“He is tough,” Jaded stated.

“Yes. I know.” More tears threatened to fall. “I’m not giving up on him.”

She ignored the two men who watched her every movement as she touched and softly spoke to Tiger. They didn’t trust her perhaps or maybe it was just strange to see a human tending to one of their own but she didn’t let it stop her from doing what she wanted.

At one point she walked into the bathroom to wet a washcloth and began cleaning the blood off Tiger’s skin.

“The nurses will do that,” Bestial informed her from his seat in the corner.

She ignored him and kept gently scrubbing Tiger’s arms and chest. Zandy wanted something to do to feel as if she were helping him.

Chapter Sixteen

Zandy was tired when she woke. Jaded had touched her shoulder gently where she’d fallen asleep curled in the chair next to Tiger’s bed. Her gaze lifted to the bright green stare of the New Species.

“I’m going to order breakfast for you. You should take a shower before it arrives.”

“Thanks.” Her gaze shifted to Tiger. Her palm rested on his chest where it rose and fell with each breath he took. The cuts looked almost healed and the bruising far less noticeable. “He looks better.”

“The drugs are working. We’ll feel better when he wakes and talks to us.”

“I’m concerned about that myself,” she admitted.

Jaded released her shoulder and backed away. “Bestial is talking to the task team here. Will you be all right for a few minutes alone? They make me fill out request forms for our food at the nurses’ station.” He rolled his eyes. “It’s a silly human rule.”

A smile curved her mouth at his expression. He was a handsome man but looked a little too stern. “Yeah. We’re all about making silly rules sometimes. I’ll be fine.”

“He could wake. Yell if he does. We have no idea what kind of mental state he’ll be in.”

“You’ve warned me half a dozen times that the drugs could make him violent. I’ve assured you every time that he won’t hurt me.”

“Just yell if he wakes.”

“Will do.”

He left her alone and she stood, stretching her limbs after sleeping in the cramped position. Tiger’s color looked better and she bent over him, brushing a kiss on his cheek.

“Wake up for me, sexy. I miss you.”

The door opened behind her and she straightened. It was a doctor who stepped inside the room and he frowned when he spotted her. “Hello. I’m Dr. Razner.” He drew closer to glance at Tiger, then the machines, before turning his attention on her again. “What agency do you work for?”

“Agency?” She had no idea what he was talking about.

“The nurses said you’ve been on duty since yesterday. You’ve bathed the patient and kept vigil at his bedside since you arrived. No one knows what agency you were hired from and I am slightly alarmed by that. Did you get permission to work here? This isn’t a private home. Are you a registered nurse? A certified nurse practitioner?”

Her mind was still a little sluggish from lack of sleep. “I’m not a nurse.”

“You’re a doctor? What’s your field?”

“I’m not one of those either. I’m here for Tiger.”

The older man shoved his glasses a little higher on his nose and frowned. “What are you to him?”

She hesitated. “I’m his girlfriend.”

The doctor’s expression slowly changed to one she could easily read. Disapproval wrinkled his face and a coldness seeped into his gaze as he regarded her.

“Shame on you,” he accused softly.

“Excuse me?” Shock slapped her at his words.

“Didn’t your parents teach you right from wrong? It’s abhorrent for humans to have intercourse with animals. That’s just sick, young lady. This hospital boasts an excellent mental-health facility. You should go check yourself in immediately to get the treatment you need. You’re an attractive young lady who doesn’t need to stoop to dating those things.”

It took a few seconds for Zandy to recover from the astonishment of his verbal attack and to let his insulting words to sink in. “How dare you speak to me that way.” Her hands curl into fists, the urge to slap him strong. “Why don’t you go find another doctor to pull your head out of your own ass?”

He sputtered. “What did you say to me?”

“You heard me. How dare you talk to me that way about Tiger. He’s a better man than you’ll ever be, you prejudiced loser. I deal with letters spewing hate and stupidity from pricks like you all day at work. You went to med school? Let me guess. Was it by any chance the school of doctors without brains? Where did you do your residency? Assholes anonymous?”

His fists clenched. “Get out of here before I call security. You’re banned from this patient and the entire hospital.”

“Fuck you.” She flipped him off. “You’re the one out of here. You’re not touching Tiger. You’re fired. I demand someone else treat him. I wouldn’t let you near him with a ten-foot pole.” She remembered that the NSO had their own female doctor somewhere on the premises who’d been sleeping when she’d arrived. “I want the NSO doctor right now.”

“Security!” the creep yelled.

Jaded and Trey Roberts rushed into the room in seconds, both of them focused on Tiger, probably expecting him to be awake and violent. Zandy moved to block the doctor when he tried to step closer to Tiger’s bed.