by Marilu Mann
“It burns. It’s near the skin on my back, not too deep under the skin. Get it out.” Quiet but intense, the words were spoken through clenched teeth. The distinct patois of New Orleans from his voice sent another shiver snaking down her back.
Carly shook her head as she moved around behind him. She examined his back and could see a faint bulge beginning just above the waistline of his black jeans. She gently touched the bright red area. He sucked in a breath of pain. Carly muttered “sorry” automatically. The shorter man moved in beside her as Carly probed around the faint bulge with her fingers. He fell back at her practiced “you’re in my space” look. She’d used it on enough interns to know its effectiveness.
It was obvious that something outside the norm was happening here. Carly shook her head. She had never seen anything like this before. Carly looked at the taller man, who had turned his head to watch her.
“I don’t know what you want me to do. If we were in the ER, I could deal with this.” How could she get these men to understand that their friend needed the quality of care her hospital could provide? Carly briefly considered using the scalpel as a weapon. However, she knew she couldn’t overpower all of them and who knew how many others were in this place. The tall man’s voice lashed out at her.
“Cut him open and get the bullet out before it has a chance to poison him any more. We don’t have time for this.”
“Just cut him open?” Barbaric.This guy wanted her to just slice someone open? “I am not Dr. freaking Quinn and this is not the frontier!”
“The bullet is working its way out, Doctor, but by the time it comes out of his back, he’ll be dead. If he passes out, his body will stop fighting the poison. Cut him open and get it out.” Tall Man’s intensity grabbed her attention and she knew he spoke the truth. She had to do something.
Carly raised an eyebrow at his tone. He simply stared back at her. His eyes had an odd gleam of silver too. In fact, all three of these men had odd eyes. Carly took a deep breath as she stared at her patient again.
The injured man’s head fell forward again as he whispered, “It burns.” Carly took a deep breath. She snatched an antiseptic pack from the tray and wiped a broad swath of his back with it. She knew his flinch was from the chill of the swab. She glanced at the supplies next to her and picked up a vial of medicine to give him a painkiller, but the tall man shook his head.
“Don’t sedate him. His body will stop fighting the poison if you do.”
“I can’t just take a scalpel to his back.” She knew her voice reflected her feelings about that particular idea.
“You have to or he will die right here.” The harsh crack to his voice caused Carly’s temper to rise.
She started to mutter under her breath and the two men standing near her smiled, even though she didn’t think they could understand everything she was saying.
“Barbaric…insane…my ass…doctor…butcher…damn. Quinn…idiots…” Carly continued to mutter as she picked up a scalpel to make an incision from the top of the bulge to the bottom. She flinched with her patient as the scalpel bit into his back. He moaned softly as she applied slight pressure to open the incision she’d just made.
Blood welled at the incision and Carly watched in amazement as the muscle in his back contracted as she held the incision open. It almost looked as if his body were trying to expel the bullet.
She didn’t think she said it out loud, but her patient replied, “I am, Doctor, I am. Get it out now!”
Carefully probing with forceps, she felt the bullet. She tucked the forceps where she guessed the bottom of the bullet to be.
It came out with such force that Carly thought she should have heard a pop as it landed in her palm. She’d been right. You couldn’t work in ER for very long without being able to tell something about gunshot wounds. This was definitely a small-caliber bullet, probably a .38. The bullet was misshapen and heavier than she’d expected it to be. That’s when she remembered the tall man saying something about silver. Weird. Who used silver bullets?
The injured man’s whole body suddenly relaxed and the other two staggered slightly under the additional weight. If the stool hadn’t been helping to support his frame, he would have gone down. Moving quickly, Carly cleaned the incision she’d just made on his back. In amazement, she watched the wound stop bleeding almost immediately.
This is definitely out of my league.She glanced at the men again, then went back to work. After applying a butterfly closure to the incision she had made, Carly put a dressing on his back, then moved around to examine the entrance wound again. The men put their friend on the bed in the room now that the bullet was out. She assumed that his already passing out meant the crisis was over.
Then the tall man shoved a bottle at her. The label read EDTA.
“This treats heavy metal poisoning.” She immediately looked around for an IV stand before remembering where she was. “I’m not sure how much to give him. What does he weigh?”
“Roughly one eighty, give or take.” The smaller man spoke for the first time since they’d entered the house. The growl was gone now that she’d helped his friend. Carly automatically added another fifteen pounds in her head, adjusting the dosage accordingly.
“I don’t suppose you have a pump? This has to be given intravenously.” Carly didn’t evince any surprise when the shorter man wheeled the necessary equipment into the bedroom. Before she could put the needle in the injured man’s arm, the taller man had taken her hand in a viselike grip.
“Let go.”
“Wait, you have to listen. EDTA can cause a severe allergic reaction, anaphylactic shock. We have the antihistamines ready, but you have to know in case it happens to him.” Tension showed in the lines of his forehead.
“That’s rare.” With a mutinous grimace, she tried to pull her hand from his grasp. “Now let me do my job. That is why you kidnapped me, isn’t it?”
With a soft sigh, he released her. “It’s not rare in our community. Just watch for it.”
Wiping her hair off her forehead with the back of her hand, she set the IV and turned the pump on. Carly watched her patient closely. Seeing no signs of an allergic reaction within the first twenty minutes, she nodded to the other two men. “Quit hovering and get him somewhere he can rest.”
The shorter of the two men immediately started bustling around the room, pulling pillows out of the closet she hadn’t noticed until just now and helping the injured man get more comfortable on the bed. The taller man simply stood and watched.
Eventually, with the injured man settled, the other two turned to Carly. She stepped over to the bed to examine the entrance wound. The tall man stood at her shoulder and when she looked up at him, he moved closer.
“Why did the incision I made start to heal so quickly, yet this is still an open wound?”
“It is a long story, Doctor. Tony has a very specific metabolism with an aversion to silver. Since the bullet was silver and entered his body at a violent pace, the wound will remain open for a while.” He watched her reactions to what he was saying.
“Your scalpel is not silver and it was not a violent thrust into his body. Silver poisons the blood, slows healing and makes a wound very painful. This would heal on its own, but it would take time and infections are possible because of the silver poisoning.”
“What can I do to help him now?” Carly pushed aside the incongruities, the impossibilities to focus on the here and now.
“Just clean it. If he needs stitches, go ahead and put them in.” The man nodded at a new set of instruments on a table. Carly hadn’t even seen them arrive. The smaller man was as stealthy as any operating room nurse.
“If you knew so well what needed to be done, why didn’t you do it?” Her challenge evoked no surprise.
“I’m not a doctor. If the bullet hadn’t been silver, we wouldn’t have needed your help. You’re better equipped to deal with the metal poisoning.” He paused. “You have access to the painkillers he can take as soon as the
silver is out of his system.”
Carly took a deep breath and shook her head. She sat back. I’m going to have to do this.With her game face on, she picked up a needle to suture the wound. She jumped slightly when she realized that the injured man had regained consciousness.
His intent stare unnerved her. The thought crossed her mind again that he was gorgeous, then she shook her head. She carefully deadened the area around his wound. He actually watched her put the stitches in his abdomen, and when she was finished, he sat up slowly.
“Thank you.” His voice flowed like a soft breeze against her skin. She noted with clinical detachment that the pain was fading from his face as quickly as the gray color. She took another look at his hair. As she’d noted before, it was long and pure black. Not flat black, but black with blue highlights. This wasn’t color from a box.
“You’re welcome. Are you going to let me go now?” Her frustration surged to the top again as she faced the other two men.
“Is Tony going to be okay?” The shorter man spoke quietly. His voice was surprisingly deep and would have been more suited to his taller, heavier friend.
“Honestly? I don’t know. He’d have a much better chance if he were in a hospital with access to antibiotics and better supervision.” Carly absently rubbed her hands together, then realized she was still wearing the squeaky gloves. She removed them carefully, tossing them into the trash can by the bed.
The taller one took a deep breath. “I hate to do this, Doctor, but perhaps it would be better for all of us if you stayed until later this morning. I won’t force you. You have certainly done more than enough already. There are several rooms here, and if you’re hungry, I’m sure we can find something for you to eat.”
“So you’re compounding the kidnapping by keeping me hostage?” Carly’s voice rose slightly as she got to her feet. She put her hands on her hips as she glared up at the taller man.
“What on earth are you thinking? You’ve kidnapped me and now you’re holding me against my will? For how long? Or do you plan to kill me? After all, I’ve seen your faces. I could identify you if it came to that. What’s the story here, guys?” Carly glared from one man to the other and the taller man raised his hands in supplication.
“And you.” She turned back to the man who had been injured. “You should be in the hospital. The bullet is out, but what about lasting damage from whatever you were poisoned with?”
Her patient shrugged. He looked at the other two men. “No one is going to hurt you, Doctor. Thank you for helping me.”
Again, his voice ran velvety against her skin. Carly shuddered slightly. “I don’t quite know how to take the three of you. You’re not bums. You’re all fairly well-dressed, well-spoken and seem to be well-educated. You don’t strike me as run-of-the-mill kidnappers. What is going on? Why couldn’t you come to the hospital?”
The three exchanged glances and the tallest man spoke again. “Had we come to the hospital, there would have been some embarrassing questions. We know that all gunshot wounds have to be reported to the police and, to be very honest, we wanted to avoid the attention.”
Carly shook her head and expelled her breath forcefully. “Well, hell. If you’re going to kill me, let’s get on with it.” Her voice shook slightly, to her chagrin.
The two unhurt men smiled. Her patient simply watched her. The shorter one nodded his head toward the door. “Follow me, Doctor.”
“You’ve got to be kidding me.” Carly didn’t budge. “You think I’m going to follow you like a lamb to the slaughter? No effing way, fella.” Her mood flamed hot.
“Slaughter? Doctor, please.” The tall man held out a hand placatingly. “We mean you no harm. As Banquo said, ‘And oftentimes, to win us our harm, the instruments of darkness tell us truths’, but we are not the instruments of darkness.”
She glared at him. “Quoting Macbeth is not particularly good at calming me down.”
“How’s this then, ‘We are such stuff as dreams are made on, rounded with a little sleep’. I’ll show you to a bedroom. I thought you might like to sleep a bit and then check on Tony before we take you home.” His slight smile looked out of place on his face.
Carly stared.
“I mean that, Doctor. We will not hurt you. You have my word.”
The other man jumped a bit. Carly guessed that this tall man must not give his word very often. She nodded. Sleep did sound good.
“I’m up past my bedtime and all you can do is kill me in my sleep.”
A low growl came from the short man, but was cut off by the other. “Peace, little brother. She doesn’t know that my word is my life. But now,” he frowned at her, “now you do. Don’t question it again or I won’t speak for Nolan’s response.”
“I’m…” She paused. She didn’t want to apologize, even though she knew she should. “I’m ready to find that bed now. Thank you.”
The one he called Nolan visibly settled, so she guessed that he accepted that as an apology. The tall man didn’t wait. She had to hurry to catch up to him. Carly tried to pay attention to the turns he took, but this home twisted and turned like a Bourbon Street hooker on the exam table. She gave up just as her escort stopped in front of a door with a crystal doorknob.
“Here you are, Doctor. If you need anything, the phone is internal and will ring one of us. Please don’t hesitate to use it. There are towels in the bathroom.”
“Wait. I know the other two’s names. What’s yours?” She craned her neck to look up at him.
“Micah.” He offered nothing else.
Carly nodded. The old-fashioned name suited him. There was a real aloof quality to the man in front of her.
“How tall are you, anyway?” Damn, girl. When are you going to stop saying the first thing that comes to mind? You know it is going to get you in trouble someday!
He looked a bit startled before a ghost of a smile flitted across his face. “I’m six-six,” he said in that same soft voice. Then he pivoted on his heel and left her standing in the doorway.
The room Carly found herself in had the one item necessary right now—a bed. She would investigate the bathroom later. The door clicked shut behind her. She instinctively checked to see if he had locked it. To her embarrassment, it opened easily, which had her looking down the hall at Micah, who had turned to face her. She hoped her smile didn’t look as embarrassed as she felt.
Slipping her shoes off, she crossed over to the bed. Residency had taught her to take naps whenever the opportunity presented itself and this was no different. Carly lay down and in minutes was asleep. Her dreams, not surprisingly, had men with guns and wolves running through them. Just over an hour later, she woke.
At first, Carly didn’t know where she was. She took in the lace curtains and abundance of pillows. This was definitely not her bedroom. It hit her then. Nolan, Micah and Tony, one or all of them lived here. She’d done surgery. Now she needed to do rounds—at least on one patient. Carly cracked the door open. No one stared at her from the other end of the long hallway, but lights, like old-fashioned gaslights, lined the hallway, giving off a dim glow. Her neck throbbed from the tension still hanging on. She really needed a massage.
After verifying that no one would leap out at her in the next two minutes, Carly started down the hall the way she’d last seen Micah heading. Maybe she would get lucky and one of them would find her before she was lost forever in this house. And hopefully they would show her where Tony—she corrected herself—where her patient was.
Carly briefly considered making a break for freedom. She seemed to be the only living soul on the floor. She remembered the remarkable way the incision she’d made on Tony had started to heal. Her professional curiosity won out over her immediate desire for escape and, in fact, she no longer really felt threatened by the circumstances surrounding her kidnapping.
Besides, she wanted one more look at that bullet wound and the hunky patient. She paused, trying to get her bearings. A quiet voice emanated from the room she
stood outside of.
“Come in, Doctor.”
Carly opened the door. The room was dark. There might have been a figure in the bed. Then he moved.
“How did you know I was there?” She walked farther into the darkened room. She could see his outline now with the faint light from the hallway.
Tony reached up and turned a lamp on, then looked at her. “You won’t like my answer.”
“Try me.” The lamp threw shadows across his face, giving him a sharp angular look that added to the exotic allure of his eyes. Carly took a deep breath. The physical attraction seared her abdomen.
“I could smell you.” He shrugged slightly and sat up.
“You could smell me? Look! I didn’t have a chance to tidy up after work, what with being kidnapped and all. And just what do I smell like?” She crossed her arms over her chest as she studied him. Having this gorgeous man tell her she stank made her want to storm out of the room. She stood her ground instead.
“No, not smell in a bad way. You smell like chicken and coffee. And underneath that, you smell female. I’m not trying to offend you.” He sighed as she stiffened slightly. “Mostly, you smell like almonds.”
“Almonds. I smell like almonds?” Suddenly his obvious masculine discomfort amused her.
“It must be your shampoo or maybe your soap.” His half-grin reminded her that she needed to keep her professional distance more than ever.
She shook her head as she walked closer to the bed. “Lie back, please.”
He complied and she pulled the sheet down to reveal the stitches she’d put in his abdomen a short time earlier. They had the look of stitches that had been in for days and she shook her head again as she muttered to herself about healing and muscle tone. If she hadn’t put the sinew in herself mere hours ago, she would have thought they were ready to come out.
Carly palpated his abdomen, ignoring the pleasure it gave her to have his taut muscles give under her fingers. At his swift intake of breath, she looked at him.
