Page 38 of Call Don't Fall

Kirk’s wolf probably would be pissed but Kirk probably told them to. Injured shifters had been known to lunge, bite, scratch, and cause other injuries to those trying to help them. Hell, he probably plunged the syringe into his own thigh as Treg and the fire fighter worked to free him. If Treg’s theory was right and he closed our link before the worst parts of the accident happened, he was the same ole Kirk – trying to save everyone else and make our lives easier. How could the world keep spinning if he weren’t here?

Treg gave up on trying to comfort me and focused on driving. The rain had stopped but the air had an icy chill to it. Would Kirk and I be robbed of our first yuletide season together? Treg sighed, but didn’t say anything. They knew when they were fighting a losing battle.

I was out of the car before Treg killed the engine. I sprinted across the parking lot, slipping and sliding.

“Stop that right now!” a familiar voice called out. “Right now!”

For a moment, my confused brain thought Grina had caught me running over the ice. Except, the voice wasn’t that familiar. I squinted across the icy-shiny parking lot to see Doctor Dreala standing outside the entrance.

“They called me as soon as they realized Kirk was your mate,” she called out.

“What are you? My mother?” I called back, swallowing down an annoyed groan.

“The doctor in charge of your high-risk pregnancy. Stress isn’t good for the baby, but your sprinting is more dangerous than stress. You stay there and I’ll come get you,” she said as Treg caught up with me after locking the car up.

“I got him,” Treg said, scooping me up.

Doctor Dreala said something I couldn’t make out, but Treg was already trekking across the parking lot. She stood akimbo, shaking her head. Her long blonde ponytail bobbed along with her head before the wind snatched it up and made it look as if her head had a tail.

“Don’t put him down yet,” she called out when we stepped onto the sidewalk. “If you’re going to do a job, you better do it correctly. I’ll grab the wheelchair.”

“Wheelchair?” I called after the doctor, but she’d already disappeared inside.

Seconds later, she reemerged pushing a wheelchair and nodded for Treg to sit me down. I let them and motioned the doctor in close.

“Treg’s pronouns are they/them. Don’t be a fuck up,” I said.

“I know that. You’ve mentioned them before, Chasten. We have seen each other every week for almost two months now. I’m not here to be a problem. You have enough of those tonight. I’m here to monitor your pup while you deal with the problems. Think of me as the babysitter. Only the baby is still in utero and I’m more qualified than your average babysitter.”

I swallowed a groan and said thank you because it was the grown-up thing to do. Besides, she had crawled out of her warm bed in the middle of the night to check on me and the baby. Sure, she was probably on the clock now, but she could’ve let the on-call doctor know to peek in on me.

“Do you know anything?” I asked her.

“About Kirk?” she shot the question back at me.

“Yes,” I nodded as she wheeled me into the elevator with Treg following behind us.

“He’s in surgery. His injury isn’t suspected to be life threatening. They ran a CT to ensure there were no brain injuries and a battery of other tests before taking him to surgery. His leg will probably be fine. His prognosis is a good one. He was worried about you. Maybe more than he should’ve been given the situation. I only spoke to him briefly before they took him away, but he was in good enough spirits, considering the situation. How are you feeling? Have you checked your glucose levels?”

“Low side of normal. Had one of those mini chocolate bars,” I nodded. “Are you taking me to Kirk?”

“As close to him as I can get you. He was still in surgery the last I checked.”

“How long will that take?” I asked.

“As long as it needs to,” she said. “I’m not going to lie to you. That’s one thing I always pride myself on. My patients may be pregnant and at risk from high stress situations, but that doesn’t mean you need to be coddled. It means you need to count on someone who always tells you the truth and I am that person for my patients. Your mate’s surgery will take however long the doctor needs.”

“Did he say why I couldn’t feel him?” I asked. “Can we stop a minute? When we hit the waiting room Grina is going to bowl me over.”

“Proverbially,” Treg added.

Doctor Dreala stopped my wheelchair and circled around so we could see each other while we talked.

“Currently he’s in surgery. That means there is nothing to feel. Anesthesia has that unfortunate property. He is an alpha. So, with that sort of genetic healing I figure they’ll have to undosome healing that occurred improperly. This surgery will take a while.”

“Could he do it like Treg said?”

“Could he what?” she glanced over my head at Treg.

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