Hidden (Book 3 of the Immune Series)

Stand Off

I join Athena in the second room just in time to see her lay Isaac down onto the table Mya was strapped on.

"Can I take off your shirt?" she asks as he fidgets on the table.

Isaac nods, and she edges his shirt up and over his head. As she pulls it off his shoulder, he yelps in pain and grinds his teeth together.

I've seen Athena perform minor surgery before. She has stitched up bullet wounds and deep lacerations from accidents involving axes. Like my father, she's seen everything, and it doesn't even touch her anymore.

Not a bit of disgust flickers across her face.

"Are you going to be okay without pain meds?" she asks Isaac. The poor man has gone whiter than the lights bearing down on us, whiter than death itself.

"I'll be fine," he mumbles. "Just give me something to bite down on."

I ruffle through the drawers, find a towel, and toss it over to them. Athena catches it and hands it to him after rolling it into a tube. Isaac stuffs it in his mouth, and then, he closes his eyes with a small nod.

"Wet some of those towels with warm water for me, Sakir," Athena orders without looking up from Isaac's wound. She presses it down with steady fingers, making Isaac wince against his will. Blood still trickles out of the wound, but it's lessened since she brought him in.

I do as I'm told and hand the wet towels to Athena. She wipes the blood away, revealing a gaping hole about the size of my pinky.

"Gloves," Athena barks, and I scramble to the drawers once again.

Time after time, she tells me what to do, and I fetch her tools. My hands shake, and more than once, she barks at me again when I zone out and stare at the contents of a drawer.

I can't stop thinking about Mya, can't stop seeing her jump in front of the bullet. I see the blood on her stomach, feel her shake, and hear her heartbeat fade into oblivion. The thoughts stampede through my head like a herd of horses, trampling my common sense and stomping down my concentration.

It doesn't help that Dr. Julien's body lies in the floor at Athena's feet. She straddles the still form of the doctor, paying no attention to her. Yet, I can't rip my eyes away. The sight of her feeds an anger in me that had almost dwindled after my conversations with Quinn. How could she do something like this to her children? What did President Ashford have on her that drove her to kill her only son? Was she just that selfish that she would rather live than allow her children the chance to?

I'm glad she's dead, and nothing could change my mind about that. Sometimes, the world is a better place without specific people in it, and she's one of those people. Her and Ashford. When they're gone, the world is going to be a better place.

Hopefully.

"Sakir," Athena says firmly, bringing my attention back to her. "Could you move Dr. Julien?" She's stretching as far as she can, but the distance makes her hands shake. I nod.

"Where should I take her?" I ask.

"In the other room with Mya and Jay."

"She doesn't deserve to be in the same room with either of them," I snap.

Athena sighs.

"I know, but I can't keep working with her in my way. Move the bodies if you need to."

I bite my lip.

"Fine," I mumble.

With a grunt, I bend over and grip Dr. Julien's ankles. She's just as heavy as I expected, but luckily, I'm still strong. Having my hands on her skin makes me want to slam her into the ground until there's nothing left of her, but instead, I pull her towards the door we came in, leaving a streak of blood behind us.