Chapter 7

I awoke to an extreme case of cotton mouth, a mild case of nausea and a throbbing in my knee. Maggie was there with a little water and a damp cloth. "Welcome back, Cowboy!" she said softly. Then she set me on fire with one of the hottest kisses I've ever received.

After she let me catch my breath the first thing I noticed was that we were no longer at the vet's office. I was in my bedroom at the 'cottage'. "How did we get here and what time is it?" I asked as I tried to sit up. Maggie's hand on my chest kept me from getting up. That and the fiery lance of white hot pain from my bandaged knee, that is.

Maggie said softly, "Take it easy or you'll wake her." She nodded towards the other side of the bed and only then did I see Rachel and Becca sleeping next to me.

I looked questioningly at Maggie and she told me, "The surgery went fine but you had a mild reaction to the anesthetic and it kept you out a little longer than we thought it would. Given that you reacted to the anesthesia we didn't dare give you the antagonist to wake you up. Aside from that small glitch the procedure was textbook perfect. You've been asleep for about sixteen hours and Bear decided we should leave as quickly as possible given they were searching the area. We decided to leave immediately and that we could get you back here before you came too. An added bonus was that it would save time and put distance between us and the search area."

I nodded. "Why are Rachel and Becca in bed with me?" (I know: I'm dense sometimes.)

Maggie stifled a chuckle and said quietly, "When we got back here with you, Rachel had, amazingly enough, just awakened and became frantic when she thought you had been hurt. I got her calmed down but she refused to leave your side. She has watched over you since then and she dozed off again about twenty minutes ago. Frankly, I'm amazed that she stayed awake that long. She should still have been under the effects of the meds I gave her before we left."

I looked down at the sleeping woman. Her hair curled around her face and gave her air of complete innocence. "She's a remarkable woman. I want to get to know her much better," I said quietly as I looked at her delicate features.

Maggie smiled and said, "Yes, she is. You know that she insisted that we move you and her sister into the same room? She is convinced that if Becca wakes up and you aren't the first one she sees Becca will fall completely apart. She is positive that you hold the key to her sister's recovery, and maybe even her sanity as well." She paused a moment to frame her question and then continued, "How can you tell them apart? With their legs covered you can't see the bandage, so how did you know that this one was Rachel?"

I looked to the other side of Rachel at the second sleeping angel. I frowned for a moment and then looked at her and shook my head. Puzzled I said, "I don't know how I tell them apart. I look at Rachel and she is Rachel. I look at Becca and I see Becca. I don't know how else to explain it to you. They are who they are."

Maggie looked at me for a minute and asked quietly, "What are you going to do about Becca? I've talked to a friend of mine on your secure line and he tells me that as Becca seems to have fixated on you, the drug she was given will only reinforce that feeling. There is no known reagent, no antidote, to counter its effects." She held up her hand. "I called in a marker and got as much information from my friend Daniel." She paused. "He's a CIA researcher, as he could get me and he said that as far as he can tell there is no known cure for the effects of this shit. He did say that without repeated doses that the effects would lessen over time but that they never go away completely. The stuff has only been around since the early nineties so there are no long-term studies on the effects. Given that they don't even admit to having it, there are even fewer materials available to him to research."

I sighed. "I need to talk to Rachel and see what she is comfortable with doing. Her sister is not competent to make that decision for herself at the moment and I don't have that right. We need to see how badly this stuff is affecting Becca's judgment." I sighed again. These are complications I so did not need.

Maggie sighed sadly and said, "I don't think you understand what I meant or all of what I've told you about the Priathomazine Glycol. The instant she looked at you in pain, she began the process of bonding to you. The minute she had pain inflicted on her after exposure to the drug she began the process of becoming dependent on the first person she saw; that would be you. She won't have a choice about it. That has already been taken from her. It's what this drug does. That is all it does. The only reason it's considered unsuitable for field use is that the subject becomes completely non-functional on their own. They can operate within specific guidelines you set for them for short periods of time, but will be completely unable to adapt to new or changing situations. They are completely unable to improvise on their own. The most prominent secondary affect is heightened libido. She'll crave sex. The BDSM crowd would call her a 'pet'. A 'pet' is someone unable to safely be on her own. They have no regard for their own safety or welfare. The only 'choice' left now is what you are going to do with her."

I gaped at her in horror. "Tell me you are joking! You can't be serious."

Maggie shook her head. "No, I'm sorry. From what Daniel told me I'm probably understating the case. He says that very little of the drug is needed and that Becca was given more than enough to guarantee the collapse of her free will. Without a master or a protector ― someone to look after her and keep her safe ― she'll not be likely to survive more than a year or so. That's if she doesn't immediately go catatonic if you reject her. Daniel says that is a very real possibility."