Page 5 of Zombie

“I’m Bohdi, and this is Lennie. Kade sent us so you can check her out.”

I nodded and motioned for Lennie to sit on my table. “Okay, Lennie, you can have a seat.”

Lennie walked over to me with a limp and a hand over her left ribcage. Slowly, she climbed onto the cold metal table, wincing at the movement.

My hands shot out of their own accord, and I tried to help her sit comfortably on the table. Her blue eyes met mine, and I swore time stood still. She was beautiful even though she was clearly in pain.

Focus, Dante, I scolded myself.

“Can you tell me where you hurt the most?” I asked, still holding onto the sides of her upper arms.

Lennie cleared her throat, and I dropped my hands to my sides.

“My ribs,” she responded in a small voice.

I looked over at Bohdi, who was standing too close for comfort with his arms crossed over his chest.

“What happened?” I asked a little harshly, making Bohdi raise an eyebrow at me.

“That’s not my story to tell,” he responded coolly.

I looked at Lennie. When she hesitated, I looked back at Bohdi. “Can you give us the room, please, Bohdi?”

Bohdi nodded before exiting the examination area.

I turned back to Lennie as she hugged herself. Tears welled up in her eyes as she tried to take deep breaths.

I bent down slightly to meet her gaze. In a softer voice, I asked, “Lennie, can you tell me what happened so I can make sure I am checking everything that hurts and don’t miss anything?”

She gave me a small nod and looked down at the floor, playing with a heart-shaped pendant on her necklace as she spoke. “I was kidnapped, and my kidnapper decided to use me as a punching bag to make a point to Kade.”

My blood began to boil once more that she was wrapped up in any of Kade’s Mafia bullshit. Now that I’d heard her name, I recognized that she was in charge of the Hive for RSS. What didn’t make sense was how she was getting involved in the more nefarious parts of Kade’s business. But that was for another time. I needed to focus on her medical needs.

“Can you point to all the places that were hit? Did you lose consciousness, were you drugged?”

She nodded and began to point to her face, her ribs, and her back. “Yes, to both of your questions,” Lennie said with a hoarse voice.

“Okay, I’m going to need you to take off your clothes, and I’ll give you a gown to put on,” I said before opening a drawer near the bed, grabbing a gown for her, and placing it on the table. “I’ll give you some privacy.” I turned and walked to the other side of the lab where my office was, a small room off the main part of the lab, and closed the door to give her some privacy.

After a few minutes, I returned to where Lennie sat with her shoulders hunched, and I noted how big the covering was on her. Beside her were her clothes, neatly folded on the table. I grabbed my stethoscope and walked over.

“I’m going to check your breathing first, and then we will take the x-ray. Do you have any medical history that I should be aware of before I start?”

Lennie shook her head no.

“Okay,” I started before moving my instrument toward the opening in the back of the gown. Bruises marred her skin. I clenched my jaw at the sight before reminding myself to breathe. “This might be cold.”

I pressed the stethoscope to her back, making her jolt. She let out a little gasp and I forced down the feelings that arose, focusing instead on the sound of her lungs. I tried to ignore the warmth coming off of her, the softness of her skin when my fingers brushed against it.

“Breathe in,” I instructed. “Breathe out.”

Lennie did as I asked, and I continued to move the chest piece over her back.

“I’m going to listen to the front now.” I checked each side of her chest, listening intently, then wrapped the stethoscope around my neck before speaking once more. “Everything sounds okay, but I want to double-check with an x-ray. Because of the exposure, I have to ask, is there any chance of pregnancy?”

She shook her head vehemently. “Definitely not.”

Well, that was good to know. I gave her a nod and asked her to follow me to the x-ray room. She stood in front of the machine while I positioned it.