Secrets of the Guardian (Waldgrave Book 3) Read Online Free PDF Page A

her. No one would ever know, because this was where the insanity ended.
    She watched Jason, hoping he believed her, but he didn’t say anything. He was just quiet; Lena tried to relax back into her chair. Real or not, if she had to deal with one more conspiracy involving that damn portal and all the hype her grandfather had created around it…
    The hair on the back of her neck prickled, and Lena had the uncomfortable thought that she was being watched without knowing it; Rollin leapt to the forefront of her mind and she spun around. Standing in the open door were Master Prescot (his wrist was still in a brace from the bullet he had taken at the same shooting that took Matias Rivera’s life) and Master Astley.
    Realizing she was being too casually improper, Lena shot up out of her chair, tried to straighten herself out, and gave them a nod. How long had they been standing there? Doctor Evans walked up behind them, and then spoke over Master Astley’s shoulder in Lena’s direction.
    “I’d like a moment, if you have one.” He said, looking curiously from Master Prescot to Master Astley.
    “Sure. Excuse me.” Lena pushed passed the two men to meet the doctor in the living room, where he pulled her off into a corner. He was wearing scrub pants, but he had thrown a jacket on over his scrub top. Despite his informal appearance, he had an entirely serious tone to his voice. He must have been up tending to Devin all night, but he didn’t look tired at all.
    “He’s pulling through.” He said, looking her directly in the eye. “But you need to understand that this isn’t the end. He’s in a good deal of pain, which we are treating, but this is not the end of the surgeries.”
    He paused. Lena gave him a nod. “Okay.”
    Unbothered, he continued. “If he were a full Silenti, he might have been able to heal himself henceforth, but it’s just not the case. I’m still a little concerned that he might be susceptible to some bacterial infections, so we’re going to have to keep an eye on him. The bullets did quite a number on his intestinal tract, so he’ll be eating via I.V. with his meds and antibiotics for a while—maybe not long, depending on how quick his organ regenerative processes are, but he is a human-born, so I don’t expect much. He’s lost a kidney, and he’ll need dialysis, at least for a while. His liver is doing pretty well given that we had to remove about a third of it. Okay?”
    “Okay.” Lena said perfunctorily.
    “Okay.” Doctor Evans blinked for what felt like the first time since he started talking. “Do you have any questions?”
    Lena thought back to the first conversation she had ever had with Doctor Evans, several weeks ago, and knew that there would be a price for saving Devin’s life. And whatever it was, she was happy to pay it. “Do you need anything? Is there anything I can do to make this easier for you to treat him? Of course, anything you need is yours…”
    The doctor raised his hand to stop her. “I have everything I need. We’ll discuss the details later. Is there anything else?”
    “Can I talk to him?”
    “Oh,” Doctor Evans looked surprised and wiped a hand across his face, looking away briefly. “Well, if you really need to, I can wake him up.”
    Lena felt her eyes go wide. It was evident that his previous employer hadn’t always had the patient’s best interests at heart. “Oh! No! Not like that. I would just like to talk to him as soon as he’s awake, that’s all. I don’t want him to be in any pain. It’s nothing important, I just want to see him and talk to him.”
    “Well,” he sighed, “That’s going to be a little tricky. Awake—as in conscious—is a little bit hard, too…He won’t be conscious for several days, probably. I’d prefer to keep him under until we’ve stabilized him better. He’s going to be on so many painkillers that he probably won’t know where he is.”
    “Oh…” Lena looked away. A whole week?
    The doctor gave