Caitlyn and the Alien Protector (Intergalactic Brides 7) Read Online Free PDF Page A

gotten to her in time, but the fire had already been raging out of control for a good half hour before they were able to respond, having been on another call when dispatch told them of the apartment fire. The next closest station was on Rivercrest, but they’d responded to an elderly assist and hadn’t returned yet.
    He neared the bed and gently took her hand. She whimpered and he turned her palm over, cursing at the red skin he saw there. Why hadn’t someone wrapped her hand? It was apparent that their exam of her had been cursory at best. He felt his temper rise and he turned and marched himself down the hall to the nurse’s station. The nurse on duty smiled, but when she saw what he assumed was a thunderous look on his face, her smile faded.
    “Is something wrong?” she asked.
    “Want to explain to me why the woman brought in earlier for smoke inhalation hasn’t been treated for her other injuries?”
    The nurse turned to the computer in front of her and began tapping on the keyboard. She frowned. “I don’t see where she has other injuries.”
    “Then someone did a shitty job of checking her over. She burned her palm. I find it hard to believe no one noticed.”
    The nurse picked up the phone. “I’ll get someone up here right away. Maybe they just forgot to note it in the system. I’m sorry, Mr. --”
    “Cosmir.”
    “I’m sorry, Mr. Cosmir. I promise we’ll get her taken care of.”
    Cosmir, while somewhat appeased that they were going to correct their mistake, was still inwardly fuming that she’d had such poor care thus far. If he hadn’t come to check on her, who knows how long her palm would’ve gone untreated.
    He pulled a chair over near the bed and sat down. He’d taken a fast shower when he’d returned to the station and he ran his fingers through his damp hair. The fact she hadn’t been taken care of really bugged him. Rising once more, he went into the adjoining bathroom and wet a white gauze, putting a tiny dab of soap on it. He returned to her side and, as gently as possible, began removing the grime from her face. The soot blackened the rag and he went to get another one to wipe her face with cool water.
    Her eyes fluttered open and he smiled down at her. “How are you feeling?”
    She looked confused and he realized she still couldn’t hear, or at least not well enough to know what he was saying. He’d heard sometimes the roar of the flames drowned out everything else and left the victims a little hard of hearing for a bit after the fire, even though it had never happened to him. He looked around the room, but didn’t see anything to write on. He held up a finger to let her know he’d return in a moment and he hurried back down to the nurse’s station. He grabbed a pad and pen and went back to Caitlyn’s room.
    Quickly scratching a note, he asked how she was feeling.
    “Throat hurts,” she rasped.
    Do you remember me ? he scratched on the pad.
    She nodded.
    My name is Cosmir .
    “I’m Caitlyn,” she said in a near whisper. He barely heard her.
    He smiled and picked up the pen again. He’d already known that of course, having met her at the station not too long ago. Cosmir would have to get to the bottom of whatever was going on with Jake at a later time. When he’d realized Jake planned to finish his shift, he’d asked off to watch over her.
    Hello, Caitlyn .
    She returned his smile and began coughing again. He was sorry to have woken her, as she seemed to have been resting peacefully.
    A noise had him turning in his seat and he watched as a doctor strolled into the room. The man held out his hand.
    “I’m Dr. Montgomery.”
    “Cosmir, and this is Caitlyn.”
    The doctor nodded. “I hear we missed something when she was brought in.”
    “Her hand is red.”
    The doctor made a hmmm noise. “That would explain why she didn’t fill out the forms downstairs. She was seen by an E.R. doctor when she first arrived, but they immediately sent her up here and by the time