Page 2 of Call Don't Fall

I sniffed my armpit. I smelled rank like stress, anxiety, and rotten fall gourds. At least my nose wasn’t broken.

“We’ll get you cleaned up soon. Do you know where you are?” The owner of the gruff voice pushed open the curtain, clicking together all its hooks.

“Do you know where we are?” I asked, sniffing again.

“Your friends warned me you were a smartass,” he said, his gaze lingering on my chest a bit longer than needed.

“Did you eat my friends?” I arched a brow.

“Not yet. They didn’t ask nicely enough,” he quipped.

“What are you?” I asked, pushing myself upright.

“I’m a nurse. The nurse who’s been watching your stats for the last few hours. Did you know you were diabetic before today?”

“What? No, what are you?” I asked.

This dude had the wrong room. At forty, I’d have been diagnosed by now.

“Chasten, do you know where you are?” Mr. Gruff asked again.

I rolled my eyes and said, “if I had to guess I’d say one of the three hospitals on Hemlock Mountain. Probably Mercy of Frost since it’s the closest to the festival.”

“Good boy,” he cooed at me and I arched a brow.

“Do I know you?” I asked and started to cross my arms.

The needles shoved into my veins didn’t like the idea so I dropped my hands back onto my lap. He waited a breath and then another before answering.

“No,” the nurse said, avoiding my gaze for a fraction too long.

“Can I get these out?” I asked, holding up my arms.

“Not yet. The doc hasn’t cleared you. You’ll probably be here for a few more hours yet. Your friends are in the lobby. They wanted to wait in here but the beeping was driving the short one crazy.”

“Treg has never liked that sound. Drives them crazy,” I sighed and rubbed my hands over my face. “Was I right about which hospital?”

“Yep.”

“Are you a dragon?” I asked.

“No, but thanks for the vote of confidence in my size,” he chuckled.

He was tall and broad and under the right light – not the hospital light casting the same yellow glow of the CALL DON’T FALL sign – he would’ve been good looking.

“But I’m a wolf the same as you,” he said a second later, as he leaned over and put the crab pincher on my finger. “Pulse.”

“Do you have a name or is that a security secret?” I asked.

“Kirk,” he nodded at my mouth.

I blinked until I saw the thermometer in his hand. Feeling sheepish, I opened my mouth and let him slide it under my tongue. With the rod in place, I couldn’t ask more questions aloud. So I poked Treg and Grina over the pack links

“Treg is tripping out over the noise,”Grina said, her voice more than a little annoyed.

She was on and off with Treg. More off than on these days. Their sensory issues were a bit much for her to handle sometimes. She tried her best but her patience was lacking. That and she was some sort of pack link empath and picked up all of Treg’s anxiety whenever they were around each other.

“You can take them home if you need to,”I said over the pack link.

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