sleeves of his T-shirt were stretched taut across the muscles of his arms. She’d seen firsthand the strength those arms carried when he lifted the man from the basement off the floor.
She refocused on her patient, opening the first-aid kit wider and inspecting the contents. She pulled out a tube of antibiotic ointment, a gauze bandage, some tape and a pair of gloves. Pulling the gloves on, she set about tending to her patient. She was careful and methodical, making sure the man who might hold her life in his hands would have no complaint about her care of him. At first, the room was silent while she worked. After a few minutes she felt his gaze lift from the top of her bent head to Jozef, who was still standing behind her.
“You intend that we leave tonight?”
She felt the air stir behind her as Jozef answered the question. She desperately wanted to turn and look, to watch the graceful movements his strong hands were making, but she stayed concentrated on her job. Judging from the older man’s next words, Jozef’s response had been an affirmative.
“All of us, or will you leave anyone in the city to keep an eye on Vasiliy?”
Again, she felt, rather than saw, Jozef communicate with his uncle.
“Ah, yes, Havel is a good choice. Trustworthy and measured. He will make sure things here are settled. Have him follow us home in a few days. By then we should have prepared a response to this action taken by my enemy.”
Shaun glanced up at her patient and he looked down at her. She didn’t like that they were talking business in front of her. She was supposed to be a bystander ‒ just a stranger who'd gotten caught up in their drama. If they weren’t afraid to discuss important matters in front of her, then that meant she was either family, or collateral damage. And she certainly wasn’t family yet.
“You will tell our hosts to lay low until the dust settles. We can’t be positive that Vasiliy won’t come after anyone who helped with my rescue, though I am still unsure of his motives. If he wanted me dead, then he would have done it while he had me under his control. He had to know that you would come for me.” Her patient spoke almost as if he was speaking to himself. His gaze seemed far away, and she didn’t think Jozef was responding, though she couldn’t be positive since she couldn’t see him from her position.
“Perhaps he wanted you to die a slower death,” she muttered.
The older man didn’t pretend not to hear her. “Why do you say that, girl?”
“My name is Doctor Shaun Patterson, not girl,” she said crisply and straightened her spine as she looked up at him. “And if this infection was left for even one more day, you would be looking at gangrene and blood poisoning. An extremely painful way to die.”
He waved his good hand through the air negligently. “These people do not think this way. If they were to have me killed, they would do it quickly, and yes painfully. They did not intend for me to die, even if that was the outcome of their stupidity. No, they intended to hold me only and threaten my family.”
Jozef made a short growling sound that made Shaun turn around to glance at him. He was signing at his uncle with movements that were so rapid she was having trouble catching them all.
“Don’t talk that way, boy,” the other man said sharply. “I trust all members of my family, especially you. I never once doubted your loyalty while I spent a week locked in that cell. In fact, I simply counted the hours until you arrived. There was no doubt in my mind that you would come for me.”
She glanced back down, finishing the bandage and securing it with medical tape. Had Jozef just implicated himself? But why? Especially when it was clear he had nothing to do with his uncle’s abduction. She stayed silent, watching their exchange, trying to pick up as much as she could from the strange one-sided conversation.
“This is not a path we will go down, my boy. We are a solid family and I will not doubt a single member. Vasiliy must have another motive for making such a stupid move. You will find out the truth and we will move forward with his punishment.” He paused, watching as Jozef bowed his head in acquiesce. Then his