Page 116 of Bears Behaving Badly
“Sorry! I’m so sorry. Let me just—”
“Enough,” she gasped, and gently pushed him away. “To be continued when we won’t hurt and/or accidentally strangle each other.”
“Good call.” They both looked; Sharon had come into the room, and they’d been so tangled in each other (heh) neither of them had noticed. “I’m serious. You wouldn’t believe what some patients get up to, and in worse state than you two are.”
“Tell us over lunch. I’d love to be regaled. Can we get prime rib? Gimme.”
“You really shouldn’t go home today.” Sharon gave her a kind-yet-thorough once-over as she handed Annette the werecub. “Multiple GSWs and internal bleeding, for heaven’s sake.”
“One was just a graze, though,” David pointed out with a grin.
“Yeah, not buying it.” And then, to Annette: “Thank you for what you did. Tilly came down to see you when you were admitted, but you were a bit out of it.”
“A bit out of it? Is that a medical term?” Annette teased, cuddling the Spencer cub, who was fat and bright-eyed and warm and smelled like milk and pureed chicken. “I don’t remember. That was nice of her.”
“How areyoufeeling, David?”
“Not shot, so no complaints. Annette took all the bullets, which was emasculating but also awesome. And in case you were wondering, giving us Brennan’s business card along with confidential patient files worked out pretty well for people who weren’t named Brennan.”
“Yeah, I figured.” Sharon smiled, flashing her rogue dimple. “We hoped you’d do something. We didn’t know what.”
“That’s okay,” David said. “We didn’t know, either. We’ve basically ad-libbed the last four days.”
“Yeah, I’m not surprised to hear that. Anyway, we didn’t expect…whatever it was that you did. So thanks again. For whatever it was that you did. Which everyone’s talking about, but not officially.”
Some of the details were never going to be made public, not least because at least one IPA staff member had been in the syndicate. Annette’s boss, her boss’s boss, Judge Gomph (now in need of a new court clerk), and a number of others were heavily invested in damage control, and as a result, the rumor mill had cranked up almost immediately and likely wouldn’t stop anytime soon. And as David had foreseen, though their bosses were determined to get to the bottom of all the awful, remaining hidden from the Stable world was still a top priority and would color every aspect of the investigation.
And that wasn’t even considering the fact that, somehow, Stables had helped Shifters build their very own secret hospital wing, all without exposing their secrets. Were there more than one such hospital? Was it national? Were those Stables their own secret group? Were they formal allies that, somehow, no one knew about? How many? For how long? She needed to dig, and David’s assistance would be invaluable. She suspected he would be able to show her a hidden world of Stable allies. Why else would he be so keen on their species finally coming forward?
“This one’s getting fostered out today,” Sharon added, indicting the cub, who was sucking on one of the ties of Annette’s hospital gown and making little rumbling sounds of contentment. “We would have been scared to discharge him a few days ago. Tilly and I thought you should know.”
“I’m glad,” she said simply. “And thank Dr. Tilbury for taking the time to visit.”
“I will. I need to get back to the ward; my break’s almost up. And then you guys can get back to your incredibly ill-advised make-out session.”
“Itwasill-advised,” Annette admitted.
David laughed. “I think the operative word is ‘incredible.’”
“You’re both deeply nuts,” Sharon said, and pried the cub away from Annette. “But it appears to be working for you. So long as you discount the whole ‘ending up in the hospital’ aspect.”
“Could you do me a quick favor?” she asked. “Would you peek in the fridge for me?”
“Sure.” Sharon slung the cub over one shoulder, crossed the room, knelt, and opened the small half-fridge beside the window. “Huh. It’s all takeout containers.” They could hear Sharon rummaging, and then she was reading aloud. “Potstickers from Big Bowl, spicy peanut noodles from same, here’s a turkey wrap, and…let’s see, there’s also burrata cheese from Cossetta’s, some macaroons, and half of a French Silk pie. Jeez.”
“And the contents are written on the containers in loopy, girlie cursive handwriting?”
“Yep.”
Oz, you sneaky devil.“Thanks, Sharon.”
“Should’ve had lunch up here. Cripes, look at all this.” She shook her head and began patting the cub on the back. “Try not to tear each other’s stitches, nutjobs.” Exit Sharon.
“Aw, what does she know?” David asked, settling back into the uncomfortable chair.
“She was a psychiatric nurse for ten years before she switched to peds.”
“Oh. So, an educated opinion.”
