For the Love of a Goblin Warrior

Chapter 1

What was it about the full moon that turned the emergency room into an overfull level of Hell? This was madness.

Already Nadine was dreaming of the end of her shift and going for a run. Running was her escape. In that hour, she was free, and all she had to do was breathe. For half a second, she let herself drift away from the chaos.

A nurse tapped her on the arm. "Nadine, you're wanted in triage."

Nadine frowned. She didn't work the front counter. "Why?"

"Dunno, I was just told to find you." The nurse was already moving away, leaving Nadine with no choice but to see why she'd been requested.

When she saw the cop, her stomach tightened. Police never brought good news. What had her father done now? He'd barely been out of prison for two weeks. She crossed her fingers by her side and sent up a prayer.

She gave the cop a tight smile and forced herself to be professional. She wasn't five, and she had nothing that could be taken away. "How can I help you?"

"I've got a man with a head injury who doesn't seem to speak English." The officer gave her a quick glance. "Can you help?"

Nadine looked past the cop to his partner, standing next to a sitting man who looked like he'd crawled out of a third-world jail. Blood ran down the side of his face and stuck in his shaggy hair. He was covered in dust or ash, almost as if he'd been pulled from a collapsed building. His loose-fitting tunic was worn with age, as were his pants and boots. But the cut was somehow wrong, as if he were wearing castoffs from another age. His gaze was firmly fixed on the floor, shoulders slumped as if defeated by whatever struggle he was facing.

"He's having some kind of episode. Freaked out when we brought him in."

"What did he do?" She had no intention of being attacked by a psychiatric patient, yet he didn't seem dangerous...just lost, locked in his own world. She'd seen that look before on a returned soldier who wasn't coping.

"He was being a nuisance." The cop paused, then leaned a little closer.

"And?" Nadine prompted.

"Waving a sword," the officer said quietly.