Total pages in book: 24
Estimated words: 22846 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 114(@200wpm)___ 91(@250wpm)___ 76(@300wpm)
Estimated words: 22846 (not accurate)
Estimated Reading Time in minutes: 114(@200wpm)___ 91(@250wpm)___ 76(@300wpm)
All of them are wearing their fireman pants with tight navy blue shirts. Everywhere I look I see round biceps, massive chests, flat stomachs, and broad shoulders.
They make me feel incredibly tiny, which is a hard task to accomplish with all of my extra curves.
“Are you the nurse?” the one with tattoos running up and down his thick arms asks.
“Dude, that’s sexist!” another one says. He’s the youngest looking one out of the four of them. “She’s probably a doctor. A brain surgeon even.” He looks right at me. “Right?”
I gulp. “Just a doctor,” I say. “Dr. Matthews.”
“Great,” the older looking one with the gray hair says, looking relieved. “Is our boy okay?”
They move to the side and for the first time, I see the patient on the bed.
He’s unconscious and breathing, but he looks like he’s on the verge of death. The machines he’s attached to are beeping steadily, but from the way he looks, that could stop at any second.
My feet start moving on their own and I walk over to the bed, feeling drawn to him like a bee to honey. I can’t take my eyes off his face.
It’s gorgeous even though it’s been obliterated. His eyes are swollen shut, his jaw looks like it’s been shattered and his skin is a mess. Where it’s not torn up and shredded, it’s covered in dried blood.
“What happened to him?” I whisper as tears start flooding my eyes.
One of the guys laughs. “He tried to make out with a Mack truck while it was going 80 miles an hour. He flew back fifty yards and landed on the ground like a crash test dummy.”
I spin around and glare at him. That shuts his smart mouth up really fast.
“Are these his X-rays?” I ask as I push past two of them to the chart beside his bed.
It’s even worse than I thought. It’s harder to find bones that aren’t broken than bones that are. There’s internal bleeding, lots of it, and for sure there’s organ damage as well. He shouldn’t even be alive.
“What happened to him?” I ask as I try to fight back the tears. I don’t know why I’m crying. I’ve seen worse than this. I’ve had patients die in my care but nothing affected me like this.
I must be getting my period or something.
But no… I had it last week.
“He should be dead,” I whisper as I look at his chart.
The fireman with the gray hair leans in. “He’s a shifter, doc,” he whispers. “Grizzly bear.”
“Oooh,” I say as it dawns on me. “That would explain it.”
I drop the chart and take another long look at him. His breathing is labored, but he’s getting the air in. I can tell that his body is fighting for life. I gently put my hand on his shoulder and send him a few words of silent encouragement.
You can do it, Rylan. Don’t give up.
“Dr. Collins already gave him a couple of PRP injections,” I tell his friends as I study his face. It’s all swollen and broken, but somehow he’s still gorgeous. I can’t look away.
“PRP?” one of them asks.
“Platelet-rich plasma,” I tell them. “It will help speed up his natural shifter healing. The best thing we can give him is a quiet space to heal. His body should provide him with everything else he needs to recover.”
They don’t want to leave and I can tell by the way they keep looking at him that the five of them are really close. Even the tattooed guy who made the insensitive joke looks upset. Sometimes I forget that guys show each other love in that way. The crueler the joke, the more brotherly love there is.
“Rylan is going to be fine,” I promise them. I’ll make sure of that. “The best thing you can do is give him some time to heal. I’ll be keeping a close watch on him and I’ll let you know if anything changes.”
“But I thought that Dr. Collins was his doctor?” the older one says, looking confused.
I’m confused too. On a lot of things. But one thing is for certain—I’m not taking my eyes off of this man. He’s mine now.
“He’ll get two doctors for the price of one,” I say with an encouraging smile. “Now, please. I must insist. He’s been through a lot and needs his rest.”
The four guys each look at him one last time and then leave with their heads hanging low. Shifter healing can do amazing things but I never thought it would allow a guy to survive this. His body is nearly destroyed.
When the last of the firemen leave, I close the door and hurry back to the side of his bed.
I’m even more emotional now as I lean over him and study his peaceful face. Every nerve ending in my body is stirring and tingling as I breathe in his alluring scent.