Page 46 of Shifters Awakening

“Didn’t sleep well last night.”

“Because of Logan?”

“No, it was the storm,” I answered.

“Really?” she pressed.

“I had dinner with my mom last night. Now it’s Monday, and I don’t want to talk about my weekend, ifyou don’t mind.” It came out more harshly than I intended, and her gaze clouded with hurt, so I laid my hand on her forearm. “Listen. I appreciate your concern, Shannon. And Riley’s too.” My eyes flicked to Riley who had reappeared after unlocking the front door. “I’m fine. Just thrown for a little loop after the weekend. When I decide how I feel about it and I’m ready to talk about what happened, I’ll let you know. Does that work?”

Riley nodded, and her expression changed from concerned to giddy suspicion.

The front door chimed.

I groaned. “Riley, it isnotwhat you’re thinking. Logan had nothing to do with it.” But even as I said his name, my cheeks flamed.

“Yeah, okay. Boss got laid,” Riley quipped, winking at me before whirling to meet our first customer of the day.

“It wasn’t that!” I called after her. Exasperated, I turned to Shannon. “I didn’t have sex with Logan.”

“No, I don’t think you did, but you look like your life changed out there.” She paused, and her eyebrows scrunched. “And maybe not for the better.”

Before I could answer, crying in the waiting room caught my attention.

“Emma!” Riley shouted. “Get out here. It’s Sully.”

My heart clenched in my chest. That darn tabby.

Sheila stood in the middle of the room with a limp, furred lump in the middle of a pillow, resting in her outstretched arms. Callie tucked herself behind her mother, crying, as she hugged her mother’s waist.

I tugged the stethoscope from around my neck andpressed it to the matted, wet fur. “Do you know what happened?”

Sheila squeezed her eyes closed and shook her head, sending tears down her cheeks. “No, we found him like this in a drainage ditch, and his leg isn’t even healed all the way.”

I paused, holding my breath, listening carefully and counting.Thump… Thump…

Barely there.

But a pulse gave me something to work with, and a pulse meant hope.

I gathered the pillow from Sheila’s arms. He had punctures all over his skin, so he’d probably been mauled by something. Thankfully, he was up to date on all his vaccinations, and rabies probably wouldn’t be a lingering concern.

Not for the first time, I wished I could speak to the animals I wanted to help, to heal. Sudden warmth spread through my chest, and Sully’s toes stretched toward me as though he knew I was there, and it was almost as if I could hear his soul.

What happened to you, Sully?

My skin tingled as a rush of images filtered into my mind. A pair of coyotes chased the tabby through hayfields, making his leg hurt and burn. Lightning blinded him, and thunder frightened him. When they finally caught him, he clawed and fought as his bones snapped. Ribs… front legs… Then he squirmed into a small culvert where they couldn’t get at him.

“Prep surgical,” I said, smoothing my hands over my scrubs. “Just in case. Bring in the portable X-ray also.”

Shannon and Riley darted away as I carried the barely alive cat into the operating room. Sterile pads, supplies, and fluids appeared in short order with my freshly scrubbed-in nursing assistants.

“Take X-rays,” I said, jogging to the back to wash and mask.

When I made it back to the operating room, Sully had an IV drip of fluids and sedation, and his X-rays were displayed on the digital light board. I studied the images. Fractured ribs, hairline breaks in both front legs, something lodged in his skin near the base of his tail. Maybe a tooth?

Thebeep-beep-beepskipped beats, paused, and beat repetitively close together. Shock had to be a factor.

I turned to the tomcat, not sure he would make it out of this one, not so soon after his last surgery. The sutures hung out of the bright red, angry skin.

---