Nick went on to tell us that he’d been educated in the UK, and had spent most of his life there until his father had become unable to rule any longer.
His dad was still alive, but demented, so Nick had returned to Lania to take up his responsibilities several years ago.
“My father had made my mother a promise before she died,” Nick explained. “I was a young child, and she hadn’t wanted me to grow up in the middle of a revolution. So I was sent off to boarding school in the UK, and then to college there.”
The guy was young, probably a few years younger than I was, and he’d already been in charge of an entire nation for several years? “How did it feel to be back in Lania after you’d been gone for so long?” I asked.
Nick let out a sigh. “Confining,” he admitted. “I have to fight against my advisors and the royal council constantly. They were used to working with my father, and most of them still see me as the little prince. My father wanted democracy, but wasn’t so keen on progress. His advisors are the same way. There’s way too many customs that need to be relegated to the past, and much more progress to make, but that’s easier said than done.”
“You’ll get there,” I encouraged. “Maybe it’s time to hire new advisors,” I suggested.
Obviously, Nick had been responsible for trying to modernize the country. Maybe he didn’t have an elite team or the military power that we had in the U.S., but I had to give him some credit for the post-war improvements he’d made.
Nick grinned. “Don’t think I haven’t tried to shake things up here. Eventually, Lania will become a worldwide powerhouse.”
We gave up the rebel location, and told Nick everything we knew about Taylor’s captors, which wasn’t much.
When we were finished briefing him, he asked, “I’m hoping you can let Taylor know how sorry I am that this happened when she’s feeling better? I’ve already talked to Dr. Lewis, and once Mark’s family is notified, I’ll speak to them as well.”
“Yeah, we’ll pass that along,” I agreed distractedly as I kept an eye on the doctor and Taylor.
The physician had started an IV on Taylor, done what looked like a thorough exam, and had pushed several meds. He was now cleaning up some of the cuts on her face.
He finally stood up from his stool, and joined us outside. “She’ll need monitoring on your way home,” he said as he pulled a handkerchief out of his pocket and wiped the sweat from his face and his bald head. “There’s not much else I can do under these conditions. Some of her lacerations are infected, so I started antibiotics. She’ll need more as soon as you arrive in the United States. Taylor’s muscles are deteriorated, bruised, and badly strained from being bound in the same position for so long, but they should slowly improve once she can walk. And as expected, she’s severely dehydrated, which is affecting every system in her body. She’s getting fluids, but the bags will need to be changed once they’re empty.”
“I got it,” Jax said abruptly. “Do you have extra bags?”
Between the two of us, Jax had the most medical training, so I let him handle getting supplies with Nick as I asked the doctor, “Is there anything else we should know?”
“She’ll need comprehensive lab work and x-rays to make sure all her systems are functioning normally again. Expect her to be confused and extremely weak while her body is trying to hydrate. I couldn’t find any obvious fractures, but I could only do a cursory exam. I suspect her main issue is her critically dehydrated state.”
I frowned. “Taylor wasn’t talking to me. Is it normal for her to be unconscious?”
He nodded. “Her body was shutting down. She did wake for a moment for me. I don’t think she liked the IV or the exam. She’s not really unconscious. She’ll rouse to physical pain, but it’s better just to allow her to deep sleep until she gets some hydration. I’m sending some pain and anti-anxiety medication in case she needs it when she’s more awake.”
“Hell, I can’t blame her for waking up during that IV, and all that poking and prodding,” I muttered. I wouldn’t exactly enjoy having a needle shoved into my arm, either.
“Since she wasn’t awake for more than a few seconds, I couldn’t access her mental state, but I imagine she’s going to need time to recover. Luckily, she was only held for a short period of time, but her treatment by the rebels was incredibly harsh.”
I nodded, my gut wrenching from thinking about just how much abuse this woman had suffered. “I know. I’ll make sure she gets everything she needs.”
After the doctor finished his instructions for the ride back home, we loaded Taylor into the transport boat, making her as comfortable as possible in the cabin.
“Be safe,” Nick instructed as the captain who had ferried us over pushed off the dock. “Let me know how Taylor and Harlow are faring,” he called out.
I lifted a hand in goodbye and entered the cabin as we departed.
“He’s likable enough, I guess,” Jax grumbled as he hung the IV bag. “But I still don’t trust the bastard.”
“Doesn’t matter,” I said gruffly. “At least we’re on our way home with Taylor.”
“I’m not sure if it’s her that smells so bad, or us,” Jax said as he raked a hand through his hair.
We’d trekked for miles carrying a lot of extra weight. “Probably a little of both,” I answered, noticing how tired my brother looked now that we were actually facing each other. “The clothes that Cooper designed worked out great, but I’m sweating my balls off.”
Since we didn’t do military issue anymore, Cooper had developed special protective clothing for Last Hope, and Marshall had distributed it to all of his members.
We’d opted to use the black outfit for this particular mission, and although comfortable, the long sleeves had gotten hot.
Jax shrugged. “He said he had to give up some things to keep us safe. Long sleeves are necessary to protect your arms, and to stay undetected. It can’t be any worse than military issue.”
I shook my head. “It’s not. It’s a lot lighter and less confining, I guess I just feel like bitching.”
Jax grinned. “Then bitch away. It was a long damn hike.”
We’d nixed the black masks once we’d gotten away from the camp, and had just kept our high-tech night googles on, but it wasn’t cool in Lania in the summer, even at night.
I was pretty sure every one of us in the small cabin right now was responsible for stinking it up.
“Since it’s my jet, I’m getting the shower first,” I informed my brother. “Taylor needs to get cleaned up, too.”
“I’ll wrap up her IV, but otherwise, that task is all yours. You better make it short; I’ll be right behind you,” Jax grumbled. “I’m not going to sleep until I wash this stench off me.”
“I’ll be as quick as possible, but she comes first right now,” I reminded him shortly.
My eyes drifted to Taylor’s face, and I felt my temper rise all over again.
I’d been infuriated from the moment I’d found her, weak and close to death.
Son of a bitch!