Page 4 of Cyrus

“Not sure. Probably just drunk, but anything is possible.”

Stitches took out a pen light and checked her eyes. She cried out and flinched, turning her face into my shoulder to hide her eyes.

“S’op it!” Her words were slurred, but at least she was responsive.

“Smells like a brewery.” Stitches sighed. “What makes you think she has something on board other than alcohol?”

“Nothing. Just covering all the bases. This is Blade’s sister.”

“Blade. Donovan Muse? With Salvation’s Bane?”

“Yep. He and I were tight in the Air Force. Can’t imagine he’d let her come all the way up here alone without givin’ us a heads-up.”

“Maybe he told Sting.”

I shrugged. “Maybe. But Blade knows I’m here. He’d tell everyone in the Goddamned area he trusted to keep her out of trouble if he knew. That includes me.”

Stitches scrubbed a hand over his face. “I suppose I can do a drug screen on her. Won’t get specifics, but it can identify the main things.”

“I just need to know that she’s OK. If I need to get her treatment beyond supportive care.”

Stitches nodded. “I can help you with that. Come on inside. Take her to my sleep room and I’ll draw her blood. Got a lab tech who owes me a favor. I’ll get him to run a drug screen on it. In the meantime, I can set her up with a banana bag. You can manage it at the clubhouse. If anything comes up in her drug test, I’ll let you know what you need to do.”

“Good.”

I followed Stitches in the back and to a small room with a twin bed, a refrigerator, a TV, and a private bathroom. It was clean and looked like it hadn’t been used this shift.

“Lay her down. I’ll get some stuff to start an IV and draw her blood.”

Ten minutes later, Stitches handed me a bag of bright yellow fluids with IV tubing in a separate package. He also gave her some Narcan just to be on the safe side, but it didn’t seem to do anything. “Don’t spike it until you get ready to use it. With the new dispensary, I had to practically give my left nut to get this under the table. Last thing I need is to have to get another one because you forgot to clamp off the tubing and it all leaked out before you got to use it.”

“I may not have transitioned my medic license into the civilian world, but I’m not stupid. I know how to manage IV fluids.” I felt my temper spike again. This was insane. I hadn’t felt anything like this since I was a kid. Before I’d learned how to bury any emotion I didn’t understand deep inside me where it couldn’t get out. “Ain’t a dumbass.”

“Sorry, man. Didn’t mean to imply you were. Explaining myself is a force of habit. Fewer misunderstandings and accidents that way.”

Blaze was waiting in the hall when I exited with Odette in my arms. She was sleeping peacefully.

“Thought you’d have more trouble with her.” Blaze nodded toward the arm where she had an IV site at the bend of her elbow. “Didn’t hear her cry out when Stitches stuck her.”

“‘Cause she didn’t even fucking flinch.” That worried me. The only time she’d reacted was when Stitches had checked her eyes. The rest of the time, she slept peacefully. “You sure I should take her back to the clubhouse, Stitches? What if she’s been drugged with something that she needs to be monitored for?”

“Then I’ll call and have you bring her back. I’m betting it’s just the alcohol. She didn’t have a reaction to the Narcan, so it’s not anything with opiates involved. The best thing is for her to get those fluids and sleep it off. Main thing to watch for is vomiting. You don’t want her on her back. Be best to have her on her side. That way she doesn’t aspirate if she gets sick and she won’t get smothered if she’s too drunk to move the pillow away from her face if she’s on her stomach.”

I knew all this, of course. I didn’t need anyone fucking telling me how to take care of a drunk. Looking down at her beautiful face, though, I felt a sliver of apprehension coil in my belly. This woman was in my care. She was the sister of a man I considered a close friend. Though every man in Iron Tzars MC was my brother, I didn’t have many people I considered a friend. The compulsion to take care of Odette was too strong to ignore and that had to be because of my loyalty to Blade. Not because of Odette herself. She was nothing to me.

But as I continued to look at her, I grew more and more possessive of her. That feeling had nothing to do with my friend and everything to do with the woman in my arms. I shook myself. I had to get a grip on these feelings. This is why I hated dealing with emotions. There was no good reason for them. I didn’t even know this girl! I’d met her exactly once and it hadn’t been the best of meetings. In fact, I was pretty sure she hated me after I’d carried her like a sack of potatoes to her brother and ratted out her and the prospect she was with for sneaking into the Bane compound without getting permission from a patched member.

I took her back to the Bronco. Wylde was standing next to the cage, one hand braced on the back quarter panel while he bent double and heaved his guts up. There is nothing that smells worse than alcoholic vomit. If this was in Odette’s future, I had no idea how I’d handle it. I told myself it was because the smell would be unbearable. In reality, I wasn’t looking forward to seeing her as miserable as Wylde looked. Just the thought put a sharp pain in my chest, and I settled Odette closer to me, rubbing my cheek against her silky hair.

Then I jerked myself straight, letting her head fall back against my shoulder. What the fuck was this? Odette was drunk. An inconvenience at best. If she was miserable because she’d drank too much, it would serve as a reminder for her not to do this ever again! I should be looking forward to making tomorrow as miserable for her as I planned on doing to Wylde. But the thought made my chest hurt worse. There was no way I was going to be glad she was hurting and miserable. Why? Good Goddamned question.

Good Goddamned question.

Chapter Two

Odette

There was currently a freight train and a jackhammer storming and pounding their way through my head. My eyes felt like someone had thrown sand in them and my mouth tasted like my cat had shit in my mouth.

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