LS02 - Lightning Lingers (28 page)

"You're pretty smart, little brother."

"If you come back to Corpus Christi, you could make Jake a part of your real life."

"I am coming back, TJ, not just for Jake—for Mom, and for you, and for myself." She paused. "Oh, and I wanted to ask you something. I saw the doctor's name on Mom's prescriptions changed. And when I called her old doctor, they said she was no longer a patient. Why did she switch?"

"She said something about insurance. I added her to my policy when I started at MDT. I thought we had coverage for any doctor she wanted, but I guess that wasn't true."

She frowned. "It doesn't sound like you took her to the new doctor."

"One of her friends did, but I gave her the name of a doctor that—"

His abrupt pause drew her brows together. "What?"

"Dammit, Katherine. Jasmine gave me the name of a doctor to take Mom to. That's who she switched to."

"That's weird," she said slowly. "Why did you get her involved?"

"I told you. She had a relative that went through something similar, at least that's what she said. Now I wonder if that was true, or if she was just using Mom in some way."

"Now I'm even happier that I asked one of my friends to look in on her."

His troubled gaze met hers. "They wouldn't have done something to Mom."

She really hoped he was right, but she didn't have a good feeling. "You said they were using Mom's illness as leverage to get you to consider doing some freelance work. Maybe it was to their benefit to make her a little worse."

"If she's sicker because of me, how am I going to live with that?"

"It's not your fault, TJ, and we don't even know if that's the case. We'll figure that out when we get back."

"I'm going to kill Jasmine."

"If she's guilty, I'm going to help you," she said. "But we both know she wasn't doing it alone, so you have to be careful how you play it. Do you have any idea what you're going to do next? Because I think you need to talk to the police, the FBI, Homeland Security, the CIA, the president…whoever you can get to. They're going to want to hear about the fact highly advanced weapons technology was in the hands of a Mexican drug cartel."

"Now that I know actual weapons were involved, I have better information to offer," TJ said.

"And I think the more visible you are, the less easy it will be for anyone to go after you. They can't keep you from talking if you've already talked."

"I should have thought of that before I ran into the jungle to hide."

"You didn't know what you were up against. You did what you needed to do to stay alive. Let's call that a win."

He nodded. "Deal."

She glanced back at Jake, worried as she saw his body convulse with a shiver. "He's cold."

"Really? It's not cold in here."

"I'm worried he's getting a fever. An infection could already be setting in. Maybe we should go back to the village. Even if we can't get to a hospital, Jake's great-grandmother might be able to help him. She has a pharmacy of herbs in her backyard, and maybe she has some instruments I could use to get the bullet out."

"If that's what you want," TJ said. "But I do have to say that if Rodrigo's men are looking for us, that's where they'll go."

"You're right. We'll just keep him warm and quiet and wait until we think it's safe to leave or we're forced to go."

She stretched out on the bed next to Jake. She'd give him some of her body heat. Hopefully, that would help beat the chills.

TJ sat in the chair with the ottoman, and for a moment there was nothing but the sound of silence in the room. She was exhausted but too wired and too worried to sleep.

An hour later, she knew that her worst fears were coming true. Jake was racked with fever. She sat up, ready to take a risk and go back to the village, when she heard a car outside the cabin. The headlights flashed, then turned off.

"TJ," she said quietly, urgently, her heart beating a million miles a minute.

Her brother woke up with a jerk. "What—what's wrong?"

"There's a car outside."

He jumped to his feet to peer out the window.

"Can you see who it is? Please tell me it's not Rodrigo and his men." If they'd been discovered now, there was no way any of them was going to survive the night.

Seventeen

"I don’t know who it—" TJ stopped. "Wait. It's a man and a woman."

She got off the bed and ran to the window. Sylvia and an older man were coming toward the cabin. She moved to the door and opened it. "Thank God you're here," she said with relief. "Jake is hurt."

Sylvia and her friend stepped inside. "I was worried about that. Paolo told me he'd given Jake the directions to this cabin. When I saw the fire on the mountain, I wanted to come here immediately, but Paolo persuaded me to wait, to make sure that no one would follow us."

"Jake was shot," Katherine said as Sylvia moved toward the bed. "In the left upper thigh. There's no exit wound. I put on a pressure bandage, but Jake has developed a fever. TJ and I weren't sure where the nearest hospital was, and we were debating whether or not it was safe enough to go to the village."

"You made the right decision to stay here," Sylvia said, putting her hand on Jake's forehead. "The nearest hospital is forty miles. It would take more than an hour to get there." She glanced back at Katherine. "You must take the bullet out. We will clean his wound. My bag is in the car." She motioned to Paolo, who left the cabin to retrieve her bag.

"I can't operate on Jake here," she protested. "I don't have the tools, and I have nothing to give him for the pain. She couldn't imagine doing surgery in these conditions."

"I have brought everything you will need," Sylvia said. "I'm not a doctor, and my hands are too shaky now, but I know how to treat a wound. I have plants that can attack the infection—after you take the bullet out. You can do this, Katherine. It's what you have trained to do."

"In a hospital, with lights and sterile equipment and an anesthesiologist and machines to watch his vitals." She shook her head, feeling more terrified than she'd ever felt when faced with a patient. "It's Jake, Sylvia. What if I make a mistake?"

"You won't," Sylvia said with confidence. "You're a good doctor, aren't you? I bet you were at the top of your class."

"She was," TJ interjected, drawing her gaze to his. "You know you can do this, Katherine. More importantly, you know you have to, because you're not going to let Jake die."

No, she wasn't going to let Jake die. And TJ's words reminded her of why she'd gotten into medicine so that she wouldn't feel helpless when someone was hurt, so she wouldn't have to sit and hold their hand while they were dying, the way she'd done with Hailey all those years ago.

Paolo came back with a large canvas duffel bag and set it on the bed. Sylvia gave her an expectant look. "I think I have everything you need."

"All right. Let's do this," she said, as she looked through Sylvia's bag. It would be a crude procedure, and if the bullet in Jake's leg had pierced an artery, removing it could put him at risk of bleeding out. But she couldn't think of the worst outcome. That wouldn't get her anywhere. She'd always been good at compartmentalizing and blocking out her emotions. She needed to do that now more than ever. Jake was her patient, and she wasn't going to lose him. She went into ruthless doctor mode. Fix the problem, save the patient. It was that simple.

When they were ready to begin, she put her hand on Jake's arm. He stirred but didn’t open his eyes.

Sylvia came forward with an eyedropper. "A little of this under his tongue, and he will sleep pain-free while you take out the bullet."

"What is it?" she asked.

"The juice of the poppy."

Her chest tightened. It was some form of opium. She told herself that morphine was derived from the poppy, and opiates had been used for thousands of years, but she was still worried about Jake getting too large or too small of a dose. It could affect his breathing, his blood flow. A million bad scenarios ran through her mind in the space of a minute.

"You will trust me?" Sylvia asked.

She hesitated, then slowly nodded. "Yes, because I know Jake trusts you."

Sylvia smiled. "He does. He's my boy. Together, we will make him better."

After Sylvia slipped a few drops under Jake's tongue, Katherine prepared to begin. "I'll need you to hold his shoulders, TJ," she said. "In case he tries to move."

TJ placed his hands on Jake's shoulders. "I think he's out."

She really hoped so. Drawing in a deep breath, she used one of the small knives Sylvia had brought to cut around his bullet wound. Jake moaned and moved slightly, but TJ had his shoulders. As she dug around for the bullet, Sylvia wiped away the blood with a towel. Finally, she was able to use some tweezers to remove the bullet from Jake's leg. There was no massive rush of bleeding leading her to believe that the arteries in his leg were intact.

"Got it," she said.

"I will clean it," Sylvia said, using a different eyedropper to drop some liquefied medicinal herbs into the wound.

Katherine closed the incision, sewing it up with a needle and thread. Then she rewrapped his leg with some bandages Sylvia had brought with her.

When it was done, she checked Jake's pulse. Finding a steady beat, she sank down on the end of the bed and blew out a breath of relief.

Sylvia gave her a reassuring smile. "You did well, Katherine."

"I hope so. We still need his fever to break."

"It will. I will stay here tonight with you. Paolo will come back in the morning, and then we can go to the hospital if we need to."

"Thank you, Sylvia. I think you saved Jake's life. I'd love to know what was in that eyedropper that you used to fight infection."

"I will tell you everything whenever you are ready to hear it. But you are tired."

"I am tired," she admitted.

"Do you know what's happening at the ranch—with the fire?" TJ asked.

Sylvia looked to Paolo to answer the question. The older man stepped forward. He'd kept his distance during the surgical procedure.

"I have heard that the ranch is gone, that several men are dead."

"Rodrigo?" Katherine asked hopefully.

Paolo said, "I don't know. The morning will bring answers."

"Is the fire still burning?" TJ asked.

"There were few volunteers willing to offer help," Paolo said. "The mountain is blazing with a fire that can be seen for fifty miles. Everyone in the village came out of their homes to watch. It was an incredible sight, beyond what I expected Jake to accomplish."

"Jake said he had some help from you, Sylvia. What did you do?" she asked.

Sylvia gave her a secret smile. "I just asked for help. And it came."

"Do you think anyone is looking for us?" TJ asked Paolo.

"I have not heard such a thing," Paolo replied. "But it is best you stay here for the night. There are many people on the roads now. It is difficult to know who is a friend and who is an enemy."

TJ nodded. "I understand." He glanced at Katherine. "The explosion combined with the lightning and the fires will probably take down thousands of acres. There's no way Rodrigo's operation survives, even if he does."

"I hope he doesn't," she said fiercely. She'd never wished anyone dead, but the death of that man with the evil smile and dreams of causing mass destruction would leave the world a better place.

"I will go," Paolo said, tipping his head. "I will return in the morning." He stopped and took a phone out of his pocket. "Shall I leave you this?"

"No," TJ said abruptly. "No phones with traceable signals."

"But what if we need something?" she protested.

"We can make it until morning. We can't risk someone using a phone to find us."

"It's Paolo's phone."

"Still…"

"All right," she said, as Paolo shrugged and put his phone back into his pocket. "We'll see you in the morning. Thank you for everything."

Paolo left the cabin, and Katherine turned back to the bed to check on Jake. His pulse was still reassuringly steady.

"You should rest, Katherine," Sylvia said. "Lay down next to Jake. He will feel your presence, and he will be comforted."

"You should lay down," she argued. "You must be exhausted. I can pull the other chair next to the bed."

"No, I will watch over Jake for you. I don't sleep much anymore. And when I do, the dreams exhaust me. Please," Sylvia added, tipping her head toward the bed.

Katherine felt a little awkward lying on the bed next to Jake, while his eighty-nine- year-old great-grandmother sat on a hard chair, but there was no arguing with Sylvia. TJ also offered up the armchair with the ottoman, but she refused, saying he would need his strength for the journey to come.

Katherine hoped she was just talking about TJ's journey home and not something more ominous, but she was too drained to worry about that now.

She put her hand on Jake's arm, happy that his skin was quickly becoming a more normal temperature, and closed her eyes.

She didn't know when she drifted asleep, but the early morning sun was lighting up the cabin when she awoke. Sylvia stood next to the bed, bathing Jake's head with a cloth. She gave Katherine a smile. "The fever is gone."

She sat up. "Thank God. I didn't mean to sleep all night. I was going to take turns watching Jake with you."

"The night passed quickly, and it is not often I get to take care of my great-grandson."

Katherine glanced over at the chair. TJ was slowly coming awake, fighting off the day with his usual grumpy groans as he shifted position to try to catch a few more minutes of sleep.

When she looked back at Jake, she saw his eyelids begin to flicker and then open. She'd never been so happy to see his amazing green eyes in her life.

"Beautiful Kat," he said with a dazed smile. Then he turned his head and saw his great-grandmother. "Mamich?" Confusion entered his eyes. "Where am I?"

"The cabin," Katherine said, drawing his attention back to her. "The safe house Paolo told you about. We came here last night. Do you remember?"

"I thought that was a dream. I got shot in the leg. You were trying to stop the bleeding."