Page 65 of The Final Storm
“I told you I just remember the-” he points to his back without finishing.
“You know,” Luke tilts his head. “It might be…” He points as well, and the nurse leans on one hip, rolling her eyes.
Children run around her. We have all of them with us while we wait for the next round of bodyguards Caleb is sending over. We’re a haphazard mess of mixed up families. As nice as Sam’s ass is to look at, I’m sure she wants us out of her space.
“Is there somewhere I should look, or are you gonna let me keep checking out these sweet cheeks?” she smiles.
We all look at each other for a moment while Luke gets up and whispers something in her ear.
“Not my business,” she says. “Shirt off, pretty boy.”
I assume he warned her about the symbol and asked her not to say anything. I add it to my list of problems to resolve.
It’s a long fucking list.
Sam sits up and takes off his shirt while the nurse lifts the scanner.
“Oh, ew. It’s scalpel time.” Lewis says, and everyone turns in his direction. Beau stands to his left, covering his eyes with his hands.
“Jackpot,” Lori beams, wiggling her eyebrows.
“Those kids know where this thing is I’m looking for?” the nurse points to them.
We all stand there slack-jawed.
“You know what?” she mumbles to herself. “Not my business. Everybody comes in here with all sorts of problems and makes something so easy, so flipping hard. I tell you what-”
A beeping interrupts her lecture, and we all look at the screen. There’s something that resembles a nail in Sam’s back. I rise to my feet and rush over, tracing my fingertips over the spot. The nurse does the same, but there’s a deep line of scar tissue from the remnant of the AOE symbol’s wave. We can see it, but we can’t feel it under his skin.
“Well, ain’t that a bitch,” she says.
“Can we look now?” Beau asks, still covering his eyes.
“We don’t have lidocaine,” the nurse says. “So if those kids think I’m cutting this out, they’re mistaken.”
“Just cut it out!” Lewis replies, cheering from the sidelines. He’s always been braver, but I’m rolling my eyes at his bloodlust.
“Thank you so much, Stacy.” Luke takes the wand from her hand. “We’ll let you get back to work. So sorry to interrupt your day.”
“Slice and dice,” Lewis chants.
“You gonna listen to those creepy kids?” the nurse mumbles, walking away. “Look like Children of the Corn. No, thank you.”
She pulls a curtain back, and we hear the slam of a door. This side of the unit is empty for the moment, and Luke goes to the cabinet and pulls out some bottles and a scalpel.
“Do it. Do it.” Lewis chants.
“Is it over?” Beau wails.
The door opens, and Caleb arrives with two large men. Sam leans back on the bed before anyone can see his back.
Lewis groans, “Nooooo. They were just about to-”
“Great timing, guys,” I say. “Do you think you all could?” I wave my hand around the boys, hoping they take them out before Luke spills blood.
One man raises a hand to Lewis, and he gives a limp high-five. “What’s wrong, buddy? I thought we could check out the storm today. You can see it from the scope.”
That perks the boys up enough to smile, even though Beau is still covering his eyes. The baby sleeps, and I lie her down in one of the plastic cribs in the corner. I give the boys a push on their backs while Luke methodically puts items into a tray.
