Billionaire Undercover - J. S. Scott Page 0,14
military power that we had in the U.S., but I had to give him some credit for the post-war improvements he’d made.
Nick grinned. “Don’t think I haven’t tried to shake things up here. Eventually, Lania will become a worldwide powerhouse.”
We gave up the rebel location, and told Nick everything we knew about Taylor’s captors, which wasn’t much.
When we were finished briefing him, he asked, “I’m hoping you can let Taylor know how sorry I am that this happened when she’s feeling better? I’ve already talked to Dr. Lewis, and once Mark’s family is notified, I’ll speak to them as well.”
“Yeah, we’ll pass that along,” I agreed distractedly as I kept an eye on the doctor and Taylor.
The physician had started an IV on Taylor, done what looked like a thorough exam, and had pushed several meds. He was now cleaning up some of the cuts on her face.
He finally stood up from his stool, and joined us outside. “She’ll need monitoring on your way home,” he said as he pulled a handkerchief out of his pocket and wiped the sweat from his face and his bald head. “There’s not much else I can do under these conditions. Some of her lacerations are infected, so I started antibiotics. She’ll need more as soon as you arrive in the United States. Taylor’s muscles are deteriorated, bruised, and badly strained from being bound in the same position for so long, but they should slowly improve once she can walk. And as expected, she’s severely dehydrated, which is affecting every system in her body. She’s getting fluids, but the bags will need to be changed once they’re empty.”
“I got it,” Jax said abruptly. “Do you have extra bags?”
Between the two of us, Jax had the most medical training, so I let him handle getting supplies with Nick as I asked the doctor, “Is there anything else we should know?”
“She’ll need comprehensive lab work and x-rays to make sure all her systems are functioning normally again. Expect her to be confused and extremely weak while her body is trying to hydrate. I couldn’t find any obvious fractures, but I could only do a cursory exam. I suspect her main issue is her critically dehydrated state.”
I frowned. “Taylor wasn’t talking to me. Is it normal for her to be unconscious?”
He nodded. “Her body was shutting down. She did wake for a moment for me. I don’t think she liked the IV or the exam. She’s not really unconscious. She’ll rouse to physical pain, but it’s better just to allow her to deep sleep until she gets some hydration. I’m sending some pain and anti-anxiety medication in case she needs it when she’s more awake.”
“Hell, I can’t blame her for waking up during that IV, and all that poking and prodding,” I muttered. I wouldn’t exactly enjoy having a needle shoved into my arm, either.
“Since she wasn’t awake for more than a few seconds, I couldn’t access her mental state, but I imagine she’s going to need time to recover. Luckily, she was only held for a short period of time, but her treatment by the rebels was incredibly harsh.”
I nodded, my gut wrenching from thinking about just how much abuse this woman had suffered. “I know. I’ll make sure she gets everything she needs.”
After the doctor finished his instructions for the ride back home, we loaded Taylor into the transport boat, making her as comfortable as possible in the cabin.
“Be safe,” Nick instructed as the captain who had ferried us over pushed off the dock. “Let me know how Taylor and Harlow are faring,” he called out.
I lifted a hand in goodbye and entered the cabin as we departed.
“He’s likable enough, I guess,” Jax grumbled as he hung the IV bag. “But I still don’t trust the bastard.”
“Doesn’t matter,” I said gruffly. “At least we’re on our way home with Taylor.”
“I’m not sure if it’s her that smells so bad, or us,” Jax said as he raked a hand through his hair.
We’d trekked for miles carrying a lot of extra weight. “Probably a little of both,” I answered, noticing how tired my brother looked now that we were actually facing each other. “The clothes that Cooper designed worked out great, but I’m sweating my balls off.”
Since we didn’t do military issue anymore, Cooper had developed special protective clothing for Last Hope, and Marshall had distributed it to all of his members.
We’d opted to use the black outfit for this particular mission, and although comfortable, the long