Page 5 of Firefighter Midlife Wolf

“We’ve got bruises on the face, too, but I think those are from the airbags.”

“Let’s get some more saline going.”

They rattled off medications and measurements, but all Hayden could do was grip Jack’s hand and pray that he stayed there on Earth with him. Selene, please be with me. There were no further prayers that would come to him at the moment. His mind flashed with images of Jack running across the finish line in his last track meet or grinning when he tried out a guitar at the music store that he definitely couldn’t afford. That was a far cry from the bruised boy who lay in front of him now, and it scared the hell out of him.

It was all his fault. Hayden knew it, though it was nothing he could voice out loud right now. He knew the paramedics by sight, even if not by name. After all, they’d worked plenty of emergency scenes together. There was the slim blonde who’d jumped into the broken car to analyze Jack. Ann, maybe. Then, the big guy. Hayden couldn’t think of his name right now, but he had a lot more stamina than anyone would’ve guessed. They were almost like coworkers, but they weren’t like him.

Neither was Jack. Hayden had always known it would be a risk when he’d married Maura. She was human, and some felt shifters and humans could never truly be compatible. But she’d been pretty and fun, and Hayden had been foolish enough to believe that a bit of love could make any two people work it out if they really wanted to. The divorce aside, Hayden’s greatest guilt was knowing he hadn’t passed his shifter genes onto Jack. The boy had never shown any sign of having a wolf inside him. He’d never felt a restless beast within. Hayden’s attempts to coach him through a shift when he was little, when it was easiest to do, had been fruitless and frustrating for them both.

If only Jack were like him. He’d be in pain, yes, but there would be very little doubt as to whether or not he’d make it through this. The natural healing abilities of their kind, combined with modern medicine and a few people who knew their way around shifter anatomy, would almost guarantee it. Now, it was a gamble. The only relief came in knowing that Jack had nothing to hide from the doctors and nurses at the hospital, where they’d just pulled up.

He was right alongside Jack as they hurried into the emergency room, where a sea of scrubs surrounded his son and took over for the uniformed paramedics.

“Hayden.”

He turned to see Dawn Glenwood, who took him by the elbow and pulled him aside. A Glenwood wolf like himself, her responsibility to the pack was heavier than most. As an ER nurse, she knew how to work the systems there and make sure no one discovered the truth about certain patients. She also acted as the Glenwood pack healer when she wasn’t on duty in the human world. Her hazel eyes bored into his. “Let them work on him.”

“I can’t leave him.” Hayden swallowed as he glanced back at his son, who was being wheeled through a door that closed behind them. “I want him to know I’m here.”

“I know. The hospital staff will want you to stay with him as much as possible, but right now, they need to evaluate him and do their jobs. They don’t need you in the way.” She pulled on his elbow now, bringing him toward the nurse’s station. “Can I get you some water or a coffee?”

“I don’t need any damn coffee,” he growled. The only thing he needed was Jack. “Just tell me what’s going to happen to him and what I need to do.”

“It’s hard,” she said calmly, her voice low as though she were speaking to a scared animal, “but for the most part, all you can do is wait. Dr. Anderson is in there with him, and he’s the best of the best for traumatic injuries. He won’t leave Jack’s side until he feels he can, and I’ll make sure he knows exactly where you are. He’ll tell you what’s happening, and I’ll be sure to keep you informed, too. For now, sit.” With the strength of a nurse who had years of training in moving bodies around, Dawn jerked him down into a nearby chair.

“Now.” Dawn was in front of him, bending forward so that she still looked him in the eye. “Is there anyone I can call for you? Someone you want to be here to support you? Like Pierce?”

“Pierce knows,” Hayden replied, letting his mind lean on the facts for a moment instead of the unknown. “He and I were both there assisting with the accident.”

Dawn closed her eyes for a moment as she understood the magnitude of Hayden’s grief. “Damn. I’m so sorry, Hayden. What about Maura? Does she know yet?”

“Shit.” Hayden leaned forward, bracing his elbows on his knees and his forehead on his palms. “I’ve got to call her.”

“I can do it for you,” Dawn offered.

He picked his head back up. Dawn, like him, had been trained to handle the worst situations, the ones that most folks only had nightmares about. She was doing her job right now, and she seemed so calm and rational. It was a direct opposition to the chaos that was going on in his heart and mind, and Hayden had to wonder if that was how he looked to everyone else when he showed up at a fire call. Compassionate, but taking care of business.

Falling apart right now wasn’t going to help him or anyone else. “I’ll do it.”

“Okay. Here.” She handed him a small bottle of water and a granola bar. “Don’t tell me you don’t want it because I don’t care. You have to take care of yourself before you can take care of anyone else. I’m going to check in on a few patients, but I’ll be around.”

When she walked away, Hayden stared at the door that divided him from Jack. How long would it take? He had no idea. He dialed, closing his eyes as he listened to it ring.

“Maura, it’s Hayden.”

“What’s wrong?” she asked immediately.

He wished this was a time for small talk because he didn’t want to tell her. Ex-wife or not, this was still her child. “Jack’s been in an accident.”

“I’ll be there as soon as I can,” she promised once he’d finished going over everything he knew. “I’m in Portland, so it’s going to take me a bit.”

“What about Ellie? Is she with you?” He’d thought about his daughter several times already through this ordeal, wondering how she would handle it. She and Jack had always been close despite the six-year gap in their ages.

“No, she’s at Olivia’s house for the day. I’ll call her and let her know, but I think it’s best if she stays there for now.”

“That sounds good.” Hayden got off the phone, hoping that was the right call. What if the unthinkable happened and Ellie didn’t have a chance to see Jack again? But what if she did come and was traumatized by her brother’s horrific state? There were no right answers, and all he could do was wait.

Several nurses had entered and left through that door, but were always on their way to something else and didn’t look at him. Finally, a tall man with a lab coat over his scrubs swung the door open. He spotted Hayden and strode across the floor with his hand extended. “I’m Dr. Anderson. Are you Jack Westbrook’s father?”

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