The Recruit (Book Three) (9 page)

“Fine.” She sat
down next to him and smiled at Mannie. “Hey.”

“Hey, Hannah.
How are you feeling?”

“Okay. How
about you?”

He shrugged.
“As good as I can.”

She squeezed
his hand gently, inwardly relieved when he squeezed back, and
accepted the cup of tea that Douglas handed to her.

“What did
Jordan want?” Will asked anxiously.

She sipped at
her tea. “He wanted to talk to me about the, as he put it, recent
changes happening in my body.”

Mannie snorted
laughter. “Fuck, he makes it sound like you’re going through
puberty.”

Hannah grinned.
“Yeah, he sort of did, actually.”

“What did he
say?” Will asked a bit impatiently.

“He mostly just
wanted to know how I felt about it, if I was angry with you, did I
think I had sufficient control over my Lycan side.”

Will rolled his
eyes. “I told him it would take time. The man’s an idiot if he
thinks you can just control it easily after such a short
period.”

“I think he’s
just worried that I’m going to freak out and kill a bunch of
people. Honestly, the man’s got a point. I don’t have control over
it.” Hannah said softly.

“You will,
honey. I promise you.” Will replied immediately. “We’ll go out
tonight and start practicing.”

Hannah nodded
before taking another sip of tea. “He also asked me to take over
the kenjutsu training until Chen is back on his feet.”

Will blinked at
her in surprise and she smiled a little. “You’ve got the same look
on your face that I did.”

“It’s not a bad
idea.” Mannie mused. “After Chen, you’re the best we’ve got with a
sword and it would be good to keep the others training while he
recovers. I know Chen thought Henry from the current batch of
babies has potential with the sword.”

“I told him
no.” Hannah replied.

“What? Why?”
Mannie asked.

“Because I’m
not good enough to train, Mannie. Chen’s dedicated his entire life
to the sword. I’ve been doing this for less than a year. There’s no
way in hell I’m anywhere near his level and I never will be. Having
me train a new person will just got them killed. Besides, Alex and
Paul have been training with Chen longer than I have. There’s no
way they’ll just accept that the person who started after them is
going to continue their training.”

“You’re better
than them.” Will pointed out.

“That isn’t the
point.” Hannah persisted. “I wouldn’t be happy about having someone
with as little experience as I have acting as a teacher and neither
will Alex or Paul.”

“What did
Jordan say when you refused?” Douglas asked.

“He just told
me to take some time to think about it and to talk to Chen about
it. He said he would meet with Alex and Paul and ask them how they
feel about working with me.”

“You don’t have
to train them,” Will said, “you could just be their sparring
partner.”

“Maybe.” Hannah
said moodily. “I’m just not comfortable with it and I don’t want
Chen to think I’m stepping on his toes.”

“Hannah, have
you considered the possibility that Chen may not go back to
teaching?” Mannie asked hesitantly.

Hannah glared
at him. “No, I haven’t. And I won’t allow Chen to think that way
either. He doesn’t need two hands to either teach the sword or kill
vampires. Do you think he’s less of a person now, Mannie? Is that
what you’re saying?”

Her anger, so
quick to rise to the surface now, was getting harder to control.
She bared her fangs at Mannie who sat back and gave Will a nervous
look.

“He’s faster
and better at the sword than I’ll ever be, even with only one hand,
and I won’t let you or anyone else try and tell me differently. If
we’re to get Chen back to the way he was, we can’t treat him like
an invalid. And if I see any of you acting like he is, I swear I
will – “

“Enough,
Hannah!” Will said sharply. His hand squeezed her upper arm and she
turned to him and snarled as her eyes glowed.

“Stop it.” He
growled at her. “Do not let your anger get the best of you.”

She snarled
again before closing her eyes and bowing her head. He kept a firm
grip on her arm, nodding reassuringly to Mannie and Douglas as
Hannah breathed deeply for nearly five minutes. Finally, her body
relaxed and she raised her head.

She gave Mannie
a shameful look. “I’m sorry, Mannie.”

“Yeah, no
problem.” He said nervously. “Listen, I’d better go. I want to talk
to Constance before we start our training session this afternoon.
Will, you’re meeting us in the gym, yeah?”

“Yes.” Will was
still holding Hannah’s arm and Mannie gave her another nervous
smile before nodding to Douglas and leaving the apartment.

Will released
her arm and Hannah buried her face in her hands. “Fuck! Now
Mannie’s afraid of me.”

“It’s okay.”
Will said soothingly.

“Is it?” She
asked softly.

“Yes, you’ll
see.” He kissed her forehead and stroked her back.

* * *

“Chen?” A man,
slender and dark-haired, poked his head around the curtain
surrounding Chen’s bed.

Chen nodded and
stared silently at the man as he sat down in the chair next to the
bed. He had bright green eyes and a short, neatly-trimmed goatee
and he smiled cheerfully at Chen.

“Hi. I’m Andrew
Resener, your physiotherapist.”

“I thought you
were arriving tomorrow.”

“I got in a day
early and thought I’d drop by and say hello. It’s nice to meet
you.” Andrew replied.

Chen nodded and
closed his eyes. Andrew waited patiently and when Chen didn’t open
his eyes, he stood and began to remove the bandage from Chen’s
arm.

“What are you
doing?” Chen frowned at him.

“I’d like to
take a look at your arm.” Andrew smiled.

“I would prefer
if you did not.”

Andrew laughed.
“I understand but it’s kind of my job.” He continued to unravel the
bandage, ignoring Chen’s look of anger. “Okay, let’s see what we’re
dealing with.”

He studied
Chen’s stump as Chen turned his face away and stared at the
curtain.

“Well, there’s
some swelling, but that’s to be expected.” He said cheerfully.
“Barb did a great job with the suturing, considering the
circumstances and that she’s more of a general practitioner and not
a surgeon.”

“How does it
feel? Are there any pressure points in the dressing?”

Chen shook his
head no as Andrew continued to study his arm. “Good. What about the
pain? On a scale of one to ten, what would be the level?”

“Eleven.” Chen
said bitterly.

“I’ll talk with
Barb about your current pain medication. It’s possible that we can
increase the dosage a little. Are you feeling any phantom limb
sensations?”

Chen sighed.
“Can you leave? I’m tired.”

“I’m sure you
are but I’m going to need a few more minutes. Answer the question,
please.” Andrew said firmly.

Chen glared at
him and Andrew gave him another one of those annoying cheerful
grins. “Glaring at me and giving me the silent treatment isn’t
going to make me go away, Chen. I’m here to help you adjust and I
get paid whether you’re a willing or unwilling participant in your
rehab. Although, just between you and me, things will go a lot
smoother and faster if you participate.”

“It’s been a
week.” Chen suddenly snapped. “Do you really expect me to just
accept what has happened and move on with my life?”

Andrew shook
his head. “No, of course not. But I do expect you to actively
participate in your rehab. It’s the first step to acceptance.”

Chen snorted
loudly as Andrew raised his eyebrows. “Phantom limb sensations –
are you feeling them?”

“Yes.” Chen
said shortly.

“I’m not
surprised. Phantom limb sensation is more common in adults,
especially if it’s been a traumatic amputation. Is it pain or do
you mostly feel like your hand is still there?”

“Like my hand’s
still there.” Chen grunted.

Andrew nodded.
“Well, the good news is – that will lessen with time. Your brain
needs some time to, essentially, rewire itself to adjust to the
change. If it doesn’t, there are a few things we can try –
antidepressants, muscle relaxers – but for now, we’ll adopt a wait
and see approach.”

He bent and
studied the end of the stump. “I think removal of the sutures could
probably be by the end of next week, the skin has really healed
quite nicely, and then we’ll use a compressive sock to help reduce
the swelling. It’ll also help mold your limb so the prosthesis fits
more comfortably.”

“I’m not using
a prosthetic hand.” Chen said immediately.

“Eh, we’ll see
what happens.” Andrew replied. He sat down on the bed, his hip
pressing against Chen’s side and smiled at him.

“Now, this is
going to hurt a little but it’s important that I start stretching
your limb. Ready?”

Chen didn’t
reply and Andrew carefully gripped his arm. Chen twitched and
Andrew made a soft soothing noise under his breath as he began to
massage and rub his arm.

“Please stop
doing that.” Chen said grimly.

“Nope.” Andrew
grinned again at him. “This is very important, Chen.” His hands
kneaded and squeezed and rubbed. “How’s the pain? Really bad?”

“No.” Chen said
shortly.

“Good.” He
shifted closer when Chen tried to move away. “Hold still,
please.”

Chen closed his
eyes. There was some pain but Andrew’s hands were warm and
surprisingly strong, and he told himself the weird tingling in his
stomach was from nothing more than having his arm touched. With the
exception of Barb, who really had only changed the bandage on a
daily basis, no one had touched his arm at all.

He couldn’t
look at his arm without the bandage on it and, as Andrew’s hands
continued to stroke and stretch his arm, he studied his face
instead. There was another of those weird tingles in his stomach
when Andrew met his gaze and smiled at him. He had perfect white
teeth and Chen studied his lips for a moment.

“So, I hear
you’re pretty good with a sword.”

Chen was oddly
fascinated by the movement of his lips, and he groaned out loud
when Andrew wet the bottom one with his tongue.

“Did that
hurt?”

“What?” Chen
dragged his gaze from his mouth. “No, it didn’t hurt.”

“Good. Just a
few more minutes and then I’ll stop.” Andrew said reassuringly. “I
was saying that I’ve heard you’re good with a sword.”

“I used to be.”
Chen muttered. A sharp pang of loss went through him and he choked
back the bitter bile rising in his throat.

“It says in
your chart that you’re right-handed. Did you use only your left
hand for sword fighting?” Andrew asked curiously.

Chen frowned at
him. “No.”

“Well, then it
isn’t ‘used to be’, after all, is it?” Andrew replied.

“I used two
swords.” Chen snapped.

“All the
time?”

Chen hesitated
before admitting grudgingly, “No, not all the time.”

“Good. You’ll
be back on your feet and chopping up vampires again in no time.”
Andrew winked at him and Chen gave him a dirty look before closing
his eyes.

He was too
tired to argue and he had a feeling that the therapist wouldn’t
listen anyway. He felt an odd sense of disappointment when Andrew
stopped massaging his arm. “I’m just going to put another bandage
on your arm and then I’ll let you rest. I’ll be back later this
evening to massage and stretch it again. It’s important in these
first few days that we do frequent massage and stretching
exercises. As your strength improves, we’ll look at getting you to
take a more active role in the therapy. I’ll be showing you some
exercises to help increase circulation and strengthen your muscles.
Sound good?”

“No.” Chen
grunted again and Andrew laughed.

“I know you
think being uncooperative will make me leave, but it won’t, Chen.
In fact, I kind of like the grumpy ones. You’re more
challenging.”

Chen snorted.
“I’m not – “

“Master?”
Hannah stuck her head between the curtains. “Can I talk to you –
oh, I’m sorry. I didn’t realize you had company.”

Andrew held his
hand out. “I’m Andrew Resener, Chen’s physiotherapist.”

“It’s nice to
meet you.” Hannah shook his hand briefly. “I’m one of Chen’s
students, Hannah.”

“You’ve
graduated.” Chen said bluntly. “You are no longer my student.”

Hannah just
shrugged and studied the end of Chen’s arm. “It’s healing nicely,
master.”

He didn’t reply
and Andrew patted his shoulder. “It really is. I’m just going to
bandage it and then I’ll leave you two alone.”

“Oh, I can come
back later.” Hannah said hurriedly.

“No need. I was
just finishing up.” Andrew pointed to the chair beside the bed.
“Have a seat, this won’t take long.”

He wrapped
Chen’s arm carefully. When Hannah took Chen’s right hand and held
it firmly, he hid his surprise that Chen didn’t pull away from her.
She rubbed his arm lightly with her other hand and gave him an
encouraging smile. Although Chen didn’t return her smile, Andrew
could feel his body relaxing slightly.

“Alright, that
should do it.” Andrew stood and smiled at Hannah. “Nice to meet
you, Hannah. Chen, I’ll see you later this evening.”

“Bye, Andrew.”
Hannah said softly. Although Chen didn’t reply to Andrew, Hannah
didn’t miss his glance at the man’s ass as he disappeared behind
the curtain.

She waited
until she heard the door to the infirmary close. “He’s good
looking, huh?” She said casually.

When Chen
glared at her, she smiled innocently at him. “What? I’m just saying
- the guy’s cute.”

“What did you
want to talk to me about, Hannah?” He asked tiredly.

She hesitated
before stroking his arm again. “I met the new head of the facility,
Jordan Hart, today.”