The Persuasion

by Iris Johansen

  “He’s lost a lot of blood, Jane,” he said gently. “And there’s no telling what damage those bullets did. Shock alone is a danger.”

  “Don’t tell me that. He’s strong, and he replaces blood quickly. Everyone knows he’s not like anyone else. He’s not going to die.”

  “Of course he’s not.” Joe was standing beside her. “Caleb is much too stubborn to allow himself to do anything so common. He’d consider it a defeat. We’ll take care of him, Jane.” He helped her to her feet. “Now let my men get him into the helicopter and we’ll be on our way. I’ll call a specialist to meet you at the ER when you get there.”

  She nodded jerkily. “Let’s go. Tell Eve I’ll call both of you when I know something more.” She headed for the helicopter. “But let her know Caleb is going to be all right. He’ll be fine. I won’t let anything happen to him.”

  “I’ll let her know,” Joe said quietly as he turned away. “Take care of yourself, Jane. We’ll be with you soon.”

  He was still worried about her, she realized dully. He didn’t believe Caleb would live and wanted to find a way to cushion the blow. But he was wrong. It couldn’t happen. She wouldn’t let it. She jumped on the helicopter and settled on the floor beside Caleb’s stretcher. She took his hand as the helicopter took off.

  Stay with me. You reached out and saved me. Now all you have to do is save yourself. Easy. Now do it.

  No movement. No expression.

  Stay with me.

  Then she stiffened as she thought of something else. Stupid. Why hadn’t she thought of it before?

  She quickly reached for her phone and started to punch in the number.

  * * *

  Glasgow Hospital

  “Where is he? And why the hell did you let Luca do this to him?”

  Jane turned around to see Lisa Ridondo striding down the corridor toward her. Lisa’s eyes were blazing in her pale face, but Jane could see that her lips were trembling with fear. She gestured to the hospital room behind her. “They put him in there. They wanted to send him to ICU, but MacDuff pulled strings and got permission to put him in a private room as long as he was closely monitored.” Her lips twisted. “I don’t believe the ER doctors thought it made much difference. They think Caleb’s going to die anyway.”

  “No!” Lisa had reached her, and Jane could see the agony in her face. “They’re fools, that can’t happen to him. You shouldn’t have let Luca—”

  “Shut up. Do you think I don’t know that? Caleb stepped right in front of those bullets to save me. I watched him do it. Do you think I don’t want those minutes back? But we don’t have time for looking over our shoulders.” She grabbed Lisa’s arm and jerked her into Caleb’s room. “We don’t have time for anything but making sure all those doctors are wrong. I was hoping Joe would get you here sooner than this.”

  “I should have been on the helicopter with you when they took Caleb. That’s your fault, too.”

  “You’re right. I didn’t think about you. I didn’t think about anything but him.” She was pulling her over to Caleb’s hospital bed. “I tried to arrange for Joe to get you here as soon as he could get another helicopter when I realized how stupid I’d been. I know he tried, but he’s like everyone else. He thinks Caleb’s going to die.” She was looking down at Caleb’s face, and she had to stop before she could go on. “Which, of course, he is not. Because now I have you here, and you will not permit it.” She tore her gaze from Caleb’s face and shifted it to Lisa’s. “Because you have the blood talent just as he has, and you can help him. I’ve watched him heal and save lives dozens of times over the years. I know that the blood talent works. While all those doctors are just shaking their heads and waiting for him to die, you can keep him alive.”

  Lisa’s eyes widened in shock. “You expect me to do it?”

  “You will do it,” Jane said. “You have no choice. I won’t let you have a choice.”

  “I don’t know if I can.” Her expression was suddenly panicked. “I’m not like Caleb. I never wanted to be. I saw how it had hurt him. He taught me just enough of the blood talent to protect me. I don’t know anything about the healing.”

  “What did Caleb tell you about it?”

  “Not to worry about it.” She reached up and rubbed her temple. “Only that it would come when and if I needed it. Otherwise, just call him.”

  “That’s like him,” Jane said in frustration. “Don’t worry, and he’ll take care of it. Only he can’t do that now, can he?”

  “No,” Lisa whispered. She reached out and touched Caleb’s cheekbone. “I’ve never seen him like this before. It…hurts.”

  “Then do something to make it stop hurting us,” Jane said. “And the only thing that will do that is if you make him well enough to get out of that damn bed. Start doing it.”

  Lisa’s lips lifted in the faintest smile. “You’re being very bossy. What if you’re wrong about me?”

  “I won’t permit it.” She met her eyes. “I’ll keep everyone away from this room as much as possible. I’m the only one you won’t be able to get rid of. But I can’t do anything but will him to live and act as guardian at the gates. You sit down in that chair by his bed and begin working. Concentrate. All this blood talent and persuasion has to be worth something. He told you that it would come? Then let it come to you. Heal him, dammit.”

  Lisa nodded slowly. “But it’s the blind leading the blind. I have to try to remember what Caleb did when he was healing me that time I was shot. But I was the one who was wounded then, everything in reverse. I don’t know if I can do it.”

  “I don’t believe that. You don’t, either. Between us we can do this.” Her voice was trembling. “Because neither of us could bear it if we didn’t.”

  “No, we couldn’t.” Lisa dropped down in the chair and took Caleb’s hand. She didn’t speak for a moment as she looked down at him. “You did at least one thing right when you got Joe to bring me here.” Her voice was trembling as she added, “So try to do another and be quiet and let me get to work to keep my brother alive.”

  “Right.” Jane nodded and tried to fade into the background as she sat down in a chair across the room from the bed. She wanted to be there beside Caleb, but it wasn’t her place right now. She’d chosen Lisa to save him, and she had to give her the space to do it.

  Because as she’d told Lisa, it would be unbearable to do anything else.

  * * *

  Seven Hours Later

  “You’re doing that wrong, Lisa. The artery will tear.”

  Lisa stopped in shock and drew a deep breath. “Caleb?”

  “Who else? There’s no one but us here. Unfortunately, since you appear to be trying to cause me to bleed out.”

  He was back! Reaching out to her after all these hours of darkness they had shared while she’d tried to heal him. “It’s not my fault. I don’t know how to do this. You should have taught me, not just let me wing it.”

  “I thought I’d probably be here to do it for you.”

  “You always think that. Jane said it was just like you.”

  “Jane…She’s okay?”

  “Of course. You took those bullets. You shouldn’t have done that. I was angry.”

  “You always are. But you can’t be angry. You have to take care of her. I’m too tired…right now.”

  “No, I don’t. She wouldn’t let me. She’s the one tossing orders around. You’ll have to take care of her yourself, if you want it done. But you’ll have to stick around to do it. She’s not going to let you die.”

  “I never said I was. Just…tired.”

  “Too bad. Suck it up, Caleb. You said I almost made you bleed out. Since it’s your fault for not teaching me, you’ll have to stay around and tell me how to do this bullshit.”

  “You could probably do it yourself. You were doing pretty well until you came to that last artery.”

  “I’m not going to take a chance. You’re too fond of saying I told you so. You’re going to stay until
I get you patched so that I don’t have to face Jane and have her go hysterical.”

  “She never goes hysterical.”

  “Well, maybe I was talking about me.” She swallowed. “This is pretty hard for me, Caleb. It would help if I had you here.”

  “Then I’ll be here,” he said simply. “Aren’t I always, Lisa?”

  “Yes.” Don’t let the tears come. She cleared her throat. “When you don’t do stupid stuff like get yourself shot. And then you just lie here all these hours and let me do all the work. You were gone far too long before you showed up with that snide crack about the artery.”

  “Sorry. I always like to make an entrance.”

  “I suppose I’ll forgive you.”

  She added brusquely, “If you’ll tell me what to do to keep me from destroying this artery when there are all those others that are so close to it. Don’t get slipshod. I want this step-by-step, Caleb…”

  * * *

  Something was happening. Jane tensed, her eyes on Lisa as she bent closer to Caleb. Bad or good?

  Good. There was an eagerness, an excitement, to the line of Lisa’s body as she gazed at Caleb’s face.

  After all these hours he had to be coming back to them.

  Yes! The relief soaring through her was dizzying, and her hands clenched hard on the arms to her chair. It’s about time, Caleb. Now open your eyes and let me see that you’re all right. Say something. I can’t take much more of this silent treatment.

  She was being idiotic. Patience. She could take anything as long as he was alive and getting better. Lisa would tell her when Caleb was safely out of the woods.

  Jane’s gaze fastened on Lisa, trying to read every nuance on her face and in her body language. Tell me it’s not my imagination.

  Tell me you’ve brought him back to me.

  * * *

  “You…look…like hell,” Caleb whispered. “I told Lisa…to take care of you.”

  Jane’s gaze flew to his face, and she saw that his eyes were open. Thank you, God. She had to wait a moment before she could answer. “Then you should have told her not to spend the last three days trying to keep you from dying on us. She was a little busy. She only felt comfortable letting me throw her out of here this morning.” She struggled to keep her voice steady. “How do you feel?”

  “Fine. Lisa did a good job after she got the hang of it.” He smiled faintly. “Though I did get tired of her complaining because I hadn’t taught her anything useful. I didn’t want to tell her that even if I’d given her lessons for years, those were wounds that could have gone either way.”

  “No, they couldn’t.” She reached out and took his hand and said fiercely, “Because we wouldn’t have let it go any other way than where we wanted it to go. I wasn’t going to let you get away from me, Caleb.”

  “That’s what Lisa told me. She said I wasn’t going to be allowed to die because you wouldn’t permit it.”

  “That’s right. You said you’d die for me, and this time it came too close. I’m having to rethink ways and means to keep you alive. One thing is that Lisa proved to be an asset I don’t want to do without. She saved you. So I think she has to stay close to us no matter how much you want to keep her free from the dreaded taint of the Ridondos.”

  “We’ll talk about it later.”

  “Which means you’ll probably try to talk me out of it later.” She shook her head. “Go ahead. It won’t work, but we’ll put the argument on hold for the time being. You need mega rest and healing, and I don’t want to rock the boat.”

  “I’m already on my way back. The healing will go very quickly from now on.” He paused. “Luca’s dead?”

  “You know he is. You couldn’t have been more lethal.”

  “I had to be sure. I wasn’t in very good shape during those last moments.”

  “Tell me about it. Eve killed Alberto after he shot Inspector Tovarth. Joe said Tovarth is going to be all right. No other problems. Except that you managed to get yourself shot.”

  “Now you sound like Lisa. Tomas?”

  “Bewildered but on the upswing. He’s been in the pediatrics wing at this hospital since the night of the raid. MacDuff has been flying in specialists to examine him, and Eve and Michael have been there to see him through it. Joe is bringing his mother from Tower House to be with him tomorrow after he and Tovarth do a final cleanup of those cult members there.” She added firmly, “Now that’s all I’m telling you. You can find out anything else later after you wake up from your next nap. Go back to sleep, Caleb.”

  “Don’t push me, I told you that I’ll get stronger from now on.” His gaze was searching her face. “But you could use a little rest yourself. Go to bed. I don’t need you, Jane.”

  “Oh, that’s right, you said I look like hell. Well, you’ll just have to put up with it. And you probably don’t need me. But I need you. I had to sit there in that chair across the room after I turned you over to Lisa and I couldn’t do anything. It nearly killed me. But now I can at least watch over you, pretend to guard you.” Her lips were trembling as she tried to smile. “Do you always have to have everything your own way? You saved my life. Will you just shut up and let me do this?”

  He didn’t speak for a moment; then he nodded. “By all means, a little more loss of sleep won’t hurt you. It might be good for you.” He added mockingly, “I should have known you’d be suffering major guilt feelings about me taking a couple of bullets on your behalf. Soothing my feverish brow will be excellent therapy.”

  “Stop joking. Nothing about that moment was amusing,” she said hoarsely. “You just kept on coming toward him and you wouldn’t stop. All I could do was watch it happening and pray. You had no right to try to sacrifice your idiotic neck for me. I’ll never let you do it again.” She drew a shaky breath. “Now close your eyes and go back to sleep. You’ll be rid of me soon enough when Lisa wakes up and comes running back to you. You should appreciate the fact that I’ve gotten very good at being so quiet that you never even knew I was in the room while Lisa was doing her magic.”

  “Have you?” He closed his eyes. “Maybe not that good…Because I’m sure I remember being aware of you every moment, every second, since those bullets struck me…”

  * * *

  Four Days Later

  Pediatrics

  “What can I do here?” Jane asked the minute she saw Eve in the hall outside Tomas’s room. “I’m frustrated as hell. Give me something to do.”

  Eve’s brows rose. “Unless you’ve suddenly acquired more experience than those two new doctors who are examining Tomas in his room, I can’t imagine what that would be. They kicked me out and only permitted Michael to stay because Tomas was getting upset.” She sat down on the bench in the hall. “So why are you getting frustrated? Has Caleb taken a turn for the worse?”

  She shook her head. “He looks like he’s almost back to normal. But how would I know? I hardly ever see him. Lisa is always with him during the day, and he won’t let anyone stay with him at night. He’s being…Caleb.”

  “Which is singularly difficult,” Eve said. “I understand your problem, but I don’t know how to solve it.” Her lips quirked. “Unless you want me to tell you that you should leave him as you did once before. But you’ve already told me that’s not an option.”

  “No, that’s never going to be an option.” She dropped down on the bench beside Eve. “I just don’t have an idea what to do right now.” She moistened her lips. “I can’t read him. He seems almost…cold.”

  “Cold?” Eve shook her head. “Not Caleb. Go back and start over.” She took her hand. “Look, you and Lisa almost brought him back from the dead. What’s a little stumbling block compared with that? Go kick Lisa out of his room and make him talk to you.”

  Jane’s hand tightened on Eve’s. “Yeah, what’s a little stumbling block? I’m sorry I ran up here to whine to you. But then I always did do that, even when I was a kid.”

  “You never did it enough. You always were too grown-u
p.” She smiled. “And I was glad to help with pointing out the possibility of a random stumbling block. I don’t want to risk the family losing Caleb. I’m feeling very grateful to him for saving you.”

  “I am, too. But then it’s not the first time, is it? He always seems to be there for me.” She got to her feet. “I’ll come back and visit Tomas this afternoon. But now I believe I’ll go and have a chat with Caleb.” She waved and started down the hall toward the elevator. “Thank you, Eve.”

  She smiled. “My pleasure.”

  “She’s upset about Caleb,” Michael said from the doorway behind Eve. His gaze was on Jane getting on the elevator. “Is he okay?”

  “I’m sure she’ll find out. But she says he’s healthy enough.” She gazed beyond him to the closed door. “Did you get kicked out, too?”

  He shook his head. “Tomas wanted me to leave. They were hurting him, and he didn’t want me to see him cry.” He added gruffly, “I couldn’t make him understand that it didn’t matter. It’s different now that I’m trying to keep out of his head and just be a friend.”

  “How is that working?”

  “Okay, I guess. Since he doesn’t need me in that other way any longer, it’s easy for him to think what we had together was just a dream. Because he doesn’t know about friends, I have to keep explaining it to him.” He frowned. “But I was listening to those doctors in there and it sounded to me like it’s going to take a long time to fix his wrists. So I wondered if we could take Tomas home with us.”

  Her eyes widened. “What?”

  “Not to live with us. We’re strangers to him and that would only confuse him. He’s had such a lot of bad stuff happening to him that he doesn’t understand. He needs something solid and familiar to grab and hold on to. Was I right about how long it will take those doctors to fix his wrists?”

  Eve nodded and said gently, “From what I can gather it might take several operations, but there’s a good chance he’ll eventually be fine.”