Bayou

Chapter 14 ~ Good, Croc-Down, boy

Chapter 14

The next morning, Danny examined Julia. She was the one I wanted to get checked out the most. Her age worried me. I'd barely been able to stand after a dose of neon green, and I was well over half her age. She was practically rolling in it, and I was afraid her immune system wouldn't be able to cope the same as everyone else's.

Croc towered over the pair with even more animosity than he'd shown the night before. Danny didn't do anything that seemed out of place. He followed the steps, checking her heart rate and blood pressure, listening to her lungs. But each new time he touched her, Croc rumbled low in his chest, a warning sound that caused the poor doctor to stop and explain what it was he planned to do.

Julia relished the attention, seeming to take pride and great humor in the fact she had a personal bodyguard.

I'd been too easy going about the prospect of murder. When it came to Danny, it wasn't the most horrible thing I could think of, but still, I couldn't really consider it. My answers the night before only seemed to encourage Croc into that way of thinking.

"You're perfectly healthy," Danny said, sounding disappointed. "No abnormalities." He turned, focusing on the children perched side by side on the couch. "How about you, young man?" He started toward them.

Croc moved sideways, blocking Eric from view. "You don't touch the babies."

Danny froze and took a step back, then looked to me for help. "I can't examine them if I don't have access. Tell him, Willow. You know me well enough; I wouldn't hurt a child."

I snorted. "Do I?"

His lips thinned. "That's hardly fair."

"The world isn't fair," I said, repeating the same words he'd said to me and countless others.

Croc shoved his shoulder, knocking him backward, and I almost laughed. He hadn't even done it aggressively. It was so sudden and leisurely, how a person would push aside a cat they didn't want to climb into their lap. Down, boy, it said. Bad, bad.

Danny caught his balance and glared. "I can't check them if I can't—"

Croc held out his hand. "Give me the equipment. I'll check them."

Danny scoffed. "I majored in biology at one of the best universities in the country, graduated top of my class in all my medical studies. These aren't normal physicals we're performing here. I'm checking for mutations. They could be so slight, even I may not notice it if I'm not careful. How can you expect to—"

"It can't be that hard if you can do it," Croc said.

Danny's cheeks flushed, and his mouth opened and closed several times before he said, "And what's that supposed to mean?"

"You're not that smart if you're still talking." His tone deepened, low enough to reach hell and bring the devil back up with it. "All morning, you've been lying to yourself, trying to pretend you have control." He leaned closer and shook his head slowly. "You don't. You won't. You're a grown man who needs protection from some very hungry friends of mine." He motioned with his chin toward the back window, then extended his hand again.

Danny paused a long moment, then pulled the stethoscope from his neck and placed it on Croc's palm.

It was the same as the night before. Whenever Croc got that way, some basic instinct flared in my chest, warning me to move away. The children felt the same. They sat perfectly silent, staring wide eyed at his back, and it wasn't until he turned and smiled at them that they finally relaxed.

Julia, however, wasn't afraid of anyone. Her eyes danced. She studied Danny's red face, his fisted hands and stiff posture, cackling like an old, evil witch.