Ellie stopped him, that and the closing door, meaning the shifter was already out in the hallway. Hard to inconspicuously follow and kill her in a brightly lit hospital hallway.
Ellie’s face was still upturned to his: worried, pleading. Her hands were on his chest as if to physically forestall him, even though the idea of a slight thing like her physically stopping the Talos was laughable. Still, there was nothing laughable about this terrifying incident or the situation they faced.
Releasing the Talos, Carter reverted to his human form. Instantly, he felt the weakness of his prior wound, temporarily erased by adrenaline and the Talos’ emergence. Ellie must have seen or sensed it, because the hands on his chest slipped around his torso and she urged him backwards to a seat on the bed.
“Wait here,” she muttered. First she rushed over to the machines he’d been hooked up to, pressing buttons or flipping switches—messing with them until they stopped beeping. Then she hurried back, ducking her head to examine the wound on his side. “Shoot. Your stitches burst. I was afraid of that. No more transforming until this is healed up. Do you hear me, Carter? You’ve got to let it heal.”
“That depends on what Nosizwe sends after us next.”
“No, you’re going to kill yourself if you keep this up. Sit here. I’m going to get fresh bandages. Good thing I’ve worked on this floor and know where everything is. The problem’s going to be getting in and out unseen. Will you be okay for a minute?”
Her eyes, behind her glasses, were shadowed with worry.
“I’ll be fine.”
She started to leave, but Carter reached out and caught her wrist.
“Be careful. That thing is still out there. A wendigo won’t hesitate to kill you if it gets a chance.”
She nodded soberly.
“I know. It tried already. I’ll be watching.”
The door shut behind her. Ellie hadn’t told him to, but Carter gathered up the sheets on the bed, pressing them against his side to try and stop the blood seeping from where shifting had reopened his wound. Probably not the most sterile thing in the world, but it was all he had.
Ellie returned in a shorter amount of time than he would’ve figured, a bag in her hand. She set it on the bed, and immediately went to applying gauze and wrapping the wound. Carter still had enough pain killers in his system that her ministrations didn’t hurt. As she worked, she said, “I hate to leave AMA, but we don’t have a choice. We’re going to go to a hotel for the rest of the night, and I’m calling your boss. Hopefully, he can get a flight out here quickly and we can get you home where you can heal safely. I can’t protect you from Nosizwe’s shifters, but if anyone can, it’s him.”
“You’ve done a pretty good job so far.”
Her hands faltered and she looked up. Maybe to see if he was teasing her. He wasn’t. His sincerity must have shown. Ellie appeared taken aback by that, whereas his perpetual aggravating barely ruffled her anymore.
“Well. Maybe I don’t agree with everything you guys do, but I don’t want to see you hurt. Or dead,” she said quietly, resuming her task.
“You should probably stay away from me then,” he quipped. “Odds are, this is going to be par for my course. One of these days Nosizwe will probably get me. Just been lucky that she hasn’t so far.”
“Don’t say that.”
Ellie finished, straightened, and re-claimed his shirt from the plastic “belongings” bag.
“I’m putting this on you, then we’re getting out of here. I’ll feel better once we’re away from that…that thing.”
“Wendigo,” he said. “And so will I. I knew Blake probably had his allies up here, but I wasn’t expecting that.”
“You think she was working for Blake?”
“Who else? The timing is too much of a coincidence.”
Ellie was busy buttoning up his shirt, and didn’t reply. He tried to ignore the sensation of her fingertips brushing the skin of his chest and stomach as she worked her way down.
“This makes me feel like a kid again,” he complained, watching her work.
Finished, she glanced up, swiping a strand of hair out of her face with the back of her wrist.
“Don’t feel bad. I’m a nurse, remember? Even the strongest people need help sometimes. You ready?”
Maybe it was the painkillers, but he nodded. Somehow kept himself from saying something really stupid like, “I’m ready to go anywhere with you.”
Which was true at the moment. Either because he didn’t have a choice or because she suddenly seemed so damned attractive.
They were lucky it was late and the hospital corridors were mostly quiet and deserted. Ellie had started to loop his arm over her shoulder again, to assist like she had last time, but he was on drugs and feeling no pain.
“That will look suspicious,” he told her.
She frowned, but relented. Still, she kept a close eye on him as he made his way down the hall, towards the elevator. Inside, he slumped wearily against the grey wall, swiping a thin sheen of sweat off his face with his palm.
Ellie cast him an anxious look.
“Sorry,” she murmured. “We’re almost there. Think you can make it the rest of the way?”
The elevator stopped, the doors opening with a ding.
He’d make it or die trying.
Once they were outside, the blast of fresh, chilly air helped clear his head, giving Carter renewed determination to get to her car. He noticed her wary scans of the area, probably making sure no Bigfoots or wendigoes or even suspicious humans lurked in the darkness. He couldn’t blame her. She’d been through a lot tonight. It was a miracle they were both still alive. Him, especially. If she hadn’t insisted on staying in his room with him, he wouldn’t be walking and breathing.
Once they were both in the car she locked the doors and inspected the back seat before starting the engine. By this point, Carter was starting to feel safer, but he still reminded her to be cautious of any vehicles potentially tailing them as she left the parking lot.
Ellie nodded agreement, and he saw her checking her mirrors often, keeping an eye out.
The town, like the hospital corridors earlier, was quiet, the streets nearly deserted. It was a marked difference from big cities like Fort Worth and Dallas, which never truly seemed to sleep. When he remarked as much to her, she replied, “I know. This place rolls up the sidewalks by 9 P.M. It was a big change when we moved here.”
Switching the subject, she held out a palm, saying, “I stuck your phone in my purse. Think you can grab it for me?”
He felt himself stiffen.
“Why?”
“Because I need to call your boss and ask him to get a flight out here!” she snapped. “It’s not like I’m going to go searching through your stupid phone. I don’t care about your business or your secrets. But if you don’t want me touching your precious phone, then give me your boss’s number and I’ll call him on mine. I just figured he’d probably answer faster if he saw the call was from you.”
Contrition, but Carter didn’t show it. She was right. He was too used to being a loner, trusting few people, watching his back. He wasn’t used to folks like Ellie, who helped with no ulterior motives. Especially a human, not a shifter, who had no stake in the war, either way.