Total pages in book: 144
Estimated words: 133531 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 668(@200wpm)___ 534(@250wpm)___ 445(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 133531 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 668(@200wpm)___ 534(@250wpm)___ 445(@300wpm)
* * *
“Share with me everything you see, Paul,” Gideon ordered. “Everything. I don’t care how bad it is. I had everyone, apart from Mack, leave for a reason. If it comes down to it, I’ll take Rory, and we’ll go as soon as she’s able to travel.”
He didn’t look at Mack when he spoke to Paul, but he made it clear to both that he meant what he said. “I’m not willing to give her up again. It’s going to take a lot of persuasion on my part to get her to take me back after betraying her the way I did. So, you tell me everything you see and what she’s facing.”
Paul nodded. “Don’t talk, Gideon. This type of work isn’t the easiest. First, before anything, she needs oxygen. Let me deal with her lungs. I mean it. Don’t talk.” He poured authority into his voice.
Gideon had heard Paul speak in that tone when he was saving lives, and his heart dropped. He exchanged a quick look with Mack, who would know just how bad things were with Rory. Gideon hadn’t been able to reach her, but that was because she was unconscious. Not because she was near death. Not breathing right. Not hit too hard. The cuts Marc had been working on weren’t that bad. They were shallow. He tried not to panic. He wasn’t a man who ever panicked.
He watched Paul carefully, not once taking his sharp gaze from the man. He was a raptor, and he didn’t miss details, especially not this close. Paul’s eyes had gone nearly opaque. Crystalline. His eyes had gone to a strange silvery blue, almost like ice with a bluish cast, as if he had gone inward. He held his hands palms outward, hovering them just an inch or so over Rory’s lungs. There were no colorful lights. No flashes of healing or anything at all to give away the fact that Paul was one of the rarest of healing powers possibly on earth. He simply breathed normally and held himself still, not moving, with no expression on his face.
Gideon became even more alarmed when Paul stayed in the same position for what seemed far too long. He had been with Paul when he worked on patients. Even when he did psychic surgery on patients, complicated surgeries on patients, it hadn’t taken that long in one spot. As a rule, Paul looked very young. Now, despite his expressionless mask, Gideon could detect a strain.
Time passed. It seemed far too long before Paul’s palms slowly moved up Rory’s bronchial airways. In truth, that didn’t make Gideon feel any better. Paul spent another inordinate amount of time there as well before he took a step back, staggered and clearly wheezed when he tried to draw in air. Gideon caught him and eased him into the chair behind him. Mack handed him a bottle of water with the cap already off. Paul didn’t try to talk until he drank half of it.
“Her lungs are bad. Airways nearly closed completely. You got to her just in time, Gideon. She wouldn’t have lasted much longer. There’s an obstruction in her lungs, and her bronchial tubes are far too narrow. I’ll come back to that after I examine her thoroughly.”
“One of Whitney’s experiments, or do you think she was born that way?” Mack asked.
Paul frowned. “He enhanced her, and by doing so, he increased problems she was born with, but he was well aware of them prior to operating on her. He deliberately made her physical difficulties worse.”
Paul drank more water and, after screwing on the cap, pressed the cold bottle to his forehead. “I’ll start again.”
“Don’t wear yourself out,” Mack cautioned. “But check for anything that could harm her or one of us. Then for programming.”
Gideon didn’t comment on what Mack was asking for. It had to be done, not just for the sake of the team but also because when Rory woke, she would never stay if she thought she was a threat to them. No matter what she really wanted, there would be no persuading her.
She had an IV in her, giving her necessary fluid, and an oxygen mask, so there was a continual flow of air going to her while Paul examined her. They wouldn’t have too much time before she became aware of what was going on around her. Gideon did have his own request though.
“She reacts every time Whitney’s name is mentioned by pressing her finger against this spot right here.” He touched the exact place above her left temple. “She says there’s a strange sensation, like her skin is cracking and wants to shed. Like a lizard or snake. I looked very closely at her skin and couldn’t see anything different.”
Paul nodded and lifted his palms, again placing them an inch from Rory. He started with her brain, hands steady, his eyes once more turning that strange silvery blue. He took his time examining each quadrant meticulously. Where she’d been struck, he spent time clearly healing the wound before moving around to the spot Gideon had pointed out. Again, he spent a very long time there before he stepped back, staggering a little, shaking his head.