Don't Read in the Closet: Volume Four (104 page)

The team’s on-call physician faded into the room moments after

Hisaki disconnected the call. She was a petite woman with a larger

than life presence. She knew how to take charge and make men two

and three times her size obey her. If they didn’t she made them cry

like little girls. No one wanted to be on the doc’s bad side, she was the

one with the needles after all.

“Hey Doc, thanks for coming so quickly.” Hisaki nodded to her in

respect and then indicated the bed with a sweep of his hand. “I don’t

know what to do for him.”

“It’s not a problem.” Doc said and dismissed the agent to focus on

her new patient. Doc walked over and threw the sheets aside exposing

Moore.

Hisaki found himself growling in possessive anger at anyone else,

even the doc, seeing Moore vulnerable and exposed like that. He

stood rigidly clenching and unclenching his fists as he tried to reign in

his emotions. The doc felt the tension palpably radiate across the room

towards her and took a step away from Moore. She understood the

danger she was currently in and had she known that this Flame had

feelings for the sick man she would have done things a bit differently.

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“Agent Hisaki, I’m going to need your help to save this man you

so obviously care about, are you going to be able to control yourself?”

Hisaki closed his eyes and took a deep cleansing breath. He

released the tension he was feeling on exhalation and tried to

understand where such strong emotions had come from. Hisaki never

lost control; he was the strongest agent, the strongest Flame, in the

company, so this was very disturbing. Hisaki shoved it into a little box

in his mind to examine later. “What do you need me to do?”

“Go fill the tub with tepid water.”

Hisaki went without another word and filled the tub. He searched

in the cabinets until he found some bath towels. He pulled out two and

placed them on the counter before going back to the bedroom. “How

feverish is he Doc?”

“104.8 degrees, that’s way too high, we need to get him in the tub

and hopefully his temp will drop a bit. Before we do that though, I

need you to help me turn him on his side so I can listen to his lungs

and give him an injection.”

Hisaki rolled Moore with ease and held him while the doc listened

to several places along his back. He watched her ready an injection,

disinfect an area on Moore’s buttock and jab him quickly with the

syringe. Moore barely flinched when the needle broke the skin. Hisaki

picked Moore up and cradled him against his chest as he carried the

sick man to the bathroom.

Moore did thrash around a bit when Hisaki lowered him into the

tepid water, but he calmed when Hisaki started talking to him in

soothing tones. Hisaki looked up as the doc walked into the bathroom.

“I’m leaving now. I’ve already called into the med store for antibiotic

injectors for him. They should be fading in soon. Call me if he takes a

turn for the worse and I’ll come right back.” She faded out before

Hisaki could thank her for helping Moore.

Hisaki turned back to the slender man shivering in the tub.

Moore’s eyes were open and looking up at Hisaki in dazed confusion.

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He tried to speak, but Hisaki cut him off. “It’s okay Moore, you’re

very sick so just relax. I’m taking care of everything.” Hisaki leaned

over and hit the drain button, “Let’s get you out of here before you

wrinkle.”

****

Graven felt so weak, he didn’t think he had the strength to even

lift a hand, so he just watched agent Hisaki move around the

bathroom. Hisaki spread a towel across the empty chrome countertop

and moved back to the side of the matching chrome tub. The water

had already drained when Hisaki bent over and slid his hands

underneath Graven’s wet body. Graven was lifted like he weighed

nothing at all and carried to the counter where he was placed gently

on the prepared towel.

Graven saw how careful the agent was being with him and if he’d

felt well he probably would have marveled at the way he was being

treated, but since he was barely conscious he only noted it in passing.

It was about that time that it dawned on Graven that he was naked and

he was being dried off by the fodder of his fantasies. Despite his

illness Graven felt himself becoming aroused and tried to cover

himself with his hands, but he was just too weak. Frustrated

humiliated tears fill his eyes and slid down his cheeks as Graven

bowed his head.

Hisaki knew Moore was becoming aroused and he chose to ignore

it and spare the man some dignity. He dried Moore off in a

businesslike manner and wrapped the towel around his shoulders.

Hisaki looked at Moore’s face for the first time since he began drying

him and saw the tears slipping silently down Moore’s gaunt stubbled

cheeks. Hisaki wasn’t sure if he should ignore the tears or

acknowledge them. In the end he decided to ignore them for now and

deal with them later.

Scooping Moore up into his arms Hisaki made his way into the

bedroom. He called out, “Clean linens on the bed,” and the old sweaty

sheets vanished and new clean sheets took their place. Hisaki placed

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Moore on one side of the bed and pulled the clean top sheet up to

Moore’s neck. “Add comforter,” Hisaki said and a large burgundy

comforter appeared on top of the bed. Hisaki folded it down so it

wasn’t covering Moore’s face.

Hisaki wiped the tears off Moore’s cheeks and asked him, “Do

you think you could eat something or drink some broth?”

Moore closed his eyes and took a deep breath to gauge how well

his stomach felt. He nodded, “Some soup?” He whispered to Hisaki.

“Very well, I will be back shortly.”

Graven laid there confused and exhausted with his head pounding

from the fever wondering if he’d fallen into some alternate reality. A

place where the man of his dreams didn’t hate him or suspect him of

being part of a murder-kidnapping ring. If this really was an alternate

reality Graven wanted to stay here forever.

He looked up as Hisaki walked back into the room carrying a

small bowl and a bottle of electrolyte juice. Graven watched him put

everything on the side table and then Hisaki reached for him to sit him

up. Hisaki slid onto the bed behind Graven to hold him up as he ate.

Graven could feel the heat from Hisaki’s body all along his back

sinking deep into his bones and setting him on fire as no fever ever

could.

Hisaki picked up the bowl and held it to Graven’s lips allowing

Graven to take small sips at his own pace. Within minutes the bowl

was empty and Hisaki was holding up the juice bottle for Graven to

drink from. After a few mouthfuls Graven pushed the bottle away.

Graven’s eyes slowly closed and he felt himself being lowered to

the bed and covered. He thought he felt the agent kiss his forehead,

but realized that it must have been his imagination as he slipped into a

deep healing sleep.

Hisaki watched Moore sleep for a while and wondered what had

possessed him to kiss the other man. Hisaki admitted he was attracted

to Moore, but he hadn’t planned to do anything about it just now.

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Something about Moore being sick and looking so helpless pulled at

the core of Hisaki and pushed him to claim Moore and protect him.

A chime alerted Hisaki that someone was trying to get a hold of

him. He opened the interface and a small screen popped up in front of

him showing Miguel’s face. “Miguel, you have anything to report?”

“Sir, we found the dealer who sold the Earth weapons to our

killers. I sent Pearson and Galix to question him.”

“Good work Miguel, keep me informed. I won’t be in the office

for another day or so, but you can reach me on my interface.” Hisaki

signed off. He was glad they were finally making some headway in

this case.

Graven floated in and out of consciousness over the next 24 hours.

At times he was aware enough to know that agent Hisaki was there

with him, but when he finally woke up fully he was alone. He

wondered if he’d dreamed the agent being there from the beginning.

Graven still felt tired, but he was well enough to shower and dress

for work. He knew he could have used another day or two to

recuperate, but he didn’t want to risk losing his job.

By the time he was dressed and ready to leave Graven wanted

nothing more than to go back to bed. He couldn’t believe how just a

few days illness could cause such lasting weakness. Graven dragged

himself downstairs and to the portal stop.

Average citizens used portal stops placed conveniently throughout

the city to move from one place to another. NOVA agents and very

high level officials were the only ones who had access to instant

transportation without using portals.

Graven stepped up to the portal and held up his work badge, the

microchip embedded in the badge would tell the portal where he was

going and it would send him to the closest portal to the GS building. It

was the only mode of transportation people used now and it was

completely safe. Those who were wealthy enough could even have a

portal embedded inside their home.

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In a second Graven was stepping out of the portal across from the

GS building. He looked up the side of the building; he’d always

thought it was so pretty with its blue tinted glass and silver steel

frame. It had always been his dream to work for the GS helping

children and now that it was a reality Graven didn’t want to lose his

dream. The thought that he might was stressing Graven to the point of

illness.

He sighed and made his way to the entrance. Graven’s shoulder

was grabbed from behind and he spun around to see who it was and

frowned. “What do you want Maverick? I was just on my way inside.”

“I need to talk to you for a second, can you just come over here

out of the entry way?” Maverick turned and walked back to the portal

before facing Graven again.

Graven was annoyed and huffed out a breath. “Maverick, listen, I

can’t be late for work since I was out sick for the past five days. Can

you please be quick about whatever it is you need to say?”

Maverick turned with a sneer slashed across his face and grabbed

Graven by the lapel of his suit jacket. He was at least four inches taller

and much broader than Graven; he was too strong for Graven to break

free especially in his weakened state.

Graven felt a sharp stabbing pain in his neck just before

everything went dark. Maverick pulled Graven towards the portal

shoving him through it after first setting the destination he then

stepped through himself.

****

Miguel paced the front of the room as he summarized the team’s

findings and formulated a plan of attack. “Marissa and Pearson spoke

to the antiquities dealer who supplied the Earth relics. They were

requested by a man who works for the GS and picked up by two

dangerous looking men according to the dealer.”

Hisaki’s entire body tensed visibly, “What was the name of the

GS worker?”

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Pearson took out his PRD or personal recording devise and was

just about to tell them the name of the GS contact when a screen

popped up at the front of the room. The team’s secretary called to

Hisaki. “Agent Hisaki, a woman named Macey is on the line for you,

she says it’s an emergency.”

“Put her through…” The image on the screen shifted to show the

older woman who so fiercely protected Moore from Hisaki. “What

can I do for you Macey?”

“Graven has been taken.”

Hisaki could hear the panic in her voice; see her lower lip