“Always glad to help.” She had to joke. She was having trouble keeping control of her emotions. Nerve gas? What the hell? It brought up so many questions and frightening implications that she didn’t want to think about yet. She wasn’t like Lynch, who lived in this world. All she could do was just let them prod her and give her drugs and test her for damage while she tried to recover her equilibrium. Somehow that innocuous, helpful, pampering steadied her.
Her next stop was a shower followed by her placement in a hospital room for overnight observation.
This was all wrong, she thought after the nurse left her. She was fine now and there was too much to do. Why was she lying here when she had to figure out what had happened to them? And where was Lynch? He had seemed okay, but how did she know how nerve gas would affect him down the road? In spite of all that machismo bullshit, women had more endurance than men. Ask any pregnant woman on the planet. Lynch could be— A man in scrubs and a surgeon’s mask entered her room. He closed the door and stepped toward her.
She automatically tensed.
But even before he pulled off the mask, she knew who it was.
“Lynch?” she said incredulously; immediately followed by relief.
“At your service.”
She jumped out of bed. “What in the hell are you doing here?” she whispered.
“It’s obvious, isn’t it? I’m here to bust you out.”
“You think we’re prisoners here?”
“Not in so many words. But those doctors are really into this guinea pig thing. And it won’t be long before Homeland Security has to take a peek and swamp us with questions. I expect them to be lined up at the door tonight. Nerve gas is a favorite weapon of choice for terrorists. Those doctors must have pulled rank once they got their hands on a real live specimen to practice on. But I bet Homeland is scrambling to inundate us with paperwork. Trust me, they’ll pay us a visit before breakfast.”
Kendra nodded. “Then we’re not prisoners, but they all clearly want us to stay?”
“Yes, but they feel comfortable about not causing a fuss about it. We’re not likely to go anywhere without clothes.” He looked her up and down. “Though I must say, you’re absolutely rocking that hospital gown.” He smiled puckishly. “Wanna turn around?”
“Go to hell. Where’d you get the scrubs?”
“Same place I got yours.” He tossed a thin packet on her bed. “Linen cart. Put ’em on and let’s go.”
“Go where?”
“Where I know you’re just dying to go. Back to the building site. By now they’ll have it cleaned up and Griffin and the dream team are crawling all over the place, picking up leads that we found for them.”
She grimaced. “That thought had occurred to me. I was getting a little frustrated.”
“I thought you would be. Why else did I decide to forgo the traditional hospital Jell-O to immediately start making a plan to break us out of here? You wouldn’t have lasted more than a few hours. I’d have roused in the middle of the night to see you in my room jerking me from my slumber and pushing me toward the nearest exit.”
“Like you were pushing me out of that motel?”
His smile faded. “I believe that particular ‘pushing’ was cooperative and consenting on both our parts. I’m not certain that either one of us would have made it out of there if we hadn’t been fighting our way together.”’ He took a step closer and his hands gently cupped her throat. “But I can’t imagine anyone I’d rather be with if I ever had to go through that again.” His thumbs moved caressingly in the hollow of her throat. “You okay? You weren’t just pretending with those jokers?”
The flesh of her throat was tingling beneath his fingers and she felt the same breathlessness she’d experienced earlier. No, not the same. That had been terror, this was the other spectrum of sensation.
“I’m okay.” She took a deep breath. “You?”
“At the moment, just fine.” He smiled. “You haven’t accused me of being an egotist or a grandstander since I came in the room. And I have my hands on you.” His voice lowered as his thumbs stroked gently back and forth. “I can feel your heart beat…” He sighed and stepped back. “But I’d better skip that, I’m afraid. Otherwise we’ll end up in that hospital bed and you’d not appreciate the lack of privacy.” His hands fell away from her throat. “But I could be wrong?”
He was wrong. A minute before she hadn’t given a damn about privacy. She’d just wanted him to keep touching her. They had gone through too much together today. Hell, they had almost died together. Nothing else seemed as important as the fact that they were still alive. But she should care, she should be glad he wasn’t touching her any longer. Sex was always the final searing element that defined life. If Zachary was watching them, he would pick up on those signals that were so obvious to Kendra. No, their relationship was chaotic enough without throwing sex into the mix right now.
“Privacy is important to me.” But she’d been too obvious and she wouldn’t try to fool him. “But I’m glad that you’re doing well. I was scared for you. I was scared for me. Nothing like a close shave and a zillion dead rats to make you appreciate being alive.” She hesitated and then said, “I’m … blurred, Lynch. This thing threw me for a loop. Nerve gas? It’s totally bizarre. Those doctors said we’re going to be fine, but I don’t feel fine. I don’t know what I feel.”
“You will,” he said gently. “It’s gathering like a storm and just waiting to break free. When it does, we’ll all duck for cover. I could see all this was upsetting you. It’s a little outside your comfort zone. That’s why I decided not to wait. The best thing for you is to get busy and just let it come to you. So let’s go do it.”
“Therapy according to Lynch?”
“Absolutely. It’s foolproof.”
“I doubt it. But it’s always interesting.” And oddly comforting that he was this certain he was right about her at this particular time. It was always disconcerting to her when anyone thought they were close enough to read her. Somehow today was … different. She’d analyze and decide why later. She’d just accept it for now. She turned away and picked up the scrubs on the bed. “I’ll be with you in a couple minutes.”
“I’m not going anywhere.” He suddenly chuckled. “I’ve decided I need your protection. I was blundering around like a blind bear before you took my hand in the dark. So you’re stuck with me.” He nodded at the bathroom. “Get going. I’ll stand guard in case a nurse pops in, but you only get that couple minutes. After that, I get to come in and help. Which might mean a significant change in agenda.”
*
KENDRA AND LYNCH TOOK the elevator downstairs and made their way to the hospital’s large circular driveway. Two cabs were waiting at the taxi stand. They jumped into the first one and directed the driver to take them back to the construction site.
Kendra looked back as they drove away. “A nurse was giving us a funny look. You probably should have swiped a couple ID badges, too.”
“I could have, but we’re not fugitives from justice, remember?”
“At least we weren’t until we walked out wearing hospital property.”
“Point taken. I’ll make sure the hospital gets their scrubs back.”
Lynch smiled at the odd looks the cab driver was giving them in the rearview mirror. He told him, “Don’t worry. We didn’t just escape from the Psych Ward.”