“I’ll come look at what’s available,” Tace said easily. What kind of resources did Grey really have?
Grey smiled a quick flash of teeth. “Not a chance. Tell me what you need, and I’ll bring it to you.”
So much for that thought. He’d get another chance. Tace gave him a quick list and then turned toward Sami after Greyson had left. “Let’s check patient by patient and see what kind of information you can get from them.”
Her eyes widened. “What about help and not harm?”
“That too.” Truth be told, they were on a mission. “We can multitask. Are you okay in a surgical situation?”
She blanched. “No. I can handle you stitching people up after a fight, but going into an operating room and seeing you dig for bullets? I might puke.”
Somehow, he’d figured that. “Don’t worry about it. You stay in here and interview the patients with our primary objective in mind. Keep your gun close and your wits about you.” He’d hear her if anything went wrong.
“No kidding.” She shoved him.
“In the middle of the first surgery, I’m going to lean out and have you go get a drug immediately from Greyson. I’ll know which one once I see what he brings.” Tace leaned in to whisper. “Follow up, kind of upset, and see what kind of stockpile they have. We need to know.”
She shuffled her feet. “Will the guy really need the drug?”
“No. It’s just to give you access to the stockpile.”
“All right.” A man groaned over to her right, and she turned, moving toward him. “You okay?” Her voice softened.
He groaned again. She leaned down and felt his forehead. “You’re not hot.”
“Broken leg,” the guy said. He looked about nineteen with thick dark hair and brown eyes. “Already set but don’t want to waste pain pills.”
Sami stroked his arm. “You’re very brave.”
The kid closed his eyes. “You have a nice voice.”
She smiled and then sat, leaning down to whisper to the kid.
Tace watched her, his heart warming. Oh, he’d seen her feed stray animals many a time when she thought nobody was looking. Now she whispered what sounded like a poem. The kid’s breathing evened out. She straightened and turned toward Tace, giving him a glimpse of the sweet heart that lived in Sami.
Why did she try so hard to hide it? “What was that poem?”
“Longfellow. ‘The Day Is Done,’” she said, hunching her shoulders.
Tace smiled. “That was nice of you.”
She rolled her eyes. “Whatever.”
He moved a stray curl away from her cheek. “Why don’t you want me to see you being kind?” He truly didn’t get it.
“Don’t be ridiculous.” She backed away from him. “I’m the tough one, you know? My sister was sweet, and I was tough.”
Tace narrowed his gaze. “Ah. Who were you so tough for?”
She lifted a shoulder. “My dad, I guess. I caught on quickly, and he liked to train me.”
“Your dad trained you, and the tougher you got, the more he liked you?”
She smiled. “He liked me anyway, but it’s what we had in common, and it meant something. He didn’t understand much about me or my life, but we had that.” Her voice sobered. “For a while, anyway. He was into rules and right, you know?”
“You weren’t?” Tace peered closer. He’d give anything to unwrap the many layers of Sami Steel.
“Not even close.” She sighed. “I miss him. I could’ve been better and fixed things—I know I could have.”
