Page 6 of Where the Current Takes Him
Chapter 3
Beau
The hospital’s sterile entrance was a sight Beau knew all too well.
A stern-faced nurse glanced up at him from the bland, taupe reception counter. “Beaumont.”
“Arlene.”
“I hear we’re losing you to Miami.”
“I’ve heard the same thing.”
The older woman grimaced. “We’ve already sent a request to the Miami human clinic, hoping they’ll share the data they acquire from you. I assume you’ll consent?”
“Don’t have much choice, do I?”
Arlene grunted and jerked her head to the double doors beside her. “Come on.”
Beau followed her down the hallways, past exam rooms where other patients were probably receiving quality care—something unfamiliar to him.
To his relief, Arlene passed the steel, soundproof door of the stress test room, and led him into a standard blood draw station.
“Starting with the pleasantries today, I see,” Beau said lightly, sitting on the stool and resting his arm on the table.
“Just blood tests today. Your father gave us a rush order. Said you’re on the boat to Miami tonight.” Arlene scowled at him, as if it was his fault. “We’re testing your hormone and pheromone levels, then running a cancer screening. Of course, we don’t know for sure how uterine cancer presents in a male Omega, so it’s a bit of a crap shoot.”
“Very reassuring, thank you.”
Arlene’s response was to stick her needle into his arm.
Beau flinched. Though he’d been poked and prodded with needles his whole life, he’d never grown accustomed to it.
Once she filled three little tubes with his blood, Arlene moved behind him, taking a swab to the side of his neck. The pheromone gland vents were invisible to the naked eye, but Arlene memorized the location of his long ago.
“Done,” she announced, dropping the swab into a biohazard bag. “You’ll get a physical in Miami. We don’t have the proper equipment for a rectocervical exam.”
“Can’t wait.”
“And you’ll need to pick up your new prescription of suppressants on the way out.”
Beau blinked. “I still have three months’ worth—”
“New prescription,” she interrupted. “You’ll be gradually reducing your dose. We can’t have you quit cold turkey and nosedive into a full heat. It would be excruciating.”Arlene paused. “Would provide us with some valuable data, though.”
“Bye, Arlene.” Beau turned on his heel and made his way back down the hall, trying not to imagine a full heat, or what the Omega clinic looked like in Miami. A hospital that wasn’t even built by humans, filled with medical equipment for a nearly unkillable alien species. He shuddered, willing his mind to focus on absolutely anything else.
His driver was waiting out front.
“Ready to sign some paperwork?” the Mer asked. “Actually, a lot of paperwork?”
Beau heaved a sigh as he dropped into the seat. “Let’s get it over with.”
The driver hadn’t been lying. Beau lost feeling in his hand after the thirtieth signature, his eyes glazing over at the walls of legalese. He should probably read what he was signing, but it wasn’t as if he was able to reject any of the terms. Better not to know.
At the final form, however, he paused.
“Non-Disclosure Agreement,” he read aloud, glancing up at the clerk behind the desk.
