Base (20 page)

‘Hunter, get the restraints,' Jack ordered.

‘Yes, sir.' Hunter ran from the Mess.

Vassar's eyes protruded, his fists clenched as he loomed over her and Jack. ‘Damn you all to hell. This is my brother. He wants out.'

Ruth's heart slapped against her chest. This was going to get ugly. She had to find some way to calm him down. ‘Vassar, I can sedate him so he's not in pain.'

‘Let him live, Vassar.' Armstrong looked up from his position holding Mike's left arm down. ‘He's my mate too. He might beat this.'

‘My brother has suffered enough. I vowed to look after him. This is not your call, Armstrong, and not yours either, Ruth.' The veins on Vassar's neck bulged and his jaw tightened.

Ruth on seeing Vassar's fury climbed to her feet and positioned herself in front of Vassar, a mountain of a man. She knew he'd never hurt her but the man was so pissed off she could taste it. ‘While I live and breathe as his doctor, it's my call.'

‘Kill me,' Mike groaned in agony, his whole body arching off the floor.

Vassar hunched, his knuckles white on the spear, ready to kill. ‘Get out of my way, Ruth.'

‘No! Mike's my patient.'

‘Ruth. Vassar. Step apart now,' Jack roared.

Ruth looked back at Jack who was maintaining his position holding Mike's head.

In that second, Vassar swept around her, raised his spear and plunged it downward.

‘Bloody hell.' Armstrong sprang from his squatting position beside Mike and used his shoulder to tackle Vassar to the ground. The spear clattered to the floor beside them as Armstrong fought to contain Vassar.

‘Oh God, Jack, Vassar's going to kill Armstrong,' Ruth said.

‘Don't worry, Ruth, Armstrong can look after himself. Focus on Mike. Is he turning?'

Ruth dragged her gaze away from the brawling men to check on Mike. ‘I don't know.'

Mike's eyes rolled back in his head and he convulsed, his free hand clenched on Jack's wrist, his fingernails digging into his forearm.

‘Watch his hand. Don't let him pierce your skin,' Ruth warned Jack. She could hardly think straight with the men throwing blows close by. So much for her one bit of sanctuary. She could smell their sweat, their fury and the fear of the brawling men.

‘Break it up, you fools,' Jack ordered, before wrenching Mike's intense grip from his wrist and pushing his arm to the ground.

Hunter flew in carrying restraints and a gag. The men holding Mike rolled him onto his stomach and confined his arms and legs.

‘Stop them or I'll have my surgery full,' Ruth urged Jack.

Jack leapt to his feet and raced over to Armstrong and Vassar who were exchanging blows. Vassar fuelled with fury, reigned punches at Armstrong who dodged and blocked them with nimble agility considering his size.

It was an athletic and deadly display. Ruth gasped, her fingernails digging into her palms, waiting to hear the sickening crunch of bone, but Armstrong, his ice-blue eyes gleaming with concentration blocked blows and spun out of Vassar's reach. He was beautiful to watch.

‘Calm down, you fucking maniac.' Jack grabbed Vassar in a headlock, wrenched the beast of a man back and squeezed his throat between his forearm and bicep.

The commandos surged around Jack, two grabbing Vassar's arms while others checked on Armstrong.

Ruth sucked in a huge sigh of relief. She hadn't been looking forward to repairing bones half the night.

Vassar's face, crimson with fury, eyes wild fought to free himself, his muscles corded and bulging as he struggled but to no avail. He roared at his confinement, froth foaming at his lips.

Armstrong wiped his sleeve across his face. ‘We're on the same team, you crazy bastard.'

Ruth left Mike's side so she could check on Armstrong for damage now Vassar was contained but on a visual inspection he only seemed to have a split lower lip.

Jack eased his grip on Vassar's throat.

Vassar wheezed trying to suck in air. He fixed his gaze on Armstrong. ‘How dare you fuckin' stop me? I made a vow to my brother.'

Armstrong dabbed at his lip. ‘Tough. I want your brother to live.'

Jack stalked around the commando on Vassar's left and stood in front of Vassar. ‘I'll order the men to release you on the condition you control your temper. You stay clear of Mike's cell until tomorrow. We'll address his condition then. Do you agree to my rules?'

Vassar flashed an uncompromising look at Armstrong before returning to Jack. ‘Yeah.' The word came out as a grunt.

A ripple of fear ran up Ruth's spine. Vassar's need to stop his brother's suffering was primal. She got it. Had seen irrational anger strike again and again when she'd worked with relatives of dying loved ones at the hospital. Vassar's rage verged on taking him over the edge.

‘Yes, what?' Taller than Vassar, Jack got up in his face.

For the first time Ruth saw the war in Jack, the primitive aggression in his eyes as the veins popped on his temple. Every muscle in his body was strained, bulging in his clothes, dominance seeping from every pore and all she felt was respect.

‘Yes, sir.'

‘You are not in the right frame of mind to make a decision, so back down,' Jack growled.

Vassar seemed to crumple before her eyes and she understood why the men followed Jack. It wasn't just dominance, there was respect there too from all of them. She could see it in the eyes of the men who surrounded them. Jack ran the base with undisputed authority. With the rampant aggression of these testosterone filled men, it would fall apart without him.

‘Vassar, return to your quarters immediately.' Jack signalled to the two commandos who held him. ‘Release Vassar.'

Sue flew forward and wrapped her arms around Vassar. ‘Tom, are you all right? Are you hurt?' She put her hands either side of his cheeks to examine him.

Armstrong snorted. ‘I'm the one who is bleeding here.'

Automatically, Vassar's arms closed around Sue whose cry seemed to snap him out of his wrath because his expression softened the moment she was in his arms. ‘No, I'm fine. Armstrong was playing with me.' He glared at Armstrong, flung his arm around Sue's shoulder, turned and stalked from the Mess without uttering another word.

‘That was brave fronting Vassar like that. You okay?' Jack asked Ruth.

‘Hey what about me? I'm bleeding here,' Armstrong said, signalling to his lip.

‘Why'd you let him get a punch in? You slowing up?' Jack said.

Ruth went to inspect Armstrong's cut lip. ‘Get some ice on that. If the bleeding doesn't stop, I'll put a stitch in it.'

Lea raced over with a cup of ice and a napkin. ‘Darling, are you all right?'

‘I'm in pain. Can you look after me, sweetheart?' Armstrong asked.

‘Blah, listen to him,' one of the commandos said.

‘Pussy,' the other commando grunted.

‘He's getting some, we're not,' the first commando said.

‘Lea, quit fussing over Armstrong. I need more antiviral for Mike,' Jack said.

‘Come on, darling, can you drive me to the lab?' Lea asked Armstrong. ‘Then when we've done that I can look after you properly.'

‘Sure,' Armstrong said, putting one arm around Lea and giving the finger to the commandos.

‘Fights like a pussy and gets a girl like that,' the other commando grunted to his buddy.

‘Let's go talk to Helen.' The two commandos left to join her.

‘Come on, Ruth, I'll drive you to the landship so we can see to Mike,' Jack said, holding out his hand to her.

A sickening sensation made Ruth's stomach roll when she looked at the sleeve of Jack's shirt. ‘There's blood on your sleeve.'

Jack frowned. He pulled up his cuff and turned his arm over to reveal fingernail imprints on his forearm, several of them had torn the skin. ‘It's a scratch.'

Ruth caught his gaze, her heart thudding with fear as she thought of Darren and how quickly he had turned. ‘A scratch from Mike.'

Chapter 13

Inside the cells of the landship, Ruth put a drip in Mike's arm, watching the unconscious man as sweat beaded on his body and dribbled down his face. She'd already jabbed Jack with the antiviral and cleaned his wound. Jack sat in the corner of the cell watching, his face set in a grim mask. He wasn't a man to show fear.

Anxiety filled Ruth making her mouth dry and her stomach queasy. All her professional persona she'd developed as a doctor left her when it came to Jack. Like Vassar, she couldn't bear the horror of watching him suffer and change. She'd lose it. She cared about him. Couldn't imagine surviving on the base without him by her side.

She busied herself with trying to get Mike's temperature down by placing an icepack on his pulse points. Why had Mike's condition gone backward? Was the virus hiding in an organ somewhere in his body and flooding his bloodstream? She examined Mike's eyes again trying to find any evidence of broken capillaries. Nothing. She took his pulse and blood pressure. Both slightly elevated but not enough to signal a turn. If Mike hadn't turned yet, did that decrease Jack's chances of getting infected? She wasn't sure. There hadn't been enough time to read all the research or what there was of it when she'd had access to the Net.

Mike groaned.

Jack stood and strode over. ‘Careful, Ruth, not too close.'

‘He's still with us. I know every pain groan there is. Trust me. Besides, I just checked his eyes.'

Mike stirred, his head moving from side to side. His eyelids opened and he looked around him before focusing on Ruth. ‘I'm not dead.'

‘Unless meeting us is your idea of heaven,' Jack said with a smile. ‘Welcome back, mate.'

Ruth sat on the chair next to Mike, wiping away his perspiration. Only Jack could keep his head enough to still find humour with Mike when most would have put a gun to their own. ‘You're still here. You had a fit in the Mess hall. Vassar thought you were turning.'

‘Yeah, I remember that much.' Mike closed his eyes and his lips curved down. ‘And here I am in the cells, strapped to a bed.'

Jack patted Mike's shoulder. ‘Just until we can be sure you're not going to turn. We have to keep the others safe.'

‘Mike, I'm going to take more blood and send it down to Lea to examine. I need to see what's going on inside.' Ruth turned to Jack. ‘I need some from you too, Jack.'

‘Surely it won't show up so early?' Jack said.

‘This one floods the system. That's why people turn so quickly. Some people in hospital turned after an hour. Other people with strong immune systems like Mike put up a fight, but we could still see the virus in their blood.'
Oh, Jack, please don't catch this.
Ruth took blood from both men. Something made her pick up Mike's hand and examine his fingernails. They were trimmed and clean. ‘Mike, your fingernails look like you've had a manicure.'

Mike's eyes flickered open. ‘Vassar told me I stank so I took a shower. Washed my hair. Shaved for dinner too. Cut my nails. Didn't know when I'd get a chance to shower again. Gets hot in here when the roller door's closed.'

A slight thrum of elation resonated in Ruth's chest. Mike hadn't turned and his nails were clean. Darren had turned because a rotting braindead had scratched him and passed on the virus. ‘I'm going to deliver these bloods to Lea, plus I need to head to the hospital and check on my patients but I'll be back tomorrow morning. Jack ordered you cuffed to the bed but I can release you and just lock your cell door.'

‘Thanks, Ruth. Might want to sit up later. Just now all I want to do is sleep. Massive headache.'

‘I'll give you something for it.' Ruth undid the rest of the cuffs setting him free and dug some strong painkillers out of her medical bag for him. She watched as Mike took the medicine and the glass of water she offered him and swallowed the tablets. Mike was still fighting the virus. Surely Jack had a chance?

Hope. She had to hang on to it because she couldn't imagine her life on the base without Jack in it. The thought was crazy because they hardly knew each other, but she wanted more. Needed more. She was going to do everything in her power to make sure she had it.

***

Jack looked at his watch again. How long did he have until he turned? It was an unpredictable virus. He'd seen one man turn within an hour. Most had eight hours of consciousness, got time to say goodbye, if they were lucky. No one lasted longer than three days. He wouldn't put Ruth at risk.

Jack pulled into his driveway. ‘Ruth, I want you to pack your things. Throw them in a bag and I'll drive you back to the main base. It'll be safe for you there.'

‘No.'

Damn it. He knew this was going to be hard. ‘This is not the time to be obstinate. Let's not end this on a fight.' He turned to her seeing the determination in her eyes and the firm set of her chin. Why'd he have to fall for a stubborn redhead?

Ruth opened the door, got out and strode up the pathway to the front door with him hot on her heels. ‘We're not ending. I'm not leaving you. You need me more than you ever have.'

Jack opened up the house so she could go through. He really wasn't in the mood to carry her kicking and screaming over his shoulder down to the main base. Instead, he followed her into the bedroom watching as she kicked off her shoes and wriggled out of her dress. She was wearing see-through black underwear and a matching bra that defined her breasts. He felt his cock stir, though he tried to ignore it. He couldn't afford the distraction right now. What he needed was Ruth safe. ‘Let's not argue about this. The base can't do without a doctor. Get packing.'

Ruth slid out of her underwear, flipped back the doona cover and top sheet, climbed onto the bed and grabbed hold of a handcuff. ‘Your turn to be restrained.'

Holy hell, she knew how to manipulate him.