only recently been mentioned to the bosses of The Vipers because of the recent incident. So, she probably didn't even know that Dario was part of such a group until recently.
Thinking about this, Zac couldn't help but feel worried about their situation.
'Shit! I have to find a way to get Amy out of this,' he thought as he became more aware of his surroundings. 'I also have to be more careful when I act, or these people will discover what I've been doing lately!'