Capture Her Heart

Chapter 11

"Alright," Audrey smiled as she knotted the final dissolvable stitch on the dog's skin. "There we go, no more cyst for Bubbles." She wiped the area clean and removed her gloves. She reached across the sleeping dog and grabbed the woman's hands comfortingly. "You have nothing to worry about, the cyst is benign, no cancer signs. Marc here is going to carry her over to the resting area and you can stay with her as she wakes. She will be groggy as she wakes and it may startle you both but I promise she is fine. You have many more years with her."

"Thank you Doc," the young woman smiled as the heterochromia-eyed man strolled over to them hearing his name being beckoned. "Thank you, thank you, thank you."

"Of course," Audrey beamed fondly at the woman, "I'm just glad I could help Bubbles for you."

"Ladies," Marc smiled as he stopped beside Audrey. "Boss me around, Boss."

Audrey rolled her eyes as the woman giggled. "Bubbles is ready to finish her nap. Carry her gently over to the napping area."

"Yes Ma'am," Marc nodded as he carefully picked up the dog then nodded at the woman, "After you, Ma'am." The woman blushed as she walked off.

As he rose from laying the dog down on the pile of blankets, he spotted a man standing across the street watching through the open doors of the community center. The man was wearing black slacks and a white tee while still pulling off the professional look. He had an aura of overconfidence that made the hairs on the back of Marc's neck stand. There was something about this man that made Marc go more on alert.

"Hey." He forced himself to pull away from watching the man to see Kota walking towards him. "Here," Kota said as he held out a sub sandwich. "You saw him too?" he muttered softly. Marc nodded as he opened the wrapper around the sandwich and then took a bite. "He's making the doc nervous," Kota admitted. "She saw him and paled even more than she already is. There's something going on but I'm not sure what exactly other than the doc doesn't like him. She switched tables but–"

Kota stopped talking as they watched Audrey walk out of the center. "Fuck," Marc groaned under his breath as he tried to keep his eyes on her. "Where's Luke?"

"He is about to leave," Kota murmured as he pulled his phone out of his pocket. "He was giving Sean his sandwich and then see if he could help or needed to get back to North."

"Yo, wassup?" Luke asked curiously. "Did I forget to give you something?"

"She's leaving the center," Kota blurted out. "Creep straight ahead, work your magic."

"Ninja mode activated," Luke suddenly turned serious as he hung up the phone.

"What are you doing here, Hugo?" Audrey asked furiously as she stood in front of the man who was smirking down at her. "Go back to your master and leave me alone."

"You've been ignoring the boss," he shrugged casually. "He's getting tired of the cat-mouse game you're playing with him. The boss is ready for you to come home now, Mistress."

"Don't call me that," she seethed as she pointed her finger at him. "I'm not going back and you can't make me. My life is here and not with him. I told him no and I mean it, Hugo. I'm not going to be a part of that lifestyle and if he tries to force me again I'll run again and this time you won't find me. Now I have to get back to helping others. Go away Hugo and don't come back. Go tell your master and while you're at it you can give him a message from me."

"What's that?" he tilted his head curiously.

"Drop dead."

He chuckled as he pulled the cigarette from his lips and dropped it on the asphalt. "Sorry Mistress but no can do. The boss said to keep an eye on his preziosa and he overrules you. I'm to keep you safe until you come to your senses and return back where you belong."

"I'm not his whatever you just said and I never will be," she crossed her arms over his chest.

"DOC!" she whirled around to see Rebekah standing in the middle of the open doors. "Emergency!"

"Fuck," she muttered as she whirled back around to face the man with hatred. "Go away now! If you're still here when I'm done you won't like the report you'll have to give your boss and it will be all your fault, I guarantee it."

"Don't forget the promise he made before you left, Mistress. You are his preziosa and he will hunt you down even if he had to go to Hell in order to retrieve you," Hugo said as he stared the tiny woman down then nodded and walked back to his truck with his eyes never leaving hers. She flipped him off and then rushed back to the center while trying to mask her trembling hands. "Hit and run," Rebekah rushed as she held out the box of gloves. "Just happened two streets over. Broken hind leg but still assessing."

"Got it," Audrey nodded as her mind ran with all sorts of possible injuries she needed to look for. "Oh poor girl," she sighed as she gently ran her fingers over the black lab. "She needs to be taken to my place if I can't find any signs of internal bleeding. I can set the break briefly but in order to determine if she needs surgery I need to X-ray first." She started feeling around and frowned at the whines, "I'm sorry I'm trying to be gentle." Rebekah gave a shot to help relieve some of the pain but not to the point it would completely knock her out. "Needs to be spayed as well. Is she a–"

"Stray," another woman said as she walked over, "everyone feeds her so she doesn't starve but she doesn't have a permanent home. We just call her Shadow because she's so flighty."

"Alright, take her home Rebekah and get an X-ray for me," Audrey nodded. "Let me know all the results, you know the procedure."

"Got it Boss," Rebekah said as she helped set the broken leg in a temporary cast. "Boys!" she called out, making the youngsters run over to her. "Two of you are coming with me, one stay here with Doc Em. Make it quick we got an emergency."

"Well?" Marc asked as Luke made his way back over to them.

"Where's Core?" Luke asked, looking around for the computer genius.

"You called?" Corey asked as he made his way over to them.

"Call Rave," Luke said sternly, making the three men look at him in shock. "It's the fucking Italians."