CHAPTER TWENTY SEVEN: Human Puzzles

The ride back down the mountain was seemingly endless. Lucian sat up front, holding Alexandra in his lap. Michael was in the back, trying to staunch the bleeding from the gunshot wound Malcolm had sustained. And Raze, was acting on orders to get them back to the hangar as soon as possible.

Behind him, he could hear Malcolm's continuous mutterings while Michael warned him that he needed stay absolutely still. But the Australian continued to thrash about, rambling incoherently about how he was going to be the one to save Alex. Finally, after giving Michael little choice, the doctor in training decided Malcolm had to be held down. Sterling and Rhys had been riding with them for this very reason. The three of them managed to contain his movements, so he couldn't cause any further damage.

Lucian was only vaguely aware of what was going o. He paid very little attention to them. If it had been up to him, Malcolm would have already been dead. He believed it was a waste of Michael's time to save the man. Sooner or later, he planned to finish what he had started, what Aaron had interrupted.

Right now, his concern was for the motionless figure in his arms. He watched her, making sure her heart was still beating. It was. The silver nitrate had stopped flowing from her wounds. Leading him to believe that whatever amount of the poisonous metal remain within her body, was contained within her organs. He sincerely hoped his donated blood would help counteract their deadly affects. Her skin held only minimal traces of the poisonous metal under its surface. Hopefully this meant that while she may not be improving, they had at least been able to stop the process.

She looked tragically frail, and though he was grateful that she was unconscious and feeling no pain, Lucian would give anything to have her open her eyes and know he was there. He gently rubbed the back of his hand across her bruised cheek, remembering how soft her skin was, and how good it had felt beneath his lips. He swallowed to ease the aching tightness in his throat. In the hundreds of years he had lived, he had only felt this helpless one other time. He would not lose someone Alexandra as he had Sonja, he couldn't. He pulled her close to his chest and held her there, wishing he could warm her cold, beaten body in his embrace.

After what seemed like hours, they finally turned into the private airstrip. Lucian looked down the runway, and saw that Micca and Vladimir could be seen waiting in the early morning haze. The sun had begun its ascent, casting pale rays of light over the field. It was a new day; one he hoped Alexandra would live to see.

As Raze brought the vehicle to a shuddering stop, Lucian threw open his door, carrying Alexandra in his arms. Micca forced back a cry of alarm when he caught sight of Alex. Vladimir beckoned for Lucian to follow him. He led Lucian over to the area he and Micca had set up with several tables and various medical supplies.

Lucian saw that Selene was awake and waiting for their arrival. She visibly blanched when she caught sight of the American woman, but Lucian noted she said not a word. Raze followed close on his heels, bringing in a now quiet Malcolm. Michael, seeing Selene, broke free from his duties for a moment, walking over to her to make sure she was okay. They spoke quietly for a few seconds, then they both came over to where Lucian stood, ready to begin.

Lucian stepped back, as Michael began issuing orders. There was water to boil, bandages, sutures, needles, sponges and blood…lots of blood to get ready. It was going to a long day, especially for Michael. He was one man trying to help two mortally wounded individuals; and Lucian knew Michael would work as hard to save Malcolm as he would Alexandra. That was the kind of man he was.

"Lucian," Bryna called out, trying to catch his attention as she ran over to him. "One of the women we rescued is a nurse," she told him when she caught up to him.

"Will she help," Michael asked, having heard the news.

"She's still shaken up, but she's outside now, shifting so her injuries can heal," Bryna stated.

"Excellent," Michael exclaimed. "Once she's done, have her wash up and send her over…can she speak English?" he asked belatedly.

"Yes, I was born in Mexico but my parents moved to the US when I was young," the women in question informed them as she stepped forward. "My name is Yolanda, and for the record, I'm an RN," she said as she pulled her long, black hair into a bun at he back of her neck.

"Are you sure you are up to this?" Lucian asked her.

She turned to look at man she had long considered a legend, just as Bryna had. He exuded power and strength, but was also a man of deep passion and grace. She knew upon seeing him, that he was a strong leader, one that inspired trust and loyalty from those around him. He and the others had risked their lives to rescue them; helping the other hybrid save these two was the least she could do.

"I will do my best," she said reassuringly.

"Good, then get washed up," Michael stated, interrupting their conversation. "I need you to clean out the abdomen wound on the human over there while I take a closer look at Alex," he told her.

Yolanda hurried over to clean her hands and arms while Michael bent his head to the task at hand. Lucian stood to the side, watching intently as the young doctor began to work. Selene was assisting him, handing him whatever he asked for. Most of her injuries appeared to be free of silver, though the poisonous metal had already done its damage. After thoroughly cleaning out the wounds with the sanitized water, he checked over her other less obvious injuries.

A few moments later, he walked over to look at Malcolm's stomach wound. Yolanda had done a good job of cleaning it up, and luckily the bullet had exited the body through the back.After checking him out, Michael turned and walked over to where Lucian waited.

Lucian noticed he was wiping the blood from his hands as he walked over. He was beginning to wonder if he himself would ever be free to do the same. He was becoming weary of the constant fight for life. Close by, stood all those that had come to find Alex and the eleven women they had saved. Only one had been lost in the fight with the vampires; a woman he had never known. Over the centuries they had certainly lost hundreds possibly even thousands in the war with the vampires. But for some reason, this one death seemed to weigh heavily on his mind. He was tired…tired of the constant fighting, tired of the loss. And Michael now stood before him, ready to tell him whether or not he felt they would loose yet more of their numbers.

"Malcolm is the easiest to fix, not to say his injuries aren't life threatening, but given the circumstances, I'm going to start on him. The bullet tore through his gallbladder; but that appears to be the only organ that was pierced. It should be relatively easy to piece back together, then I'll put in the internal stitches and get Yolanda to sew up the outside of the wound," Michael stated, knowing Lucian's reaction would not be pleasant.

It wasn't Lucian he had to worry about. It was Sterling that had to be restrained. His anger was so intense it took both Taylor and Brandt to hold him back. Michael looked over the faces of everyone present, and knew his decision had not been a popular one.

Lucian had waited a moment, trying to get his emotions in check before he responded. When he knew he could speak, without the urge to rip Michael open, he responded.

"Why do you feel this is necessary, Michael?" he asked in an unnervingly calm voice.

"Look, I want Alex to live as much as anyone else here, but she is going to require a lot of attention and more work than Malcolm here," he said jerking his thumb over at the unconscious Australian. "I will be able to focus on Alex much better if I'm not worried about whether or not my other patient his dying before I can get to him," he told them defensively.

"I could care less as to whether or not that poor excuse for a man lives," Lucian raged behind clenched teeth. Throwing a glare over at Aaron he spoke again, this time loud enough for everyone to hear. "He would be dead now if not for Aaron's interference. So let him die while you attend to the one person everyone here is concerned about, I care not!"

"Look, we are wasting precious time here," Michael began patiently, "I will try to save them both. And since I am the closest thing to a doctor around here, what I say goes," he told them all in no uncertain terms. "I'm going to have to perform surgery on both of them, is there anyway we can keep them unconscious during the procedure?" he asked

Daniel walked over, a black bag in hand. "Here, this is what they used to knock the girls out. Bryna there said it kept them out for at least an hour," he said handing the bag over to Michael.

"It didn't work as long on Alex though," Bryna let them know. "I guess that's because she's like Lucian, what is that…a hybrid? Anyway, I'm not sure what it'll do to the human bloke."

Michael took the bag, "It'll do," he said, grateful for the drug. He hadn't wanted to have a patient wake up mid-surgery, screaming in pain.

"Yolanda," he said turning to the Hispanic nurse, "Give him half the dosage of what you were given. That should keep him sedated long enough for what we need to do," Michael said hopefully. As an afterthought he muttered, "And pray there aren't any lasting side effects."

When Yolanda went off to begin her task, he turned then to Selene. "Will you continue to hand me instruments and bandages as I need them?" he asked her.

Selene wasn't happy with his decision to work on Malcolm either, but she respected Michael and his abilities. Choosing to show her support, she shook her head yes. Michael looked at her intensely, gratitude stamped on his handsome features. She saw that he was tired, and probably scared. He had never gotten his degree; his studies had been interrupted by the lycans. But here he was, going in to try and save both Alex and Malcolm, without having a clue as to what needed to be done in Alex's case. They needed to talk, figure out some things. Whatever it was between them, they would figure it out later. Right now, they had more important things to worry about.

Michael turned back to Lucian noticing that Raze and the lycans flanking him on every side. It was an impressive show of force. One Michael had only begun to appreciate, but one he didn't want to have to deal with right now. With a sigh, he offered up what he hoped would be a peace offering.

"There are still things that can be done for Alex before I can begin working on her larger problems," he told them.

"Explain," Lucian said in a low, angry voice.

"She's going to need copious amounts of blood, but she's unable to drink it. I'm going to have to give it to her intravenously, possibly even saturate her major organs with it. I'm not sure. Eventually, I'm going to need blood from you and Raze, as much as you can spare, I'll give mine as well. But first, I want to make sure all the silver has left her veins. I'd like to get some lycan blood running through her until the wounds have only blood flowing from them. Then and only then will I feel comfortable with closing up those wounds." he explained in detail. When Yolanda is finished with Malcolm's injection, I'll get her over here to take blood from as many of you as possible," he finished. "Does anyone here have any kind of medical training?" he asked.

"I've given a helping hand when needed," Aaron responded, "But, I've never had any formal training."

"That's fine," Michael said. "Could you watch Yolanda and take over for her once she's shown you what to do?"

"Yes, of course," Aaron replied.

"Good, once we have that done, I should be close to finished with Malcolm. Then I can wash up and come over here and start immediately on Alex," he told them hoping he sounded far more confident than he felt.

Lucian watched Michael walk over and again wash his hands before he began working on Malcolm. He seemed lost in the moment, watching Yolanda come over and begin taking blood from Taylor, demonstrating to Aaron how and where to insert the needle, and how to start and keep the blood flowing into the bags Vladimir had found. Then she moved over to rig up an IV into Alex, allowing Taylor's blood to flow through her veins. He shook himself out of his reverie, when he realized the woman was now speaking to him. She explained that she was ready to take his blood. The life force, which could be Alexandra's savior. He rolled up his sleeve and offered up his arm.

Once she had taken all she dared to from Lucian, she moved on to Raze. Lucian felt a little light headed, but otherwise fine. Now that he had donated his blood, he needed to verify Alex was still alive for it to be of use. He stood, then walked over to where she was lying. To his utter amazement, her eyes were open; unshed tears hanging on her lashes.

"I'm…not...dreaming?" she asked hesitantly, her voice low and barely audible.

Lucian dropped into a crouch beside the table, so he could look her eye to eye. "No princess, you aren't dreaming," he told her gently.

"I…hurt," she told him, sounding small and scared.

Lucian swallowed back the tears that had sprung to his eyes, "Yes, well you have every right to feel like hell. You've been through quite a lot," he said as he brushed back the hair from her face.

"How…why are you here?" she managed to ask.

"Let's just say that Aaron and I had promised to stay in touch. Once you went missing he informed me of the situation. Together, along with help from Selene and Khan, we managed to find out where you were taken," he explained.

"Just in time to save the day," she whispered, her voice straining. "Did you have a white horse?" she asked.

"No white horse, but we did have a really ugly white truck of sorts," he told her with a smile.

"How many got away?" she asked in a strained whisper, her eyes beginning to close.

"We recovered seven women on the way to the castle. There we retrieved you and four others, though one vampire was killed in the fight," he told her honestly.

Suddenly, her eyes flew open wide. "Lucian, there is another girl! She's hidden up in one of the trees on the west side of the mountain. You must save her; she's young and hurt," she said, straining against the pain to get her urgent message across. "Get Bryna to show you where we had escaped and look about midway down," she asked fervently.

"Shhhh little one," Lucian told her, trying to calm her down. "I promise, we will go find her. But you need to reserve you strength. You have a long battle ahead of you Alexandra. I expect you to fight with every inch of your being, do you hear me?" he told her vehemently.

She lay there quietly, not answering. Lucian reached out and felt for a pulse. It was there, beating weakly as she fought to stay alive.

"I promise," she muttered under her breath.

She grew silent again, giving Lucian time to pull himself together. She knew he was here, and that she wasn't alone. It had to give her some sort of comfort, whatever the outcome. He started to pull away, when he heard her speaking faintly.

"You won't leave me, will you?" she asked almost as if she were afraid of the answer.

A rock the size of his fist had settled into his chest, making it difficult for him to breathe. "No, I won't leave you. I'll be right here until you wake," her promised.

"Don't leave me…Lucian," she said trailing back into unconsciousness.

Lucian looked up to find quite an audience had gathered, once they realized she had momentarily gained consciousness. He wondered if they too had noticed that her eyes were no longer pure amethyst. The purple depths now had silver swirling through them as well, like the tail of a comet spinning out of control.

Taking a deep breath, he looked to see who was close by. Finding Taylor at his hand, he turned to him. "Taylor, gather together several men, as well as Bryna. Alexandra said there is another woman out there. She left the girl hiding in a tree, midway down the west side of the mountain. Bryna and the others can show you the direction they had taken, but make sure you bring her back, dead or alive."

"Got it, dead or alive," Taylor said repeating Lucian's order.

"Be cautious, and bring your weapons, just in case others have returned to the castle," he warned.

"We'll get her, don't worry," he assured his leader.

All in all, it was Taylor, Sterling, Brandt, Rhys and Bryna that went in search of the one Bryna said was a young, Italian lycan. As soon as they left, Michael finished up with Malcolm. He asked Yolanda to finish stitching the outside of the wound, then washed up before coming over to Alex.

"She woke?" he asked Lucian, as he sat down, and Aaron began taking his blood.

"Yes, for a few moments. She thought she was dreaming, then said she hurt," Lucian replied, filling him in on the short conversation. "Don't take too much Aaron, he needs to have his wits about him," he warned the human.

"He's right Aaron," Michael said, pulling the needle from the vein. He pressed some gauze over the small hole, and bent his arm to hold it in place. He walked over to gaze at his patient; trying to ready himself for the next surgery .

"Where will you start?" Lucian asked, looking over her wounds with Michael.

Selene had come to stand beside them as well, and she offered up her opinion. "If you can't save her organs, there's not much reason to fix anything else."

"I agree," Michael stated. "Yolanda, give Alex the same dosage used before," he directed her. Then turning back to Lucian he said, "It may not last as long, but we want her to be able to shift soon."

Lucian shook his head in agreement, and then watched as Michael began the meticulous job of putting Alexandra back together.