The hospital administrators were happy to show off their brilliant protégé physician. Saina might not know it, but he was evaluating her suitability as a member of his lab research teams here on Earth. He thought she would be better protected if she didn’t interact with so many unknown elements. If Anastasia or her father ever found out that Saina was alive, her working in a hospital setting would make her an easy target.
Other than that initial glare of displeasure, Saina ignored him and got on with her work.
It was clear that her prodigy status drew a lot of attention for the hospital as another physician, Matthew Shaw, and a group of students trailed behind her taking copious notes about everything she said or did with her patients. After the introduction, Thorne largely dismissed her audience’s presence, although Dr. Shaw made every attempt to interact and ensure that he wouldn’t be ignored. He spent most of the day trying to prove to Thorne what a brilliant doctor he was. Thorne barely acknowledged the doctor’s overtures. The other man’s voice irritated him for reasons even he couldn’t explain.
Thorne almost expected that Saina would use her powers to heal, but in the ten hours he’d followed her around, she didn’t use her powers once. Her specialty was internal medicine, and he saw her handle extensive injuries with unwavering confidence for someone so young. She handled burnt and accident victims and knife and gun wounds. Any injury that came into the emergency room she treated with impressive skill and speed.
She worked ten straight hours without breaking stride. Instead of taking lunch in the cafeteria with the other doctors and nurses, she sat with an older African American male patient to have a sandwich with him.
Thorne, also, instead of following Dr. Shaw to the cafeteria for a proper lunch, sat along with Saina and her patient. He was in awe of the incredibly compassionate woman she had become. It was agonizing that his people were going to be denied a queen of her caliber. She would have made a remarkable queen.
Thorne soon learned that the seventy-two-year-old patient was a terminally ill cancer patient, who had been at the hospital for weeks and no relative had been to visit him yet. He almost envied the older man Saina’s soft smiles and gentle touch. She hadn’t addressed him all day and barely acknowledged his presence.
At about seven p.m., after being at the hospital from six in the morning, Thorne finally decided why he truly disliked Dr. Shaw. The bastard was dating Saina!
“Saina, honey, it’s time to call it a day,” Dr. Shaw told her softly. He laughed nervously when Saina gave him a blank look. “Come on, babe, I’ll take you to your favorite restaurant.”
Babe? Thorne wanted to bury his fist in the other man’s face, but before he could act, Saina saved his ass without realizing it.
“I can’t, Matt,” Saina told him absently as she looked at the screen of her phone.
“But—” he started.
“There was an accident on US 147, and the hospital will need all the help they can get. You can go ahead. I’ll see you tomorrow.” Saina didn’t bother to raise her head. She was too busy tapping out a message into her phone.
“You’ve already clocked too many hours this week to be of use to anyone. You’d be putting patients in jeopardy,” Dr. Shaw warned in a hard voice. “After the long hours we’ve had in the past few days, I’m not staying here another minute. Come to dinner.”
“Dr. Shaw, you may not be aware, but I am physician as well as a scientist. I’m certain Saina will be fine under my observation,” Thorne said coolly. He was holding onto his anger by a thread and wanted nothing more than to smash the other man’s face in.
“I’m sorry, Mr. Winthrop…”
“Don’t be sorry, and I’m Dr. Winthrop.”
Matt laughed nervously and licked his lips before answering. “Saina is my girlfriend.”
“I hope for your sake that she’s a platonic girlfriend.” Thorne moved closer to the shorter man, ensuring that the doctor would not mistake the simmering threat of violence that he could no longer hide.
“I don’t understand, Dr. Winthrop. How is this any of your business?” Matt asked bravely.
“Everything about Saina is my fucking business,” Thorne gritted out. “She is my ward.”
“Y’all could tone it down now,” Saina said absently and grabbed Thorne’s hand as though to restrain him. It was clear that her focus was on the news feed she was getting on her phone while aware of Thorne’s escalating temper. She lightly stroked the back of his hand in a soothing manner, in an obvious attempt to try to calm him.
Thorne was again shocked at the impact her touch had on him. His anger was still there, but it was being smothered by the sense of tranquility her touch seemed to have engendered. He laced his fingers through hers and held onto her. He wanted more of her soothing balm.
Matt’s gaze zoomed in on their now clasped palms. He tightened his lips with anger.
Thorne wasn’t surprised when the other man asked for some clarity.
“Saina is your ward?” The skepticism in his voice was evident.
“Yes, I’ve taken care of her since she was a baby.” Thorne wondered whether Saina was even aware that she still held his hand. She certainly didn’t seem to be paying attention to the conversation between the men.
“I see,” Matt murmured, but he still looked uncertainly at them, specifically at their joined hands.
“Matt, this pileup involves quite a number of people.” She looked up then and held Matt’s gaze with quiet resolve. “While I appreciate your concern, there are two school buses involved in the crash. I’m not going anywhere,” she murmured apologetically before resuming her scan of the news feed on her phone.
“Incoming!” a loud male voice boomed from a hall leading outside. Soon medics rushed in with several victims of the pileup.
Saina looked up, released Thorne’s hand, and ran toward the incoming patients.
Thorne took a moment to catch his breath, stunned that he felt their separation as though he’d received a blow to the gut. What the fuck is this?
In mid-flight, she stopped and turned to look back at him.
Their gazes collided and held. I guess she felt it too.
He had no conscious thought of moving, but he must have because the next thing he knew he was standing beside her. He released a breath he had no idea he was holding once he was next to her. There was no mistaking her release of breath either. They weren’t touching in anyway, but the closeness dulled the ache considerably. All of this took mere seconds, although it felt as if minutes had gone by. They approached the obviously bloodied patients together.
“I will advise the hospital of the risk you’re taking, Saina,” Matt told them in a loud, angry voice, still standing down the hall they’d left him.
Thorne wasn’t sure what the other man thought of their behavior, nor did he care. He was certain, however, that if Saina wanted to perform an operation in the middle of the hospital’s hall the administration wouldn’t bat an eyelash. She was their star.
“Hi, Leon,” Saina greeted the paramedic. “What do we have here?”
Thorne was gratified that Saina wasn’t bothered in anyway by Matt’s anger. She smiled gently at the young male patient who looked as though he was suffering from a few broken limbs. Her focus was solely on her patient.
With the help of four other doctors and a group of nurses, Thorne and Saina worked throughout the night on over three hundred patients that were wheeled into the ER. There were two high school football team buses caught up in the pileup, along with a few church choir buses.
For the first hour, Thorne was in awe of how well he and Saina worked together, convincing him beyond a shadow of doubt that she was who he wanted in his lab. Thankfully, none of the injuries were life threatening, just several broken bones and dislocated joints. By the second hour, they were passing instruments to each other as they worked on the same patients without a word being passed between them.
Who the fuck am
I kidding? I want her in every way a man could want a woman. I want her in my life, in my lab, and most definitely in my bed. How am I going to have the strength to deny us, especially when I know Saina wants the same thing?
Five hours later, they were called to assist another doctor who was finding it impossible to stabilize a four-year-old girl. Thorne sucked in his breath on seeing the mangled body of the little girl with pigtails and dark chocolate skin. It seemed that the sight affected Saina as well. She stumbled, and he stepped closer to her, blocking her fall.
“It’s fortunate that she’s unconscious and isn’t aware of the pain that she’s in,” Thorne said softly, stating the obvious for Saina’s benefit, giving her a chance to regain her composure. She breathed in deeply and leaned against him for a brief moment before moving toward the patient.
“We’ve done everything we can for her, but she’s still in distress,” Dr. Evans warned them.
“Have you done a scan on her?” Thorne asked.
Saina started examining the girl as Thorne spoke to Dr. Evans.
“We did a full body scan and were able to reset the broken bones in her arms and legs and stop the hemorrhaging from the lacerations on various parts of her body.”
Thorne watched as Saina meticulously and gently examined the little girl. He felt the sadness coming off her in waves. The sudden shift in her emotion jolted him, and he moved to her side feeling compelled to shield her in some way. She’d been empathetic toward all her patients before, but this was different. She was different with this child.
“What is it?” Thorne asked her quietly.
“Can you operate?” Saina asked him instead. Her gaze remained locked on the little girl. “It’s her lungs. This is not my specialty, and they may not allow me to do it.”
“We drained the fluids in her lungs!” Dr. Evans argued. “This is my specialty, and I don’t see the need for it.”
“I would be stretching the bounds of my presence here, and I haven’t operated on any patient in years,” he told her in a solemn voice, ignoring the doctor’s statement. Thorne wanted to give her anything she wanted and hated to see the disappointed slump in her shoulders on his reply. He knew she wanted to operate and that was why she’d asked him. It was his duty to ensure she received whatever she needed. Right now she needed to save this child. “You can assist Dr. Evans however,” he offered.
She looked up, and her dark eyes gleamed with appreciation.
That’s it! I would do anything to see that look in her eyes. Thorne turned to Dr. Evans. “Get her prepped for surgery.”
“But I just drained the fluids from her lungs,” Dr. Evans repeated, his expression one of disbelief at Thorne’s request. “There’s no evidence of further injury to her lungs,” Dr. Evans protested. “There’s no need for surgery.”
“I’m not asking you, Dr. Evans,” Thorne said with cold authority.
The nurses started moving to comply even before Dr. Evans turned to instruct them. Another scan was immediately performed, and the collapsed lung was confirmed. Dr. Evans didn’t appreciate being proven wrong. His face was stony with anger for the duration of the operation.
The surgery to insert a small percutaneous chest tube was successful; however, Saina didn’t look happy. She gazed to where Thorne stood behind a glass petition and spoke into the microphone, so he could hear her. “It’s been too long. Her lung is too damaged, and the tube isn’t working.”
Thorne knew that the doctors and nurses present wouldn’t understand why Saina was telling him about the progress of their operation. For the first time today, she was being compelled to use her powers, as modern medicine couldn’t save this little girl. Knowing that when Saina tried to heal the girl’s lung her lung would temporarily take on the girl’s defect, Thorne moved to make his way to the operating room. After slipping on scrubs and washing his hands, he entered the room.
“This wasn’t our fault,” Dr. Evans asserted with a slight tremor in his voice. “She wasn’t wearing a seatbelt, and her father was reckless. We can only make her as comfortable as possible now,” he finished lamely.
Saina briefly held Thorne’s gaze as he came to stand beside her. If he could have taken on the pain he knew she would soon endure, he would. He gave Dr. Evans a hard stare as he stood helplessly next to Saina to lend his support.
“Let me make one more attempt, Dr. Evans,” Saina asked softly.
“This is a waste of time. But if you want her parents to blame you for killing her, you’re quite welcome to try.”
Saina hissed at his callous words, but she gently reached for the tube already inserted into the tiny chest once more.
Thorne knew the exact moment Saina healed the girl’s lungs. She was stiff, her movements almost non-existent, and her breathing was shallow at best. He was impressed with her strength to remain on her feet despite the pain he knew she was in. Even the child’s broken bones were healed. It seemed that once she healed one part of the child, it would be impossible to not heal all of her.
Wanting to give the impression that she was repairing the lung, Saina went through the motions of trying to inflate the lung for a few extra minutes. “There,” she said out loud, “I think that will work.”
They all looked at the monitors. For the first time since the child had been admitted, she was finally breathing easily, and all her vital signs were normal.
The nurses cheered, but Dr. Evans gave her a hard, angry stare.
Thorne gently stirred Saina out of the room. “It’s time to go home, Saina,” he told her.
“I need to see her open her eyes before I leave here,” Saina murmured.
He nodded, understanding her lingering concern for the girl.
“Thank you,” she told him softly before leaving him on hurried feet to change her clothes. She ran to the female locker rooms. As soon as the door closed behind her, she started trembling and her eyes pooled with tears. She felt strong arms wrap around her and pull her against a massive chest. Thorne’s now familiar scent engulfed her. The latent fears about the little girl dying and the temporary uncertainty that she couldn’t save her almost brought Saina to her knees. Tears rolled down her cheeks as the lingering trepidation over the near miss engulfed her.
“It’s okay, honey. She survived, and you saved her. Please don’t cry.” He tightened his arms around her. “I’ve got you. Don’t cry, honey.”
“Y…you…” she sobbed. Saina buried her face in the hard wall of his chest as more tears drenched her face. “You shouldn’t be in here,” she whispered through clogging tears.
“Where else would I be?” Thorne said close to her ear. He gently kissed her cheek. “I’ll always take care of you.” He kissed her other cheek. “Always be here for you.”
She sucked in her breath, stepped away from him, and stared up at him in surprise. “I don’t understand.”
Thorne closed the space between them again, bent his head, and brushed her lips with his. “You’re my wife. We’re inseparable. There’s nothing else to understand.”
“Thorne…”
“Shh, don’t argue with me,” he whispered soothingly. “You hurt, I hurt. There’s nothing either of us can do to change that reality.”
“But—”
He brushed her lips again. Holding her gaze, he covered her lips with his.
She tasted her own tears first, and then the flavor she now recognized as uniquely his obliterated all other thoughts from her head, except of him. Her lips clung to his, and she returned his kiss with equal fervor. His big body shuddered against her with obvious desire, and she helplessly responded by trying to get closer to him.
He pushed her back to a closed locker and ground his hard frame against her softness. He angled his head and deepened the kiss.
Saina was desperate to feel more of him, to feel him where she ached the most. She wound her arms around his neck and with easy agility climbed his massive thighs and lean hips to wrap her legs aroun
d his waist. The scrubs they both had on were no barrier to his hard length grinding against her throbbing center. She sensually rolled her hips to gain the most exquisite friction she’d ever felt in her entire life. “Oh sweet Jesus,” she hissed as he ground against her in just the right spot. Her hard knob of sensitivity quivered and sizzled with every slide of his granite shaft.
She sucked his tongue deeper into her mouth, making him growl in appreciation. Widening her thighs to give him more access, she threw her head back and rode the steely column with fevered intent. In seconds, he was thrusting against her wildly and coming so hard it triggered her own orgasm.
Much later and following more soft kisses and murmured words of praise from him, Thorne left her to go change into his clothes. Saina was still shaking in the aftermath of that blistering orgasm. Nothing in life had prepared her for such intense feelings. And he hasn’t even penetrated me yet. Can’t he see that we already don’t have a choice? She pulled on her garments with unsteady hands. She was trembling so hard it took her twice as long to pull on simple slacks and a sweater.
As soon as they were both back in regular clothes, they visited the little girl. She was resting peacefully against her pillow looking sleepily at her parents who sat at her bedside. Both parents had bandages from injuries they’d sustained during the accident.
Without disturbing the family, they made their way out of the hospital.
Chapter Six
“Let me take you home,” Thorne told her as she tried to hail a taxi down.
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