The Abduction (20 page)

She blinked, recovering from her surprise.
“I—you’re here.”

John frowned at her. “You asked me to come as soon as I could. So I rescheduled my morning appointment.”

Samantha let her face break into a wide smile and fought nearly overwhelming urge to throw herself into his arms in thanks.

No,
she thought
. Nothing to give him the wrong impression. I already have an alien in my barn I need to reform. I don’t need an ex-cheater on the roster.

“You didn’t answer the door,” John said, “so I was going to try the back.” He pointed to the
barn as Rodolfo pulled up. “Is the animal in there?”

Samantha waited for Rodolfo to get out
of his truck and help Maria down from the passenger seat, and then shook her head. She unlocked the front door and jerked it open. “Inside.”

John gave her an incredulous look. “Excuse me?”

“Look, just please trust me.”

“Samantha…” H
e glanced back warily at Rodolfo and the shotgun in his hand, all too clear of the other man’s feelings toward him. “Rodolfo. You two haven’t planned some type of get back at the ex—”

“This is not abou
t you,” Samantha cut him short and frowned. “You need to promise me you won’t say a word about this to anyone.”

“Look, if you’re doing something illegal or…
attempting some sort of chainsaw massacre reenactment—”

“Promise me. It’s very important that no one knows about this.”

John studied her face, his eyes hard, and then he gla
nced at Rodolfo before nodding. “I’ll make you a deal. I’ll help you, because I want you to be able to trust me again.”

“So what’s the deal?”

“And in return, I get to take you to dinner so that I can explain things.”

Samantha sighed in exasperation. “John—”

“No. If this is the only way I can get you to sit and listen to me then so be it. Do you want my help, yes or no?”

She grit her teeth.
“Fine.”

John stepped aside, motioning for Samantha to go first, his eyes still darting to Rodolfo’s gun. Samantha forced a smile and led him inside.

John caught her arm as she passed and leaned closer as he shut the door behind them. “Now,” he whispered harshly, “can you please tell me why the hell he’s carrying a gun?”

“It’s not for you.” Samantha took his wrist and pulled him toward the bedroom. She shot him a sideways glance and let a devious smirk tug at her lips. “Unless you decide to open you fat mouth.”

Samantha let John into the room first, so that she could attempt to slow him down should he decide to bolt. She steeled herself against the doorframe, readying herself for the sudden blow as he backpedaled in surprise and disbelief.

“You’ve got to be shitting me.”

Samantha’s eyes snapped open. It wasn’t the response she’d been expecting, and she stood taller to peer at John
in confusion. “What?”

John dropped his bag by the door and stepped further into the room. He paused at the side of the bed and loo
ked down at Rikist, who feverish eyes glared upwards to meet the man’s gaze. John rubbed at the back of his neck and shook his head at Samantha.

“How the hell did you get mixed up with him?” he asked.

Samantha shook herself awake, and approached John. “You… you know him?”

“No,” he said quickly. “Not him, per s
e, but… his species.”

Samantha blinked.
I must not have heard that right
. “Come again?”

John placed one hand on Rikist’s brow to test his skin.

Rikist awkwardly swiped at John’s hand with his claws, barely missing. “Sam,” his throat sounded raspy. “What is… who is this?”

“Rikist, don’t,” Samantha sat on the edge of the bed
beside him and smoothed back hair from his face. She took a breath. “Rikist, this is John. He’s here to help you.”

“Rikist?” John’s head snapped up. “
Captain Rikist Sa Tskir?”

“How do you…”
Rikist stared up at John in surprise, and then his eyes registered recognition and distaste and anger flooded his face. “From the picture.”

John’s eyes widened.
He glanced at Samantha. “Obviously you’ve been telling him less than positive stories about me.”

“Nothing you didn’t deserve,”
she snapped. “How do you know his name?”

“Because I’m not just a vet, Samantha.” He closed his eyes and sighed.
He turned to Rikist and held out his hand. “We’ve never actually met in person, Rikist. I’m Jonathan Merrick. I’m one of your medical contacts here on Earth.”

“You really know how to pick ‘em.”

Samantha glowered over at John as she followed him out of the bedroom.

“And what mental list are
you checking off?”

“Assholes and trouble.” He laughed. “And yes, before you say anything, I already put myself at the top of that list.”

Samantha grimaced and glanced over her shoulder at Rikist as he stirred restlessly in his morphine-induced sleep, and bit her lip. She closed the door behind them and leaned against the wood.

“So, what do you think?”

“Do you want my honest opinion of your chosen love interest or do you want me to lie—”

“Focus, John. His leg.”

John snapped the top of his bag shut and set it next to his mobile ultrasound machine and box of used rags. He shook his head.

“
He really did a number on it. He’s running a high fever from the unchecked infection, and I’m draining brown liquid out of his knee by the cup, which hints at the beginning of sepsis. The destroyed ligaments require replacement by reconstructive surgery, and he has completely mutilated his patella and meniscus, and he is already showing signs of arthritis in the knee from his femur slipping down against his tibia.”

Samantha licked her dry lips. “
So what do you suggest?”

“
Obviously he needs surgery, and IVs and antibiotics to stop the spread of infection through his bloodstream. You’ll have to bring him to my clinic so can I have all my equipment. I can perform a graft from muscle in his biceps to pass through and around the joint and tibia to stabilize his knee, remove the loose shards of his kneecap, and place sutures around the fabella to help facilitate the growth of scar tissue.”

“How do you know how to do all of this?”

He shrugged. “It’s really not that different than operating on animals. Besides, aren’t humans just another type of mammal?”

“Impressive.” Samantha fought a smile.
“Will that fix him?”

John hesitated. “Mostly. There’s enough damage that I can’t
positively say it will be one hundred percent. It really depends on how bad it is once I actually start cutting him open. Lasting effects could range from a minor limp to chronic pain and arthritis. Or he could mend completely.” He shrugged apologetically. “They heal better than we do, and faster, so I’m hopeful. I just don’t want to make any promises.”

Samantha’s heart dropped to her knees. She slid dow
n the door and sat on the floor and covered her eyes with the palms.

“This is all because of me.”

“Unless you blew up his ship in the first place I highly doubt that. From working for him I know he’s a stubborn ass, and I don’t see him as one to follow doctor’s orders easily.” John knelt beside her, paused, and then gingerly brushed his fingers against her cheek. “So I guess this means dinner’s off.”

She frowned up at him. “I promised I would.”

“Yeah, but after seeing you with him it’s obvious there’s no point anymore.”

Samantha peered at him, and then let out a breath. “You wanted to try to fix things between us.”

“I wanted to explain. You never gave me a chance.”

She
set her lips in a tight line and studied John’s face. “How did you get mixed up with Rikist in the first place?”

“It was about six-seven years ago. When I was
going to school in New York.”

“New York…” her eyes widened. “You were there when the first wave came through?”

John nodded. “I was meeting a classmate at the hotel. We were having dinner up on the rooftop garden when I saw the force shield appear around the building, and the lights went out.” John pressed his lips together in a tight line and stood. “Long story short, they appeared out of nowhere in uniform and started snatching girls… but it became evident immediately that this was their first time, and several of the aliens got sick—I’m assuming from our atmosphere.

“Anywho, I’m not really sure how I ended up treating them, but somehow I found myself working beside an EMT tech trying to resuscitate two of
the aliens before getting knocked on the back of my head and waking up in the ER with a concussion. Three months later I received an email from someone within the resistance acknowledging the risk I’d taken, and was offered a handsome amount of compensation to provide medical support to on-planet staff and send medications through their jump sites.”

“And you agreed?”

He grinned. “It was a…
very
handsome amount. How do you think I was able to take us to Paris for three weeks after graduation? And Hawaii?”

Samantha blushed. Paris had been an out of body experience between the two of them
with lavish hotels, room service, and endless sightseeing. And Hawaii… those were probably the best two weeks of her life.

Before the secrets started taking over.

“And Rikist?” she prodded.

“Rikist took over as my main point of contact about two years ago.
We’ve never met before today. Only communicated through emails and text messaging.” He took one of her hands between his and gave it a gentle squeeze. “The last minute trips between Las Vegas and New York were to treat the occasional incoming resistance soldiers and deliver antibiotics.” His eyes saddened. “Not the secretive affair you assumed.”

“Why
didn’t you tell me the truth?”

“I couldn’t. For one, I didn’t want you to get involved. Though that seems like a moot point now
. And two…” He grimaced. “Your boyfriend threatened to jump over here and disembowel me if I decided to run off and spill secrets. Once in, always in kind of thing…”

Samantha wiped at her eyes.
Yeah, that sounded like Rikist.

“I’m sorry for
not telling you,” John said slowly. “For not being honest about everything. I really screwed things up, didn’t I?”

The apology
loosened the tight knot in her stomach, and Samantha smiled. “Well I did get a refund of the five thousand you put down for the reception and your mother sent me the two tickets to Seattle she’d bought for us. So it wasn’t a total waste.”

John smiled, though his
eyes wavered. “You love him, don’t you?”

She thought about it, and then nodded. “Yeah.”

“I guess I deserve that.” He frowned, looked away, and then nodded and forced a smile. “I’m happy for you. Really. But am I wrong in being a little concerned the guy isn’t human?”

“John…”

“You bet.” He stood. “But considering he’s both your boyfriend and my employer, we should probably get him over to the clinic before he keels over and I lose my greatest source of income. I’ve gotten used to my quarterly all-inclusive paid vacations.

After half an hour of arguing, Rodolfo finally left with John to take Rikist to the vet clinic
for surgery while Samantha stayed behind with Maria and Krissik. Rodolfo hadn’t wanted to leave the two women alone with Krissik, but Samantha and John convinced him that John couldn’t move Rikist on his own. Rikist had been nervous as hell, stopping just short of begging Samantha to come along. John and Rodolfo finally managed to wrestle Rikist into the van, and John slipped him some Versed and after ten minutes the alien had mellowed out and fought hard to stay awake.

“I promise I’ll get there before you wake up,” Samantha told him with a kiss.

John just rolled his eyes and started the van, and Rodolfo slid the side door shut as they pulled out of the drive.

Maria helped Samantha clean up the living room and kitchen; making checklists in between sweeping and mopping of miscellaneous items that needed to be replaced. Samantha growled in frustration as the list grew to include her dishwasher and two dining room chairs.

“Those two sure had a bone to pick,” Maria muttered as she finished wiping down the counters. She opened the refrigerator and began pulling out the bags of groceries she’d brought over that morning. “Are they at least on talking terms yet?”

Samantha stood and stretched her sore back. She tossed a singed pillow onto the couch and
shook her head. “I honestly hope they do soon though. I don’t think I could take another fight in my living room…”