03-Strength of the Mate (47 page)

“Yes ma’am,” Adam agreed.

“Leave them on the floor after your shower and I’ll see to it myself.”

Adam examined the pile of clothing. Oh hell no. “I don’t want to be a problem patient, ma’am, but I just spent more than month in a situation that stripped away what little dignity I might have had. I’m not up to having my bare ass hanging out the back of nightgown.” He tried to hand the items back.

Julie held her hands up, her palms out in supplication. “You’ll find I’ve included a nice, clean pair of briefs for you to wear. And if you could indulge us all by wearing the gown while Doctor Kerr examines you, I will personally procure a set of scrubs for you to change into.”

That had been a hell of a lot easier than Adam had expected.

“Welcome to life as a werewolf pack V.I.P.,” Tim said quietly from behind Adam.

Julie chuckled. “We’ll give you about ten minutes. Just climb into bed when you’re finished. I imagine your bandage will come off, and that’s fine, just throw it away.”

She left the room, pulling the door closed behind herself.

Adam flipped on the bathroom light. Dawson tried to crowd into the room with him. It was immediately evident that wasn’t going to work. Adam felt safe here, he didn’t need Dawson to guard him while he showered. But he realized he didn’t want to be alone, after nearly five weeks of almost constant isolation.

A quick glance around his room at Eric and Tim, then at Jason and Paul—still in their wolf forms—and Adam decided to just leave the bathroom door open.

He ran the water as hot as he could stand it. Adam stripped off his filthy clothes, kicking them into a corner. Dawson settled down onto his belly in the doorway. He watched Adam’s every move, Sphinx-like.

It was the best shower of Adam’s life. He wished he could shave, but it wasn’t going to be a quick and easy thing, now that he had this full beard. Adam scrubbed at it with the same vigor he did the hair on top of his head. He soaped up and rinsed off three times, before he was satisfied the water was running clear. He used a cloth to scrub under, behind, and in between everything he could reach. Adam wasn’t stupid. He knew he was doing more than just cleaning his body of dirt.

Dawson stared at him intently as Adam dried and dressed. When he flipped off the bathroom light, Dawson got to his feet. Adam gave in to the urge to be close to Dawson. He wrapped his arms around the wolf’s neck, and nuzzled at his soft, fragrant fur.

The moment was interrupted by Doctor Kerr and Lieutenant Julie quietly entering the room. Dawson followed Adam as he climbed into the giant, comfortable bed. Tim and Eric had brought their chairs around to sit beside him. Jason and Paul both sat on their haunches, watching everything from the far side of the room.

“I’ll have several padded wolf beds brought in,” Julie murmured to the doctor, as they both took note of the motionless wolves.

Adam was too surprised to speak when Dawson jumped up onto the bed with him. He lay against Adam’s right leg, his violet eyes tracking the doctor’s every movement.

“I might need you to move out of the way once or twice,” the captain said to Dawson. “Otherwise, you’re fine there.”

Adam happened to catch sight of Eric shooting Tim an incredulous look. Tim simply shrugged in reply. They’re werewolves, what are you gonna do?

The exam was thorough, but quick. It took Adam a while to realize that he was in a hell of a lot better shape than everyone had expected him to be. It wasn’t just that he hadn’t been tortured, like they’d expected. Cody and Eric were both astounded when Adam followed Julie down the hall to the scale, and discovered he’d only lost about seven pounds.

Adam admired the way Doctor Kerr dealt with Eric, too. He didn’t act resentful or insecure when Eric questioned a procedure or a result. That was probably why Eric actually relaxed and stopped trying to interrogate Cody.

As Kerr poked and prodded at Adam’s arm wound, Julie stood close by to assist. It hurt like hell again, so Adam knew the infection was back. It was also ugly, probably because the infection kept coming and going. Adam refused to look at it, again. He kept his eyes on Dawson’s, scratching behind his ears.

“Yeah, the infection got a foothold again,” Cody murmured thoughtfully. “The real problem is the necrosis.”

“Would you mind if I take a look?” Eric asked politely. “I’ve got a lot of experience with open wounds in unsanitary living conditions.

Kerr blinked at Eric several times, as if it took time for his words to register. “Yeah, I imagine you do.” He gestured at Adam’s arm. “Have a look. Unless you have another idea, I think the best we can do is cut away the necrosis and pump him full of antibiotics.”

Eric frowned as he examined Adam’s arm closely. Finally, he shook his head and sighed heavily. “You’re right. He’ll heal just fine once the issues with cleanliness and infection are eliminated.”

Adam relaxed against the raised head of the bed, Dawson’s head on his hip, as Cody cut away the dead flesh from his wound. He was silently grateful they’d numbed the area first, he was really tired of constantly being in pain. Adam knew he could tolerate the pain. Hell, he’d done it several times in the last five weeks. It was just nice not to have to, anymore.

His arm bled freely. Julie helped the doctor to irrigate both wounds. Adam chanced a glance at his arm. He was surprised and relieved to see only pink and red flesh now, where sickening patches of black and green had been cut away.

Julie efficiently bandaged Adam’s bicep, wrapping everything with that rubbery, self-adhesive stuff that was so cool. It was even camo colored, and Adam smiled.

“We’re gonna flood you with antibiotics and a few other things to boost your overall health and immune system,” Cody said. “They’ll continue the treatment when you get to Ramstein. But I’m pretty sure you’ll be back to normal by the time you get home. You’ll just have to keep the wound clean until it’s completely healed.”

“Ramstein?” Adam asked, anxiety spinning threads through his system.

“Well, technically Landstuhl Regional Medical Center,” Cody replied. “But there’s no reason they wouldn’t be able to ship you home after just a day or two.”

How had Adam managed to forget that? Ares policy was to send home any contractor who received more than a minor injury.

“Let me know if you have questions, or if anything comes up,” Kerr said, heading for the door. “Julie will be here to look after you. And the psychiatrist should be along fairly soon to talk with you. After that, you’ll probably be ready to sleep.”

“Psychiatrist?” Great. Adam had been reduced to single word sentences.

“Don’t worry, you’ll like Doctor Wood,” Cody said, opening the door. “She’s got a great bedside manner and a good sense of humor.”

Adam wasn’t worried about that. He just couldn’t think of anything to talk about. He’d been snatched off the street in the middle of a gun battle. He’d done what he had to, to stay alive, and now that he’d been rescued, he was happy to be back with family and friends. He didn’t want some doctor he’d never met before trying to tell him his every word and action meant he was suppressing some great trauma. Adam had been through a trauma he had suppressed, and this wasn’t the same thing at all.

Julie presented Adam with a pair of blue colored scrubs, smiling with pleasure as she did. “You get changed while I set up your I.V.”

Adam closed the bathroom door behind himself. Dawson was still on the bed, waiting for him to come back. Apparently he could be trusted to be alone for the time it would take to change into the scrubs. Adam looked at himself in the mirror. He was gaunt and garish in the fucked up florescent lighting. He almost didn’t recognize himself with the beard.

When he met his own eyes in the mirror, though, he saw himself looking back. Adam remembered how he’d looked after Jase’s murder. He’d looked lost and haunted. Adam had looked ready to run. He didn’t see that in the mirror now. Now, he had no trouble looking at himself in the mirror.

He thought about asking Julie for the things he needed to shave off the beard. As exhaustion barreled through him, he decided to wait. It wasn’t important.

Adam crawled back into bed. Dawson pressed against his right side. Julie slid the I.V. needle into a vein on the back of his left hand. She had a deft and gentle touch that Adam appreciated, after all those amateur antibiotic shots.

A couple of nurses appeared, carrying large, padded sleeping mats for Paul and Jason, who promptly made themselves comfortable, but alert. The nurses assured themselves that Adam had plenty of water to drink, everyone was all settled in and doing fine, and then they left.

Silence settled over the room. Dawson decided he was tired of laying on Adam’s right. He got up and moved over to lie against his left side.

“He’s putting himself between you and the door,” Tim said, with a nod at Dawson.

Adam reexamined the locations of all three werewolves. He realized that Jason and Paul were closer to the door than he was, as if they planned to get to any intruder before the intruder got to Adam.

“Do you ever get used to that?” Eric asked Tim.

He nodded. “Yeah. After a while, it becomes automatic and I don’t even think about it.”

Eric glanced around the room. “If Adam’s been found, and the mission is over, why are they still wolves?”

“Adrenaline,” Tim replied, taking a sat-phone out of a large pocket in the leg of his uniform pants.

Eric looked like that answer made sense to him. “So they’ll shift when they calm down and relax?”

Tim nodded, even as he dialed the phone.

Whoever he called answered quickly. “Hey, Mom, it’s Tim…yeah, they found him…he’s just fine, if a little hairier than usual.” Tim winked at Adam. “He’s in the hospital so they can keep an eye on him, but he’s looked worse after a high school football game.”

Adam snorted a laugh. All four of them had played football, to their mother’s displeasure.

“Eric and I are both sitting here with him. Eric’s looked him over, so he really is okay.” Tim nodded, even though their mom couldn’t see him. “He’s awake, so of course you can talk to him…I’m not eight years old and he’s not a broken lamp, Mom, I’m not lying about him being okay to get out of trouble.” Tim’s eyeroll was softened by his affectionate smile.

Adam took the sat-phone from Tim’s outstretched hand. “Hey, Mom.”

“Adam, baby, is it really you?” Adam hated it when his mom cried. Especially when he was the cause.

“Yeah, Mom. I’m fine. Don’t cry. There’s no reason to cry.”

“Adam! You were kidnapped by insurgents in Iraq and held captive for thirty-eight days! After the first week, we had no idea if you were even still alive. You’re back, your brother says you’re fine. I’d say I have every reason in the world to cry.”

“I am fine, Mom. Tim’s telling the truth. It wasn’t a vacation, but they didn’t really treat me bad. I’m okay, and Eric and Tim are both with me.”

“I can’t believe they didn’t starve you, or torture you. I laid awake at night, imagining all the horrible things they were doing to you.”

“Mom, don’t do that to yourself. Just put that kind of thing out of your head. I had plenty of food and water. I wasn’t tortured, unless you consider how uncomfortable the beds were.” Adam chuckled, trying to ease his mom’s anxiety.

“This isn’t a joke, Adam. You were in danger. We had no idea where you were or who had you. I was worried for my baby. You don’t know how good it is to hear your voice, and have you sounding…oh, I don’t know…solid.”

“I’m glad to be back, Mom. I thought about you a lot, while they had me. It helped a lot. Thinking about you helped get me through a lot of it.”

His mom broke down into sobs. Adam closed his eyes and ran a hand over his face. That’s not the reaction he’d wanted. He’d fucked up and made his mom cry even harder.

“Hey there, son,” Adam’s father said, coming on the line.

“Hey, Dad. I didn’t mean to make Mom cry like that.” His father sounded just as strong and confident as always. It was reassuring to hear. “I just told her how much I thought about her and that I’m glad to be back.”

“Don’t worry about it, Adam. She’s doing more smiling than she is crying, now. That’s an improvement. It’s just been a lot for her to handle. She’s kept it together pretty well, but I think it’s catching up with her.”

Adam was relieved to hear that, at least. “I really am fine. Eric and Tim are both with me, so I can’t really get much better, at this point. I’m sorry I put everyone through this—”

“Stop right there, kiddo,” his father said sternly. “You didn’t do anything. You were abducted. The other guys are the bad guys. Don’t you dare put this on yourself, too. Not this, too.”

Adam sat frozen. He had no words. He knew his father was referring to Jase’s murder. “You’re right, Dad. I won’t. I’m sorry you guys had to go through something like this,” he amended. “Is that better?”

“That’s better. We’re sorry you had to endure what you did on your end, too. But we’re damn happy they found you in good shape.”

“Thanks, Dad. Hey, do you want to talk to Eric, since he’s here?”

Adam handed the sat-phone over to Eric. By the sounds of it, his mom was back on the line, demanding Eric confirm all the medical assessments.

Dawson lay quietly beside Adam, the entire time. He rested his head on Adam’s hip, watching him steadily with his inscrutable, violet gaze. It felt good, having Dawson’s weight against him. It was comforting, running his fingers through Dawson’s thick coat.

Eric handed the phone back to Tim, who wrapped up the call and disconnected. Before Adam could say anything, the door to the room opened. All three wolves looked up, ears pricked forward.

Sergeant Brandt held the door open for a wolf to enter. Adam looked for signs he knew who it was. He really needed to get better at this.

“I think that’s Will Borovec,” he said.

The wolf padded over to Adam, smiling obviously. Looked like Adam guessed right.

“Begging the major’s pardon,” Sergeant Brandt addressed himself to Tim. “My platoon commander has tasked me with conducting the initial debrief of Mr. Madison. While it’s best to do it ASAP, I certainly don’t have to do it this moment, sir.”