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SIX DAYS AGO
"The Russian has been quiet," Aaron informed Jaxon, sitting on the chair close to the hospital bed, his leg crossed and a tablet in front of his nose. "We haven't heard a single thing from them since that night."
Jaxon hummed but said nothing. He was trying to pay attention to what Aaron was saying and he was failing. He should be listening, only that he felt... irritated.
He was sick of just sitting in a hospital bed all day and simply doing nothing. He couldn't even stand up and pace around the room, for God's sake.
Aaron was always quick to tell him when he complained that he almost died. "The doctor said you need a lot of rest. So stay down, Jaxon, and fucking rest."
Jaxon was close to throwing a tantrum like a fucking child.
His muscles were stiff and aching. He needed to be up and moving around, not sitting still while everyone did everything for him. There was a war going on and he should be at the front.
And even though Aaron told him the Russians were lying low, he still couldn't relax.
"Are you listening to me, Jaxon?" Aaron asked, a hint of irritation in his voice.
"No," Jaxon answered curtly and looked at the TV, even though he wasn't seeing anything.
He ignored Aaron's heavy sigh and just fell back into his head, lost in the depth of his mind, that was until the door opened, and his world stepped into the room.
"Hermano," she cried as she ran to him, and he opened his arms for her. She hugged him tightly, and he winced from the pain that shot through his abdomen, but he didn't release his hold on her.
"Mi amor," he whispered, holding her tightly and burying his nose in her hair, inhaling her soothing scent.
"You." She pulled away from him, sniffing as she hit him in the chest. "What were you thinking? Getting shot?"
His lips curled into a soft smile, a smile only meant for her. "Forgive me, mi amor. I shall tell the Russians next time not to shoot me. That I have a little sister that might die if I die."
"Damn right." She glared at him for a short moment before she hugged him again. "I was so scared," she whispered, her voice trembling. "I was so, so scared when Aaron told me."
Jaxon shot Aaron a look behind Aelina's shoulder, and the bastard shrugged, his eyes falling back to his tablet. Jaxon was going to have a word with him later.
"You shouldn't be," he said softly as he stroked her hair. "Death wouldn't be able to take me away from you."
She was his life, his goddamn everything.
They weren't related in any way. Not at all. But she was still his family.
He had found her on the streets, fifteen years ago, tiny and starving. But despite how she looked, there was still a fire in her eyes, a fire that never burned out through out. He had been young himself, then, but he carried her in his arms, and she had been the bane of his existence since then.
Aelina pulled away from him and immediately lunged into talks of school. Jaxon listened intently, nodding, and saying a word or two. Aaron got up and left, saying he was going to get lunch.
Ten minutes later, he came back with his eyebrows set, and no lunch.
"What is it?" Jaxon asked, immediately tensed, alert.
Aaron sat back on his chair, crossing his arms, looking Jaxon dead in the eyes as he said, "I don't like your doctor."
Jaxon blinked at him, his eyebrows furrowed. "Why?"
"She's disrespectful."
Aelina rolled her eyes at him. "Let me guess, she didn't cower at your mighty presence?"
Aaron shot her a glance but said nothing.
Jaxon groaned. "That's why you're sulking?"
Aaron gave him a look that could make his balls wither and die. "I am not sulking."
"Sure," Aelina said. "You're only pouting."
Aaron stuck out his tongue at her.
A short laugh burst from Jaxon. Aaron was his commander. He ruled their empire when Jaxon wasn't there. He was feared, respected, and could be brutal when he wanted. And he could also be cute when he wanted. Though he might probably stab Jaxon in the balls if he called him cute.
"Anyways, dislike aside," Aaron said, his expression now serious, "I think she's the one we're looking for."
Jaxon raised an eyebrow.
"A doctor," Aaron answered the unasked question.
"Ahh." Jaxon nodded.
They needed a doctor in their outfit. Someone they could trust, someone they could let into their circle. Someone who could treat them on the call and ready. Jaxon being at this hospital had raised too many eyebrows. He didn't want the public's eyes on him.
That attention wouldn't have happened if they had their own doctor. They had one but he was killed. This war with the Russians had taken too much. From both sides.
In this last fight with them, Jaxon and his men were able to take a lot of them down before they managed to put a bullet in him. So they were probably regrouping, licking their wounds while they prepared for the next fight.
Jaxon wanted to hit them now that they were weak, but he had also taken a big blow to his side.
Back to the doctor...
"Why do you think she could do it?" Jaxon asked Aaron. "Our world isn't for just anyone, Aaron. You can't just see someone and decide they were fit for a life of blood and violence. That is not how things are done." Aelina nodded as he spoke, sitting beside him on the bed and interlocking their fingers.
Their last doctor was born into their world, he knew everything about it and how to survive in it. Their world wasn't for the faint-hearted. It was cruel and brutal. That was why he tried as hard as possible to keep Aelina shielded from it all.
Since he took her under his wing, she has never stayed in Spain for more than a month. He spent her off to England, where she would be safe and could study.
A life with him was dangerous. That was why he never took lovers. Despite how much he craved...
"I know she can be our next doctor," Aaron answered, his jaw set in determination. "It's all in her eyes, Jaxon. She has seen things, been through hell and back. She's tough. Back at the operation room, she looked me dead in the eyes and told me to get out."
Jaxon still didn't understand why Aaron would burst into the operating room and threaten the doctor. He had defended himself by saying, "She could be working with those bastard Russians. So I had to go remind her what would happen if she tried to mess with you. That is if she was working with the Russians."
That had made sense, but still.
"She's got steel, Jaxon," Aaron continued. "I know it."
Jaxon was silent for a while, thinking about it. If his commander said she could do it, then she could.
"I assume you already have her file?"
Aaron smiled as he handed him his tablet. "Of course I do."