Page 15 of Imperfect Gifts

Elijah shrugged, and it looked like it hurt. “They make it harder, but we still can. Guess we aren’t wired the same as most shifters.”

“While ya’ll work that out, I’m going to check on your other patient,” Genie told them, and no one stopped her from going into the patient room.

The infirmary was set up with two large procedure rooms, a central observation area, and then a number of patient rooms. Every wall and door was made of glass, but it was safety glass, so no one would get hurt when it was broken. They had spare pieces in a storage room because several walls of glass ended up broken at least a few times a year at the main coterie house. Not as often here, thank goodness.

* * * *

Genie looked over her patient and went through everything in her head before she moved into the other room to check on the twin mountain lion. She’d have opted for intraosseous access on the flatlining patient if she’d been here from the start, but since the vampire was nearly finished with the central line, it’d done the trick. Genie had to figure putting one in was easier for a vampire, who’d instinctively know where every vein and artery was without the need for imaging equipment.

She’d seen that the other twin was in trouble when they’d first arrived, but she’d been forced to ignore him having what appeared to be a grand mal seizure while she worked to save the other’s life. Now that she had the critical twin’s heart beating, she could check this one over. She made a mental note that the chart on the door was for Ezra.

The seizure had stopped, and two shapeshifters were setting up to fix his dislocated shoulder.

She didn’t approve of their methods, and she snapped, “Move out of the way.” As soon as the words left her mouth, she realized how she sounded. “I’m a nurse. There’s a better way. Please let me look at it.”

She’d rather have an x-ray before she did anything, but something had to be done before he started healing around it, since it was apparently going to be a while before he could shift.

“Sit up,” she told him, and she walked out into the observation area, where a male vampire sat. “I need an elastic bandage.”

The vampire went to a storage locker, opened it, and handed her what she’d asked for without saying a word. She thanked him and returned to Ezra’s room, where he was now sitting up.

“Bend your right knee, all the way so it’s against your chest. Keep your left leg in front of you and straight.”

He looked at his ankle, and she disconnected the restraint system from it.

He bent his knee as instructed, and Genie gently helped him move his hands in front of him, around his bent leg, and had him clasp his fingers. It took a few moments for her to wrap the elastic bandage around his hands and wrists, to make sure they stayed together, and then she sat on his outstretched foot.

“Keep your elbows as low as you can. Relax. Look up to the ceiling, and let gravity take you back. No fast motions, just let it happen.”

He looked at her as if she was crazy, but he did it, and twenty seconds later she heard and saw the movement in his shoulder that said everything was back where it was supposed to be.

Ezra sat back up, his eyes wide. “Fuck. Wow. That didn’t hurt like the bastards have been doing it.”

Dev had stepped over to watch, and he leaned against the doorframe again, his arms crossed over his massive chest. “Looks like we need to send someone in the coterie back to school.”

“It doesn’t always work. Maybe two-thirds of the time. If there’s a ton of swelling because it’s been out for so long, it isn’t as likely to work.”

She looked down at the restraints and noted there were attachment points for wrists and ankles. His left ankle was still bound. She lifted the right ankle restraint still attached to the bed. It was made of some kind of bungee material, so there would be no sudden stop when the seizures made him yank.

“They told you not tochangeto your cat, yes?” Genie asked him.

Ezra nodded. “Someone added another bracelet to my other arm after my brotherchanged. Can barely feel the cat, now. Hurts.” He took a breath and blew it out. “Is ’Lijah going to be okay?”

“He’s resting quietly and seems stable.” She looked over Ezra’s IV and asked Claire, the vampire who’d been putting the central line into Elijah when she arrived. “How do you keep the IV in, so they don’t try to heal around it and cause more damage than it helps?”

“Silver needle that gets replaced with the tubing. Once it’s out, there’s no major damage, but it makes the hole stay a hole. The needle gets washed and reused, but infection isn’t an issue with shapeshifters. We have the regular disposable kind to use on humans.”

She still had Claire’s stethoscope, and she handed to her. “Thanks.”

“No problem. Let me know if you need it again, or anything else. I’m glad you happened to be here.”

Claire made her uncomfortable, and she wasn’t sure how to respond, so she turned to the bed and asked Ezra, “Why were you restrained?”

“I usually have people in bed with me. They hooked the cuffs back up when Elijah startedchanging, and everyone had to work on him. Someone got the second bracelet on him and brought him back, but it was…” he shuddered. “Bad. It was bad.”

Shapeshifters heal faster with skin-to-skin contact of other shifters. Other cats, even if a different flavor, would be best, but an owl would work, so Genie climbed into the bed and got under the covers with him. She’d had a shower, but she probably still smelled like sex, but it didn’t matter. She didn’t think Ezra was in any shape to even consider sex.

“Dev didn’t tell me why he had to bite you.”

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