Page 46 of Born Wicked
The man blinkshis eyes open.
Finally.
I was starting to get worried.
This patient took a bad tumble down a set of stairs. Broken arm, but I wasn’t worried about a concussion. Except he’s been taking forever to regain consciousness.
“Make sure he gets some morphine,” I say to Lily as I take off my gloves. “Sir, the stitches in your forehead need to stay in for three weeks. I’ve already reset your arm, it will be casted for eight weeks.”
He still looks a little dazed, but he blinks hard and nods. I would feel worse for running out if his wife weren’t here. I’ve already explained all of this to her.
“I’ve got this,” Lily reassures me as I step toward the door.
“Thanks,” I say, dreaming about a scalding hot shower. “Hey, I’m not exactly sure when because life is a little chaotic, but do you want to go get dinner sometime? I could use a little girl time.”
She blinks in surprise, but just a moment later, her expression brightens with excitement. Damn. It’s really not fair to the rest of the female population how stunning she is. And she’s so stupid nice. “I’d love that.”
I smile and nod, and duck out into the hall.
I’ve missed this natural pace. Where I can work shifts in the emergency room when I want and only have to spend a few hours each day working on the boring administrative stuff. Holly has made my life bearable again. Echo has full control over the blood trade. She pays the hospital a royalty for us supplying the blood, but the vampires now have a regular supply of blood that doesn’t have to come from unwilling victims.
I stop in the middle of the hall when my cell phone rings. I pull it from my pocket, and nervous energy floods my system when I see Mason’s name.
Patrick, Jay, and I sat with Mason for a full twenty-four hours at the Nocturne. He’d gone through nearly two dozen bags of blood before he seemed satisfied. He’d gone through another six bags over the next few hours.
But he was under control. We’d all walked outside with Mason after it had been a full day, and we’d stood right at his side as he took a deep breath as the first human walked by him.
He’d had to stand there with his eyes closed, his hands curled into balled fists for thirty seconds. But finally, he’d nodded and said he was okay. It was eight blocks to Godfrey Tower, but all three of us walked with him so we could monitor him while he was exposed to so many veins walking past him.
He’d breathed hard for the first two blocks, but gradually his hands had loosened. He didn’t even look at anyone in the last block.
We walked in the doors, and Poe handed over the insulated bag I’d called Echo to order. As soon as we stepped into the elevator, Mason downed two of the bags, but he was under control before we even opened up onto the top floor.
I trusted Mason. His control was pretty damn impressive, yet I wasn’t even surprised.
I left him with Patrick and told him I’d be back to check on him after work. Which was supposed to be in three hours.
“Hey,” I answer.
“I need you to come here, to the Tower, right now,” he says. His tone is panicked.
I curse under my breath and turn back down the hall. “What happened?”
But there’s a yell, and then I think I hear the phone hit the floor. Then the call is killed.
“Shit,” I curse again, tucking my phone back into my pocket. Without explanations to Dr. Roshan as I rush by him, I burst through the doors and barrel down the hall, out the front doors.
Damn. Sometimes I wonder why Chicago was chosen as the town to create a safe haven for vampires and gifted. There are so many witnesses around all the time. I’m rushing down the street as fast as I dare, but I have to pace myself so hard. Why couldn’t we have set up in some little off the track town in the Pacific Northwest. Plus, less sunshine to deal with.
I dart around a corner, pausing impatiently while I wait for the light to change. And finally, I’m rushing up the drive to the huge glass doors.
“I need access to Mason’s penthouse, now,” I bark at Poe. I should be out of breath, considering the mad dash I just took. But I’m not even the slightest bit sweaty as I practically bounce on the balls of my feet.
“You got it,” he says as he taps a few commands on his computer. “Everything okay?”
“Wish I knew,” I say as he hands me a badge, and I make a beeline for the elevator. I swipe the card and seriously debate for two seconds if I should just take the stairs. Thankfully, the doors open right then, and I step into the empty elevator.
It’s a long ride up all sixty-two floors. And my brain is thinking through all the worst scenarios. What am I going to walk in to find? A pile of bodies Mason has drained?