Blake, Abby - Stolen [Altered Destinies 4] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) (8 page)

Inside the room, Pete sat in a chair beside Dana’s bed. He didn’t even lift his gaze, his entire body language that of a beaten man. Jason hesitated, not explaining why he was here, unwilling to add false hope to Pete’s already overloaded emotions. He limped to the other side of the bed, and grasped Dana’s pale hand in his own. He had no idea if this would work, and the doctor in him doubted that anything, even his freak skill of healing scars, would be enough to put back together Dana’s broken body.

Still holding her fingers in one hand, he stretched the other toward her face, rubbing his thumb over the bruising that still marred her beautiful features. He held his breath as he watched the yellow-green skin heal, and be replaced by a more healthy pallor. Too pale still, but an improvement nonetheless.

He moved his hand to her sternum, carefully touching the skin, visualizing in his mind the damage done by the bullets and trying to imagine the healing that would be required for Dana to be whole again. Slowly he worked his hands up her throat, carefully touching the scars on her neck where a bullet had severed her spinal cord.

Jason could feel Pete’s eyes on him but couldn’t look at the man, his fear of failing Dana threatening to overwhelm him. He concentrated on the scars on her neck, trying to visualize in his mind the nerves and blood vessels that ran through the spinal cord. He imagined them knitting back together, healing the damage as if she’d never been injured.

He sat back, still holding her hand, unsure if he’d been able to promote healing of any of her internal injuries. He stayed there, barely breathing, fighting the fear that welled inside him, holding himself together by sheer will.

A choking noise startled him, and he stood abruptly, his medical training quickly assessing the situation.

“Get the doctor,” he barked at her startled husband, sparing but a moment to make sure the other man pressed the emergency call button. Jason stood over Dana, her eyes open for the first time in ten days. “Relax, Dana, I’m going to turn off the respirator and remove the tube so you can breathe on your own.”

Her eyes held his gaze as she used her telepathy to give her own orders. He laughed out loud at her demand that he hurry his ass up and then quickly disconnected the machine.

“Stay still,” he told her in a stern voice. “I’m not sure exactly how much I’ve been able to heal, so no sudden movements, all right?”

She rolled her eyes but otherwise stayed still as he removed the tube from her throat and laid a hand on her chest as she took her first full and independent breath in ten days. He rubbed his hand over the puckered scar at her side, sensing a small amount of internal bleeding and healing it with his thoughts.

The door burst open, the doctor quickly taking in the scene, his irate voice cutting off in mid-sentence when he realized Dana was breathing on her own.

“I...I...don’t understand this,” he said as he grabbed up the chart, shaking his head in disbelief. “This just isn’t possible.” He moved over to the bed, checking Dana over, gasping when he noticed how the bruises had faded and how she was able to move her limbs.

Pete clapped a hand on the doctor’s shoulder as he smiled for the first time in what probably felt like forever.

“Doctor,” Jason said, gaining the man’s attention. “We need to run some more tests, check to see how much of the damage has been healed.”

“But not here,” Caleb said from the doorway. “Hey, Dana,” he said as he approached the bed, a huge grin on his face. He grasped her hand briefly as he turned his attention back to the doctor. “We need to transfer Mrs. Nash to another facility before we do any more tests. The last thing we need is the press getting a hold of this.”

The doctor shook his head, clearly agitated by this turn of events.

“We need to do more tests and figure out how she managed to heal the way she did. She’s a medical miracle, and we owe it to the next patient to find out what happened here.”

Caleb shook his head slowly. “I’m afraid that’s not possible. The people who tried to kill Mrs. Nash won’t hesitate to try again if they think she’ll survive,” he said, stretching the truth just a little. Her family knew it was unlikely the assassin would try again.

Jason glanced at Caleb as the reality of what had just happened began to sink in. He’d healed someone who really should not have survived her injuries. This sort of miracle was bound to attract attention, and the last thing they needed was the rogues figuring out the agency had someone with a skill previously thought impossible.

Jason stayed by the bed, his hand still smoothing over Dana’s neck wanting to make sure the worst of her injuries were completely healed.

The doctor shook his head again, obviously conflicted between protecting his patient and identifying the source of her miracle cure.

Caleb placed a hand on the doctor’s shoulder. “I’m sorry,” he said sincerely, “but we need to get Mrs. Nash somewhere safe. Can I trust you to get the paperwork done to transfer her to another facility without letting anyone else know the extent of her recovery?”

The doctor nodded obviously resigned to the fact he would have to do whatever was necessary to keep his patient safe. Her miracle cure wouldn’t be worth a damn if her assassin succeeded next time.

“Okay,” he said, “but I wonder if I could ask a personal favor. If you find out how she recovered, could you please let me know? I’ve watched too many people die in the last few years, and it would be a great help to have the knowledge to be able to save a lot more.”

Jason gave him a short nod, hoping Caleb or the doctors at the agency could help him come up with a plausible explanation that didn’t include telekinesis and healing hands.

Chapter Nine

“Ah, hi,” the nurse said quietly into the phone when someone answered on the other end. “It’s Joyce, the nurse from the hospital. You wanted me to let you know when Dana Nash died.”

The voice on the other end grunted, making her nervous, but she forged on, focusing on all of the money she was earning with this single phone call.

“Well, she’s not dead yet. But they transferred her this morning to another hospital. But there was something strange going on because I called the other hospital and they knew nothing about her transfer. And the doctor wouldn’t let the nurses into the room, which is completely against protocol. And the family was acting strange, like they knew she was going to be okay or something, which is really weird because with injuries like that, that woman is never going to be okay,” she said in a rush, starting to wonder if she’d made a bad choice.

“Thank you, Joyce,” the voice said.

“When do I get my money?” she asked plaintively, but the line was already dead. Glancing around nervously, Joyce moved to resume her work duties, wondering if she’d ever get paid and cursing her own greedy stupidity.

Next time, she decided, she’d ask for the money up front.

* * * *

Theresa sensed Dana mentally shake her head in bewilderment. She wasn’t actually allowed to shake her head yet, and the neck brace made sure she didn’t forget, but she seemed to be having trouble absorbing all of the information Theresa and Alana were giving her.

Eleven days and several operations had passed her in a blur. She had only very vague half-memories of a sudden pain and then nothing. It must’ve been disconcerting to say the least, but judging by Dana’s reaction to the way Pete and Sandra and John had been hovering since she’d woken up, she didn’t believe a word of it. She’d eventually ordered them to give her some space, and they’d been quickly replaced by Alana and Rafe.

“What happened to Lexie?”
she asked telepathically, her voice still sore from the breathing tube.

Alana looked really uncomfortable, shifting from foot to foot and glanced at Theresa beside her.

“I know from the emotions swirling around all of you that something happened to Lexie, but nobody is talking. Every time I tried to raise the subject with Pete or Sandra or John, they gave me platitudes. Just tell me!”
Theresa felt Dana’s anger rising. Soon the whole room would be shaking.

“Lexie’s fine, Dana. You know that. You just saw her a few minutes ago,” Theresa butted in, trying to diffuse the tension.

“I know what I saw. What I want to know is what happened to her after I was shot!”

Sighing in resignation, Theresa told her how Lexie was stolen by the rogues and Jason had been lucky enough to be the doctor on duty when they delivered her to “The Professor”—the same man who had held Sandra captive over a year ago.

“Jason saved her, gave up everything he’d worked for, gave up his chance to save our sister Jenna just to get Lexie back to you,” Alana said quietly, her respect for the man obvious.

“Did they do any experiments on her?”
Dana asked, even her telepathic voice sounding small and frightened.

“No, Dana. They didn’t get a chance,” Theresa assured her.

Closing her eyes, Theresa could sense Dana’s fight to hold back the tears that threatened. Lexie was safe thanks to the man who’d also managed to heal Dana’s severe injuries, injuries that she would not have recovered from otherwise.

“Where is he?”
Dana asked, sounding angry. Alana bristled at her tone of “voice,” but Theresa knew Dana was angry at her own weak tears, not at the man who saved her.

“He’s right down the hall discussing with the other doctors what tests need to be done to make sure you’re healed enough to walk again,” Alana said, her tone defensive.

“I want to thank him,”
Dana said, trying to catch Alana’s gaze.

“Oh. Um. Well, in that case I’ll send him in when he gets here,” Alana said hesitantly, squeezing Dana’s hand once more before she and Rafe left the room.

“Theresa, can you do me a favor?”
Dana asked, sounding not at all like herself.

“Anything,” Theresa assured her readily.

“Can you make sure he knows…I mean
...
Hell, I’m no good with words and feelings and stuff...so can you make sure Jason knows that I’ll always be grateful for what he did for me and Lexie?”

Theresa nodded, smiling.

“Of course. What are sisters for anyway?” Theresa lowered her face to press a kiss against Dana’s cheek, knowing even as she did it her sister’s dislike for displays of affection. The only people Theresa had ever seen Dana comfortable with were anxiously waiting on the other side of the door.

“I’ll let them back in,” Theresa said with a smile. “They thought they’d lost you, so try to be patient while they recover, okay?”

Dana rolled her eyes, but her affection for the three was obvious. Theresa walked out the door, flattening herself against the wall as Dana’s partners, sister-in-law, and daughter rushed back in. Theresa smiled when she saw Lexie happily blowing spit bubbles in John’s arms.

* * * *

Hours later, Jason sat in a chair in Caleb and Ethan’s office. The tests showed all of Dana’s injuries had been healed, and she’d even taken a few steps. She was tired and weak, apparently Jason’s gift couldn’t heal that, but all of the damage caused by the bullets had been repaired.

He’d been stunned when Caleb offered him a job working for The Agency, but he was still trying to process what his skill actually meant. How could he hide a skill like this? Did he even want to? Was the world ready for a doctor who could heal with only his hands?

Caleb started to laugh, Ethan chuckling behind him.

“You’re right. I don’t think the world is ready. It sounds very much like faith healing, and I keep seeing long robes, loud music, and theatrical displays of supposed miracles,” Ethan said, smiling.

“The other thing is that we don’t yet know what it costs you,” Caleb said quietly.