Lost Inside - 17. Chapter 17

“Benny, wait.” Davis came around the corner of the corridor leading to the surgery suite. The tall Snake nearly vibrated with tension. Yuri was in the bathroom while Benny waited outside.

“Dav? What’s wrong?” Benny flicked his ears. Dav’s eyes were razor thin slits.

“I don’t have your sense of smell, but I can taste. I’m pretty damn sure you didn’t stand outside the balcony of your apartment and relieve yourself.”

“Someone pissed on my fucking wall?” Benny clenched his jaw. His claws dug into his palms.

“Um hmm, and I got a first-hand taste of it. Pretty rank, too.” Dav flicked his forked tongue. “Pretty sure it’s Yuri’s watcher. He’s getting bolder.”

Benny opened his mouth, but Yuri came out of the bathroom, and he didn’t want to upset his mate. Yuri eyed Dav, tilting his head sideways.

“I know you.”

Dav smiled. “You do. I’m Ellis’ mate.” He let Yuri see his fangs.

“Oh yeah! You have the tongue thingy.” Yuri stuck his tongue out. “It’s not like mine, though, it’s poky on the ends.” His comment was garbled because he talked with his tongue still out, pointing to the tip.

Benny laughed, smiling at his mate.

“What?” Yuri lifted one eyebrow at him. “It is. I’ve seen it.”

Uh oh. Laughing was probably not a good idea. “Uh…”

Dav smoothed over his gaffe. “Yep, forked tongue. You’re right, Yuri. Not very many people notice it, though.”

“I did.” Yuri beamed but then wrinkled his forehead. “The lady… the one with the other doctors—”

“Millie,” Benny supplied.

“—Millie, yeah, she has one too.”

Dav nodded. “Ellis told me you consulted another Snake. I was surprised to learn one of us was a doctor.” Snakes were abandoned by their parents, and rejected by most Carthera clans, so those who did manage to survive were rarely well adjusted.

Yuri moved over to Benny and took his hand. The feel of his mate and his scent sent a wave of longing through Benny. He wished things could go back to the way they were, before they’d been attacked by Yuri’s dad.

The procedure could help… but there were so many unknowns. The doctors couldn’t tell Benny if the memories would help or hurt Yuri. He wished there was a way to just bring back the good ones.

“Yuri? We’re ready for you.” Ellis had changed into pale blue scrubs, a cap, and a surgical mask.

Yuri stiffened. “Who are you?”

“Oh, I’m sorry, Yuri.” Ellis pulled down his mask. Yuri relaxed his grip on Benny’s hand.

“I couldn’t tell you were you,” he said. “Why are you wearing that?”

“We didn’t explain very well, huh? Well, Carthera are more resistant to germs and other problems than humans, but you can still get infections. So we’ll all be wearing gowns to keep germs out of the areas we’re going to work on to help you. They look like robes, plus our hats, masks, and gloves.”

“Even Benny?”

“Everything but the gloves.”

“Okay.” Yuri took a deep breath. “I can do this.” He nodded his head. “I can.”

Benny was torn between needing to talk to Dav and needing to be with his mate like he promised.

“Yuri, I’m going to ask Benny to change out here. Do you think that’s okay, and he’ll be in with you in just a few minutes?” Ellis asked.

His mate hesitated. “You won’t do anything without him there?”

“No. We’re gonna get you changed and show you the equipment though. All right?”

“Just a few minutes cause you promised.” Yuri looked up at Benny.

“I did. I’ll hurry.” Benny ran a finger along Yuri’s ears and they straightened. “Don’t worry.”

Ellis handed Benny a bundle of cloth with a mask on top. Yuri walked away with Ellis, looking over his shoulder a few times before they disappeared behind the closing doors.

“Here,”—Benny shoved the bundle at Dav—“hold that for me.” He tugged the flimsy coverall from the bottom first. “What are we going to do about the intruder? He’s getting in too close. Why the escalation?”

“No idea. We don’t know who he is. You’re sure you didn’t recognize his scent?”

“It’s a Tiger, but I don’t know him. He wasn’t in my clan.”

“And we can’t reach out to anyone from Yuri’s, because of his father,” Dav said grimly.

Benny shoved the cap on his head. He nodded, reaching for the mask. “I can try to message my mother, maybe, but I don’t know what help she would be.”

“Let’s hold off on that for now. The Falcons are reviewing the security footage around the club. We might get an image of the intruder.”

A picture could help track the Tiger down. “I want to see it.” Benny grabbed the little scrunched up blue balls Dav was still holding. “What the hell are these?”

“They go over your shoes.”

“Ahh.” Benny bent down and shoved his foot into one of the booties. It actually fit.

“As soon as we get something, and your mate is out of here, I’ll email you.” Dav reached out and gripped Benny’s shoulder. “Just focus on Yuri right now. We’ve got your back on this.”

“We have to make up time somehow.” Benny knew Dav was his friend, and the Snake would find the intruder, but there was so much going on Benny felt like he was drowning in worry.

“You’ll have all the time you need.” Dav sounded so sure.

***

Yuri didn’t like the cold room, or the crinkling of the paper stuff around him. His butt was hanging out the back of the robe thingy they made him wear, again. He refused to lay face down on the table until his mate came in.

“What took so long?” Yuri complained.

“I hurried.”

“Uh huh.” Yuri knew his claws were digging into Benny’s hands, but he couldn’t control them. The machine they were gonna use was like a giant needle.

He hated needles.