Winter's Storm: Retribution (Winter's Saga #2) (19 page)

Alik flipped open the laptop he brought with him and linked quickly to the wireless internet. Maybe if he kept looking, something would come to him. Two hours later, Alik was still concentrating on the physiology and anatomy of the human heart when Meg’s monitors woke instantly and screamed behind him.

“
BEEP! BEEP! BEEP!”

Alik nearly flew out of his chair at the sound of Meg’s machines going off. Something was wrong with Meg.

Alik looked over at her heart monitor, blood pressure monitor and pulse-ox.

Oh, my God, no! She’s crashing!

Two days before, Alik had worked to solve the problem of not being able to monitor his ill sister from different parts of the large house. That’s when he had designed and easily rigged an alert system that would sound if Meg’s machines went off. He was thanking God for his forethought because he was depending on the alarms to get help in here fast.

With alarms sounding in the living room, bedrooms, kitchen and patio, everyone in the entire house leaped to their feet and ran full-speed toward the lab. Maze howled and panted and howled again instinctively aware that something horrible was happening.

Knowing every second counted, Alik jumped on the table with his sister and began compressions. “One, two, three, four, five—breathe. One, two, three, four, five—breathe,” And even as his body jumped into action performing CPR on his sister, his mind was praying fanatically for more time.

Margo was the first person to arrive sprinting into the room, flush and panicked. She saw her son performing CPR on the frail body of her baby girl. “Oh, dear God! No!”

She ran to her children and took over the breathing part of the CPR while she and her son worked as a team, trying to revive Meg. Not thirty seconds later, Evan ran into the room, and without saying a word, turned on the defibulator.

“
Charging!” he warned. Alik jumped off the table, and Margo stepped back.

“
Clear!” he called out and placed the paddles strategically on his sister’s chest, one in the center and the other closer to her left arm pit. With a loud “WHOMP” the machine shot a jolt of electricity into Meg’s heart, trying to jump-start her like a dead car battery.

For a moment, everyone stopped and stared at the heart rate machine, willing it to begin beeping a rhythmic tone instead of the flatline scream it was sounding now.

Nothing.

“
Again. Charging!” Evan called to the room now filled with two more doctors and Creed.

“
Clear!” Evan called as he placed the paddles again and prayed over them. The jolt caused Meg’s body to spasm up and off the bed for a moment, then she flopped back down and lay as still as a rag doll.

The merciless machine screamed the dead monotone as everyone watched in abject horror.

“
Charging,” Evan’s voice caught in his throat. He glanced at the clock and quickly calculated how long his sister had been without oxygen. Brain damage is likely after four minutes. It had been two minutes, thirty-six seconds. Meg’s lips were blue and her skin ashen.
She already looked dead
, he thought to himself and pushed the thought aside.

“
Clear,” he pushed the paddles back into place and held the jolt an extra half second. “Come on, Meg!” he pleaded. “Wake up, Meggie! Come back to us! It’s not time to go yet. Not yet, Meg! Fight with me!”

The room was silent, except for the sound of the machine flat-lining.

“
Charging!” Evan called for a fourth time. Time was slipping away.

Beep,…beep,…beep,…

“
Wait!” Margo yelled to Evan.

Beep,…beep,…beep,…

Evan looked back and forth from the beeping machine to his sister’s lips pinking-up.

“
Oh, thank God! Thank you, God! Evan, she’s back!” Margo wailed in relief. And with the strength of a bear, Margo grabbed both her sons, pulled them tightly to her, and kissed both of their cheeks. “Thank you boys! Thank God for you!”

And then, as any mother would, she draped herself protectively over her daughter’s frame and cried for the preciousness of her life.

Minutes passed like this, everyone lost in private prayers and thoughts, still recovering from the rush of adrenaline. Margo stood up and locked eyes with Creed. When she spoke, her voice was strong and carried a tone of unwavering certainty. “Contact Williams now; tell him we’re willing to make a deal. If his scientists can cure Meg, I’ll give him the serum. Have him commission an ambulatory jet to leave immediately.” Her bloodshot eyes shown a resolve Creed recognized and respected.

“
Yes, ma’am.”

“
Creed,” she called sternly.

“
Ma’am?”

“
I am trusting you with my daughter’s life. Please take care of her.”

“
Yes, ma’am,” Creed said solemnly. He nodded once, turned and walked briskly out of the room. He had a phone call to make.

34 Conversations at the Edge of a Bed

“
You can’t be serious.”

“
I’m completely serious.”

“
No. I am not letting you put yourself back in harm’s way.”

“
You don’t have a choice.”

“
Don’t you see how useless it is for you to go?”

“
I only see that my daughter is dying, and I need to take her to get medical help. You would do the same if it were Cole.”

“
Margo, this isn’t like you’re taking Meg to a regular hospital up the street or even in another country. This is
Kenneth Williams’
hospital.”

“
Theo, I know you’re just trying to be protective of me, and though I think it’s very sweet, it is completely misdirected.”

“
Margo, I don’t care what serum you have to offer as a trade, he still wants vengeance on you.
You.
Specifically he wants you, Margo Winter,
dead!
Why can’t you get that through your thick skull?”

“
I don’t care what happens to me, Theodore Andrews. I care about what happens to my little girl. And if it means I have to trade myself for her life, I would do it in a heartbeat!”

Theo sat at the edge of her bed, exhausted from arguing with the most illogical woman on the face of the Earth. He didn’t know which hurt worse: his head ache or heartache.

All he wanted to do was curl up in this big old bed and hold that precious woman until some common sense seeped into her. He just wanted a chance to love her, to take care of her. Was that asking so much? Why did everything with this woman have to be so damn complicated?

“
It’s not complicated,” Margo said, reading his thoughts. She stopped packing for a moment and sat beside her best friend.

“
I am a mommy. My daughter is hurt. I need to get her help. Period.” She reached to touch the scruffy beard that had started to grow on his sweet face. Her cool hand acted as a tonic to his soul and he felt himself melt into it. “And if I haven’t said it lately, I love you. Thank you for all you have done for me and for our children. You are a blessing to my life, and I thank God for you, my sweet Theo.”

Theo’s bloodshot eyes glistened instantly with tears. “I love you too, you crazy woman. I would go to the ends of the earth for you. So if you’re going into the lion’s den, then I am too.”

“
You can’t. You have to stay here and take care of Cole and Maze. You have work to do in the lab, too. You’re still decoding blood samples, remember?”

“
Paulie can look after Cole and Maze, and he can work on the blood samples, too.” Dr. Andrew’s voice had taken on a distinct pouting tone that made Margo smile widely.

“
You know what you have to do, Theo, and I know what I have to do. We’ll get this all taken care of and meet back here as soon as possible. Okay? God willing, Meggie’s recovery will be rapid, and we’ll all be back in less than a week,” Margo said hopefully.

Theo continued to sit on the edge of the bed and hopelessly watch as the love of his life continued to pack her bag for a flight leaving in less than two hours.

35 The Travelers

“
Okay, I think we’re all packed,” Evan concluded as he zipped the last black bag closed.

“
The ambulance and town car will be here any minute,” Creed said checking his watch.

The conversation with Dr. Williams was surreal. Creed’s mind was still trying to process it. “Meg’s condition is perilous. Her heart stopped beating for three minutes just now. Evan was barely able to revive her after shocking her with a defibulator three times.”

“
So, what? Are they ready to make a deal?” he asked coldly.

“
Yes, sir. Dr. Winter told me to call you and tell you she wants to trade. Your doctors cure Meg, and she’ll give you the original serum. She asks that you send transportation immediately. I know she’s worried Meg won’t make it through the night.”

“
She has the serum?” he asked excitedly.

“
Sir, yes. She wants to trade it for her daughter’s cure,” Creed felt like Williams was only hearing part of what he was saying. He had no compassion. He had no sense of morality. This man was evil. There was no other way to say it. He was pure evil.

“
Excellent! Make the arrangements. Do what you have to do to get the serum here.” Creed could almost hear him drooling in anticipation.

“
Yes, sir. I’ll make the arrangements immediately.”

And before he heard a click, Creed was sure he actually heard the doctor giggling. He tried not to think of Dr. Williams anymore.

Instead, he focused on what had to be done to get Meg her cure. So, even as he waffled between bouts of guilt and anger and determination, he functioned on autopilot to accomplish the logistics necessary at this point.

He hurried to his guest house and used his laptop with secured wireless access to arrange for the transport of one very sick girl and her brothers who would surly want to accompany her. Since money was no object to Dr. Williams, Creed had long ago been authorized to spend whatever he had to during his objectives.

Commissioning a private ambulatory jet from Hawaii to Nuremburg, Germany cost a small fortune. The flight would leave when he wanted it to. He asked for three hours preparation. The pilot was agreeable once he knew of the large cash payment he’d receive.

Now Alik was standing beside Evan. Evan had one hand on his sister’s gurney and the other hand on her heart monitor stand on wheels.

“
Can I help carry anything?” Alik asked his brother nodding toward Meg and all her equipment.

“
Yeah, actually. I need us to take this portable defibulator and that case of meds. Thanks.” Evan and Alik exchanged a knowing glance. They were both scared out of their minds and doing their level best not to show it.

“
Where’s the serum?” Alik whispered into his brother’s back.

“
It’s in my front left pocket,” he whispered over his shoulder. “Would you rather hold it?”

“
Sure. You have your hands full with Meg and her stuff,” he mumbled.

They turned to each other and hugged as brothers do so their exchange was unnoticed by anyone in the room. They felt better about Alik holding the serum. Evan was worried he’d lose it and Alik was just glad to feel some importance.

“
The cars are here,” Creed called back in to the house from the front porch.

“
I’m ready to go,” Margo spoke from behind the brothers.

“
What?” the brothers said at the same time.

“
Mom, you’re not going. It’s too dangerous,” Alik said matter-of-factly.

“
Don’t even bother, boys. I’ve been trying for the last two hours to talk her out of this, but her mind’s made up,” Theo sighed.

“
You’ve got to be kidding me!” Alik looked furious.

“
Mom, we have enough to worry about getting Meg and ourselves in and out of there safely. Please don’t add another liability to the equation,” Evan said logically.

Margo, suddenly looked very small and frail. Her eyes widened and tears began to stream down her tired cheeks. She hadn’t thought about it that way. She wasn’t strong enough to be an asset to her children anymore, at least, not physically, and she would slow them down. The realization struck her like a punch to the gut.

“
Don’t cry mom. It’ll be okay,” Evan wrapped his long arms around his mother and hugged her gently.

Alik walked to them and enveloped both his brother and his mom in an even bigger hug. “We’ll take care of Meg, mom. We promise. We’ll bring her home to you.”

The boys walked their mom to a chair and sat her down carefully. Even through her tears the boys could see fierceness in her. The three huddled together for a moment in silent prayer.

There wasn’t a dry eye in the room as the travelers grabbed their bags and their sister and headed for the waiting cars.

36 What’s a Guy Gotta Do to Get a Pretzel on this Flight?

Tearful goodbyes were said as quickly as possible for everyone’s sake. The boys carefully loaded their sister’s gurney into the ambulance. Evan refused to leave her side so he rode in the back with the paramedic who was ordered, in no uncertain terms, not to touch the patient by a very intense looking Evan.