Quaranteam - AU Ch. 04

Ty stared her down for just a moment before he released her wrist and took a single step back. "Well, I'm Lieutenant Colonel Tiberius Marshall, Australian Defence Forces. And while yes, I was looking for Dr. Rai, I was intending to speak with Dr. Narmada Rai and you're about three to four decades too young to make that particular claim. So, I presume that some grave misunderstanding has occurred here, because I was definitely not expecting to see you come out those doors. I do not know where either of you got the idea that I was here to ask the doctor on a date; even if it wouldn't be utterly crass, it's not something I would consider doing to a woman I'm meeting for the first time. Especially under the circumstances."

Both the doctor and the nurse's face coloured as Ty spoke, and the nurse realised that she was responsible for this.

"Since you're so young I thought...I didn't realise you were talking about Administrator Rai. And since you brought in that child, I... I'm so sorry!"

Ty paused, frowning. "Administrator? She's the hospital administrator now?"

"Yes, sir. She took up the post several months ago now." The matronly nurse now looked completely contrite. "Dr. Rai joined us here at the start of the year, and it was decided that Administrator Rai would, well, become the administrator around June. It certainly saved us some confusion."

"Well shit. I guess I'm a bit behind. When she was still doing the rounds, she was my physician. If the circumstances hadn't been so dire, I'd have called ahead and would have known this. So, I suppose it's my fault for not asking beforehand and causing confusion."

The doctor, who after the interruption hadn't said a word, was now looking positively mortified. "No, it's my fault. I'm sorry for jumping to conclusions. I should not have acted so rashly. I -"

Ty waved it off. "Enough apologising." Alice paused, mid breath. "It doesn't take a doctor to work out what you must have thought and if it were the case here, you'd be pretty justified in getting angry." He gestured in the direction Zoe had been taken. "Right now though, my priority is to make sure Zoe gets the best possible treatment. I don't know if she's insured anymore, but I'll cover whatever costs Medicare doesn't."

One of the nurses approached the doctor just then and she turned away to speak to her. Ty's eyes never left her and he just couldn't figure out why he couldn't draw himself away from this woman. He'd seen any number of beautiful women before, but something about this one was quite literally causing his instincts to run amok. So lost was he in his thoughts that he didn't notice when Lottie approached him from behind.

Her voice was almost a purr as she spoke. "So, what do you think? She might not be a random doctor, but she's certainly a good one...and quite easy on the eyes."

He leaned down to whisper in Lottie's ear. "I think you knew how this would go down, my sweet, and didn't warn me. So, I think you can expect a punishment tonight." He traced a finger down her cheek, watching her visibly shiver in delight, so he pulled away, turning around just in time to see Dr. Rai's eyes flick away from them. For an instant, he thought he could see a blush on her cheeks.

"Charlotte, I hadn't realised you were here. If this gentleman was a friend of yours, you could have warned me."

"You were rather focused, Alice, but even if you weren't, where would the fun have been in that? If it makes you feel any better, I blindsided Ty too."

"Well, it would have allowed me to keep my calm instead of attacking this behemoth of a man with my rather embarrassing misunderstanding."

Lottie giggled, and her eyes flicked towards Ty, and he could spot the hunger in her gaze, along with something...else. "He certainly is quite imposing, isn't he? You'll positively love him, Alice. I daresay he's just your type."

Alice's gaze fell on him, the expression in her eyes no longer cold; her face now filled with calculation. She raised an eyebrow at him in a gesture he found oddly familiar. "We shall see, Charlotte. Excuse me, I must continue examining Miss Evans."

"I'm coming with you, doc." Once again, his words gave her pause and Ty fell into step with Alice as she began to walk away. He kept his eyes focused forward and made sure to avoid staring at the stunning doctor.

"So, what's the sitch, doc? How bad does she look?"

She let out a breath. "Even without any blood work it's clear she's in dire straits. She must be on the very outer edge of her body's limit, as we're unable to bring her back to consciousness." Ty glanced towards her and she met his gaze. The ice was now completely gone from her eyes, but they were now suffused with determination. "A few more hours, and it is very likely she would be dead. We're moving her to intensive care immediately, but we must get several tests done to determine if there's been any organ damage. One way or another, this young woman is going to be laid up for quite some time, Mr. Marshall. How did she get to this state?"

Ty waved a hand out like he was trying to grasp something just out of reach. "I don't know for certain how she got that bad, or even how she got here. She's the daughter of my friends who passed from Duo. I tried to stay in contact, but she...well she shut herself away and she was in Sydney. She stopped taking my calls, and eventually her number became unavailable but I never stopped trying. I'm starting to put it together, seeing her state, I found her collapsed on my kitchen floor. I've been away from home for the last several days, and when I got back, there she was. She knew where the keys were and the code to the alarm, so it wouldn't have gone off, and I wouldn't have been notified unless she touched my gun safe." Ty paused, trying not to let his voice waver. "Dr. Rai, please take care of Zoe. She's the only remnant of my friend's family, and I'd never be able to forgive myself if I let her die."

Alice let her gaze linger on him for a moment. Where there was once only cold, now there was a glow of something else, but Ty couldn't place it. "I will do everything in my power. It will take some time, but I do strongly believe she will be fine. She's here, she's still breathing and modern medicine can do wonders. Just don't forget to come visit."

"I'll be here any chance I can. I'm involved with a major government project at the moment, something critical to the future of the country, in fact, but if I'm not here, someone from the household will be." Ty knew he may have said too much, but it seemed Alice didn't notice, or interpreted it differently.

"I assume I can reach you through Charlotte?"

"That's right doc. You can tell her anything I need to know." She gave him another look, and this time he grinned. "I'm not going to ask for your number right now. Not after that first display. If you want to contact me directly, get my number from Lottie. She'll happily share it with you. Otherwise, the next time we meet, I'll be sure to ask you myself."

She gave Ty a decidedly flirtatious smile and turned back to her duties. Ty reached out and placed a hand on Zoe's cheek before silently retreating. The girls were waiting near the door, along with the matronly nurse.

"Would you mind showing us to Administrator Rai's office now, please? I assume you've let her know we're here?"

"Of course, sir. I really am sorry about what happened before. Since Dr. Rai joined us, so many young men..."

"Tried what you thought I was? Bringing in someone sick just to ask her out? If you'll pardon my language, that's fucking disgusting. I hope you sent them packing."

"Well, nobody has tried that in particular, but still. It's been something of a circus with young men, even other doctors and nurses, attempting to ask Dr. Rai out. It's the middle of a pandemic, for God's sake!"

"I suppose love goes on even in the middle of a pandemic, ma'am. And objectively speaking, Dr. Rai is a very attractive woman."

"Isn't she just? It's been quite the headache for the Administrator, too. What with her granddaughter being the source of such things."

Ty stopped mid-stride. "Granddaughter? Oh, hell. Of course she is."

"You didn't realise?"

"Rai isn't a completely uncommon surname. I probably should have put it together, but I might have been a bit distracted."

The nurse looked at Ty, an eyebrow raised. "Uh huh. Distracted. You certainly were."

"I don't mean by her, alright?"

The smirk on the older woman's face as she opened a door for them drew a sigh from Ty. She'd obviously caught him staring. The nurse leaned in and said in a barely audible whisper. "I've been married for 23 years and her assets occasionally have me staring too. I can't blame you."

Ty was left speechless as he stepped into the simply appointed office. Behind the desk, an elderly woman sat, her face weathered from age, making notes on a tablet before glancing towards Ty and smiling.

"Hello, Tiberius. It is good to see you well. I trust you have been taking every precaution before coming here?" She paused, looking towards the ladies. "I see you've brought some companions. You must know that this is risky, young man. More vectors, more chance of you succumbing to this awful disease."

Ty let her finish before he began. "Dr. Rai -"

"Narmada, young man. I told you the last time you saw me, that I would like you to call me by name."

"Narmada. I'm well. A few things have happened, but I'll go over those later. I'm here today because I - we need your expertise. But before I can ask anything of you, I need you to agree to sign an NDA."

The elderly woman raised an eyebrow at him and Ty realised where he recognized Alice's gesture from. Of course she'd share some mannerisms with her grandmother. Ty placed his tablet on the table in front of her and she looked over it, scrolling through the document quickly.

"This really only says that I cannot speak to the media about anything I'm going to learn, Tiberius. So, I will be free to discuss it with my colleagues?"

"By the end of the day, we intend to have just about every medical practitioner in the state covered by one of these. It won't be for very long anyway. We just need to get some things sorted out before we get our project into high gear. After that, we'll be going to the public anyway, so it won't matter."

"Give me some hint, young man. Something to let me know what this is all about."

Ty nodded. He knew just the word for the situation. "Hope."

Dr. Narmada Rai stared at him for a moment before it registered and she shot up out of her chair.

"Truly? If you're pulling this old woman's chain, boy..."

"Truly, Doctor. I'd never do that to you. Just sign, and I can show you everything."

She gave the document another once over, as if checking for anything that would expose Tiberius' words as lies, before adding her signature and passing it back over.

"Before you begin, I'd like you to prepare another of those documents immediately. I will explain why soon, so tell me, what 'hope' could possibly be so important that you risk coming here? This may be a place of healing in good times, but for men right now, it is little more than a place to seek death."

"You needed all of us here for this, doc." Ty looked over at Talia, who handed him a file. He in turn passed that file over to the doctor and she opened it. Her eyes went wide as she read the first few words, and Ty began to explain.

He spent the next hour explaining everything they'd learned over the past few days to an increasingly agitated doctor. She interrupted a few times, asking one of the girls for clarification on this or that, but otherwise remained silent, absorbing the information.

"So, what exactly is it you need from me?"

"Your wisdom, Narmada. You are probably the most capable doctor I know. You're also a respected name in the medical community, and I hoped you would be willing to help us disseminate this information to every medical practitioner in the state, and subsequently the country as a whole. I'm still the one who will end up doing the talking as it's my responsibility, but I wanted someone with strong medical knowledge to help get the words said in a way that will resonate with doctors, nurses, EMTs, and everyone in between. I'd also be asking you to field technical questions that I wouldn't have the first idea about."

She remained silent for a few minutes, pondering the request. Ty watched her head turn towards the pair of picture frames on the desk, but he couldn't see who was depicted on either from where he was seated. Narmada looked over towards the ladies and addressed Ty.

"Would you give the four of us the room please, Tiberius?"

Ty stood up without a word and left. Once the door was closed, the elderly woman began speaking again, looking at each of the younger women in turn.

"How do the three of you feel about being bound to Tiberius?"

Lettie smiled. She'd not had much to say since they'd arrived, but she disliked hospitals. Even now, they brought back the memory of seeing her parents' broken bodies covered by white sheets. "It's everything we could have hoped for. The big guy's always been there for me and Lottie, and I know he was always very fond of Talia. He tries to cater to our needs, and we try our best to see to his."

"And do you believe this will continue with more partners?"

Talia fielded this. "I know he will do everything he can to remain the caring man he has always been. I do not doubt that it will be difficult to show equal affection as more partners join in, but we will be there to support him."

"And you don't feel jealous of one another?" Narmada pressed, her face getting more serious as she looked at Lottie.

"Lettie and I have been in love with Ty for years. Our issue was never jealousy but overcoming the man's resistance to the idea of hurting us." Lottie took her sister's hand in her left and found Talia's with her right. "The three of us have talked about how we want to approach this at some length. None of us are against sharing him. That's the new reality, and even if it was just Lettie and I, we'd have to share. Add in Talia, and it makes for some fun times since we're all bi. Well, except Ty. So we figure that nobody will ever be alone with all of us around. So, while nobody can have all of him to themselves, neither are they going to be isolated."

"Sooner or later, someone who isn't bisexual is going to join you, don't you think? What then? Won't they become isolated?"

"Then while Ty's encounters with that woman will be one-on-one affairs, that doesn't mean we can't be their friend. We may not be intimate with her, but that won't stop us from being there for her in other ways."

Narmada sat back in her seat, letting out a breath. "I must confess that I genuinely do not understand bisexuality, but perhaps it is because I come from an older school of thought. I understand all of this polyamory business even less. I was already bending the rules when I married my husband. He wasn't Indian, and I thought my father would have a heart attack when he found out. My own son found himself a wonderful Australian girl, and the result of their union was my granddaughter. Which brings me to a condition I have for my support and assistance. I am an old woman. My husband is gone, and I'm far too old to even consider being bound to a younger man. But my granddaughter, Alice, does not have a partner. I would like Tiberius to take her in. I have been his physician for over twenty years, so I know very well what kind of man he has become in that time. Alice would also be of just as much, if not more help as your medical liaison than an old woman like me. I can certainly get you in the door, but a younger face would certainly turn more heads and she would be better equipped to travel. Besides, that girl needs a good partner. I think she's rather tired of the dating game as it is."

Lettie laughed. "Ah, we can certainly understand that. She's almost too attractive for her own good, Dr. Rai. She must attract no end of men who are only interested in her looks, and not who she is. So, I suppose it makes sense that you'd want Tiberius." She looked at her companions, who nodded. "We have no issue with it. As for the big guy? I can guarantee you, his first words when you ask him directly will be 'Only if it's what she wants'. He's just that guy. But it really will come down to her opinion on the matter, and then it's just the formality of having her do her Oracle profile and comparing it to his. All three of us could see his attraction to her."

Lottie giggled. "And I could see her attraction to him, though she hid it better than he did."

Talia shook her head, but the smile was unmistakable. "The only person in the room who didn't realise how obvious it was, was Tiberius himself. I cannot say our man has an easily identifiable 'type'. But he certainly is easily identified as a typical man."

Narmada smiled at this. "Have you all considered marriage? Who will be the one to marry him?"

Lettie shrugged. "Any of us who wish to, I'd imagine. By the time we need to know exactly who or how many, there will be a change in the laws."

"And you know this for certain, dear?"

Lettie gave a solid nod. "Dr. Rai. These Teams are the way forward, at least for this generation, so I don't see any way to keep monogamy as the standard. Basically, every surviving man is guaranteed to have multiple partners. So quite simply, the laws must change or it will breed unrest."

The elderly doctor nodded, looking pensive. "And the traditionalists will simply have to get over it."

Talia shrugged. "Everyone is going to have to adapt, administrator. Even those who are more open-minded about such things."

"And children? If at all possible, I'd like to meet my great-grandchildren before I pass."

Lottie giggled. "Would you believe that we actually discussed that this morning? Ty said whenever we're ready, he's ok. That said, for you to see those great-grandchildren, Alice has to say yes. I am acquainted with her and she's someone who has similar tastes to myself, so I know she'll love him if she does, but I fear she might be feeling a bit awkward after their encounter earlier."

Narmada had heard about the miscommunication but hadn't heard any details. Lottie gave a quick rundown of events and the old woman burst into laughter.

"That poor girl. She's had so many bad experiences that it's become the norm for her to assume the worst." She stopped laughing and sighed. "I suppose we should call that boy back in and continue our discussions. I assume you still have a great deal to do today."

Once Tiberius had returned to the room, Narmada presented her condition, and while Ty was surprised at the suddenness of the request, he just took a deep breath and responded exactly as Lettie predicted, drawing another peal of laughter from the administrator. Before Ty could recover from his confusion, she had picked up the phone on her desk and placed the call to have Alice join them.

"Please have another of those NDAs ready, young man. I doubt she'll make any trouble regarding it, but I suppose she has had quite the morning."

"Sure. It's not the NDA I suspect she'll react badly to in any case. By the way, is someone going to tell me what was so funny about what I said?"

She patted his arm gently and smiled. "No, dear. Allow us women to keep a few little secrets."

Ty shrugged and sat back, remaining silent as the four women made small talk. It only took a few minutes for Alice to join them, and when they repeated their explanation to her as well as the suggestion she join Tiberius' team, she threw a burning glare his way.

"Hey, don't give me that look! I'm not the one who suggested it. Point that sword at your gran. Though I think Lottie had this end in mind from the moment we brought it up, so maybe some of it should go there too."