Page 47 of Dark Consequences

“Stop,” Enzo snaps, his deep voice echoing in the house foyer. “We need her.”

Raphael and I turn our attention to the modern Viking. He holds his phone away from his ear, but his face is pale, his eyes wide and terrified.

“It’s Dominic.”

I’ll never forget the day I lost my first patient.

It was a Tuesday afternoon. Nothing special about it. I had already treated a few broken bones, several colds, and was wrapping up my last case of a particularly nasty rash when the ambulance arrived with a car accident survivor.

Mr. John Ruthledge. I’ll never forget his name.

Upon first assessment, he appeared in good spirits and even made a few dad jokes. His labs looked good, and his x-rays were normal. His only complaint was lower stomach pain. My head resident and I both agreed to treat his symptoms and kept him under observation. The last time I checked on him, he was sleeping, a side effect of the pain meds, and assumed nothing worse.

We soon grew busy with a rush of patients, and before I knew it, a couple of hours passed. I expected Mr. Ruthledge to be awake, maybe even slightly angry with my long absence. But I never predicted I’d find him writhing in pain.

His pain was actually from a liver laceration that went undetected in his tests. Though it was small at first, it only grew larger until he was bleeding out inside of his abdomen.

We tried to save him. We rushed him into surgery, but it was too late. He was too far gone. The damage was already done.

The moment he went started bleeding out on the operating table, I knew the fight was over. There’s no coming back from multiple organ failure when blood pours from every hole in your body. In the end, his death was no one’s fault. A freak accident, as they say, but it didn’t make the reality of his death any easier to accept.

The guards bring Dominic inside the house and lay him on the dining room table. He’s been beaten to the point where he’s nearly unrecognizable. There’s so much blood that I can’t even tell where it’s coming from.

“Is he breathing?” Enzo asks from behind me.

Without a second thought, I press two fingers to his neck, searching for the precious beats of life. I close my eyes and concentrate, trying hard to ignore the chaos around me.

“What the fuck happened?” Michael demands.

“The guards said a car barreled through the gates and threw his body out. They fired on the car, but whoever it was, they got away,” Enzo answers.

“It was Xiao,” Raphael says. “Had to be.”

Thump…thump.

There it is. Barely, but there.

“He’s alive,” I announce to the room, all talk ceasing at my words.

Raphael rushes to my side. “What do you need?”

“Anything and everything you have.”

While he leaves to gather supplies with Michael, Enzo helps me peel away Dominic’s bloodied and soiled clothes, revealing several wounds in various states. I’m familiar with the sight, having seen countless wounds like these on Xiao’s men.

“He was tortured,” I say.

Enzo freezes and meets my eyes. “You’re certain?”

I nod grimly.

“What happened?” a new voice bellows, and Enzo wraps his hand around my arm and quickly pulls me away from Dominic’s body before the newcomer pushes me away.

“We’re still trying to figure that out,” Dante assures the stranger, having followed him in. He walks over to place his hand on the man’s shoulder and squeezes. “Let Lily work on him, brother. She’s a doctor and can help.”

The stranger I now know is Dante’s brother, swings toward me. Enzo still has a solid hold on my arm, his touch tense, like he’s ready to move me again if needed.

“You’re Lily?”

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