Amy, our charge nurse, poked her head into the triage room. “Celia, can you go down to the emergency department? A woman was brought in. She’s about twenty weeks pregnant and they need to make sure the baby’s okay before they treat her.”
“Sure. Can Shayna come, too? Both our patients are going home.”
Amy thought about it. “Yeah. That might be a good idea. The ED called in a panic. They always freak when someone shows up pregnant.” She rolled her eyes. “Remember the last pregnant woman who came in? Two IVs running in her arms, covered in EKG leads, and no one bothered to check her vagina.”
Shayna and I left as soon as we discharged our patients. Our hospital, like most of the area hotels and restaurants, resembled a beautiful mountain resort, complete with Native American tapestries and wood carvings of totem poles and animals. Every visitors’ lounge had beautiful mosaic tile patterns depicting various forest animals. My favorite, of course, was the one near the main entrance portraying a wolf baying at the moon.
“Thinking about Aric?”
We had only just stepped into the elevator. “Why do you ask?”
Shayna shrugged as she adjusted her long ponytail. “You’ve been so sad. Especially after Aric left yesterday.”
My foot traced a circle on the floor as images of his anger flashed through my mind. “I didn’t like how we ended things; you know, he seemed so angry.” I shoved my stethoscope deeper into my pocket. “I can’t stand having him hate me, but in a way I guess it’s better. Maybe he’ll stop coming around.”
The doors opened. We stepped into the large foyer and walked across the beautiful wolf made of brown, black, and rust-colored tiles. The gloss to the wolf shone bright against the sunlight peeking through the tall windows of the front entrance.
Shayna draped her arm around me. “Aric doesn’t hate you, Celia. And I don’t think he was mad. If anything he’s jealous.”
“What could he possibly be jealous of? He’s the one with a pack of gorgeous, half-naked weres chasing him, ready to rip his clothes off at the first howl from his lips.”
Shayna laughed. “Oh, I don’t know. That hot hunk of fangs who vonts to drink your blad…among other things.”
“There’s nothing between me and Misha. Besides, even if those other girls weren’t around he has a baby to think about.” I scoffed. “If he’s any kind of man, that is.” I told her about our conversation.
Shayna smiled weakly. “Aric doesn’t strike me as deadbeat-dad material.”
I thought back to his sexy grin and how he’d fought to protect me. “I didn’t think so either.”
“Don’t give up on him so easily, Celia. There’s something special between you. I see it every time he looks at you…and every time you see him.” Shayna’s eager hand tugged on my arm. “Will you let me ask Koda about it, please?”
I groaned. “No. I don’t want—”
An agonized howl from the ED pierced right through my sensitive ears, sending every one of my senses into “oh, shit” mode.
“Celia, what’s wrong?”
“We’ve got trouble. Call Emme and Taran to the ED.” I took off at a dead run. The howls turned threatening, deadlier. “Get the wolves!”
Preternaturals stayed away from hospitals. They relied on their families, packs, and clans when injured. The fact that one was here meant trouble.
I shoved through the automatic doors. A doctor in a bloody white coat flew through one of the glass partitions that made up the ED. A panicked tech punched numbers into the phone, but he continued to misdial. The snarls turned into roars.
“What’s happening?”
The tech jumped when he saw me. He shook horribly. “A-a-a couple were attacked by b-b-bears in the woods. The husband just died.” His trembling worsened when he gawked at the demolished doorway. “I think she knows.”
A second doctor soared through the window, along with a nurse and two security guards. They fell limp near unconscious doctor number one. I raced inside and gasped at what I saw. A she-wolf thrashed on the bed; blood—her blood—saturated her shredded T-shirt and jeans. Both her legs and an arm were bound in leather restraints. She’d chewed through the restraints on one hand and she was working on the other. Syringes filled with the pungent odor of sedatives remained lodged in her thighs, while the one piercing her jugular flapped against her neck as she thrashed. The meds likely kept her from changing, but despite the extent of her injuries her metabolism would soon burn through them.
I threw my body on top of hers, trying to keep her still, knowing her thrashing would worsen her injuries. Her carotid artery had already been severed and both femoral veins damaged. Her clammy gray skin told me her blood loss exceeded the amount that would allow her to heal completely. Sweet Jesus. The couple hadn’t been attacked by bears; they’d been mauled by infected vampires. I shuddered at the extent of her injuries, confused as to how she’d survived.