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“The tattoo!”
“What tattoo?”
Nurse April comes racing into the room. “Can I help? What happened?” She rushes to Aurora and presses a button on the wall before lowering the head of the bed.
“She fainted in the shower,” Willow sobs.
General Parks barrels into the room with my men on his heels, and he halts at the foot of the bed. Behind them are Dr. Sheppard, another doctor, and more nurses.
“What’s going on?” the general demands.
Dr. Sheppard steps forward. “Everyone out now!”
General Parks puffs out his chest. “That’s my daughter, I’m not leav?—”
“Sir.” Dr. Sheppard puts her stethoscope into her ears and bends over Aurora’s motionless body. “I can’t properly care for your daughter with all of you in here. I promise I’ll update you as soon as I have some answers.”
He deflates. “You heard the Doc, everyone out.”
We all file out of the hospital room and move toward the reception area. As soon as we’re far enough away from Aurora’s room, General Parks spins around to face Willow.
His eyes brim with unshed tears. “Was she breathing?”
Willow nods. “I swear, Victor, she just fainted.”
The general opens his arms, and she steps into them. He hugs her protectively. “She’ll be okay.”
I don’t know who the general is trying to reassure more, Willow or himself.
“Do you know what caused it?” Hudson asks, and Willow shakes her head.
“Wait,” I say. “Willow, before the nurse came in… you mentioned a tattoo. What were you talking about?”
Willow takes a deep breath. “I was washing Aurora’s hair, and I lifted the ends to rinse them and noticed something on the back of her neck.”
My eyes cut to General Parks. “Does she have a tattoo?”
“Not that I know of.” He rubs his hands over his face.
“I don’t think she knew about it,” Willow mumbles.
“What do ya mean?” I press.
“I asked her what was on the back of her neck, and she said ‘nothing’,” she explains. “She said her neck didn’t hurt and asked if Dr. Sheppard needed to look at another injury. I told her it was a tattoo.”
Thomas moves closer. “Did you get a good look at it?”
“It looked like a UPC code.” Willow snaps her fingers. “But it did say ‘Property of Krukov’.”
General Parks picks up a chair and throws it into the wall. “Son of a bitch!”
I push Willow behind me as the general continues to hurl chairs around the room. He smashes his fist into a portrait hanging on the wall before turning his wild eyes back to Willow. “What happened in there, Willow?” his voice low, daring.
Willow shakes her head vigorously and takes a step back. I step with her, using my body as a shield. The general isn’t thinking clearly right now. I understand his only daughter is laid up in a hospital bed after suffering the unimaginable, but I’ll be damned if he uses Aurora’s best friend as a verbal punching bag.
“I-I-I can’t say,” she stammers.
The general roars and lunges for another chair. Thomas yanks the seat out of General Parks’ grasp and holds up his hand. “Sir, you need to calm down before we get kicke?—”