Page 43 of Black Bay Protector
“Are you a doctor?” the scarred guy asked. His voice was a deep rumble that sent shivers down her spine and lifted the small hairs on her arms and the back of her neck.
“I’m a nurse.”
The ferocious roar that followed nearly buckled her knees and Jace was suddenly in front of her pushing her behind his back.
“You brought a white coat here!”
While Paige’s heart raced with fear, Jace got right in the other guy’s face, his aggression palpable. “She’s mine! Back off or we’ll fight. You’ll lose.”
Two other men gripped the scarred one’s shoulders. “Come on, man. Let’s not do this. She’s no threat. Leave her alone.”
With a grunt, the guy shrugged off the hands and turned on his heel to stomp away.
One of the men who’d tried to restrain him offered Paige a tight smile. “Sorry about that. White coats aren’t exactly our favorite people.” Turning his attention to Jace, he added, “He won’t bother her. You know he barely ever leaves his room.”
Jace growled low, still bristling with aggression as he turned and scooped her up into his arms. A minute later, they were back in the Jeep and Jace was speeding away.
It took a bit for Paige’s heart to resume its normal rhythm. “What did that guy mean when he called me a white coat? You’ve used that term before, but I thought you were referring to the scientists that experimented on you.”
Jace glanced over at her and his face was still set in angry lines. “The scientists, yes, but there were also medical doctors and nurses there that hurt us.”
Paige swallowed hard as bile rose in her throat. Why hadn’t she thought of that? That these people would be suspicious of anyone in the medical profession. After what they’d endured, she couldn’t blame them.
“You don’t have to worry about him though. He heals like me so the only reason he’d go to the infirmary is if he was escorting someone there.”
Paige scrunched her brow in confusion. “But he’s scarred.”
Jace nodded sharply. “We all are.”
“What? No, you’re not. Where?” She’d seen every inch of Jace’s gorgeous body and there wasn’t a mark on him.
Pulling off to the side of the road, he threw the Jeep in park and to Paige’s surprise, whipped his shirt over his head. He pointed to the stylized Latin script tattooed across his chest that read,Igne Natura Renovatur Integra. “Look closer.”
Leaning in, Paige did as he asked and for the first time noticed the little pock-marks and dimples under the dark ink. Running her fingers over them delicately as if they might still hurt, she asked, “What is this from?”
“Lark’s venom. Doctor Dietrich was testing its potency as a weapon to be used on the battlefield and Erik was the first one she tested it on. She sprayed a large, concentrated dose right in his face.” Jace shook his head. “It’s the only time I can remember her being horrified by something she’d done. She assumed he’d heal fully. He didn’t. None of us did. That’s why we all have so many tattoos.” He shuddered. “You do not want to see what Lark’s venom does to things that don’t have our healing capabilities.”
Anger crept through Paige in a wave of prickly heat. “She knew you couldn’t heal from it yet she still kept doing it?”
“Yup.” He shrugged. “She wanted to see if it affected us differently depending on our genetic alterations.”
God, she wanted to cry. What Jace, what all of them, had suffered. It made her sick to her stomach just hearing about it and they’d lived it. Every day for years.
Swallowing the lump that had risen in her throat, she licked her lips. “Did any of you ever get any kind of counseling after?”
“We saw a therapist when we were first released. No one wanted to, but the General made it mandatory.” Jace shrugged. “Turned out he was a pretty good guy.”
Even if they hadn’t wanted to, she was glad the General had provided mental care as well as physical. All too often, psychological injuries and trauma were overlooked. If someone appeared strong and healthy, the world tended to assume they must be fine.
Jace suddenly chuckled. “I asked him which soap I should pick.”
With a sputter of surprised laughter, Paige shook her head. “What? How did that come up?”
“At my first meeting with the guy, I went in there all puffed up and ready for a fight. I told him I didn’t need some guy who knew nothing about me, judging me and telling me how I should feel. That’s when he said, ‘It’s not my job to tell you how you should feel or if those feelings are right or wrong. I’m here to listen when and if you want to talk and make some suggestions on how to deal with those feelings. What you do with that information from there is up to you’.” With a grin, he added, “So I sat down and said, “Fine, I want to talk about soap”.”
Paige barked a laugh. “Why soap?”
“When we were locked up, soap was given to us, but once we were freed, we had all these choices: body washes or bars, deodorizing, moisturizing, extreme clean, all with different smells. It was overwhelming.”
