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-- "
She stopped, dizzy and in real danger of vomiting. Savard tightened her grip as Cam swayed, and sent
Mac a warning look.
"I'll see to that, Commander," Mac responded immediately. "Go on, Savard," he urged. He was afraid
that Cam was about to pass out. He hated to see her in pain, and he knew that she'd be furious if any of
the other agents saw her when she was physically compromised like this.
To his great relief, Cam let Savard lead her away. That crisis averted, he steeled himself for a meeting
with Egret. Hopefully, she would not ask whyhe was briefing her instead of the Commander. He had
never been very good at subterfuge.
*
Blair knocked softly, but she didn't wait for an answer. She pushed open the door to the bathroom in
Cam's room and stepped into the small space. She'd heard the raised voices from behind the closed door
of her room where she had been pacing and trying to calm down. Cam's revelation that Loverboy had
been intentionally targeting her security detail had shaken her badly. It was more frightening than the
threat to her own life. She felt responsible, and guilty, and trapped by circumstances and she wanted to
pound something. It didn't help her mood in the least that all she could think of was Cameron Roberts
declaring irritably that she loved her. Because those few words had rocked her more than anything else
that had happened, andthat really scared her. Just when she thought she'd go stir crazy, Mac had come
in, looking vaguely uneasy and asking her to please postpone any plans she might have for leaving until
the Commander could speak with her. But he wouldn't tell her why Cam was unavailable, so she had
come to see for herself.
Savard was kneeling on the floor in front of Cam, who was seated on the closed toilet, her shirt off and
her head back, eyes closed. Her face was beaded with sweat and her skin looked gray in the harsh
fluorescent light.
Blair's stomach tightened. God, she hated this. "What happened?" she asked sharply, moving around
Savard to see what the FBI agent was doing. "Mac said she was indisposed."
Indisposed. That was a pretty word for this horror.
Savard held a gauze pad over a long, gaping laceration in Cam's forearm that was steadily oozing dark
blood. The surrounding burn was blistered and weeping and her entire arm was swollen to twice its
normal size. "She tore open a bit of the burn here. The bleeding's almost stopped."
Blair didn't need to see the discarded pile of soaked sponges to tell the wound had bled heavily. All she
had to do was look at Cam. "She needs a hospital."
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Cam opened her eyes and after a moment was able to focus on Blair's worried face. "I'm all right.
Savard has it."
"Renee, either put her in a car and drive her, or I'll do it myself." Blair's hands were shaking and she
knew her voice wasn't quite steady.
"Blair," Cam said softly, "if I check into a hospital I'm likely to be relieved, at least temporarily."
"I don't care," Blair stated more firmly as the initial shock of seeing Cam's injury began to wear off. "Mac
is here. He can take care of things." She edged closer to Cam, stroking her fingers over Cam's forehead,
brushing a damp lock of hair away from her eyes. "You're cold," she murmured, struggling with the fist of
anxiety in her gut.
She looked around for something to cover her with, and finally focused on the fact that Cam was
wearing only a thin sleeveless silk T-shirt. Her dress shirt was lying on the floor, rumpled and
bloodstained. Blair's eyes narrowed as she regarded Savard leaning between Cam's outstretched legs,
but she decided she probably didn't have to kill her just then.
"There's a blanket at the foot of the bed," Savard remarked without looking up, as she started to apply a
topical antibiotic burn ointment to Cam's arm.
Blair was gone for a few seconds and when she returned, Cam was sitting up a little straighter, obviously
working hard to hide her discomfort.
"That's not going to work, Roberts," Blair commented darkly, covering Cam's upper body with the
blanket. "You still need to go to a hospital."
"Ma'am," Savard said quietly, efficiently wrapping a soft gauze bandage from Cam's palm to her biceps,
"I'm certified as a physician's assistant as well as an EMT. They're not going to do anything for her at a
hospital that I haven't already done."
Blair turned to her, an angry retort on her lips, but Renee Savard met her eyes calmly, a soothing
certainty in her gaze.
"You're sure?" Blair asked quietly. She had moved back to Cam's side and without realizing it had
rested her hand on the back of Cam's neck. She ran her fingers gently through the dark strands of hair,
caressing her softly.
"Yes, ma'am, I am."
If Savard noticed Blair's actions, she gave no sign of it.
"I just need to lie down for an hour or so," Cam insisted, feeling better now that the pain was starting to
abate.
Blair removed her hand and took a step away. "Will you see that she does, please," she asked Savard,
her tone dull with resignation. She wanted to stay with her, and knew that she couldn't. Not here, not
under these circumstances. It was agony to leave her.
Savard's voice was gentle with sympathy when she answered, "I will, Ms. Powell. You needn't worry."
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