Page 61 of Bear Creek Father's Day
“All dem!”
The little guy’s garbled words weren’t getting any clearer, and after discussing it with Zak, they’d decided to seek professional help. With a bit of research, they had found a speech therapist in Wilkes-Barre with experience treating shifter children and made an appointment for mid-May. There were, unfortunately, many little ones like Kip who spent their early years in bear form without exposure to human speech, leaving them far behind their peers. The hope was to get the boy caught up before he entered kindergarten, thus avoiding any teasing or harassment issues from classmates.
After lunch, Orrin and the kids ran some errands around town—gas station, grocery store, and the library. With no one to read to, Orrin had returned several books and stopped to chat with Jameson, the head librarian. He was looking on the glum side; bowtie askew, hair mussed, and not his usual cheerful self. Orrin made a discreet inquiry.
“I’m missing your smile, my friend. Is everything all right?”
Jameson pushed his black glasses up with a forefinger and sighed.
“Thanks for asking, Orrin. Just a bit of man trouble—as in, I can’t find a good one. My last date was a disaster, and I’m considering becoming a monk.”
Orrin chuckled, understanding how difficult single life could be.
“I get it, but you can’t give up. If you’re free tomorrow night, why don’t you join us for supper? Afterwards, I’m sure the kids would enjoy hearing you read their bedtime story, and I can show you all the cool books we bought for their library. What do you say?”
Rayn and Kip chimed in, urging him to come, and Jameson realized he couldn’t disappoint them.
“Sure! It sounds like fun.”
Orrin gave him directions and a time before leaving the building. On the way home, Rayn asked when Grandma and Grandpa Hall were coming to pick them up for their week at the resort.
“They’ll be here on Friday, sweetheart. You’ll leave after Papa Zak gets home from work.”
She paused to think for a minute, and asked another question.
“Don’t you and Papa want to come too?”
Oh dear. Orrin hadn’t expected that one, though he should have.
“We will another time, Rayn. Your grandparents want to get to know you better, and they thought you would have fun at the resort. Besides, they’ve never been there before, but you and Kip know all about it and can show them around.”
Thankfully, the answer sounded reasonable, and Orrin had no intention of explaining the mating bond to his little ones—at least not until they were much older. That stirred up Orrin’s bear, who became restless at the thought of finally mating with Zak—resulting in a boner and lusty musings for the rest of the day. Whether he knew it or not, Zak would need to muster his strength tonight to scratch Orrin’s itch, and he couldn’t wait.
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Wednesday morning
It had been a typical mid-week morning at the clinic, with a full schedule and everyone busy. About an hour before lunch, Crew picked up a call from the Luzerne County Sheriff’s office.
“Bear Creek Medical Clinic. How may I help you?”
“This is Sheriff Grishom. We have an injured shifter in bear form en route to the clinic. One bullet wound that we know of. The patient is awake but weak and losing blood. Please have Doc Hall standing by.”
Crew was surprised but didn’t miss a beat.
“Yes, Sir. ETA?”
“Approximately… seven minutes.”
“We’ll be ready. If possible, have them bring the patient around the back of the building.”
Crew ended the call, activated the voice mail system, and hurried to inform Zak. They’d never treated an ursine patient, and he didn’t know how this was going to play out. He knocked on the exam room door and waited a few seconds before Zak opened it just a crack. Crew spoke softly but quickly.
“Incoming shifter patient in ursine form with a bullet wound and blood loss. ETA seven minutes. I told the Sheriff to have him brought around the back.”
Caught off guard, Zak had to come up with a plan on the fly.
“Ask Jessica to take my patients for the time being and tell Dixy to prep the treatment room for surgery and wait for me there. I’ll need you to handle the front and escort patients to the back. Make a general announcement to those in the waiting room that an emergency situation has arisen, and that there may be delays in the schedule. I’ll be right out.”
