Page 38 of Pixie Problems
Ben shook his head. “I’m numbing each area well before I sew it up.” He had on these funny looking goggle things that made his eyes look like they were under about five-hundred times magnification. His cerulean pupils took up his whole eye and didn’t have any sclera. It turned out, someone without any whites in their eyes freaked me out, but I was not for any reason going to say that while Ben was operating on my wolf.
“They help me to see better,” he explained when he caught me noticing them.
“You’re a brownie,” I said, wiping my eyes. “You should have excellent eyesight.”
He smiled faintly but kept on sewing my poor wolf together. “Hmm. I’m a bit unorthodox for a brownie. My profession for one. Most brownies are in the caretaking or home-repair business. Some are furniture makers. I’m the only one that I know of that’s a vet.”
“Yes, but good eyesight comes naturally for brownies. It’s not a choice you make.”
He looked at me for a moment. “Are there not humans who are born different sometimes? Born deaf? Born blind? Born without use of their limbs?”
I stared. “I’ve never heard of it happening with paranormals,” I whispered. “I thought our magic made those adjustments for us before birth.”
He nodded, moving down to Naut’s abdomen. “And it does for most. But not all.”
I thought about this for a few minutes as I petted Naut’s head, scratching under his chin which he loved. “I’m sorry, Ben.”
Ben shook his head. “I’m not. Though I am different, I am still wonderful.”
I laughed even as I felt my eyes burn. Seriously, what was it with the residents of Moonhaven Cove? They kept saying things that made me all kinds of emotional.
When Ben finished, he did another glowey scan with his hands, and finding no more tears or damage, he sewed the outside of Naut’s skin together after shaving him again in certain strategic places.
“Oh, Naut. I’m sorry to tell you this but you look like a demented poodle.”
Ben started chuckling and Naut whined, his tail thumping against the bed. “Ohhh, you like poodles, do you?” I shook my finger at him. “Don’t get any ideas. I don’t need puppies in my life right now.” Although little poodle versions of Naut would be adorable.
Ben smiled and shook his head at my antics. “You don’t have to worry. Naut will be out of commission for a little while. Romance will be the last thing on his mind.”
“But he and a dog can . . .” I let my sentence trail off suggestively.
Ben nodded. “Of course. Naut isn’t neutered. He can father children.”
I dropped my head back and groaned. “I don’t need puppies in my life!” I straightened. “Can you imagine six puppies that can transport wherever andwheneverthey want to?”
Ben’s lips twitched. “They would certainly keep you busy. Fortunately, they can’t activate their transporting magic until six months old. It protects the babies from making rash decisions and getting into dangerous, potentially life-threatening situations.”
“That’s not any better,” I argued. “A six month old wolf-dog is still a puppy!”
Ben shook his head. “Not for magical animals. It’s more teenager-hood.”
“That is sooooo much better, Doctor. Thank you for being a right ray of sunshine,” I said in a deadpan voice, and Ben chortled.
“Finished!” he said. At his pronouncement, Naut tried to shift up onto his haunches, but Ben stilled him with a gentle hand. “Not yet, you little hero. In about a half hour you can sit up.” He slipped his gloves off and tossed them in a stainless steel trashcan in the corner. Then he washed his hands at the nearby sink, and put on a new pair, grabbing a tray with some instruments and a suture kit on it. “You next,” he said, looking at me.
“Umm, doc, I can just, you know, butterfly bandage it or something. I really don’t need medical care.” I wasn’t fond of needles. Blood I could handle, needles not so much.
Ben looked at me sternly as he set the tray down on a rolling cart and used his foot to pull a chair over. “Sit.”
I backed up, warding him off with my good hand. “No really, doc. I’m good.” I held the hand that was on fire up. “Look! It’s not bleeding anymore! And my clothes protected me from a lot of damage on my side and legs.” The door opened behind me, and I felt warm hands on my shoulders, and the feeling of Rhys’ active magic hummed over me. I knew without turning that I was not going to win this round, at least not without riling Naut who needed a nice, quiet environment to rest in right now. I slumped in defeat.
“Rhys, if you would direct Miss Hart to the chair, I can stitch her hand up.”
“But I’m a pixie, not a poodle!” I wailed. Seriously. I needed paranormal medicine, not vet medicine!
Ben laughed. “I have medicine for the non four-legged people as well. And I can suture your wounds just as easily as I can Naut’s. Sit, please.”
I slumped toward the chair with Rhys gently guiding me with a firm hand at my back. “I really don’t think this is such a great idea, guys. What if I’m allergic to the shot?” I quailed as I got closer to the chair and tried to stop my forward momentum by planting my feet. Which didn’t work because—Rhys. I thought the fact that Ben was standing there looking at me as though he had literally all the time in the world to deal with a freaked out pixie unfair. Did the brownie never lose his calm?
