Page 10 of Hired for Research
They rounded the corner and continued for a few paces before Evelyn stopped in her tracks.
“That’s the hospital?”
She turned her gaze to the alpha a few steps ahead of her, certain her expression showed her confusion. The building in front of them was nothing like the high-rise, utilitarian structures she was familiar with. Smaller by far, the building was a beautiful construction of glass surrounded by flowering greenery.
He chuckled, his smile showing off a pair of dimples that made her forget everything. For a moment she thought her ovaries might spontaneously explode, or she’d descend into a sudden heat with no warning.
“Damn alpha pheromones,” she muttered under her breath as she tried to get herself under control.
Between her excitement over finally getting to begin the testing, the differences of Eden, and being around a virile male, her attention was all over the place, and she needed to focus.
The alpha didn’t hear Evelyn that time, answering her initial question as they began walking again.
“Yeah, that’s it. Mrs. Nevouto is adamant that Eden be kept as natural as possible, and she’s designed the city to maintain the beauty of the area. All the plants are how Eden got its name.”
“But the building is tiny.”
There were plenty of places that landscaped and tried to give the feel of nature within the city, and while Evelyn had to admit that Eden did a far better job of it, the size of the building was what bothered her. At only three stories tall and barely larger than the Administration Building where she’d landed, it couldn’t hold more than a few hundred rooms at most.
“So is Eden. For now. There are enough beds to treat about half the current population at once, so it’s plenty big enough for our needs, and there are plans to expand if we outgrow it.”
She couldn’t argue, but she was still unsettled as they walked up to the main entrance. In the hospitals she was familiar with, she’d be nothing, a nobody, and the space she needed would be negligible. In such a small facility, she felt like she was intruding.
In reality, the truth was probably the exact opposite. The larger hospitals in the city probably had less available room than this little one that cared for a far smaller population.
“Where do we go from here?”
The alpha had stopped inside the doors, waiting for her to give directions.
“Doctor Greyson is expecting me, so I suppose we should go to his office?”
The older doctor hadn’t told her where to meet him, so his office was her best guess. She didn’t know if he was seeing patients, so she could only hope he’d be somewhere she could find him.
Controller Comanne nodded and strode across the bright lobby, heading for a hallway on the backside of the building.
Evelyn had to admit that there was a warm, comforting feeling to the building. The walls were a soft, pastel green, potted plants helping bring nature inside, but she realized it was the smell causing her to relax.
The hospital was flooded with omega pheromones.
Not the harsh, sharp scent of their distress, but the soothing notes of happiness. The ones released from a bonded omega, content in her nest, cuddling her young.
She almost stumbled into the alpha’s back when he stopped outside an open door. Jerking her scattered thoughts back in line, she peeked around him before stepping into the doorway where a greying beta sat behind a tiny desk.
“Doctor Greyson?”
His lips kept moving as he read whatever was on his screen before lifting the tablet in his hand and tapping on the screen. Evelyn remained quiet until he finally looked up with a polite smile.
“Yes?”
“I’m Evelyn Alosbee.”
“Oh, yes! I’m sorry, dear. I wasn’t sure what time you were arriving and was trying to finish up with this patient’s chart.”
He stood and came around the desk, holding out a hand to shake. His grip was cool and dry, and after a polite squeeze he motioned for them to step out of the office.
“I have an exam room you can use, and as long as there aren’t any emergencies you can use the imaging equipment as needed, though you’ll have to get with one of the techs to run the machine.”
He paused when he noticed the Controller standing in the hallway with the rest of her cases.
