Can You?

Christie’s POV

Kendra came in, but she stood by the door, wiping tears from her eyes.

"I have a problem," I said as I looked up at Lyon, who was standing at the foot of the bed like a guardian.

"The refrigerated stabilizers. I didn't grab

them from the cooling unit. I was so panicked when you took me that I didn't get to take them. I cant administer anything at the final stage of the treatment without them."

"I’m going back for them," he said. His voice was low. "I’ll get into the lab and get what you need. You just give me directions around the place.”

“Okay, great. Once you get into the lab, you're going to just walk straight from the door. The refrigerator is right opposite the door. Fetch the green bag.”

He nodded. And then he got a little too close to me again.

"Christie, listen to me," he said, his voice dropping an octave.

"Don't try to escape into the woods while I'm gone. It isn't safe for you out there, especially not now. Please, just stay in this house."

I furrowed my brow, genuinely confused by the edge of fear in his tone.

"Why would I try to run into the woods? I don't even know where I am. Besides, you already promised you would take me back to my town once the treatment is finished. I'm a doctor, Lyon. I'm not going to leave a patient in this condition."

"I will take you back," Lyon promised, his eyes locking onto mine.

"I will take you back to your home the very moment she is stable and out of danger. I give you my word. Just don't leave this house."

He didn't wait for me to give him a verbal confirmation when he patted my hair and walked off.

A few seconds later, I heard the distant, muffled thud of the front door closing, followed by the powerful roar of his truck engine.

I was left alone in a mansion that felt more like a fortress than a home.

The stone walls were thick, and the ceilings were so high they disappeared into the shadows.

Kendra hadn't moved from her spot near the entrance. She stood there with her arms crossed over her chest, watching me with a cold stare.

Why does she not like me though? I'm not the cause of her problems. Whatever they are.

Boy, I'm literally here against my will. And I'm here for all the right reasons. Why is she so hateful? Ugh!

A short while later, Nima drifted back into the heavy, unresponsive slumber of her illness, her temperature had gotten stable after the cold presses.

I was still standing over her, watching her closely.

"You really think you can save the world, don't you?" Kendra asked suddenly.

She stepped inside, her heels clicking rhythmically against the polished hardwood floor.

When I looked up, the domestic staff were all gone.

Well, I kept my voice as flat and professional as possible.

"I'm not trying to save the world, Kendra. I'm just trying to save a woman who is suffering from a very specific ailment that I happen to understand."

"You let some random man drag you off to an unknown destination in the middle of the night," she laughed.

"You're sitting here playing doctor in a house you don't understand, surrounded by people who don't usually befriend your kind. You're either incredibly brave or incredibly dim-witted, Doctor Girl."

Wait, my kind? What was that supposed to mean?

And who the hell does she keep referring to as ‘Doctor Girl?’

“It's Doctor Christie,” I said.

She walked closer.

"Tell me something. How exactly do you plan to escape if for some reason this house got wild on you? You’re miles from the nearest known road. If Lyon doesn't come back, or if he decides he doesn't want to let you go, what will you do then?"

I took a slow, deep breath and finally looked at her. I remembered all the times my mother and Anna had tried to bait me into an argument, and I used that same cold shield now.

"As a medical doctor, I am moved by people's situations," I explained, keeping my tone even.

"I didn't come here to fight you. Hell, I don't even know you. And I didn't come here to cause trouble. I came here because a person is sick and I have the means to help her. My personal safety is a concern, yes, but my priority is the patient. I'm not interested in anything else."

Kendra leaned against the heavy bedpost, her eyes narrowing until they were just thin slits of emerald green.

"You’re very polite. It’s almost boring. Can you physically defend yourself if you have to?"