Carson Evolved Ch. 04

He was about to ask her if she'd like to move somewhere a little quieter to discuss her father's proposal when one of the wait staff interrupted. "Pardon me, Mr. Jayne. This package was delivered to the front desk for you."

Carson thanked the man. The box he'd been given was a thin, square tube of lightweight, white cardboard. It was enclosed with a garish ribbon and bow that shimmered in the light. Attached was a card from "A Secret Admirer." He loosened the ribbon and began opening the box. As he did so, he looked at Mara and rolled his eyes, asking, "Did one of the lionesses do this?"

As she laughed and shook her head at him, he absently tipped the open box out into his palm. His attention was immediately captured when his hand erupted in what felt like liquid fire.

Simultaneously, he heard Quinn exclaim, "Oh shit!"

He looked down and clamped on the skin between his thumb and forefinger he saw the head of a thin creature whose body had extended and wrapped around his wrist. The body was like an elongated lizard, but Carson could see that instead of having four legs, the creature had maybe a dozen, each tipped with a single claw that was stabbed into his skin. The surface that Carson could see was an iridescent green color, segmented and armored.

His first instinct was to grab the creature by the head and peel it off his arm. As he reached for it however, Quinn shouted, "Stop! You've got to leave it for now."

When he looked at her incredulously, she said, "That's a segmented pseudo-viper." She took a closer look, then added wearily, "And it's pregnant."

Carson was still looking at her expectantly.

Quinn said, "I studied biology before nursing school. I read about these things. They're kind of rare and incredibly dangerous. But, they aren't fatal if you can remove the creature intact and, uh, withdraw the venom."

"Withdraw the venom?" he prompted.

"Someone will need to suck it out of the wound," she said, nervously.

Mara had been on the phone for medical response as soon as she heard Carson's cry and saw the creature attached to his arm. "They'll be here in ten minutes," she said.

"Fuck," swore Quinn under her breath. She looked at Carson and said, "We don't have that long."

"What are you talking about?" yelled a panicked Mara.

"Pregnant pseudo-vipers latch on like this when they're getting ready to deliver their young. The venom acts to numb the area, and as an anti-coagulant. It's also necrotic at the bite site, but if it remains, it will cause tissue death to spread. Once the host is prepared, the mother injects almost microscopic eggs that are about ready to hatch into the wound. The eggs circulate in the bloodstream, and when the young hatch, they burrow through whatever blood vessel they're near until they reach tissue. Then, they begin to tunnel through the body, growing as they enlarge. The host never knows, because the young secrete the same kind of nerve toxin as the mother. They literally eat the host alive."

"What happens if we try to remove it now?" asked Carson.

"The mother will just inject the eggs now, before you're numb. It doesn't change the outcome, but you'll be able to feel it."

A cold chill washed down Carson's spine. Quietly, he asked, "What do we do?"

Quinn smiled oddly and said, "Only one thing to do: we need alcohol. Come on." She dragged Carson by the arm towards the bar. "Hurry! We don't have much time."

They approached the bar, and rather than stopping on the customer side, Quinn pulled Carson into the work area. Browsing the bottles on display, she began pulling different colored bottles off the shelves.
"Uh, you can't be back here," said one of the bartenders.

Quinn ignored his admonition and said, "I need the sharpest knife you've got, right now. It's a matter of life and death."

The bartender rolled his eyes, obviously not taking her seriously. Nonetheless he returned less than a minute later with a ceramic paring knife. "This is the best we've got, miss."

Quinn barely glanced up as she ordered him to wash the knife thoroughly and douse it in the highest proof alcohol he could find. The guy looked at her like she was crazy, then shrugged and went to follow her instructions.

As he did so, Quinn was busy pouring every bottle of liquor she could find over the creature attached to Carson's arm. She explained, "Pseudo-vipers in their natural environment absorb nutrients through the skin. Their shell is relatively porous. They're really lightweight drinkers," she said with a levity that she didn't feel.

Immediately, Carson understood what her plan was. She'd get the creature intoxicated, and the carefully pry its jaws from his skin in the hopes of preventing the eggs from being injected.

He felt helpless, so he watched intently for some sign of change. It didn't take long before he felt a relaxation in the creature's body, both at the bite site, and in the tension of the embedded claws. "I think it's getting drunk," he said. Sure enough, even as he said it, the creature began to withdraw its claws.

Quinn had two metal skewers that were typically used to hold olives or fruit in mixed drinks. She carefully slid the tips of each skewer along his skin and between the jaws of the viper. Under her breath, she quietly said to the bartender who was looking on with undisguised horror in his eyes, "I need you to have that pitcher ready to catch this thing when I get it detached."

Numbly, the man looked at her as if she were joking. Deciding she wasn't, he grabbed the pitcher and held it under Carson's hand. When it was in position, Quinn gently slid the skewers farther apart, until she connected each jaw just behind the fangs. Meticulously, she forced the intoxicated creature's jaws apart, withdrawing the fangs from his skin. The creature had so little muscle control at this point that it dropped neatly into the pitcher and lay there as if unconscious.

"Fill that pitcher with alcohol and wedge another pitcher inside," Quinn advised the startled bartender, who staggered over to begin pouring bottles.

Quinn muttered to herself, "So far, so good." Then she looked at Carson and said, "This part's going to suck." Knowing what she was about to do, she began laughing hysterically at her unintended joke. Carson watched her incredulously.

She calmed down and said, "Sorry, I'm a little nervous. You're the first live patient I've done any surgery on." After a pause, she said, "Seriously, this is going to hurt. A lot. I'll try and make it quick."

"What are you going to do?" he asked.

"I'm going to suck the venom out before tissue necrosis get much worse."

"Oh. I thought you were going to do something really disgusting."

She looked at him funny, then realized that he was joking too and joined in.

"Alright, here goes," she mumbled. She placed the knife against the web of skin that stretches between the thumb and forefinger. Seemingly before he could blink, she sliced vertically through that flap and opened the underlying muscle all the way to the injection site. Blood welled from the incisions, but it was off-color somehow.

Quinn cringed, but with no other options, she brought his hand to her mouth and began sucking on the wound as hard as she could. When her mouth filled with blood, she spat into the adjacent sink and went back for more. She kept it up for several minutes, long enough for the medial response personnel to arrive on scene and begin treatment. After hearing what she'd done and observing the treatment she'd provided, the team leader commended her on her quick thinking and fine work.

"You owe this woman your life, sir."

Quinn blushed under his gaze and looked away. The incisions were quickly closed with nano-sutures, and a bioactive repair gel. Within minutes, the wound was completely closed, though it would take another day for the rest of the damage to be fully repaired. No sooner had they released his hand than Carson surged towards Quinn and pulled her into a tight hug. "Thank you," he murmured into her ear. "Thank you for saving my life."

Releasing her from the hug, he stepped back. With a cheeky grin, he said, "I kind of owe you a pretty big favor. Any ideas on how I might repay my debt to you?"

It had not been lost on Quinn how attracted she was to Carson. Before her father had brought the two together, she'd already noticed the gorgeous man making the rounds. She'd been almost giddy when she realized that the guy she'd been lusting after all evening was the man her father said might help them out of the situation with the van Heuvals. Piling the emotions of the life-or-death struggle they'd just undergone on top of all that was more than enough for Quinn to act more boldly than she otherwise would have.

She stepped towards him, pulled him by his tie until she could reach his lips, and then proceeded to lay a kiss full of promise on him. Releasing him, she smiled and said, "I have a few ideas."

Carson smiled as well, completing forgetting that Mara was nearby. In fact, she'd gathered the rest of his pride, and they stood nearby, watching the action. After seeing the liplock placed on her husband by the beautiful brunette, Mara called out to Carson, "Make sure you get her favorite gemstone before you come home."

Carson looked and each of his lionesses had struck a pose that allowed them to hold their rings in obvious sight. His pride laughed, and then as one, turned and walked away. Carson smiled and turned back to Quinn, who had a questioning look on her face. "I can't tell you now, but someday, hopefully, I can let you in on the secret. For now, let's just say that the members of my pride would very much like for me to get to know you better."

Quinn thought about it, and said, "I think I'd like that, too."

Carson invited her to visit his home in the coming week to meet the girls and get to know each other better. They parted after one last kiss.

On his way home, Carson began to wonder. Who had tried to kill him?