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“From the Athens airport,” Max filled in. He watched as the doctor stuck the ends of the stethoscope in his ears and started listening to his heart and lungs.
“That’s Ed. He’s the one who carried your unconscious ass back here,” Will murmured. “Can you take a deep breath for me?”
Max did as instructed and winced as pain lanced across his ribs. Will immediately followed it up with gentle pressure, inspecting to check that nothing was broken.
A second later, he pulled the ends from his ears and hooked them behind his neck. “I don’t think your ribs are broken or even fractured. Just bruised. Your breathing is good. Same with your heart.” As he spoke, Will efficiently removed bandages, checked wounds, cleaned what needed cleaning, and placed fresh bandages.
“How long have I been here?” he asked.
“Almost twenty-four hours,” Ed answered from where he stood at the foot of the bed.
“And I’m assuming I’m still in Cairo?”
“Yes,” Ed answered with a nod.
Max closed his eyes. A day of sleep and healing was nice, but he needed to get moving again. The sooner he could get out of Egypt, the better. It would certainly be safer for these two. Ed looked like he could handle himself in a fight, but he wasn’t as sure about the good doctor. Besides, these two were going to be outnumbered and Max was in no mood to see them hurt because of their association with him.
“Well, Doc, am I good to rock ‘n’ roll? Back on my feet and get out of your hair?”
“Not even close. Your injuries, while not severe, are serious enough that you need some significant rest and time to allow them to heal or you risk infection. There are still signs of dehydration and malnourishment. In short, you need sleep, fluids, and food. You’re not allowed out of this bed for at least another twenty-four hours other than to use the bathroom.”
“But—”
“I’m not listening to buts. These are doctor’s orders, and you are my patient. And right now, he’s my nurse.” Will pointed over at Ed as he placed the last bit of tape to secure some gauze. Max’s eyes snapped up to see Ed grin at him. “Ed has orders to keep you in bed and my permission to sit on you if it becomes necessary.”
“But—”
“And we have someone constantly monitoring the motion sensor and video feed for this room.” Will’s pointer finger moved from Ed to a tiny black device positioned in the room’s corner near the ceiling. He hadn’t even noticed it when he scanned the room earlier. Had this person watched him throwing things at Ed to get him to wake up? That would account for the laughter.
“There are more of you?”
“Yeah, we’re an entire team, and most of us have a lot of experience dealing with the type of people who put you in this state. You’ve got nothing to worry about, Dr. Sutton. You just lie back and get better. Let us take care of keeping you safe.” Ed said it with such confidence that Max couldn’t help but relax.
Will replaced the empty bag of fluids on the stand with a fresh one and even gave him an injection that created the most wonderful wave through his body. With every beat of his heart, the pain that had been creeping up on him was washed away.
The doctor grabbed the blanket Max had shoved to the end of the bed and pulled it up to his shoulders. “You rest. Isidore is pulling a light dinner together for you now and will bring the food up shortly.” He stood up and turned to the door.
“Wait! The scarab!” He tried to jerk upright as the thought slipped into his brain again. There was so much he needed to know, but he was so damn tired and his brain was so fuzzy. He needed to focus. Think! “What did you do with the scarab I gave you? And Dr. Jones? You said you talked to her. Is she safe? The people who had me, if they can’t find me, they might end up going after her.”
Will opened the door to leave but paused and stared at Max. “The scarab talk can wait for when we have the entire team together. For now, you need to rest. The scarab is safe.”
Ed dropped into the chair Will vacated and patted his arm. “Don’t worry about Dr. Jones. We’ve got people monitoring her. She’s safe. And we’re keeping you safe. All you need to worry about is getting some rest, Dr. Sutton.”
Max let his eyes fall shut. There were burning and heavy. He hadn’t noticed it until now. Just the way Ed kept repeating that he was safe was almost hypnotic. His entire body was relaxing, the tension in his muscles that had been keeping him moving was unraveling.
