Briac straightened. “We do make the worst patients.”
“I couldn’t go to a hospital,” Rainier explained without lifting his head. “Did I leave something behind?”
“I believe so.”
Rainier swore under his breath. “I was afraid of that.”
Vienna had been just as afraid. “We’ll have a little chat about that later, Rainier, considering all the crap you gave me about calling a doctor.”
“They always bring muscle along,” he answered, unrepentant.
She couldn’t exactly fault him on his tone. It was as flat and expressionless as ever, yet somehow, even lying on his belly with his pants around his ankles, when he should have felt vulnerable, Rainier managed to give off the feeling of being superior. Of being in complete control. She didn’t see how he could be so sure of himself, not with Gage prowling around the room, making her feel nervous in spite of her determination not to notice him.
“I don’t understand why, when you’re on the same side, you have to act like enemies,” Vienna said, automatically laying out the doctor’s instruments on the small tray he had in the very large medical bag he’d brought with him. “It’s just plain ludicrous.”
Briac laughed. “I agree wholeheartedly. We’ll just ignore them. I’m going to numb this, Rainier,” he added. “It will take a few shots to get the entire site numb, and it’s going to be very uncomfortable. Don’t shoot me.”
“Vienna can stand between you,” Gage suggested helpfully. “It would be easier for her to hand the doc instruments.”
“Vienna can stay right where she is,” Rainier said. “She has the tray of instruments and can hand them across my body.”
Vienna sighed. “If you two keep it up, I’m going to have the doctor give you a shot of something to knock you out, Rainier, and I’ll have you leave the room, Mr. Barrington.”
“I’m not allowed to leave Doc.” There was amusement for the first time in Gage’s voice. “I’m not opposed to you having Briac knock out his patient. It would save me a lot of work. I could sit down and relax for a change.”
The admission told Vienna that Gage had no idea Zale was in the room looking out for Rainier.
“He’s lazy,” Briac said.
Vienna prepared four long needles where Rainier could see what she was doing to assure him he would be getting the proper dosage and it would be numbing the site, not putting him out as she had threatened. Deliberately she showed him the vials she drew from and where she laid each syringe on the tray for the doctor to use. Rainier’s gaze flicked up to her once and he barely nodded, an almost imperceptible acknowledgment, but she felt connected to him for the first time since they’d left the hotel.
Briac picked up the first syringe in his gloved hand. “I’m injecting now, Rainier.”
Rainier didn’t respond. He made no sound as, one after another, Briac injected the syringes full of numbing agent into the wound. Little beads of sweat formed on Rainier’s forehead, but he wiped them on the pillowcase with a small turn of his head and then settled again.
“Is Raine seeing anyone?” Briac asked casually.
Rainier frowned. “What the hell kind of question is that?”
“A personal one,” Briac responded. “I understand she enjoys hiking. I do as well. I have some time off coming and always wanted to see Yosemite. I thought . . .”
“Well, whatever you’re thinking, don’t,” Rainier said. “You mess with that girl, do you have any idea what kind of hell you’ll bring down on your head? It’s best just to leave her alone.”
“Is she yours?” Briac asked.
Vienna couldn’t help laughing. She tried to cover it up, but was unsuccessful. “I’m sorry.” She knew her voice gave it away that she wasn’t. “Raine might shoot Rainier in the middle of the night if he bossed her around the way he does everyone, although I don’t know. Maybe not. It’s difficult to predict what she’ll do in any given situation.”
“It isn’t just my people, Doc,” Rainier said. “Yours as well. She stubs her toe and there’s going to be hell to pay from both sides.”
Vienna sobered immediately. She hadn’t thought of that. What did that mean for Raine’s dating life? What man would risk bodily harm trying to date her? It would be difficult enough just trying to keep up with her intellect and outdoor skills, let alone worrying about her military connections. Vienna hadn’t thought of the problems Raine’s dates might encounter, but no doubt Raine had.
Briac shrugged, although Rainier couldn’t see him. “Who Raine chooses to hike with isn’t anyone’s business but hers. You might consider that I’m about to dig into your leg with a really sharp instrument before you reply to me.”
Vienna liked not only his sense of humor but also the fact that he wasn’t intimidated by the warning. She watched him work. She’d worked with a good many doctors, both in emergency rooms and in surgery rooms, and recognized that he was very good. The military had sent one of the best they had to help out.
It took some time to find the tiny piece of rock left behind in Rainier’s leg. Briac triumphantly pulled the bloody sliver out and dropped it into the tray. “It always amazes me how much damage a tiny foreign object can do to our bodies when the initial bullet wouldn’t have caused that much of a problem. You were lucky, Rainier. This is actually a piece of rock.”
“Yeah, the bullet was a through and through and didn’t hit anything vital, but it ricocheted off the boulders we were in. Two of them maybe before it actually hit me. Hurt like a mother. I had quite a few pieces of rock embedded in the back of my leg. We weren’t going to come here to the women, but then we needed Vienna to check the damn thing.”
Vienna watched as Briac closed the wound with tiny, precise stitches. She didn’t know why, because she did trust the doctor, but she felt responsible for Rainier. Zale had to keep his eye on the biggest threat—Gage—and he wouldn’t know exactly what Briac was doing. She would be able to see if Briac attempted to introduce anything out of the ordinary to the wound. He did give him a hefty shot of antibiotics and placed a bottle of pills on the end table.
“Take all of them. You know the drill.”
Rainier made noises that could have meant anything.
Vienna cleaned up, gathering all the used bandages and gauze, putting them in the hazmat bag the doctor had with him. He would carry it out of the Airbnb so there was no evidence left behind.
Briac stood up and stretched. “Be a little careful with that, Rainier. Don’t just jump back into action right away.”
Vienna pulled a sheet over Rainier and followed Gage and Briac out of the room, uncaring whether or not Zale would be upset with her. The doctor had done a really stellar job, and if he wanted to talk to Raine for a moment before he left, she was going to see to it that he was able to do so.