by Mikayla Lane
The group could hear the muffled screaming and looked at one another in concern as they picked up their pace towards the sound until they were running down the narrow corridor and into one of the smaller rooms.
They crowded in the doorway, unable to get inside and stared in shock at Gracus, who looked nothing like the man who had left them only twenty eight hours earlier.
Chapter Four
Grai stared into the room and couldn’t believe that the naked, handcuffed, gagged and hogtied man that was flopping around and screaming on the floor was Gracus, but there was no mistaking it. He turned to look at Amun and didn’t need to say anything as the doctor had already pulled out his comm and began running the necessary scans to find out what the hell was wrong with him.
“We need to get this moved out of the way,” Scaden said as he started to move the mobile carts, gurney and other items out of the doorway so they could get in.
Gracus turned wild eyes to the door and stopped trying to get out of his bonds as he screamed into the gag that someone had forced into his mouth.
Grai wasn’t sure if Gracus even knew what was going on. The look in his eyes said that he wasn’t himself and that something, maybe the drug, still had a deep hold of his mind and body.
Amun turned to Grai with a grimace. “His cells are completely saturated with the drug. He’s entirely paralyzed his beast and is in a hallucinogenic state. It’s going to take a little while to flush it from his system and I need him back at MedLab to do it.”
Grai nodded his head at Gracus. “Shouldn’t you sedate him for transport?”
Amun shook his head. “No! We can’t add anything else on top of what is already in his system. We’re going to have to try and take him like he is,” Amun said, wishing that they could do something to help calm Gracus down.
Grai nodded his head and looked at Gracus strangely. The Valendran had calmed down when he had seen them, but had gone wild again when Amun mentioned taking him out of here.
“He’s going to be hard to handle,” Scaden said with a grimace, not looking forward to trying to carry his friend while he was in this kind of erratic state.
Scaden and Niklosi had the doorway clear and Grai stepped through it, before his friends to get inside. He quickly leaned down and whispered, “I’m sorry my friend, but we can’t have you seen like this.”
Then Grai drew back and punched Gracus in the face so hard his head snapped back and his body went completely limp on the floor as the others yelled out “Oh!” and the sheriff muttered, “Damn boy!”
Amun rushed to Gracus and sighed in relief as he said, “He’s just passed out and will be a lot easier to move. The bruise will heal quickly.” Amun would never admit it, but he was glad Grai had knocked out his friend.
The sheriff turned to Grai. “If you’re gonna take him out of here, let’s get him on a gurney and you can pull your vehicle around back to the loading dock.”
Grai nodded his head as Niklosi and Scaden hefted Gracus onto the now upright gurney, before he handed the keys to the SUV to Niklosi so he could bring it around the building.
Joe shook his head at the passed out man. “Follow me and I’ll take you to the loading dock,” Joe said as he turned down the hall and led them to the back of the building.
Ignoring the many stares of the curious hospital staff and patients, they finally got Gracus stuffed into the back of the SUV when Grai turned to Joe.
“I am sorry that I did not come under better circumstances, but I will be returning soon, my friend,” Grai paused and blushed a moment before continuing. “Tricia is blessing me with a daughter soon and I can’t think of a better place for us to bring Tristan’s sister into the world.”
Joe’s smile split his face and he pulled the large man to him and patted his back in happiness. “Oh Grai! I can’t think of better news than that! Personally, I think you waited too long to give that boy a sibling! You get hold of me before you arrive and I’ll see about making sure everything is perfect for Tricia,” Joe said pulling back from Grai, his smile brightening his face.
Grai couldn’t help but smile back. “Thank you Joe, I’ll call you about a week before we plan on arriving. I definitely owe you one,” Grai motioned to the SUV and the unconscious man inside. “For this. Let me know what you need and it’s yours,” Grai said seriously.
Without hesitation, Joe said. “We got a family, six kids, their father just got laid off from his job last month and their mom can’t feed them all with her paycheck from the motel as a part time maid… they’re good people Grai…,” Joe began before Grai cut him off.
“One day, I hope you will think to ask of something for yourself first. But your selflessness is one of the many things I admire about you, Joe. Email me the information on the family and I will take care of it by the end of the day,” Grai said, holding his hand out to his friend.
Joe grinned and shook Grai’s hand. “Thanks Grai, I look forward to seeing you and your family soon,” Joe said.
Grai started to head to the SUV and turned back to Joe. “What happened to the bears?” he asked, knowing damn well when Jax heard of this she’d want to know. He admitted he was curious over their welfare as well. Grai hated to think that the innocent creatures might be harmed because of one of his people.
Joe laughed and shook his head. “By the time the rescue squad got there, the bears were long gone. Rebecca said they woke up and wandered off as if nothing had happened. She said they looked fine so we’re going to keep an ear out for any strange bear activity for a few days. If nothing comes up, we’ll forget about it.”
Grai nodded, happy that the bears would have no lasting effects from their encounter with the Valendran and he headed back to the SUV. If anything did come up though, Grai would send Jax out to get the bears and bring them back to the sanctuary at Dillon. For detox… or whatever they needed, he thought, shaking his head.
Joe waved as he watched Grai get into the SUV, knowing damn well that the Nelson family was going to be feeling very blessed soon.
*****
Hours later, Gracus groaned and rolled over, feeling like he’d spent a few hours sparring with Scaden in the training room. His head felt like it was full of clouds and he ached. Everywhere. He tried to think, to remember where he was and what had happened but all he could see were flashes of images that he couldn’t seem to put into a full picture.
What seemed like blinding light, showing through his closed eyelids, made him shield his eyes before he tried to open them. As he did, he heard a familiar voice.
“Hey, take it easy. You’re going to be a little messed up for a bit,” Scaden said when he saw Gracus move his hand. He sighed in relief that Gracus was finally awakening and they could get some answers about what the hell had happened.
Gracus laid back and put his hand over his eyes and sighed. Yeah, if Scaden was there, he was in good hands, he thought. He laid their quietly for a moment until he heard Amun’s voice.
“The drug is leaving his system. He should be fine in another day or so,” Amun said, pleased with the progress of his patient.
Gracus sat up suddenly, his eyes going wide. He was drugged? he thought as he swayed slightly before Scaden reached out a hand to help him. What the hell? he thought as everything around him looked blurry and out of focus. Taking stock of himself, he realized that his beast was completely silent and he began to panic.
“What the fuck happened to me? Why can’t I see correctly? Where are we?” Gracus asked, trying to get out of the bed.
Scaden and Amun rushed to stop him from harming himself. “Stop! You’re going to fall out of the damn bed and hurt yourself!” Scaden said, trying to keep his now agitated friend in the bed.
“Try to calm yourself Gracus, and listen to me,” Amun said, trying to speak calmly to his patient and friend.
“You ate some candy… a lot of candy. But, you didn’t realize that it was a legal drug and it’s affected your senses. You will be fine in a day or so, when the d
rug has completely left your system. I promise, you will be fine soon,” Amun said reassuringly.
Candy? Gracus thought, trying hard to understand what Amun was talking about. He didn’t remember any candy. The last shipment they had on the Adaria had been a month ago and it usually went pretty quick because it was a favorite among the crew. He didn’t remember the last time he’d eaten any.
Gracus needed answers. “What candy are you talking about? Is anyone else affected? Is it an outbreak on the ship?” he asked, needing to know if his crewmates were all right.
Scaden turned a worried frown to Amun, not understanding why Gracus did not remember the planet and the candy he had eaten. Amun just shook his head at Scaden before turning his attention back to Gracus.
“Gracus, because the drug is still in your system pretty heavily, you’re having short term memory problems. You were on the planet, taking a vacation when you bought the candy by accident. Try to be patient and give yourself a few hours for it to clear and your memories will return to you,” Amun said, trying to help calm the nervous and confused energy he could feel coming from Gracus.
Gracus couldn’t fathom what Amun was telling him. He didn’t remember going to the planet. How the hell could he forget such a thing? What drug could do this to him? He leaned his head down and held it in his hands, trying to force his mind to clear. But, the fog was too thick and he couldn’t seem to fight it back so he could remember.
Amun knew what he was doing and laid a comforting hand on his shoulder. “It’s all right. Don’t try to force it, you will only delay the memories if you do. Give yourself a few more hours to clear more of the drug and you’ll remember,” Amun said, sending his friend some calming energy.
Gracus sighed in frustration, hating the feeling in his head and the fact that he couldn’t remember anything. Especially going to the planet! He’d wanted to do it since they arrived two years ago and he couldn’t believe that he would forget something that he felt would be amazing.
Those thoughts set off a tingling in his mind that almost made him want to scratch his head to try and ease the intensity. Gracus needed to remember something important, he didn’t know how he knew that, but he did.
He opened his eyes again and looked at the fuzzy image of Amun standing beside the bed. “I need to remember now. Can’t you give me something to get this drug out of me?”
Amun shook his head sadly. “I’m sorry. It was the combination of the sugar and the drug that caused it to rapidly saturate your system. Anything that I give you now will also saturate your system and we can’t calculate how it will react with the drug that is already there.”
Amun sighed and looked sadly at his friend. “I’m running tests on it now, but I won’t have any usable results for another few days. I’m sorry Gracus, it’s too risky until I know more about this drug and how and why it created the reaction it did in you,” Amun said, trying to make Gracus understand why he couldn’t do anything more for him right now.
Amun had been working on the problem since they had returned to Dillon a few hours ago and Grai even had a team buying more of the candy so that he could test it. Something in the candy, along with the drug had reacted oddly in the Valendran body and Amun needed to know what it was to determine whether or not it was a risk to all of them. But, that information wasn’t going to help calm Gracus right now, Amun thought.
Scaden laid a hand on Gracus’s shoulder to try and comfort him. “We’re going to get you better in a few hours, you just need to remain calm for a little while. Why don’t you try to get some sleep and when you wake, you should be well enough to remember,” Scaden said, looking helplessly at Amun and wishing there was something they could do.
Gracus laid back in the bed, the calming energy that Scaden and Amun had sent him was working. Between the energy and the drug still in his system, it wasn’t long before he had fallen back into sleep.
Scaden looked up at Amun to make sure that Gracus was just sleeping and when Amun shook his head to confirm it, they stepped outside of the room so they wouldn’t wake him up.
Scaden looked worriedly at Amun before he began pacing in front of the door. “Are we sure he’s going to be all right? I expected him to be better by now. What is going wrong? Don’t lie to me Amun,” Scaden said, fear for his friend consuming him.
Amun sighed. He really didn’t need Scaden freaking out on him too. “Scaden, I’m not lying to either one of you. I need to sequence and break down the ingredients in the candy in order to try and replicate what happened in his system and why. By the time I get that completed, it will be out of his system. Our rapid metabolism is already removing it at a remarkable rate,” Amun said, trying to make Scaden understand.
Scaden ran a hand through his hair and continued to pace. “How can it be this difficult with all of our technology?” he asked, frustrated that they had no real answers, just questions that couldn’t be answered until Gracus was better.
Amun chuckled. “Being more advanced does not make us perfect. We are susceptible to many things that we cannot understand fully. Just look at the virus that decimated our population, we still can’t correct it. Right now, with the information I have, I believe there is a unique component in that candy that caused the perfect conditions for the reaction that Gracus is having.”
Amun continued. “It wasn’t just the drug that did this. All of the testing I have done on the plant proves that it’s not powerful enough to impact our systems in such a way. Since the humans are not affected by the candy in the way Gracus was, there has to be another ingredient that created the chemical reaction in him.”
Amun sighed and put a hand out to stop Scaden from pacing. “We need to know what this component is so I can find out if it is what did this to him. It will take some time, but he will be fine. Go get some rest and I’ll let you know when he wakes up,” Amun said, hoping to get rid of Scaden so he could get back to work on analyzing Gracus’s blood.
Scaden shook his head. “I’ll stay right here until he wakes again.”
Amun sighed. It was going to be a long few hours.
*****
Hours later, Rebecca was still grinning about the naked guy. She couldn’t help it. He’d been so adorable in his stoned stupor. And those hazel eyes! she thought, glad that no one was around to see the blush on her face as she thought of a completely irresponsible, but sexy stranger.
She had been furious when Tom Moore had demanded her camera with the pictures she’d taken of the guy. He was a full time deputy and volunteer rescue squad member and Rebecca had the bad luck of having him show up to get the guy to a hospital.
He’d told her that he needed the pictures for evidence, in case the District Attorney wanted to set an example and charge the guy with harassing wildlife or something. Rebecca figured Tom wanted to show everyone that the guy really had been… communing so closely with nature.
Rebecca snorted at her own joke. She couldn’t help it. In all her days on the river, she had seen a lot of strange things, but the bear guy was definitely at the top of her list. And how he was still alive after all the candy he’d eaten was a mystery to her.
The only thing she could figure is that he only had a few and the bears had the rest. It’s the only thing that made sense to her. She still couldn’t figure out the logistics of how he’d managed it though. It was one thing to get stoned and naked by yourself and another to party with two wild bears.
He must be the luckiest guy on the planet, she thought with a smile, glad that he was. All of womankind should be grateful that she was able to save such a marvelous specimen of mankind, even if he was a fool, she thought with another grin.
Rebecca looked at the sky and realized she needed to get off the river and set up camp for the night. She paddled to the bank, hopped out of her raft and secured it. She spent the next few minutes gathering her gear and setting up her tent.
Within an hour, she had a crackling fire going and was heating up some dehydrated dinner. She’d peeled off
her wet suit and booties, changed into dry clothes and sat poking her fire and trying not to burn her dinner. Throughout it all, the sexy stranger remained in the back of her mind. And so did her smile.
It had taken her twenty minutes to slowly pull the heavy guy out from between the two bears. By the time she’d gotten him behind the tree and to relative safety, the baby bear had awakened, with the mother quickly following.
The guy, laying on the ground behind the tree had reached out a bobbling hand to the bears and tried to speak before Rebecca had to slap another hand over his mouth to keep him from drawing their attention.
The feel of his soft, full lips, moving against her palm had sent a shiver up her spine and she’d felt his smile against her hand. She had leaned down and whispered quietly in his ear, “Shhh,” hoping he wouldn’t alert the bears.
The crazy guy may have been able to hug it out with the bears, but Rebecca wasn’t about to see if they’d be as friendly with her. Besides, she knew that the chances of momma bear feeling that friendly after a pot candy bender, weren’t good.
The fact that she had a fully naked man, his head in her lap while she held her hand over his mouth, was not lost on her. Rebecca couldn’t hide the blush on her face as she tried to keep her eyes averted from the most impressive package she’d ever seen on a man.
When she’d first seen him, she assumed that someone that large had to be on steroids and it would be obvious in the small size of his manhood. But the second she’d pulled him away from the baby bear that was covering the front of him, it was glaringly obvious that this man was not an abuser… of that particular drug at least.
Rebecca felt her face flush and used her hand to fan the cooler air around her cheeks to lessen it. Whew! she thought, even now the guy was really potent. She briefly thought about using the radio to call Blanche and see how the guy was doing, but knew it was pointless this far down the river.