Based on a post by SilverRyden, in 15 parts. Listen to the Podcast at Explicit Novels.

Ty comforted Lottie; "Come on, sweetheart. We're gonna get you some help. I know I wasn't there for you until now, but that won't ever be the case again. I won't let anything else happen to you."

He laid her gently in the back seat and climbed in beside her, Lottie sitting shotgun with her sister behind the wheel. Talia stared intently at the girl and helped buckle her in, and Lettie set off, clearly considering speed limits to be a minimum number rather than a maximum. Talia remained silent for only a few moments more before she spoke.

"I take it you know this child?"

Ty nodded, his eyes never leaving Zoe. "Her name is Zoe. Zoe Evans. We went to school with her parents, though they were a couple of years older than us. They lived in the house next door until this past April, when they succumbed to Duo. Zoe had left home for Uni, but I believed she was still in Sydney. She; she shut me out after her parents passed. I; I should have tried harder to be there for her. Now look at her. She's starved. Almost to death. How can I ever face her parents?"

Talia's hand reached over and took his. "From what I surmise, she is of age, and she is not technically your relative. Meaning that you are not actually obligated to do anything for her. I fully appreciate that you have and will, since that is the type of man I know you to be. But I digress. The point I am trying to make is that you cannot force her to rely on you, and try as you might to support her, if she herself does not wish for that support, then there is nothing you can do. You are here now, and you are doing what you can to save her life. Perhaps when she recovers, she will better understand the need for such a support structure."

When. Ty locked onto that word like a lifeline. He brushed a hand through Zoe's hair and took a deep breath. She looked so frail. He could just imagine Toby's expression if he could see her. Mattie would have already laid a beating on him for letting their little girl reach this state.

"Ty! Ty we're here!" Lettie's voice brought him out of his thoughts and Ty began to move. Clearly, he'd been lost in his own head, since it was a ten-minute drive to the nearest hospital and he could recall nearly none of it.

It must have been quite the scene from inside the nearly empty ER; two redheads in military uniform bursting through the doors, holding them open as a huge man in uniform carried an unconscious form in his arms, followed by another woman in a different uniform.

"I need a gurney and a doc immediately! She's starved and unconscious! I think she's dying!"

Every available hand in the room sprang into action all at once. A couple of nurses wheeling a gurney while others handed the four intruders masks and began asking questions about Zoe's medical history. Naturally they had no idea that Tiberius and co were at least reasonably protected, but none of them said anything and simply donned the articles. As they were shouldered aside by the doctors, Ty pulled a matronly nurse aside and spoke quietly in her ear.

"Once we've got Zoe sorted, I need to speak with Dr. Rai. Could you please tell her Tiberius Marshall is here to see her? It's urgent."

The nurse gave Ty a strange look, but nodded, heading towards the nurse's station before picking up a phone and speaking to someone in hushed tones. She looked back over towards him, obviously looking him up and down to give a description, but that was odd. Dr. Rai knew exactly who he was. She was his doctor and had been for years. So, what was happening? The nurse gave him a decidedly cold look as she hung up and marched back over to him.

"Dr. Rai will be down shortly, but I don't expect the conversation will go the way you intend. She'll never date a man like you."

"I know it won't, ma'am;” Ty was thrown off balance as the words registered. "Wait on, what the hell are you talking about? Date? What?"

It was just then that an inner door opened and a woman flounced in. It was a genuine, 100% unadulterated flounce. Ty would have been in awe at that alone, but the woman that was responsible for the move made the breath catch in his lungs.

Clearly just above 5', maybe 5'2", with long straight black hair held back by an honest-to-God Alice band, Ty hadn't seen anyone wearing an Alice band in at least a decade. Even in her scrubs, Ty found his eyes following the contours of her body, and what a body it was, all curves in all the right places, right up to her chest. There was a name badge pinned to the front of her clothes, but Ty barely had a chance to read it before they asserted their presence to his brain. Those had to be at least F cups, if not bigger. He almost couldn't look away, but he forced himself to continue bringing his gaze back upwards. Her light brown skin was flushed with anger and her eyes were an icy blue, almost luminescent when framed by her dark lashes. Ty focused his gaze on her heart shaped face, and felt those frosty eyes fixate on him. Her steps faltered for an instant as she registered him and Ty had more time to appraise the woman. She had a certain aura, but Ty had to shelve that thought as he had the belated realization that there had been a gross misinterpretation of his intent, and even of the target of his request.

Her name tag read Dr. A. Rai. Oh, Fuck. He put his hands up as she stormed towards him and tried to speak.

"Hang on, wait just a mi ..”

She stomped right past him, and Dr. Rai; the younger, incredibly attractive Dr. Rai, Tiberius corrected himself, immediately went into work mode and stepped over to examine the patient the other nurses and doctors were once again fussing over. He couldn't help himself as he watched her. She was clearly a consummate professional, immediately directing the others and taking notes of Zoe's condition, but Ty was again distracted by her form; she had an ass to die for, on top of that chest. Ty caught his line of thinking and mentally lashed himself. He had literally just taken on three gorgeous women as partners; what was he doing looking at other women? Especially under the circumstances. Lottie's words came back to him and he turned her way, only to see that enigmatic smile back on her face.

Uh oh.

There was a shuffling as the work around Zoe began to die down, and Ty turned back towards her when he heard the gurney being wheeled away. The shorter woman was now in front of him, hand raised.

The slap resounded through the room and all movement and noise stopped for a moment. Ty reeled for a moment as she launched into her verbal tirade but caught her wrist as she went for another swing. She froze for a moment, as if only just realizing he towered above her, then tried to pull away, but couldn't.

"You utter bastard! Let go of me! I don't care who you are, using an emergency to ..”

"Stop!" Once again, the woman froze, an almost unreadable expression etched on her face for just an instant and Ty could swear he saw her eyes glaze over for just that fraction of an instant. "You're mistaken. You are Dr. Rai, correct? What's your full name?"

She nodded, her cold eyes still fixated on him, but Ty now thought he saw something else there. Uncertainty. "Dr. Alice Rai. Now unhand me!"

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 Defense 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 colored as Ty spoke, and the nurse realized that she was responsible for this.

"Since you're so young I thought; I didn't realize 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 apologizing." 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 realized 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 realize?"

"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 realized 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, EMT, 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 difficul