Page 18 of Wolf Bane
Without waiting, I laid Mr.Robards back, turning his head gently to one side in case he started to vomit or lost control of swallowing.The clack of Reba’s kitten heels preceded her appearance.
“Call 911.I think Mr.Robards is having a cardiac event, possibly a stroke.”Even as I spoke, he stilled, his body going stiff from head to toe.Then all air leaving him in a keening rush, his back bowing to a near impossible degree.“Shit!”
Everything happened in a blur.Reba shouted something, disappearing from the doorway.Further away, someone else called out, asking if I needed help.I ignored them, rapidly checking Mr.Robards’s pulse—too fast for me to easily count—and respiration.
“Mr.Robards, can you hear me right now?
The smell of wolf, of other, ofwrongnessthat had been just a trace in the air fountained and washed over me in a sickening wave.It stirred the otherness in me, pushing it forward.Protect yourself, predator, enemy!My fingers splayed, the push of my bones creaking and nails thickening too fast to stop.Saliva flooded my mouth, my jaw screaming in pain as my facial bones tried to move and reform themselves.“No, no, no!”My voice was thick and slurred, teeth too long for my mouth.“Fuck!”
Mr.Robards twisted, arching away from me.I scrambled to stop him from falling but I wasn’t fast enough.He shocked me, though, landing on his feet, in a crouch, hands still near his chest but eyes bright now, breathing fast and face flushed.“I don’t… I don’t understand,” he panted, then screamed—no,howled—as his body cracked with change.
Mr.Robards was shifting, breaking, and shaping into a wolf.Not some strange half abomination like me, but a full-on wolf-form like Ethan, like Tyler.
Likeno one elsein the clinic.
I threw myself at the door, shoving it closed with my weight as he lurched, snarling, eyes wide, and scared.As fast as the change had happened, it was unhappening, his body collapsing in on itself so fast I almost missed the shift.One moment, he was a wolf, the next he was a naked, bleeding old man on my floor.He shuddered, fingers spasming, nails thickening like mine had.The wound on his leg was sluggishly bleeding, stitches burst, but the edges slowly coming together as his body struggled to heal.
“Doctor Babin!Doctor Babin, let me help!Open the door!”
It wasn’t Reba—I didn’t recognize the voice at all.“Go to the waiting area and sit down please,” I shouted.“This isn’t the time or place!”
“I know,” the woman said.“I know what’s happening.”She slapped her hand against the door on the other side.
Mr.Robards was breathing hard, his lips blue as his body shuddered and arched, trying to shift again.
“I really don’t think so,” I called back, dropping to my knees beside him.“Mr.Robards.I need you to stay calm, okay?And yes, I know that’s a dumbass statement to make.”
Frantically, I got to my feet and started rifling through the cabinets.We didn’t keep any heavy-duty medication in the clinic.No muscle relaxers, no steroids, nothing that was highly controlled.Which meant I was shit out of luck—there was nothing I could give him to try and stave off his body trying to change, trying to push him through some of the most grueling and horrible experiences I could imagine.
The door behind me crashed open and Gina Perrin dropped to the floor beside Mr.Robards.“Is this new?”she demanded.“This looks out of his control.Doctor Babin, is this the first time?”
“I have no fucking clue.”
“What’s your nurse’s name?Rebecca?”
“Reba.And she’s not a nurse.”I joined her, holding on to Mr.Robards as his thrashing grew weaker but no less damaging.
Gina Perrin’s hand shot out, closing over my arm with inhuman strength to stop me still for a moment.“Does she… know?”
I shook my head.
“Right.It’s a seizure then?”
My laugh was thin and mirthless.“If that’s what it takes.”
“I called ICW.”She flashed me a tight, forced smile.“They’re the ones who sent me.I’m the new shrink for your clinic.”
Mr.Robards was shuddering, his thrashing reduced to weak flops of his arms, heaving ribs, and rolling eyes.And honestly, for just a few seconds, I wasn’t sure which was more of a problem, him apparently having a werewolf induced seizure or the fact ICW was sending more doctors my way.
She caught the torn expression on my face and offered me another small smile.“I told your, uh, receptionist?I told her I’d call 911.I called ICW instead.They should have someone out here within the hour.”
“Landry,” Reba fretted, her voice coming closer.“We have two patients coming in the next thirty minutes.”
“Cancel them.Reschedule,” I barked.“Please.”
Mr.Robards’ body rippled, and he sighed, going limp on the linoleum.Gina Perrin grasped my wrist tightly in her slim hand, giving it a shake.“Listen to me,” she whispered, voice harsh and fast.“Breathe, okay?We’ll get through this.”
“Jesus Christ, back off,” I snarled.Really snarled, not just like an affectation.Whatever happened to Mr.Robards was damaging my calm in a big way, the werewolf part of me I’d only recently come to start thinking about accepting suddenly champing at the bit to get out.Fuck me, why now?I spent four hours on Sunday trying to shift on demand and all I got was a rash and hangnails.Why am I doing this now?
