Page 14 of Piece You Saved

I grab Dariel’s arm and throw a bright grin at the staring nurse. So much for Saige’s peppermint tea. “He’s hungry,” I call out, and drag Dariel by the arm through the first door we come across.

Luckily, it’s empty. Which means I didn’t drag Dariel into a room with a sick, sleeping patient to sign them up for an early morning death-by-wolf mauling.

By the time I’ve shoved Dariel farther into the room, confirmed the nurse isn’t following, and slammed the door shut behind us, he has his back to me as he faces a small window with its blinds drawn. I eye the clenched fists he’s holding by his side, and as I watch, olive skin ripples to white fur and back again.

Fuck. This is not good. This is not fucking good.

“I thought you had your wolf under control,” I hiss, hoping to fuck the nurse doesn’t follow us in here. “You shifted after—”

“It just happened,” Dariel bites out tightly.

I stare at his back. How could he have had it together enough to shift in the attic, drop to his knees, and start CPR on Aden while he barked at me to call a fucking ambulance?

“What the fuck do you mean, it just happened? Because you need to not let it fucking happen here,” I whisper loudly. “Aden is on this floor, and so is Saige. I won’t say anything if you want to chew on the surgeon’s throat, but—”

Dariel growls.

The door swings open behind me, smacking me in the back. I whirl around, a snarl on my lips until I spot the same red-haired nurse sticking a pointed nose attached to a deeply frowning face inside. “You can’t be inside—”

I lose the snarl and flash the nurse a bright smile, the one that has always gotten me laid. “Yeah, sorry about that…” I lower my gaze to her chest. Spotting a name tag, I lift my head and dial up my smile to the one that has never failed me. “Beatrice, huh? Pretty name. So, do I call you Beatrice, or can I call you Bea? Please tell me I can call you Bea.”

She stares at me a second longer, her large brown eyes sweeping over my face, and I spot the exact moment I have her.

Her expression turns coy, and a hint of a blush touches her freckled cheeks. “Uh… my friends call me Bea.” She seems to remember what she came here for and straightens, her long straight nose wrinkling as her brow furrows. “But you can’t be in here. We have—”

I widen my smile. “Bea, I’m sorry about that. Unfortunately, my friend is feeling a little unwell. Our brother just got out of surgery, and he’s taking it pretty hard. Our parents passed, and he’s the father figure in our family, so he’s not taking this so well.”

If only she knew how right that was.

Sympathy flashes across her eyes. “Does he need water?”

As I head toward her, I pretend not to notice her quick peek at my bare chest as I grab the door and pull it open, forcing her to retreat into the hallway. “He just needs five minutes of quiet time to recover. Isn’t that right, Dariel?”

I glance over my shoulder.

Dariel seems to have gotten control of his growling. He nods once, a jerky motion. Another glance reveals a lack of white fur on his hands, but I’m not about to stick around waiting for it to happen. Worse still, let Bea notice it.

God fucking help anyone if he shifts in this hospital tonight, because this flimsy wooden door will not keep him in for five fucking minutes.

“That’s not a problem, is it Bea?” I ask, stepping out of the door and pulling it closed behind me.

Bea parts her lips, glances at the door behind me, and again at my chest. I tense the muscles on my pecs and watch the last of her resistance melt away. “I suppose he could stay there for five minutes.”

As I give her the full focus of my attention, I calculate how I can get her away from the door as quickly as possible. It would be helpful for a sick patient’s alarm to go off soon.NotAden’s.

“You’re a sweetheart, Bea. Anyone ever tell you that before?”

A blush warms Bea’s cheeks. “Oh, that’s… no. No, they haven’t.”

Down the hallway, Doctor Arrogant Fucking Charmer is still checking out Saige, and it sounds like he’s moved on to flirting. And if anyone knows what that sounds like, it’s me.

“You coming to the end of a shift?” I give her a crooked smile as I study her through half-lidded eyes. “You must be counting down the minutes until you can get home and crawl into bed, huh?”

Arousal sparks in her eyes. “Umm… well, actually…”

I tune her out.

What the fuck is the doctor saying to Saige now?

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