Page 30 of Sweethearts and Savages
The phone flew out of my hand as Mouse screamed, or maybe it was me, and I saw the grill of a black truck ram the side of my door, crumpling it like tissue paper. The SUV flipped, and I saw my phone float past my eyes, before we crashed back to the earth and my head slammed into the window.
Then darkness reigned.
A voice was roaringin my head. “Enit Baxter, open your feckin’ eyes before I ground you for life.”
Dad.
My eyelids fluttered and I saw X’s face, blurred but I could feel his relief. And then the pain crushed my consciousness and I fell into the darkness again on a scream.
14
Stacey
The lab door slammed open, making me jump. I looked up to chastise the intruder, but it was only Daniel. His eyes were wild and my heart started to thump in my chest. Something was wrong.
“Layla? The baby?”
He shook his head. “No, Stace, it’s Enit. There's been an accident.”
My vision shrunk to a pinpoint of light, and I swayed. “Is she dead?”
Daniel stepped up to me, dragging me into his arms. “No. Alistair and Micah are on their way to the crash now, but they’re bringing her here, Stace. She’s hurt real bad. Dad doesn’t know that you and Enit are a couple. He wants you to prep for surgery.”
My knees turned to jello.
Fuck.Fuck.I couldn’t lose her now. I couldn’t. What if she died on the table? What if I made a mistake? What if I killed her?
Daniel shook me lightly. “Stace, you are a brilliant surgeon. The best damn brain in the Northern Hemisphere. She is your patient. That is it—there’s no room for doubt right now. Get it together, because your patient needs you.”
I sucked in a deep breath, staring down at my shaking hands. I could do this. She needed me. My mate needed me right now.
I straightened my shoulders.
“Call Bohdie, tell him what’s happening. Then get in here and help me set up the infirmary as an OR.”
I tried to remember what my lecturers at medical school had said about vehicular injuries. Head injuries were likely. She’d need a CT scan. Broken bones definitely, so she’d need emergency X-rays. Alistair would stabilize her at the site, but she’d probably need to be anesthetized.
My mind whirled with all the things that needed to be done in a short space of time.
This would be field medicine at best, and even though the treatment room was well stocked, it was still going to be frontier medicine. I didn’t have the instruments needed for brain surgery.
Panic began to burst through my calm again, at least until there was a vampire in my infirmary, appearing out of nowhere.
Enit’s father, Judge. He was a tall, scary guy with eyes that seemed almost like an abyss, and he scared the hell out of me. All of Enit’s parents did, probably some kind of residual hindbrain fear of a prey animal. He stared at me with those eyes. “She’s on her way here. What do you need? Anything. Alistair says you are the most capable of doing brain surgery, and I trust his judgement.”
I almost shuddered with relief at the offer of equipment. I rattled off a list of things and he nodded. He paused, his eyes searching my face. “Can you do this? Enit told me about you two. It would be hard. No one will think badly of you if this is too much. I can find someone else, even if I have to do it by force.”
I was frozen in shock. Enit had told her father about me? I swallowed hard and looked him in the eye. “I’ve got this. Get me the equipment and I will make sure she lives to smile at us both again.”
Judge nodded, not second-guessing me. Then he was just gone.
I was primarily equipped for research, but I had all the appropriate imaging equipment, which was fortunate. I fired it up to have it ready.
I gathered everything I’d need, or thought I’d need, but my brain was fuzzing. I didn’t really know what would be required or how I would react to a broken Enit.
The doors to the surgery flung open and a wild-eyed Bohdie was there. “Doc, where is she?”
“Stop, don’t touch anything!” I grabbed a set of gloves and threw them to him. “She’s on her way here. Help me sterilize everything. I know she's a supernatural, but infection could still be an issue when it comes to br-brain surgery.” I stuttered on the word and I wanted to smack myself. There was no place for doubt now.
