Page 31 of Wolf Bane
Ethan grunted.“Yeah.I knew they were sending a trainee or something but… really?”
“She’s a shrink.A werewolf and a shrink.And specializing in weres and shifters.”I huffed a mirthless laugh.“Don’t say anything yet.Let me talk to her first.”
“Let me know.Hold on.”There was a muffled conversation and then, “I need to go.Rafe Mescham is on his way over, something about a dead goat.Jesus.I don’t miss this.Love you, Lan.”
“Love you too,” I said, but he’d already hung up.
I wondered if he’d even heard himself, if he even realized that he’d admitted to not missing his role as head of the clan.
Fuck.File that conversation away for next week.Or the third of never.
I tried the numbers for Mr.Robards.No one answered at either number I tried, and the third one I’d found that was listed publicly went to a disconnected landline.Rifling through the paperwork and emails from both the ICW and Cullen, I managed to find one single mention of the Dallas area clinic and from there it was a matter of blood, sweat, and tears to tease out the number from the list of contacts provided by the ICW.The clinic, apparently, was not one of their main ones and as such, had a number that routed through a different office or some bullshit that had me jumping through so many automated menus ithadto be intentional.A way to frustrate and piss off someone to make them hang up and give up.
Finally, I pressed the right combination of numbers and symbols to skip around the automated hell and get to Lobo Clinic’s front desk.A bored-sounding man answered and asked for the nature of my call without identifying his department or himself.“Um, this is Doctor Landry Babin calling for Doctor Norris.It’s in regard to a patient of mine who was transferred on Friday.”
There was a long, clicky sort of quiet before Bored replied.“Doctor Norris isn’t in today.He’ll be back on Monday during regular hours.”
Not surprising, but definitely annoying.“Then I need to speak with someone about my patient.Eustace Robards.He was transferred after an incident.”I decided now or never and lobbed that grenade into the conversation.“He might be infected with a virus or bacteria that’s affecting weres and shifters.”
Bored was quiet for longer now.“Please hold,” he finally said.
Just in time for my phone to beep with an incoming call.A quick glance showed me Ethan’s name and, with an inward wince, I ignored him for the moment.
“Doctor Babin.”Bored was back and sounded a little less bored now, a little more brisk and sharp.“Medical records, as you know, are fully confidential, but as you are aspecial interestof the council and have treated Mr.Robards in the past, it is permissible to pass along that he is well.His infection is being treated, and he will be held here until such a time as he is well enough to return to his daily routine unsupervised.His medical power of attorney has been notified and has requested all further information remain in-house.”
“That,” I sighed, “is the biggest load of horse shit I’ve heard since Tammy Bennings stood up senior year and told everyone her hair was justnaturallyfire engine red and how dare we suggest she’s not a natural redhead.”
“Doctor Norris is aware of your complaints regarding access to Mr.Robards, but at this time, you are not permitted access to the patient or the facility.”
“Just answer me this then: is he contagious?Don’t,” I rushed to add, “hang up.If he’s contagious, I need to know.It’s federal law!”I wasn’t sure about that, or if the ICW would give a good damn if it was true, but it was worth a shot.“If he’s contagious and you’re withholding information, you could be blamed for the outbreak that’s currently underway.Did you know that?”
“That isn’t true.”
“Are you certain?”
Bored was quiet again; I was starting to wonder if he was some complicated AI bullshit and all the silences were the processors rifling through approved responses to find the correct one.“Doctor Norris will be in the office on Monday,” he said again, though I imagined he sounded less confidently bored.
Time to be a bit of a dick about things.“Okay.Sure.And I’m sure it’ll be a total coincidence when I call back on Monday, and this number is blocked.But listen, you gotta do what you gotta do, right?In the meantime, just be safe.Don’t go around him without protection on.We don’t know how this is being passed.”
This time I was the one that hung up first, and I gotta admit, it felt kinda good.Score one for Landry.
And it looked like I was without any sort of help for this whole mess.
Unless I counted Cullen, peripherally.
“Fuck a duck,” I muttered, rocking back in my chair and closing my eyes.“It’s like they don’t want me to do my damn job.How the hell am I supposed to help if I don’t know what I’m fighting against?”
In the human medical world, doctors kept up with the latest data via journals, seminars, hell even emails from the CDC and WHO.We networked.I rocked forward and opened my eyes.Who were the other doctors and providers the ICW were setting up in clinics?
I only knew of one, and she was fresh out of the ICW’s main campus.
* * *
Gina Perrin studiedme across the small bistro table in Carmichael’s, one of those generic restaurants that pop up in small towns and aims to be fancy and lands firmly inalright but not amazingterritory.I kinda loved it, really.And when I called to ask Gina Perrin to come meet me for lunch, it was the best place I could think of, not just because I was craving pot pie and home fries, but because it was also one of those places with high-backed booths and a staff that left you the hell alone.The fact it was pretty much empty except for us in our little corner booth and a family over at a larger one near the door was also a bonus.The waitstaff wasn’t exactly gregarious, and we’d at least have a modicum of privacy instead of going to the clinic again or setting neighbor’s chins wagging by having her come over while Ethan wasn’t home.
“I bet I can guess why we’re here,” she said after a sip of her bright pink strawberry lemonade.“And if I guess right, then you have to schedule a visit with me.Professionally.Because you need to fucking talk to someone, bud.”
“Bud?”I laughed.“Seriously?”
