Page 70 of Stray
“Nothing,” she answered. “It’s never happened before, and I didn’t know what to look out for.”
The doctor turned to her, and as unnerved as he made her, she was glad she had redirected his attention from Mr. Bryant. The last thing she wanted was his reputation being questioned because of her naïveté.
“Didn’t your mother tell you anything?” Dr. Smith asked in disbelief.
While Ella knew he didn’t have any hurtful intent, the words hit a mark all the same. They left her breathless, and before she could formulate a response, Mr. Bryant placed a hand on her shoulder.
The touch at once soothed her nerves and inflamed the instincts that had only become possible to manage out of sheer necessity.
Why was it that she could respond to him this way, when every other male only triggered the instinct to flee?
“This is the girl who was taken in as a ward of the Hill Pride,” Mr. Bryant said pointedly. “Ella Doe?”
Recognition dawned on the other man’s face, and this entire demeanor changed immediately.
“Of course. I see,” he said, looking at Ella with renewed confusion. “Their Matriarch, Emily. She didn’t…?”
“Apparently not,” said Mr. Bryant.
There was more silence between them. Painful, awkward silence.
Ella still wasn’t quite sure what was happening, but she knew that when it finally made its way back to Emily, she would be the one who paid the price for it.
“Why don’t you come with me into the exam room?” The doctor asked, his tone far more reverent than it had been. Ella was, nonetheless, not eager to be alone with him.
She glanced at the other tom instinctively, realizing how closely he was watching her. Not at all like before. There was nothing but concern in his gaze now, and for the moment, he seemed to have gotten the other side of his nature under control. “If you like, I can accompany you.”
Whatever lay ahead, Ella was sure it would be more embarrassing with an audience, but the offer was too comforting to refuse. She nodded and Mr. Bryant walked with her into the room.
The exam room was surprisingly large, nearly as big as the waiting room out front. It had all the state-of-the-art equipment, metal-and-white surfaces everywhere she looked. The whole place was sterile and unnerving.
She gulped when she saw the exam table across the room, complete with empty stirrups and a whole plethora of frightening equipment on the shelves behind it.
What the hell was this place? An Academy clinic, or a laboratory?
Before she could sort out the answer, the doctor motioned for her to have a seat on the far more innocuous table near the door. She climbed up with the step stool, settling down on the crinkling paper.
It had been a long time since she had gotten a proper check-up, and the last one she could remember was the one that all students at her high school were required to take prior to admission Freshman year. It felt like a lot more than four years ago and change. It felt like another lifetime.
“You mentioned that you weren’t sure what to look for earlier,” said the doctor, picking up a clipboard. “Have you been having any unusual symptoms?”
Ella hesitated, wanting to be sure she answered properly. She wasn’t sure how much of last night she could safely discuss, but lying didn’t seem as if it would do her any favors either. “I felt… Hot.”
The doctor wrote something down. “And when did you notice the temperature shift?”
“I don’t know. Maybe last night?”
He glanced up from the clipboard. “That’s sudden. Anything else?”
Ella’s face grew warm once more. As she was still trying to figure out a way to convincingly deny it, the doctor’s expression became one of knowing.
“Increased sexual drive is a common sign of a queen about to go into heat,” he said, writing down something else. The idea that her humiliation was now going to be enshrined in some doctor’s log forever was just par for the course.
“What do I do?” she asked, her voice hoarse with apprehension. “Is there something I can take, or can we do the implant now?”
“I’m afraid that’s not possible,” answered the doctor. “The implant is something that can only be done prior to a heat, or well after one. Implanting it with the current hormonal surge you’re experiencing would be incredibly dangerous, and likely ineffective.”
“Well, she can’t stay here like this,” said Mr. Bryant. “I just had to chase off three idiots in the hall and I’m sure they’re not the only ones.”
