Chapter 21

Abby sat at her desk, staring at the screen, and tapping her foot impatiently. Work provided only so much respite from worrying about what was happening. Truth be told, she wasn't able to focus on anything and had been staring at the same page for the past half an hour lost in her thoughts.

"Get Doctor Griffin," someone shouted outside her door.

Abby snapped into action. She grabbed her coat and flung open the door before Jackson could do the same.

In front of her, she saw three men enter the room. Marcus in the middle, and two younger guards on each side of him, holding him upwards. He was awake although pale, his head hang low. While Marcus was still able to stand, he was obviously very weak. Small drops of blood marked their path on the floor, dripping from underneath the cloth one of the men used to put pressure on a wound on Marcus' back.

Abby snapped into a doctor's mode, switching off her emotions as she ran towards the men.

"Help him up on the table." She told the guards. "What happened?"

Marcus lifted his head, weak but genuine smile appeared on his face. "We got him," he said as the men sat him down on the examination table.

"What happened to you?" She circled the table and stood behind him putting her gloves on. Once, she was ready, she took over the cloth from the guard allowing him to move away. She lifted it gently to assess the damage. Blood pooled immediately but it started to clot in some places, she noticed with relief. "Jackson, get me some A negative." She ordered when she saw that Kane's whole shirt was drenched with dried-up blood. "You can go now." She dismissed the guards who nodded and left without any protest.

"We were closing in on him." Marcus's voice was low and raspy. "Ready to enter the room, we regrouped. There was a noise in the hall behind us, as we turned, he jumped out of the room next to me. Two swords, one in each hand. OUCH!" Marcus winced as Jackson stuck a needle in his arm without a warning.

"Sorry," said Jackson as he closed the curtain around the examination bed and left Abby and Marcus alone.

"You need stitches." Abby was done with examining his wound. "I need to remove that shirt."

"Go right ahead."

Without letting go of the cloth, Abby lifted his shirt with one hand. His skin tingled where her fingers touched him. Slowly and methodically, Abby peeled his shirt off his body, trying to avoid doing any more damage. Lifting it inch by inch, and over the wound. Her breath quickened. Despite putting her doctor's hat on and worrying about his health, she couldn't quite forget who was sitting in front of her.

She squeezed her eyes shut and shook her head. Focus, she scolded herself as she pulled Marcus's shirt over his head. He took a sharp breath.

"Tell me exactly what happened," she asked again.

Marcus sighed. "Oh, yeah, right, where was I?"

"He had two swords."

"Right. Two swords…"

Abby's hands worked swiftly, cleaning the wound.

"Out of nowhere, he jumped out of the room, surprising us. I was closest to him. He took a swipe with his sword. I moved. I didn't think it caught me and I shot him. The guards did too. I didn't feel anything until one of the men pointed to the blood beneath my feet."

"You're lucky. The wound is long but not that deep. It could've been much worse if you hadn't moved out of his way. You need stitches but you'll be fine."

"He got it worse."

"He didn't make it, did he?"

"No. He's dead."

Abby nodded. The time to discuss that in detail would come later. "No muscle damage, it's superficial. You were really lucky. You need to keep it clean and away from water, and you'll have to take antibiotics, but you should be fine." Abby's voice was shaky and her eyes welled up with tears as she realized how close she had come to losing him. She blinked away the tears.

A silence fell between the two of them, the only noise came from the clunking of medical instruments as Abby worked on sewing his wound.

"It's over now." Marcus' tired voice reached her ears. "He can't hurt anyone anymore." The relief in his voice was mixed with guilt and sadness. He hated killing people, even the guilty ones and this was another person added to his list of kills.

"I—"

"Marcus!" a panicked voice came from behind the curtain, followed by quick footsteps echoing inside the room.

Kane sighed.

"Over here," he said, his back muscle twitching.

"Don't move." Abby scolded him, her needle missed the spot.

Before Marcus could reply, the curtain flung open, and worried Leanna rushed to his side. She grabbed his free hand and stood in front of him.

Abby looked at the two of them from above his shoulder but said nothing, focusing on his wound.

"Marcus! I was so worried," Leanna said clasping his hand.

Abby couldn't help it and rolled her eyes behind them. She didn't mean to, but Leanna came across as too dramatic and no matter how much Abby tried to like her, there was just something off-putting and fake about her that she couldn't quite put her finger on. Abby didn't trust that woman but since she had no solid reason as to why, she kept it to herself, ignoring her gut feeling.

"You could've died," Leanna continued.

"I'm fine."

"You're not fine!"

"No. Really. I'm fine. Right, Abby?" Marcuse turned his gaze toward Abby looking for confirmation.

Leanna fixed her eyes on Abby expectantly.

"Abby?" Kane repeated when he didn't get any answer.

Abby lifted her head surprised to be addressed.

"No— I mean yes, it's a long slash wound but it's superficial. You'll be fine."

Leanna turned her gaze back to Kane. "How are you holding up?" She squeezed his hand.

Marcus was painfully aware of Abby's presence behind him and not because she was constantly poking him with a needle. This whole thing with Leanna, he needed to put an end to that. She was a friend, nothing more, but she clearly had other ideas.

With Abby behind his back, he couldn't see her eyes, or her expression but he knew how it must have looked. Without a word, he removed his hand from Leanna's.

"I'm fine. Really."

Leanna raised her eyebrow but didn't say anything. She placed her now empty hand on his knee and squeezed it. A gesture that didn't escape Abby's scrutinizing gaze.

"If you need any help. Anything at all, I'm here for you. You can count on me."

"Thank you. I appreciate it," Kane said noncommittally.

This whole exchange made Abby uncomfortable, and the whole situation was painful. Her stomach tied into a knot; a bile rose in her throat. She pushed him away, she reminded herself. It was all her doing and she had no right to get jealous and yet, seeing him with another woman hurt her to the core.

Trying to ignore the couple next to her, she finished sewing his wound as quickly as she could. She secured a sterile dressing over it and wiped the dried-up blood from his back.

"You're all set," she said as she grabbed her instruments. "I'll be right back with pain meds and antibiotics," she said on her way out.

"Can I go after that?"

Abby turned around and noticed how close the two of them were. Her face dropped before she recovered but that small change in her demeanour hadn't escaped Marcus' attention. It broke his heart when he followed her gaze and realized how Leanna's touch must have looked to Abby especially after she thought they were together in his room when she tried to tell him… He shook his head. For a split second, Abby's face revealed pure devastation and it broke his heart.

"No, I would like to keep you here overnight, keep an eye on the bleeding just in case. If everything's fine, you'll be free to go in the morning," she said and quickly left the room unable to look at the couple any longer.

Marcus watched as the curtain fell in place behind her before he turned his attention to Leanna. He grabbed her hand and removed it from his knee.

"We have to talk," he said.

On her way back with Marcus' meds, Abby almost collided with Leanna who rushed out from behind the curtain, her face red with anger. She gave Abby the most hateful look and pushed past her without so much as saying sorry. Confused Abby followed her with her eyes unsure of what had just happened. She shook her head remembering what she was doing and resumed walking.

When she entered the small curtained-off area, shirtless Marcus was still sitting on the examination table. Color had now come back to his face and he looked much better than he had before despite clearly being exhausted. For a moment, she forgot why he was there, as she stared, taking the man in front of her. Her heart beat faster, her mouth dry. She shook her head reminding herself where she was. She wet her lips and said, "I got you a clean shirt to wear and some pain meds." She handed him the garment, and their fingers touched briefly. She looked down and took her hand away immediately.

"Thank you," he said holding it in his hand. He had no intention of putting it on, at least not just yet. "Abby, we need to talk."

"Take these three times a day." She placed the pills on his side.

Marcus noticed bruises forming on her neck, he clenched his fists.

"Abby—"

"Jackson will be with you in a minute to show you to your bed." She avoided his gaze. "You'll have to come here to have your dressings changed twice a day unless Leanna is willing to—"

"I'll come here," he stopped her.

"Okay then, I'll leave you here with Jackson," she said as the younger man approached them.

Marcus was desperate to stop her and talk to her, but she was gone before he could say another word. But he'd had enough. She cared; he could tell. He gave her enough time as it was, and it was time for him to take action. He couldn't just wait for her or watch her spiral down. He couldn't stay away any longer. He needed her and she needed him. He had to do something.

End of Chapter 21