Hunting Human - Amanda E. Alvarez [67]
Beth turned back to Mike. “And is your mother aware of their situation?”
“Lord, no!” He chuckled, shaking his head.
“So she doesn’t know you provide medical services to people who kidnap women?” Beth couldn’t quite keep the humor out of her expression when Mike choked and turned horrified eyes on her.
“Oh God, you aren’t going to tell her I had anything to do with this, are you?” He sounded genuinely terrified.
Lucy burst out laughing. “I knew I’d like you.” She seemed to bounce out of her chair, clapping Beth on her shoulder as she went. “I’m going to go catch a shower and change.” She paused by the door. “I’ll run into town later and grab you some things—fresh clothes, a toothbrush. Write down your sizes, okay?”
Beth faltered under the easy gesture of friendship, but said, “Okay.”
“Cool,” Lucy said as she flitted out of the room.
“Seriously, though. You aren’t going to tell her, right?” Mike’s eyes were still wide as he stared at Beth. The horror of what his mother would say written clearly across his face.
“I don’t know what I’m going to tell her.” Beth grimaced. “I’m sure she’s worried. I didn’t show up for my shift this morning.”
“Don’t worry about that,” Braden said. “I called her last night, said you had to fly home for a family emergency. She’s not expecting you back for the next week or two.”
“I guess you thought of everything,” Beth said and turned back to her breakfast.
***
“Well, all things considered, you’re in pretty good shape.” Mike gently taped off the bandage he’d wrapped around her wrist. “Try to keep these clean and dry. I’ll leave some triple antibiotic cream with you. Use it after you wash the cuts. Morning and evening, okay?”
Beth nodded and pulled her hands away from him. “Okay.”
“One last thing. If it’s alright with you, I’d like to take a blood sample, run a complete work-up.”
“Is something wrong?” Beth asked.
“No. Nothing I’m worried about specifically. But from what you’ve said in the last half hour, and what Braden filled me in on, you weren’t bitten and turned in a conventional method. I’m betting you have some distinct knowledge gaps where your physiology is concerned. A complete work-up will help us fill those in.”
“Knowledge gaps?” Fear skittered across the back of her mind. “Like what?”
“Well, when we were talking earlier you mentioned you’d been taking some prescription drugs.” He flipped through his notepad. “Medication for depression—anxiety and a sleep aid, right?”
“Yeah. But I haven’t taken them in a while.” She rubbed her hands back and forth across her jeans and tried to ignore the way Braden suddenly stepped away from where he lounged against the wall.
“Because they didn’t work, right? Probably made you feel worse, instead of better?” Mike asked.
“Yeah. How’d you know?”
“Werewolf physiology is just…well, different, for lack of a better word. Some medications work just fine and very few are truly dangerous. But some medications, particularly those that influence the mind, do more harm than good. Lots of people who’ve been turned report that medications like the ones you were taking make them feel skittish, jumpy. And I’ve never met a werewolf that hadn’t experienced exasperated side effects from sleep aids.”
“I used to wake up so disoriented. I’d feel heavy, uncoordinated. Sometimes for hours,” Beth supplied.
“Right. That’s a consistent reaction with everyone else I’ve treated. I want to make sure all of the medications are out of your system. I can also see if there are any supplements or dietary recommendations I can make to you.” He reached into his bag and pulled out a tourniquet, vial and butterfly needle. “I can do this another time if you’re uncomfortable. But it really should be done sooner rather than later.”
“It’s fine.” Beth rolled up her sleeve and let him slip the tourniquet around her upper arm. She looked away as he pulled the needle out of the sterile packaging.
Her head spun as he closed fingers around her arm. So many questions raced through her mind; she couldn’t catch one long enough to figure out how to