Page 26 of Speechless
It didn’t belong.
“Don’t struggle, baby. I’m almost done. Almost there, Jenna,” Connor crooned absently, somehow managing to fend off her attempt and finish taking the sample.
Blood that should have been inside her body rolled onto the tray, encased in a plastic shell. For some reason, it sent her into a panic. Was she next? Would they roll her into a plastic coffin and bury her, leave her to suffocate under the earth?
“Lay her down.” His voice was no-nonsense now, his hands firm on the back of her head and her shoulder. Sarah mimicked him on the other side, leaning Jenna back as she wheezed and thrashed. “Breathe, baby. Just hold on another few seconds.”
She was dying. She’d be trapped forever in a little plastic bubble, unable to see out, to breathe. Imprisoned for eternity while men like Sire stared in at her, eyes hungry, hands ready to destroy.
Crying pitifully, unable to draw in a full breath, Jenna let the nurse pin her to the table. Limbs deadweight, broken by the strength of her silent sobs, she felt hands on either side of her face as she went limp.
“Get it in while she’s quiet,” Connor ordered under his breath, then pressed his lips between her eyes. “Look at me, Jenna. Look at me, baby.”
She obeyed, panting in short, rapid breaths. She obeyed, and she saw things in his eyes that calmed her more than words could. Sucking in a normal breath, she trembled under the compassion in those eyes.
“You are such a good girl, Jenna. I’m so proud of you.” He held her gaze as Sarah muttered to herself. “I’ll be here when you wake up.”
“Needle’s in,” Sarah said quietly as Jenna’s arm flinched. “Sedation coming now.”
Cool fluid hit her bloodstream; it felt as though an icy fingertip touched her skin for a fraction of a second. Jenna blinked, struggled to open her eyes, keep them open.
“Relax, baby. Let go now, I’ve got you.”
The last thing she heard was his voice.
Chapter Six
“Say anything, move wrong, and you’re out on your ass.”
Blocking the door to the exam room with his body, Connor stared Caleb down with uncharacteristic hostility. He resented his brother’s presence, hated that Caleb’s status as sheriff entitled him to be in the room to gather evidence, and it showed.
Muscles strained over his shoulders, down his arms as he braced them on the jambs. One particular tendon twitched and flexed of its own volition in his right arm, ready to take the offensive should Connor’s brain take half a second to give the green light on violence.
“Connor, this is a serious matter—”
“This is my house, my exam room and my goddamn rules. Break them, so much as think about bending them…” Connor had to suck in a calming breath before his temper switched from hot spring to volcano. “Jenna does not react well to you. This will be difficult for her; if you make it harder, you won’t be welcome.”
Caleb rolled his eyes. “I’m not planning on terrorizing the poor girl, Connor. All I want is answers. Besides, she’s sedated, isn’t she?”
“She is, but she’s not under deep.”
“Why the hell not? Knock her clean out, let me do what I have to do, you do the same, and everything comes up smelling of roses.”
Idiot. Connor nodded slowly. “And when her heart gives out from the strain? She’s malnourished, she’s weak, and knocking herclean outcould clean her clock permanently. That’ll look just pretty on both our career records, Cal.”
“Okay, okay.” Caleb held his hands up.
Teeth grinding, Connor pushed away from the door and let his brother pass. He put his medical head back on instead of his guardian mindset and gestured to the prostrate female on the table. “What do you want first?”
Jenna stirred at the sound of his voice; Sarah shushed her softly and ran her thumbs over the girl’s knuckles.
“Fingerprints.” To his credit, Cal kept his own voice low. “Oral swab and hair sample.”
Connor crossed to the cabinet behind the table, took out two sample tubes and a swab kit. With Sarah murmuring quietly to the patient, he quickly took several strands of blonde hair from Jenna’s head, making sure he removed the roots, and stuffed them into the tube.
With the swab in hand, he dropped to a crouch in front of her head, nudging Sarah aside, and smiled as glassy green eyes tracked sluggishly to his. Recognition was a slow flame, growing brighter as she watched him. Her fingers flexed slightly. “Open your mouth, baby. That’s it. Clever girl,” he purred as her lips parted an inch.
She closed her eyes as he ran the swab tip over the inside of her cheek, snuffled drowsily when he rose and set the swab into the tube, capped it. “Sarah, can you give Cal a hand with the fingerprinting please?”