Zach

The general chaos of the emergency room no longer registered with me as I went from room to room, checking on patients. I glanced at each file before I entered and tried hard to be personable, focusing on each individual, though I’d rather be in my bed sleeping. I’d worked a sixteen-hour shift already and it didn’t look like I’d be going home any time soon.

Leaning on the nurses’ station, I sighed as I ran my hands through my hair.

“Long day, huh, Doc?”

I glanced up to see Jackson, one of the nurses, grinning at me from where he sat, filling out forms.

“You could say that. I sure hope this flu or whatever it is goes through quickly. Covering for people is all well and good, but when I’m asleep on my feet, I don’t think that’s good for the patients.”

“True.” He pushed a cup toward me. “Have some coffee.”

I grimaced. “No, thanks. I drank my fill of coffee during my residency. Can’t stand the stuff now.”

He looked surprised. “A doctor who doesn’t mainline caffeine? You’re a rare find.”

“So I’ve been told.”

A commotion down the hall outside one of the rooms caught my attention. I shoved away from the counter before heading in that direction. Sally, the head nurse, raced from the room.

“Sally, what’s wrong?”

“The EMTs just brought a guy in. I’m not sure what’s going on with him, except he’s been beaten pretty badly. He’s panicking and doesn’t seem able to talk.”

“Let me check him out.”

I walked into the room and froze just inside the doorway. The man on the bed was dirty and bloody, yet he was the most gorgeous guy I’d ever seen with shoulder-length black hair, so dark it gleamed almost blue under the glaring fluorescent lights. His skin was pale, but that might have been because of the trauma he’d suffered. His eyes were wide and panicked.

The patient whipped his head from side to side, trying to keep his gaze on everyone moving around him. People were touching him and asking him questions without letting him answer. One of the interns reached out to take his arm, trying to put in an IV. He jerked away from her, almost falling out of the bed.

“Sir, you have to stay still or we’ll have to restrain you.”

His eyes widened even more as fear grew in them. He tensed and I knew he was going to make a break for it.

“Okay, everyone, is our patient stable for the moment?”

They all looked at me, even the injured man.

“Yes, sir.”

“Then I need you all to give me the room for a second.”

“But, sir,” the intern spoke up, “he needs fluids, and we need to clean out his wounds. He has to be assessed to see where else he might be injured.”

“There’s no internal bleeding that we know of, right?” I moved closer.

“Not that we know of, sir.”

“Good, then leave. I’ll call you when it’s okay to come back in.”

They all filed out of the room. The patient studied me as I stepped to the side of the bed. I tried not to crowd him. Something told me he wasn’t used to a lot of people or to having his space invaded. I smiled, and he relaxed slightly.

“I’m Doctor Zachary Harleigh.” I held out my hand.

He offered his hesitantly, and I shook it, firm but soft enough not to hurt him.

“Can you tell me your name?”

Shaking his head, the man gestured to his throat. I frowned.

“This isn’t caused by whoever beat you, is it?”

He shook his head again.

“Okay. Can you write?”

He nodded, and I pulled a small notebook out of my pocket, handing it to him along with a pen. “What’s your name?”

He wrote something on the paper before holding it out to me.

“Raven Sanderson. That’s a nice name.”

It fit him in many ways. Of course, the color of his hair made the name obvious, but he also seemed fragile, like a bird. I’d never really thought of ravens as delicate birds, though I did see them as wild, and Raven gave off that same vibe. If I made the wrong move, he would fly away, injured or not.

He ducked his head and a little bit of pink tinged his cheeks.

“Do you have any family I can call?”

The notebook was drawn close again, and he scratched something down while I inventoried his injuries. Someone had attacked him brutally. Raven must have been in a great deal of agony.

“Do you want medicine for the pain?”

Glancing up at me, he frowned like he didn’t understand what I meant. I reached out, stopping inches away from the bruise on his right cheek. He didn’t flinch, which gave me an inordinate sense of accomplishment. For some reason, he didn’t find my presence upsetting. I snorted to myself. More than likely, it was simply because we were the only two in the room, not because of any special power on my part.

“All those bruises have to hurt.” I gestured toward his multiple contusions, scrapes, and cuts.

He lifted his arm, staring at them in fascination.

“Your family,” I prompted him.

Not taking his gaze off the various marks upon his pale skin, he gave me his note.

“There is only my sister, but I don’t know where she is. That’s why I came to the city. I need to find her,” I read the note aloud then sighed.

It would figure he wouldn’t have anyone I could call to come and sit with him. I glanced up in time to see Raven had laid his hand over the worst cut on his arm.

“No. You shouldn’t be touching the wounds. Your hands are dirty and you could get infected.”

Raven tilted his head, listening to me, but I wasn’t sure he understood what I said. He allowed me to peel his hand away and my mouth dropped open. Where there had been a gaping wound, deep enough for me to see the white gleam of the bone, now there wasn’t anything. Not even a pink scar hinting at an injury.

I reached out to run my fingers over his slender arm, and he jerked away from me. I realized that, even though I was being nice to him, he didn’t completely trust me not to hurt him.

“I won’t hurt you, Raven. I’m a doctor, and that means I heal people, not hurt them.”

He stared at me with his dark eyes, and I swore he could look all the way into my deepest soul, seeing all my secret hopes and dreams. Raven blinked, letting me go from whatever spell he’d put on me.

“As long as I stay in the room and take the lead, will you let the nurses come in and check you out? Keep the pen and paper. Write notes if you need to, and I’ll make sure they listen to you.”

Nodding, Raven relaxed back against the pillows. I checked that he had my pen and notebook before I called the others back into the room. I remained calm, and like the professionals they were, they followed my lead. Most of their questions required a yes or a no, and Raven didn’t have any problem answering them.

Sylvia, one of the ER nurses, pulled me aside and gestured to Raven. “I could’ve sworn his injuries were far worse. There’s a lot of blood on his clothes for the simple cuts and bruises he has.”

I shrugged, scrambling to come up with a good enough explanation to satisfy her when I couldn’t even believe it myself.

“Mr. Sanderson was panicked when he came in here. Maybe there was too much commotion for everyone to get a good look at them.”

Shouts came from the entrance of the emergency room, so Sylvia shot me a skeptical glance before she raced off to see what was going on. Sighing, I scrubbed my hand over my face and turned back to see Raven scribbling something on the paper. He ripped the piece of paper off and held it out to me.

I took it from him and read the note. Afterward, I glanced up at him and shook my head.

“Your injuries might look like they’re minor, but I’d like to keep you overnight to make sure there’s nothing we haven’t caught.”

Raven waved a hand at me, and I held up the paper.

“I know you have to find your sister, but I don’t think one night will make that much difference. It’s a big city, and she could be anywhere. Unless you know where she is?”

As Raven shook his head, I found myself distracted by the liquid blackness of his hair. I stared at Raven, wondering what made him different from the other beautiful men who rolled through my hospital. It wasn’t just his looks, even though those were amazing.

His pale skin glowed and his features were almost foxlike in their angles and curves. A sudden thought hit me, causing my heart to skip a beat. When the aliens had arrived all those years ago, I’d been a baby and had never interacted with any of them before they’d been destroyed. Yet I’d seen pictures since then, in history books and on the ’net.

Something about Raven’s features reminded me of the creatures who’d arrived from space and caused so much chaos and destruction. There was no possibility of Raven being one of them—the world government had ensured all the aliens had been wiped out. They’d showed no mercy to the invaders, and I understood why.

Some part of me couldn’t help but wonder why the aliens had had to die. To be honest, from what I’d read and the research I’d done, the aliens had never actually attacked any of our countries or people. They’d simply appeared and seemed interested in trying to communicate with us.

Of course, what did I know? I probably should have been angry with the aliens since they were the reason my father had died, but I didn’t dwell on the past. He hadn’t been there for me while I’d been growing up, and I didn’t know what I’d missed, though my mother had never hesitated to tell me all about what a no-good man he was.

A throat clearing brought me back to the present, and I blinked. When I looked toward the door, I saw Jackson standing there. He must’ve seen me staring at Raven and believed I was ogling him. I rolled my eyes at him, and the nurse grinned.

“Can I help you, Jackson?”

“I’ve come to take the patient up to his room.” Jackson sounded purely professional.

Raven whimpered and shook his head, reaching out to grab my arm. Panic and fear ripped through me, like I felt every emotion running through him. Gasping, I almost went to my knees. I braced my hands on the mattress next to Raven’s hips. His eyes widened and he yanked his hand away from me, whining low in his throat.

I took a deep breath and gathered myself. After straightening, I patted him on the shoulder, not letting my touch linger.

“You’ll be okay. I’m on shift all night, so I’ll stop by every hour to check on you. It’ll be fine.”

I could tell Raven wanted to argue, but not having a voice caused problems. Finding his sister was important. I couldn’t let him go, though. Not without knowing beyond a shadow of a doubt that he was okay. Admittedly, I usually wouldn’t argue with a patient who wanted to leave, but everything inside me told me not to let Raven out of my sight.

With a silent sigh, he settled back and nodded. As Jackson rolled Raven out of the room, I overheard the nurse say to Raven, “You’re lucky. Dr. Harleigh is the best doctor in the hospital. He’ll keep his word and visit you throughout the night.”

Raven grunted, and I smiled. Something told me the young man would believe that when he saw it. I set an alarm on my watch for an hour from now, so I could remember to go and visit Raven like I’d promised.

* * * *

My alarm buzzed and I sat up on the small cot in the doctors’ break room. Running my hands up and down my arms, I tried to orient myself. The sounds of the hospital rushed by outside the door, and I could hear voices murmuring. It was a slow night in the ER, and if I hadn’t promised Raven I’d stop by to check on him, I would have kept sleeping. As a doctor, I took the opportunity to sleep whenever I could.

I headed to the bathroom to piss. After emptying my bladder, I washed my hands and splashed some cold water on my face to wake up.

Jackson looked up from where he sat at the nurses’ station as I shuffled by. He shook his head.

“Here, Doc. Looks like you might need some of this.”

I glanced at the mug he held out to me. “You know I don’t drink coffee.”

“I remember. It’s chai. Has enough caffeine in it to wake you up but won’t do a number on your stomach like coffee.” Jackson saw my skepticism. “It’s tea, and Sylvia is addicted to it.”

“Am not.” Sylvia strolled down the hall, sipping from her own mug. She smiled at me. “Going to check on Mr. Sanderson?”

I nodded. “I promised him, and with him being mute, I think it’s best if he trusts someone here.”

Sylvia frowned. “They did tests on his throat and didn’t find any injury to cause his muteness.”

“I got the impression he was born that way. He told me it wasn’t the attack that caused it.” I took the chai from Jackson and held the warm mug in my hands. “Has he said anything about who did it to him?”

“Not yet. The police are coming in the morning to talk to him.”

“I’ll make sure to let his nurse know to call me when the police get here. I don’t think he’ll react well to them.” I sipped and a marvelous cinnamon flavor burst over my tongue. I gasped, and the nurses laughed. “This is wonderful.”

“Another convert,” Sylvia crowed while she and Jackson high-fived.

I shook my head and headed toward the elevator. “Page me if you need me.”

“Will do, Doc. Tell Mr. Sanderson hi from us,” Jackson called.

“I will.”

After entering the elevator car, I punched the fifth floor button before leaning against the back wall. I closed my eyes and breathed in the tantalizing smells wafting from the mug while my mind danced back to the observation I’d made in the ER.

Something about Raven drew my thoughts back to the pictures of the aliens I’d seen in books. Of course, I was pretty sure the aliens didn’t really look like that on their own planet. Our government had captured a few of them and managed to get information from them.

They’d said they’d come seeking sanctuary. The aliens had had no interest in taking over our planet. They’d simply needed some place else to live, but after watching decades of space invasion movies, humans hadn’t been inclined to believe that.

The aliens had been studying Earth for decades, and they’d arrived in a form that should have been more acceptable to us. Unfortunately, they hadn’t counted on our inability to accept anyone different, even though they looked the same on the outside. They’d been strange creatures with powers we’d never seen before.

Yet they were beautiful, and Raven reminded me of them. Most of the adults had been killed during the months following their arrival. The aliens might have come in peace but they’d been perfectly capable of defending themselves when they’d had to.

The ding of the elevator doors opening brought me back to the hospital, and I walked over to Raven’s room. I lifted my mug in acknowledgement of the nurse sitting at her station. She winked at me and sent me a knowing smile.

Why did they all assume something was going on between Raven and me? I’d only met the man four hours ago, and while he was beautiful and wounded, it didn’t mean I’d be taking him home.

Pausing at the door, I looked in and frowned. Raven seemed to glow in the dark room. I studied him and noticed his lips moving, like he was chanting. As I watched, the glow intensified, swallowing him in the light. I took a step closer, not sure if it was my imagination.

Raven’s outline blurred, as though something else was fighting to be released from his body. Blue light mingled with the gold as it swarmed over Raven. I swore it concentrated on the areas where he was injured. A sudden flash of light was bright enough to force me to cover my eyes. I’d forgotten about the mug and smacked my face with it.

“Ow! Shit!” I dropped the mug and it shattered on the floor.

The glow disappeared, and when I looked at Raven through tears of pain, he didn’t appear any different from all the other times I’d checked on him. There wasn’t any glow or oddness to his features.

“Are you okay, Dr. Harleigh?” One of the nurses rushed in.

“Yes. Just clumsy. I tripped over my own feet and managed to make a mess. Could you bring me some towels to mop this up?”

“Yes, sir.”

She raced out to get the supplies. I kneeled and started picking up the pieces of the mug. Suddenly, elegant, slender fingers joined mine in the gathering process. I peered to see Raven crouching beside me.

“You shouldn’t be out of bed,” I protested.

His smile burned brightly into my heart, and for some reason, I found myself wanting to see it as often as possible.

He gestured to his face, and I really looked at him. All the bruises and cuts were gone, as if they had never been there in the first place. His translucent skin gleamed like the most expensive porcelain in the faint light of the hallway. Without thinking, I reached out and ran my fingers over the slash of his cheekbone. He didn’t pull away, and though I knew it was wishful thinking on my part, he seemed to lean into my touch. It only took a moment before he straightened and returned to his bed. I followed him like a rat after the Pied Piper.

“How did this happen?” I spoke without realizing it.

Raven shrugged, his eyes telling me things I didn’t understand. Something was going on with him, but I didn’t want to believe it. I wanted to think maybe his wounds weren’t as bad as we’d first thought. Yet I still remembered all the blood and open cuts on his face. The way his skin had appeared dirty from the bruising.

He handed me a paper, which I lifted to the light shining in from the hallway. I laughed softly and shook my head at him.

“I’m sorry, but you’re still going to have to stay here tonight.”

Wrinkling his nose, he pouted, and I laughed again.

“The police will be around in the morning to talk to you about your attack.”

His black eyes widened with fear, and he vigorously shook his head, almost falling out of bed from the motion.

“Why don’t you want to press charges? Do you know who did it? Are you afraid of them?” I was bombarding him with questions, and he didn’t have any way to answer me.

I waited while he scribbled frantically. He tore off the note and threw it at me. I caught and read it, frowning as I finished.

“You know who beat you up, but you don’t want to report them. Not because you’re scared for yourself, but because of your sister. Did the men who did this have something to do with you trying to find your sister?”

Raven nodded and wrote some more. I pulled a chair up closer to his bed, sitting in it with a mental sigh. It wasn’t often I got to sit down during my shift, and even though Raven confused the hell out of me, I was intrigued by him. A frustrated growl came from Raven, and I reached out, resting my hand over his. He met my concerned gaze with his own, full of anger, fear and pain.

“Calm down. We’ll work this out and we’ll find your sister.”

My inner solitary personality cringed at my crazy promise to help Raven find her. How did I know Raven wasn’t lying? How could I be sure Raven wasn’t using me for drugs, or conning me for something else? My proper adult self warned me of all the bad possibilities Raven represented, but my inner slut ran around with his ears covered and singing at the top of his lungs.

I didn’t want to listen to my brain warning me. I wanted to take Raven into my arms and kiss all his worries away. I wanted to promise him the world—and his sister, as well—even though I knew our odds of finding her in New York were slim to none.

Raven pointed at me with a clear question on his face, and I nodded, happily chucking any wise and cautious voice out of the window.

“Yes, I’ll help you, but you have to promise me you’ll stay in this room until tomorrow morning. You’re going to have to talk to the police, but you don’t have to actually tell them anything.”

He looked skeptical, and I waited to see what he would do. I really couldn’t stop him if he decided to leave at that moment. He was an adult and could check himself out whenever he wanted.

I didn’t want him to leave, partly because I worried his injuries were worse than we’d thought, even with them appearing to have healed now. The other half of my reasoning was that if he left, I might never see him again, and every part of me cried out at the possibility of losing him.

Idiotic, really. I had never gotten attached to any of my patients so quickly. I’d met Raven earlier that night, and we hadn’t had any real sort of conversation. The thought of him leaving shouldn’t hit me like a kid losing his best friend or a boy with his first crush.

A knock on the door brought my attention to where Jackson stood in the entrance. The frown on the nurse’s face caught me off guard. I stood, putting myself between him and Raven.

“What’s wrong, Jackson?”

“There are some men here to see you, Doc. I told them you were on break, but they insisted they needed to talk to you.” Jackson sounded disgruntled.

I smiled. Of all the nurses who worked with me, Jackson tended to be the most fiercely protective of my privacy.

“Did they say what they wanted to talk to me about?” Even as I asked, I had a pretty good idea what they were here for. It was more likely the reason why most people came to see me.

“They want to talk to you about the Opalites.” Jackson curled his lip. “I don’t understand why they keep coming to you. Don’t they have their own experts?”

Raven gasped, and I looked over at him to find him staring at me. This time, fear was the overwhelming emotion in his eyes. Was Raven like most of the humans, scared of the Opalites simply because of the horror stories that were passed down from family to family? Those stories were used to force children in line and to keep people from accepting those different from us.

I’d spent my entire life studying and learning all I could about the Opalites—or the aliens—and from everything I’d found out about them, they hadn’t been a danger to us. Humans had simply overreacted when they’d arrived on Earth.

“All right. Tell them I’ll be down in ten minutes. I want to finish up here first.”

“Yes, Doc. Sorry I couldn’t get them to leave.”

I waved a hand in Jackson’s direction. “Don’t worry about it. I’m used to the government not taking no for an answer.”

Jackson’s footsteps moved off while I studied Raven as he fidgeted with his pencil and paper. I narrowed my gaze, staring at his fingers. They were the hands of an artist or musician. Yet something sparked in the back of my mind. An image of hands like that, but I couldn’t remember where I’d seen it, or whose hands they were.

I touched Raven’s shoulder, and he looked up at me.

“I’ll be back in an hour or so. Please be here when I return.”