to hangin’ around and keeping me safe?”
“I’m running back to HPI for a few things.”
Actually, Fenn leaving had a side benefit. Once his jealous self was removed, I could call Shaun back into the room and indulge in a few more fantasies.
He added, “And Jill and Drew called. They want me to bring them here to see you.”
Feeling cut off from my old life, I looked forward to having my suite mates fuss over me. The human family that had raised me was flying apart. Big Sis was out on her own, a pole dancer in a crappy little club in Sacramento, California. Mom and Dad were getting divorced. The big cruise trip they took to work on their marriage didn’t seem to have paid off. And I’d been transplanted cross country to East Texas, hiding out from the internet viral-frenzy that had kicked up when a convenience store robbery caught on a cell phone outed me as a total freak with weird powers.
Can I ever get normal back? Deep sigh.
I murmured, “Okay, jus’ gonna take a nap.” I never heard him leave the room.
A hot-stud doctor with ruffled, beach-bum blond hair, a killer smile, and deep blue eyes—and several adoring nurses in tow— woke me up. They checked on my vital signs, transferring me to a gurney. Out in the hall, I picked up an armed escort: Sanchez and Kendall, Special Forces. Virgil and I had worked with them only a few weeks ago.
“Hey, babe, looking good.” Kendall grinned, blue eyes flashing. With matching looks, he and the hot doc could have been related.
I returned the smile. “You’re lying, but thanks.”
He’d had a little attitude last time we saw each other. Maybe Sanchez had beaten some sense into him. She was all-soldier, with a Hispanic intensity and a temperament that didn’t suffer fools lightly. If she was going to be around a while, I thought I might try and talk her into giving me a few shooting lessons, just between us girls.
“Hi, ya, Hon,” Sanchez grinned. “Figured we’d meet again.”
“Just trying to keep your spirits up,” Kendall said. “You’re quite the national resource now.”
I saw uniformed cops down the hall, standing around manfully, trying not to seem bored. Their eyes scanned me as I was rolled past. I could almost hear their mental voices: She’s what this is all about?
“Where are we going?” I asked.
“MRI,” Doc said. “Other wing. Won’t take long, Jane. I hope you’re not claustrophobic.”
“Nah, closets don’t scare me.” I caught Sanchez’s eyes, lowering my voice, “Jane?”
She grinned. “Yes, Miss Doe, that’s our story and we’re sticking to it.”
Ah, yes, Virgil’s idea, no doubt. Spy games forever.
The walls around us smelled of fresh paint. We passed a shower room where plastic protected the tiles and chrome. Buckets of paint were stacked inside next to a couple ladders. We reached an area of the hospital that was in use, and grabbed an elevator down a few floors. Soon, I was wheeled into a room with a massive machine. Its maw was open and a long tongue stuck out of a tunnel. A wall with a window showed another room where an operator ran things.
After searching me for every stray scrap of metal, they put me on the machine’s tongue and slid me in, a tasty snack for the cyber-beast.
My better-than-human hearing picked up outside chatter: “What happens if she’s still got a tiny bit of shrapnel from the explosion left in her?” That was Sanchez sounding concerned as hell. Doctor Hotness said, “We got it all, and have the x-rays to prove it. We’re professionals. We wouldn’t do this if there were any danger.”
If he were wrong about shrapnel, then turning on the machine would pull it violently out of my body, cutting through any tissue in the way. A shiver went down my spine. Not a happy thought .
I closed my eyes and tried to breathe normally, as instructed.
Unexpectedly, pain prickled as though army
“I’m running back to HPI for a few things.”
Actually, Fenn leaving had a side benefit. Once his jealous self was removed, I could call Shaun back into the room and indulge in a few more fantasies.
He added, “And Jill and Drew called. They want me to bring them here to see you.”
Feeling cut off from my old life, I looked forward to having my suite mates fuss over me. The human family that had raised me was flying apart. Big Sis was out on her own, a pole dancer in a crappy little club in Sacramento, California. Mom and Dad were getting divorced. The big cruise trip they took to work on their marriage didn’t seem to have paid off. And I’d been transplanted cross country to East Texas, hiding out from the internet viral-frenzy that had kicked up when a convenience store robbery caught on a cell phone outed me as a total freak with weird powers.
Can I ever get normal back? Deep sigh.
I murmured, “Okay, jus’ gonna take a nap.” I never heard him leave the room.
A hot-stud doctor with ruffled, beach-bum blond hair, a killer smile, and deep blue eyes—and several adoring nurses in tow— woke me up. They checked on my vital signs, transferring me to a gurney. Out in the hall, I picked up an armed escort: Sanchez and Kendall, Special Forces. Virgil and I had worked with them only a few weeks ago.
“Hey, babe, looking good.” Kendall grinned, blue eyes flashing. With matching looks, he and the hot doc could have been related.
I returned the smile. “You’re lying, but thanks.”
He’d had a little attitude last time we saw each other. Maybe Sanchez had beaten some sense into him. She was all-soldier, with a Hispanic intensity and a temperament that didn’t suffer fools lightly. If she was going to be around a while, I thought I might try and talk her into giving me a few shooting lessons, just between us girls.
“Hi, ya, Hon,” Sanchez grinned. “Figured we’d meet again.”
“Just trying to keep your spirits up,” Kendall said. “You’re quite the national resource now.”
I saw uniformed cops down the hall, standing around manfully, trying not to seem bored. Their eyes scanned me as I was rolled past. I could almost hear their mental voices: She’s what this is all about?
“Where are we going?” I asked.
“MRI,” Doc said. “Other wing. Won’t take long, Jane. I hope you’re not claustrophobic.”
“Nah, closets don’t scare me.” I caught Sanchez’s eyes, lowering my voice, “Jane?”
She grinned. “Yes, Miss Doe, that’s our story and we’re sticking to it.”
Ah, yes, Virgil’s idea, no doubt. Spy games forever.
The walls around us smelled of fresh paint. We passed a shower room where plastic protected the tiles and chrome. Buckets of paint were stacked inside next to a couple ladders. We reached an area of the hospital that was in use, and grabbed an elevator down a few floors. Soon, I was wheeled into a room with a massive machine. Its maw was open and a long tongue stuck out of a tunnel. A wall with a window showed another room where an operator ran things.
After searching me for every stray scrap of metal, they put me on the machine’s tongue and slid me in, a tasty snack for the cyber-beast.
My better-than-human hearing picked up outside chatter: “What happens if she’s still got a tiny bit of shrapnel from the explosion left in her?” That was Sanchez sounding concerned as hell. Doctor Hotness said, “We got it all, and have the x-rays to prove it. We’re professionals. We wouldn’t do this if there were any danger.”
If he were wrong about shrapnel, then turning on the machine would pull it violently out of my body, cutting through any tissue in the way. A shiver went down my spine. Not a happy thought .
I closed my eyes and tried to breathe normally, as instructed.
Unexpectedly, pain prickled as though army
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