Page 26 of Doctor Wolf's Human Nurse

He gathered their plates, glasses, and silverware and put them in the dishwasher. “All done.”

“Cheater face. I think you should wash them by hand.”

“Maybe, but we don’t have time. I assume you want to go back to your place and change clothes before we go into the office?”

“It would probably be a good idea.”

Her eyes lingered on his face for a second and he thought she was going to say something. Instead, she shook her head slightly, grabbed her purse and bag, and left.

Abby’s scent hung in the air, making his heart beat faster and his stomach do flip flops.

I have to stay away from her if I want to maintain my sanity.

Sawyer got to work before any patients arrived. He continued to study the slides from Erin and Jarred. Even though the virus didn’t have a host, it continued to multiply. He studied it intently. Unfortunately, it didn’t give him answers. Most viruses didn’t have a cure and only some had some kind of treatment that could help relieve some of the symptoms.

Midmorning, a mother and her two younglings came into the office.

“Good morning, Elsbeth. What seems to be the problem?”

We can’t shift,the mother said, telepathically.Yesterday, we could shift just fine, but this morning, none of us could. My mate, who’s in the waiting room, is okay.

“You can talk in front of Abby. She knows about shifters and is aware of this problem. Can you tell me what you guys did yesterday?”

“I took the kids to the park. We were riding our bikes. After a while, we started to feel sick. We hurt all over so we went home. This morning, we felt better, but we couldn’t shift,” Elsbeth said.

Not wanting to ask a leading question or plant any suggestions, Abby asked, “Did you encounter anyone or anything strange yesterday.”

“Yeah,” the little girl spoke up. “There was a couple walking beside the lake. I thought that the man looked familiar, but I couldn’t be sure. Anyway, they sprayed something when we went by. It smelled awful.”

“What kind of spray was it? Did they have a spray bottle, like this?” Sawyer pulled a round bottle with a trigger spray out of the cabinet.

“It looked more like my inhaler,” said the boy. “I remember because I thought that maybe the woman had asthma, too, before she pressed down on the canister and we got sprayed.”

“I’m going to take some blood. Meanwhile, I was wondering if you would describe the spray and everything you can remember about it. I want to share your descriptions with some colleagues who might be able to help if that’s okay,” Sawyer said.

They nodded.

Abby took the blood while Sawyer pulled his phone out and hit the record button.

Elsbeth started. “The first thing that hit me was that it had a sharp, astringent smell like witch hazel or rubbing alcohol. It had some kind of earthy undertone that stuck to the back of my throat and made me gag. My eyes started to water.”

“Yeah, it also smelled like those cough drops that Mom makes me take when I get a sore throat,” Raina said.

Sawyer looked at Elsbeth. “She’s talking about eucalyptus.”

“Yeah, that.”

Elsbeth looked at the ceiling like she was trying to remember. “There was also a hint of sage and or maybe wormwood.”

“It was disgusting,” Taylor said, pinching his nose. “It seemed like the smells came separately, not all combined together, but they hit us fast.”

Elsbeth nodded. “He’s right. It was a series of smells instead of a combined smell.”

“That’s interesting,” Sawyer said. “Can you remember anything else?”

“The smells weren’t pure. It wasn’t just sage. There was something else mixed in. I can’t describe it.” Elsbeth hung her head.

“It’s okay. You’re doing fine. Let me go look at your blood samples. I’ll be right back.”

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