For a brief moment he worried that perhaps Oscar wouldn’t keep the clinic, that George would win the court case. But he refused to believe that. Sierra Bond was a smart attorney. She’d make sure Oscar’s ownership was maintained and George’s lies were overruled.
Oscar took Sierra into a treatment room, and Fergus quickly set up a tray with the things the doctor would need to deal with Sierra’s arm. She sat perfectly still on the side of the clinic bed, her arm outstretched on the rolling tray. He noticed she didn’t seem tense or nervous, but when Oscar reopened the wound to clean it her mouth tightened into a thin line and she blinked a few times. Fergus could only assume it’d hurt like hell. But he was right. It was infected and Oscar used a bunch of sterilized wipes to clean the wound, then he probed it with the tweezers. Sierra was looking over Oscar’s shoulder, her face bland, but her eyes had darkened in color from a yellowy amber to a muddier brownish color. Perhaps they should have given her a local anesthetic before cleaning the area, although she struck him as being a very independent person, not someone who’d be asking for pain killers.
“There’s the culprit,” said Oscar, holding piece of fiber maybe an inch long up in his tweezers.
“That tiny thing?” asked Sierra.
“Yes, now the wound will heal. It’s not all that deep. A couple of days and it’ll be healed, but I wouldn’t go putting any pressure on it for a week.”
“Trust me, Oscar, the next time anyone tells me to go on a team-bonding course I’ll be talking them out of it.”
Fergus had to admire her feisty spirit. “You had that much fun?”
“Let’s just say I can’t wait to meet them in court.”
Oscar and Fergus both laughed. Fergus watched as Oscar coated the wound with antibiotic powder, then they covered it with a gauze bandage and taped it around her arm.
“Do you want some cream for the bruising?” asked Oscar.
“No, the bruises are already healing, but thank you. I appreciate you fixing my arm. It was quite annoying. Now, I need you to sign these papers that I came here for.”
Mentally translating “quite annoying” as “giving her hell,” Fergus again admired her spirit. Most shape-shifters were tough physically, but they healed faster than humans. Here was a human woman who just carried on with her everyday life, refusing to make a fuss about something that was probably paining her quite a lot. He liked her attitude.
Fergus went to the corner of the room where she’d left her briefcase and handed it to her. Quickly she removed a sheaf of papers and held them.
Fergus took the medical equipment off the rolling tray so she could put her papers there, then helped her settle herself more comfortably so she could show Oscar where he needed to sign.
Fergus watched as she laid a bible and seal beside the papers. He wondered if he ought to leave the room, but no one asked him to, so he simply stood back out of the way where he couldn’t read any of the papers. That way they had some privacy, but he was still nearby if needed. He waited while Sierra clearly and succinctly told Oscar what each paper contained, and Oscar signed them all.
The documents were all about cementing Oscar’s right to the clinic, the land, the property itself, and to run a clinic on the property. Sierra had carefully documented every inch of the land, and Oscar’s right to it, and each step of the journey of turning the house into a clinic. Fergus was impressed with the effort she’d expended. Every tiny part of the process was detailed and documented and now sworn as accurate and honest.
There was no way George would be able to call Oscar’s right to the clinic into question now. Sierra had nailed down Oscar’s ownership in every possible way.
Then Oscar put his hand on the bible and repeated after her that he was who he said he was and that this was his signature and no one was forcing him to sign the papers, and then Sierra signed them, too, and placed her seal under her name.
Fergus was thoughtful. He hadn’t realized just how much effort was going into Oscar’s battle to retain the clinic. Sure he knew that the attorney had filed paperwork and been to court, but it wasn’t until now, when she was obviously injured and many people would be taking a few days off work to recover, that he understood Oscar was just one of her clients, and if she did this much work for him, likely she did it for them all.
We’re damn lucky we’ve gotten ourselves such a dedicated attorney. And I want to get to know her better, much better.
Sierra put all the papers back in her briefcase, but Fergus noticed she let Oscar help her down off the bed, and that for her first few steps she was moving a little stiffly.