Page 29 of Wolf Bane
Mariska yawned hugely, dissolving into a racking cough that lasted nearly a minute with Mal and I helping her sit up then spit the goop from her throat.“I’m so sleepy,” she muttered, eyes already half-mast.“Bluey?”
“I thought you were too old forBluey,” Mal said gently, already turning the show on.
“Yeah, but my Pretty Pegasus Princess isn’t,” she said quietly, holding up one of her beloved dolls.
“Come on,” I whispered, nodding towards the kitchen.“I need to talk to you.”
Mal hesitated, then seemed to wilt in on himself a little.He held up one finger—wait a sec—and pulled out his phone, tapping out a quick message that popped up on mine barely a second later.
Mal
Give her a few minutes to fall asleep, otherwise she’ll hear everything we say.
“I don’t have any coffee,” Mal muttered, flipping the switch on the electric kettle and grabbing two mugs from the cabinet over the sink.“I’ve got tea, tea, cocoa, and tea.”
“I guess I’ll go with tea, then.”
We both knew I probably wouldn’t drink it, but he desperately needed something to do with his hands, something to distract himself from Mariska being ill even if only for a few moments.Mal grabbed a small basket of tea bags off the top of the microwave and dropped it on the table in front of me, his movements agitated and shaky.
“Sorry,” he muttered, grabbing the packets that had tumbled out and shoving them back into the basket.“I just… I just can’t focus right now.She’s been sick since Thursday night, right after Cullen left.I thought it was nothing.Kids get sick all the time, you know?”He huffed.“Of course you know.You’re a doctor.Mariska, though.She rarely does, so I was already kind of freaked out.But this… it’s nothing like a kid cold.It’sviolent.It’s… it’s…”
“It might be targeted at weres and shifters,” I said gently, though really there was no way to drop a bomb like that and not expect fallout.
Mal stopped jittering.His ashen complexion slowly reddened, anger washing the exhaustion and fear from his face.“What?”
“It’s not certain.I mean, you’re right, kidsdoget sick.Some more than others.But Cullen let me know there’s some strange illness moving through the were and shifter communities, mostly the rural or semi-rural ones.And I had two patients recently… One showed similar symptoms.And Justin?—”
“What happened to the other one?The other patient?”Mal demanded quickly.“What happened to them?”
Telling Mal would break at least a half dozen regulations and, if word ever got out, likely get my license suspended.But, I supposed, so would having a patient whoturned into a freaking wolfin the middle of the exam room.So quietly, both of us with one ear on Mariska, I told him about Mr.Robards.I told him about Cullen’s visit, about what I had Tyler do for me.
About Tyler’s suspicions about the tie to Garrow.
“And the thing is… I think I may have found a connection between the outbreaks.Other than the fact they’re were-related.I need you to be honest with me, Mal… Did you take Mariska to any sort of mobile clinic in the past few weeks?Maybe some community thing or something at her school?”
He made a face at that, brows dawn down and lip curled.“Why would I do that?You’re her doctor.”
“I’m not gonna be mad about it,” I said as patiently as I could muster, which wasn’t very just then.“I just need to know.Because something that popped up a few times when I was starting to look on my own last night was a free health clinic van.It was providing medical checkups and testing to people in these areas.It might be a coincidence, but…”
Mal nodded slowly, the red fading from his cheeks as he stared at something I couldn’t see, something inside his own thoughts.
“No,” he said softly.“No, I didn’t take her anywhere like that.And Thomaswassick last week.But this?I’ve never seen her this sick before.And maybe it’s me being a paranoid dad, or maybe it’s that part of me Garrowgifted, but Iknowsomething isn’t right here.”
I nodded tightly.“Here’s the thing.I don’t know what to do for her other than treat this like a bad flu for now.Keep her home from school.Keep her away from other weres and shifters if you can.I don’t know if this is transmitted like a regular virus or if it has to be introduced somehow.And until Mariska can tell us if anyone gave her anything—a piece of candy or a drink or something she thinks you might be mad at her for accepting—we’re going to treat her as contagious.”
Mal eyed me warily.“So, are we infected then?Do I need to tell Waltrip?He, um… He stopped by work the other day so we could grab lunch,” he added in a breathy mutter, ducking his chin to stare into his steeping tea.“I should let him know, right?”He popped to his feet and started pacing in the small, narrow kitchen, fingers working knots into his hair.
“He’s been really nice to us, ever since Penny Mine.He, um.He helped me get back in touch with the guys at the ranch for a bit, but that kind of fell off, you know?And he was real nice about it when I got upset because I thought they were like chosen family?”His voice hitched into a question at the end, his fingers working steadily in agitation.“He’s just so?—”
“Nice?”I offered dryly.“And yeah, probably talk to him.Or, better yet, let me.I’m going to ask him to look into something for me once he’s done with this skip trace thing.Though why the hell it’s going to take him an entire weekend to do a skip trace is beyond me.”He’d done them before, and it was usually a lot of desk work then giving the info over to the law firm that requested it.“Doing it in person is new,” I added, uncertainty tainting my tone.
Mal froze, eyes darting to meet mine before he turned away and headed for the living room.“I should check on Mariska.”
What the fuck was that about?
“Mal?”
“Hey, sweetie,” he crooned softly.Mariska stirred and opened one eye.I could feel the heat radiating off her small form even from my distance.Mal’s expression was shuttered, tight.“Can you sip some of this juice?”
