Page 54 of Stripped

"You're not going anywhere, lassie, until you get the MRI. Then we'll talk," Dr. Forbes said gently after a short silence. "I need to go check on Wraith. I'll be back in a bit to take you for the MRI."

Gabriel made no move to leave with the doctor and, instead, pulled his chair closer to her. "It will have been a long week for you."

She nodded, not sure who to trust anymore, so she thought it best if she remained silent. A week ago, she knew none of these people. A week ago, her life had been just about perfect. "Do you have a phone I could borrow? I need to make a phone call."

He removed his from his suit jacket, handing it to her. She looked down at it. She had no idea of Peter's number. She had it stored in her phone but never memorized it. As if reading her mind, Gabriel said softly, "If you need a number, I can get it for you."

Master of information and traffic lights,she thought. "No." She handed the phone back.

"Wraith won't have told you much about our organization." He leaned back and crossed his legs gracefully.

"Nothing. Only that he worked for my grandfather."

"Aye. He wouldn't have been able to. What we do is rather confidential. It can be a bit delicate."

"He only said he was a private investigator."

Gabriel nodded. "Aye, that's a part of it." He looked introspective for a moment and Pim hoped the conversation was over, so she could be alone. "I was a priest before I came."

She looked over at him. "Was? I thought once a priest, always a priest, forever."

"A metaphysical fact. You're right. One's indelible spiritual character can never be erased." Gabriel gave her a half smile. "I asked to leave. It's considered a loss of clerical state. I can no longer exercise the power of orders, but in the Church's eyes, I'm still a priest."

Pim thought she understood. She would always be a dancer, even when she would no longer be able to dance. Even when she gave it up during her rebellious stage, it was a part of her soul. It never left her, maybe not until now. Sokolov had stolen that. "Why?"

"I was a chaplain, serving in the Royal Regiment of Scotland during the Iraq war." He ran his hand through his blond hair. "I saw horrible things and heard the nightmares and confessions of my men. I guess it made me question myself. Question my faith. Question the existence of God himself. So, when I returned, I asked to be released." He leaned forward again. "I know you have no reason to trust me. And dear God, considering what you went through, I completely understand if you don't want to, but the sooner we talk about what happened, the sooner we can catch who did this to you."

"Will the girls be okay?"

"They're being taken care of right now." He reached over and took her hand.

"It's my fault Ivanna is dead. I couldn't give him what he wanted." A tear slipped down her cheek.

"Pim, whatever happened, I guarantee it wasn't your fault."

"It was; he told me I could save her. I should have been perfect. I should have died at the end."

"Who told you this?"

She pulled her hand out of his and wiped her eyes. "Viktor Sokolov. He said he was an associate of my grandfather's and that my grandfather owed him a debt. It was up to me to repay the debt. A life for a life. I could have saved Ivanna."

Dr. Forbes opened the door and stuck his head in. "Ready?"

"How's Wraith?"

"Twenty sutures to his deltoid. Needle aspiration to relieve the pneumothorax. He'll be fine. Bloody cat with nine lives, that one."

"Can I see him?" she asked.

"Well, he's heavily sedated and asleep, but you can peek in."

Gabriel helped her off the bed and followed her to the room next door. Wraith lay on the bed with a bandage on his ruined and scarred chest and one around his arm. She went to his side, running her hand down the side of his face and over the stubble of his beard. His eyes opened slowly, and he smiled. "I must be dreaming."

"I'm just making sure you don't fucking die on me."

"Never. How's my beautiful girl?"

"I'm not yours, and I'll live."

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