Chapter 9

Shaun was cold, shivering in the dark on a bare mattress in a bare room. She was hungry and she had to urinate. She hadn't gotten the sense from her captors that they intended for her to be miserable. It was more likely that they were too busy to think about her. Still, she was worried that if they forgot for much longer, she would have to start shouting.

She'd been attempting to sleep, the sun having long since gone down and the only light now a dim streetlight down the road from where her room was facing. She'd tried the window, but it was bolted shut. She wondered if this room was actually meant for prisoners, given how solid the door and lock were, and her inability to open the window. She closed her eyes, drifting in and out of consciousness. She had no way to tell time, but she suspected she wasn't sleeping for more than a few minutes at a time.

It was during one of these brief periods when she was snatching a few minutes of sleep that her door banged open. She opened her eyes and sat up on the mattress, pushing hair off her forehead. She'd taken her hair out of its tight bun and it was now a wild mass of tight curls in a halo around her head. Normally she'd work them into braids for easy maintenance while she was working, but even that basic hair care had fallen to the wayside during her long shifts in the Luhansk hospital. The mass was nearly shoulder length, although when she had it chemically relaxed it would go halfway down her back.

She blinked into the gloom and then squinted her displeasure as the overhead light was flicked on. After a moment of blindness, she was able to focus on the intruder.

Jozef.

Her heart picked up and fear began pumping through her veins as she recognized him. Despite his words that he didn't plan on killing her anymore, she couldn't help but see the gun and feel the press of the steel muzzle against her temple every time she looked at him.

He jerked his head toward the door, indicating she should come with him.

"I have to go to the bathroom," she said quickly, scooting to the edge of the bed. When he frowned, she added, "Please, Jozef. I've been in here for hours with no relief." She hoped adding his name would help humanize her in his eyes, make it harder for him to deprive her of basic needs.

He jerked his head in a nod and once more indicated she should follow him. She stood and approached the door cautiously. He backed up so she could pass and waved his hand out the door. She walked into the hallway, holding her breath as she brushed past him. He walked closely behind her. About halfway down the hall, he grabbed her arm to stop her. Shaun jumped at his touch and glanced at him.

He dropped his hand and pointed at a door. Shaun approached slowly, peaking inside and then saw the outline of a tub, sink and toilet. She sighed her relief and rushed through the door, turning to close it behind her. He gripped the edge of the door, stopping her from closing it completely. She glanced over at him, but decided it wasn't worth the fight. She didn't know where she stood with him yet and wasn't willing to push her luck.

She reached for the light, but he pushed her hand away and pointed at the toilet, then he turned his back, pulling the door partly shut. She stared at him, or more accurately, his back. It looked like she was going to pee in the dark with an audience. Not that it mattered. There was enough light coming in through the small window that she could at least make her way to the toilet and feel around. She'd urinated in worse conditions than this. There hadn't been any flush toilets where she'd been stationed in Sri Lanka.

Once she finished, she washed her hands. He turned toward her, took her arm, and pulled her back out into the hallway. She walked with him down a set of stairs to the main floor. They followed another darkened hallway into a room filled with people.

Shaun balked, catching sight of the man who'd argued with Jozef about killing her in the basement. She'd learned his name was Havel and, judging from the way he spoke to Jozef, he was some kind of enforcer or second-in-command.

Havel glanced at her, then swiftly turned away, a cigarette clenched between his teeth. Jozef walked into her back when she stopped suddenly. His hands landed on her hips, steadying her as she was jolted forward. She glanced back at him, but his gaze went past hers and landed on someone else.

Shaun followed his line of sight.

An older man, his hair and beard grey and unwashed, was sitting slumped in a chair next to a fireplace. The light from the fire cast shadows over his body. He was big, probably quite imposing when standing. He was holding a hand to his face, and his other hand, which was bandaged, rested in his lap. The bandage concerned Shaun. Did they want her to help yet another prisoner? Was she about to go through the same scenario as the basement? Patching up a man just so this motley crew could torture and kill him.

She didn't think that was what was happening here. The man was in a deferential spot, near the fire with a blanket on his lap, sitting in a leather armchair. He seemed to be an important man. Perhaps the uncle Jozef had mentioned in the forest.

When Shaun and Jozef entered the room, the man looked up at them with a kind of tired curiosity reflected in his gaze. He had sharp blue eyes, the same shade as Jozef's. As they passed over Shaun, they narrowed in speculation.

She thought she understood. Not only did she stand out as a stranger and a foreigner in what she suspected was a tight-knit group, but she was black. Her skin colour set her apart from every person in the room, and most people in Ukraine. She wasn't usually self-conscious, either about her skin colour or anything else, but when every eye in the room landed on her, she felt her cheeks burn in response.

She shifted slightly to lean back against Jozef. In this room filled with criminals, he was the only one she knew for sure wasn't prepared to shoot her. Everyone else had varying expressions of skeptical, impatient and downright nasty. She really, really didn't want to be the focus of attention anymore. Jozef, whose hand was still on her hip, gave her a gentle squeeze, which surprised her. So far in all of her dealings with him, he hadn't shown a gentle bone in his body. Yet, he seemed to be trying to reassure her, which had the opposite effect. She now knew that she should be very afraid of the man sitting by the fire.

It was the older man who finally broke the silence. "You're a doctor?" He spoke English, but his accent was thick, as though he didn't do it often.

"Yes," she said, a little hesitantly. Obviously, he meant her since there wasn't anyone else in the room wearing scrubs.

"I think my nephew wishes for you to look me over before we leave for our next destination." His gaze flickered past her shoulder to land on Jozef. "Complete nonsense, but the boy is stubborn. Won't leave until I've been properly inspected."

Jozef being likened to a boy felt completely incongruous. There was nothing young and cute about him. He was all man with a good dose of terrifying. The older gentleman was looking at Jozef through the lens of family. So he was the uncle that Jozef had told her about when he told her that they would have to be married.

"Well, don't just stand there," he barked, losing patience. "Let's get this over with. Everyone out. Jozef and the girl can stay."

Shaun hated being called a 'girl'. It was demeaning and completely inappropriate for a woman of her education and profession. Ordinarily, she would correct him by telling him she preferred her name, or if he must use a noun, then woman. She kept her silence though, not ready to antagonize him.

Jozef pushed Shaun farther into the room, making space by the door for the others to leave. The woman who had brought food and water to Shaun earlier in the day glanced at her as she passed. Her expression was pitying, which made Shaun wonder what exactly she was in for. She stiffened her spine. It didn't matter. She was a medical professional, and she would treat Jozef's uncle as she would any other patient. What happened to her after was irrelevant.

She was a doctor; her job was to heal.

Once everyone had left and the door was closed, she walked to the fireplace. She glanced around and, spotting a stool, pulled it closer. As she sank down, seating herself in front of him, she asked softly, "What's your name?"

He stared at her; his sharp gaze somewhat malevolent. She hoped this was his default expression and that he wasn't using it on her in particular. Because if he really felt toward her the way his expression was leaning, then she wouldn't survive the night.

"You do not need to know my name to look at my wound, divka." His voice was deep and guttural as he stumbled over his English.

She shrugged, and said in slow, halting Ukrainian, "I ask the names of all my patients." She reached for his hand, going for his obvious injury first. "It makes it easier to ask them how they feel, where it hurts, how they were injured."

He didn't pull away as she unraveled the gauze bandage, pulling it first away from his hand, then his finger. She sank her teeth into her lip to stop the gasp that tried to fly out when she saw the damage inflicted on him. She lifted her gaze to meet his and was awed by the blank look he was giving her in return. They could have been at a tea party for all the indication of pain he was giving. He did not have the look of a man who had been tortured within the last several days.

"You are very brave," he said mockingly, switching to Ukrainian. "You speak Ukrainian badly and are not shy to put me in my place. You must be very sure of yourself."

"I'm completely terrified, actually, but as you are now my patient, I want you to be comfortable while I treat your injury. I thought you would be more comfortable speaking Ukrainian."

He inclined his head toward her, his deep blue gaze taking on a thoughtful look.

She tugged his hand further away from his body, resting it on her knees, and inspected it in the firelight. She twisted around and said to Jozef, "I need more light, please."

Jozef nodded and reached behind himself to flick on the light. He strode to the window to draw the heavy curtains across, blocking any view of them from the street. The wound on her patient's finger was straight and even, as though it had been cut with scissors or hedge clippers. The cut was infected though, and most likely quite painful. Puss oozed from the stump and the skin around the wound was white instead of a healthy pink. The instrument that had taken the finger had probably been dirty, and the wound most likely hadn't been sterilized after.

"Your wound is closing, but it's infected. You need antibiotic ointment, a fresh bandage and a round of strong antibiotics."

Shaun jumped as a bag landed next to her on the floor. She leaned over and opened it, immediately recognizing an array of medical aides. She glanced up at Jozef, who stood behind her chair, his arms crossed over his chest. He'd taken his leather coat off. She could now see the tattoos that ran all the way up his corded arms. The sleeves of his T-shirt were stretched taut across the muscles of his arms. She'd seen firsthand the strength those arms carried when he lifted the man from the basement off the floor.

She refocused on her patient, opening the first-aid kit wider and inspecting the contents. She pulled out a tube of antibiotic ointment, a gauze bandage, some tape and a pair of gloves. Pulling the gloves on, she set about tending to her patient. She was careful and methodical, making sure the man who might hold her life in his hands would have no complaint about her care of him. At first, the room was silent while she worked. After a few minutes she felt his gaze lift from the top of her bent head to Jozef, who was still standing behind her.

"You intend that we leave tonight?"

She felt the air stir behind her as Jozef answered the question. She desperately wanted to turn and look, to watch the graceful movements his strong hands were making, but she stayed concentrated on her job. Judging from the older man's next words, Jozef's response had been an affirmative.

"All of us, or will you leave anyone in the city to keep an eye on Vasiliy?"

Again, she felt, rather than saw, Jozef communicate with his uncle.

"Ah, yes, Havel is a good choice. Trustworthy and measured. He will make sure things here are settled. Have him follow us home in a few days. By then we should have prepared a response to this action taken by my enemy."

Shaun glanced up at her patient and he looked down at her. She didn't like that they were talking business in front of her. She was supposed to be a bystander ? just a stranger who'd gotten caught up in their drama. If they weren't afraid to discuss important matters in front of her, then that meant she was either family, or collateral damage. And she certainly wasn't family yet.

"You will tell our hosts to lie low until the dust settles. We can't be positive that Vasiliy won't come after anyone who helped with my rescue, though I am still unsure of his motives. If he wanted me dead, then he would have done it while he had me under his control. He had to know that you would come for me." Her patient spoke almost as if he was speaking to himself. His gaze seemed far away, and she didn't think Jozef was responding, though she couldn't be positive since she couldn't see him from her position.

"Perhaps he wanted you to die a slower death," she muttered.

The older man didn't pretend not to hear her. "Why do you say that, girl?"

"My name is Doctor Shaun Patterson, not girl," she said crisply and straightened her spine as she looked up at him. "And if this infection was left for even one more day, you would be looking at gangrene and blood poisoning. An extremely painful way to die."

He waved his good hand through the air negligently. "These people do not think this way. If they were to have me killed, they would do it quickly, and yes, painfully. They did not intend for me to die, even if that was the outcome of their stupidity. No, they intended to hold me only and threaten my family."

Jozef made a short growling sound that made Shaun turn around to glance at him. He was signing at his uncle with movements that were so rapid she was having trouble catching them all.

"Don't talk that way, boy," the other man said sharply. "I trust all members of my family, especially you. I never once doubted your loyalty while I spent a week locked in that cell. In fact, I simply counted the hours until you arrived. There was no doubt in my mind that you would come for me."

She glanced back down, finishing the bandage and securing it with medical tape. Had Jozef just implicated himself? But why? Especially when it was clear he had nothing to do with his uncle's abduction. She stayed silent, watching their exchange, trying to pick up as much as she could from the strange one-sided conversation.

"This is not a path we will go down, my boy. We are a solid family and I will not doubt a single member. Vasiliy must have another motive for making such a stupid move. You will find out the truth and we will move forward with his punishment." He paused, watching as Jozef bowed his head in acquiescence. Then his gaze moved to Shaun. "What about this girl, what is her purpose for being here?"

Jozef explained to his uncle that she was needed to patch up their detainee so Jozef and his team could ascertain his Uncle's whereabouts. Shaun was grateful when she realized Jozef wasn't telling his uncle that she'd failed to revive the man in the basement.

When Jozef finished speaking, his uncle looked at her for a long time. When his gaze turned from thoughtful to regretful, Shaun realized which side of collateral damage she was about to land on. It was what she feared would happen. She was a loose end that needed tying up. She dropped her head, tears rushing to her eyes.

"You have helped me, and I am grateful," he said to her, leaning back in his chair and resting his bandaged hand on his lap. "Jozef will make it quick."

At least he didn't do her the disservice of pretending he wasn't ordering her execution. Shaun lifted angry eyes to his. "You'll excuse me if I don't thank you, I'm not quite ready to die."

The older man tipped his head and gave her a cool half smile. "You wouldn't be human if you didn't have the instinct to live."

Shaun opened her mouth to tell him he could go fuck himself, when Jozef's hand dropped heavily onto her shoulder, pinning her in place. She glanced back at him, but he wasn't looking at her. He was looking at his uncle, and, though he wasn't speaking, or even signing, whatever he was communicating to the other man seemed to be eloquent enough that words weren't required.

"You wish to keep this woman?" he asked, surprise lingering in his voice.

He looked at Shaun, his eyes running from the top of her wild curls, down her body to her sneaker-clad feet. She shuffled them under her stool, feeling almost naked after that heavy perusal.

"You've never asked me for anything." The words had an edge of wonder. "Not once in all these years."

Finally, after several more seconds passed, he reached out and picked up Shaun's hand, holding it briefly in his good hand, and squeezing. "Welcome to the family, Ms. Patterson, I am Krystoff Koba."