The Pack's Doctor

Chapter 18: Hospital.

Yara.

I race to the banister, watching as Warren gracefully shifts into Arric. If I wasn't looking for it, wasn't paying attention, I wouldn't have seen him flinch. Dammit! I knew that leg wasn't healed enough to shift.

"I'll have to start all over again," I mumble as I grab a pair of shorts and put them on as I race down the stairs. I quickly pull my hair up into a ponytail, tying it in knot which will have to do for now.

"Luna, this way!" a pregnant she-wolf says to me.

"I'm not going to the safe room," I say, turning as nearly everyone in the room stops to look at me.

I turn, and look at them. "I'm a doctor! Your pack members will need me. GO! If you're part of the medical team and you're not pregnant and don't have young pups, get your ass to the hospital.

NOW!"

I watch as the pack jolts with my command, but I don't have time to wonder about it. I race out of the front of the packhouse and down the cobblestone drive to the hospital.

"Luna, there are only a couple of us who can assist. We've never been in the hospital during a battle before," Savannah, one of the nurses I worked with earlier says, running up beside me. "Here, you'll need this more than I will," she says, pulling a hair tie out of her hair and handing it to me.

"Thank you, and what do you mean you've never been in the hospital during a battle?" I ask as we rush into the hospital, and quickly wrap my hair in the hair tie.

"Dr. Stevens said it wasn't safe. That we were to report immediately after we were let out of the safe rooms."

"Then who was helping these warriors?" I ask, stopping to stare at her incredulously.

"No one. They waited until we were let out to get help."

"No one died waiting for treatment?" I ask.

She looks away. "Several died, Luna. Some probably could have been saved, but. it took us too long..."

"Okay, well, that stops now," I say as two more nurses rush in, looking completely lost.

"Triage kits, crash kits, do you know what is needed, what to put together?" I ask and all three shake their heads.

I begin moving again, walking to the storage room and beginning to pull things off the shelves.

"Triage, crash, triage," I say as I hand off what I need.

"Luna, someone's here," one of the nurses says.

"What's your name? I didn't catch it earlier," I say.

"Anna, Luna," she says.

"And you?" I ask the other nurse.

"I'm Piper, Luna."

"Who's the most senior nurse here?" I ask.

"I am, Luna," Savannah says.

"Savannah, you're with me. Anna, Piper, do you see what we need for each of these?"

They nod, looking like deer in headlights. What the hell? This is a fucking hospital for goddess' sake!

"Keep making them until I call you. Put triage on one side, crash on the other. Add anything else you think we'll need," I say, rushing out the door and back to the main area.

"Luna! Why aren't you in a safe room?"

"Because I'm a doctor, stand aside," I say to the warrior who is holding the man I need to see.

"Does Alpha know you're not in a safe room?" he asks me.

I turn and get in his face. "I am a doctor. Would you rather I let this man die while we argue about it?" I growl.

"No Luna," he says.

"Savannah," I say, turning to see that she's already getting soap and water to wash off the wound. When the two warriors continue to huddle around me, I look at them. "You don't need to stay."

"We kind of do, Luna. Alpha will kill us if something happens to you and we knew you weren't in a safe room."

I stop and look at them. "Fine. Then guard that hospital. No one gets in who doesn't belong to this pack." "Yes, Luna," they say, seemingly relieved to have orders.

"Why isn't your wolf healing you?" Savannah asks him.

"Too weak," the warrior says. I look over her shoulder. He has nasty slashes on his thigh and he's bleeding heavily.

"PIPER! I NEED AN IV BAG!" I shout, turning and nearly running into Haynes.

"What the hell are you doing out of bed. Stop making my job more difficult!" I bark at him.

"I can help, Luna."

"Haynes..."

"Please, Luna. I can't fight, but I can help you," he says.

I press my lips together and put my hand on his forehead, then his cheek, then his neck. His fever has come down.

"Your wolf?" I ask him, but he shakes his head.

I point my finger at him. "You feel any dizziness, feel faint in any way, you stop. You hear me? If I have to drag your sorry ass off the floor because you didn't listen to me, I wil make your ears bleed when you wake up again, got it?"

I watch his lips twitch. "Yes, Luna."

I turn, just as more wolves are carried in. "Savannah, you got him?"

"Piper's going to stitch him up. Anna, we need triage kits!" she yells.

"Haynes, you're a runner. Go get those kits from Anna so she can keep making them. Bring them out here to us."

"On it," he says.

I turn and as one, Savannah and I begin triaging the injured as they come in. There are too many of them, too many for just the four of us. I end up having Haynes help with triage so I can at least get to the worst of the warriors.

"How many more of you have weak wolves. Seriously, what the fuck is wrong with this pack," I mutter as I debride yet another pack member with massive gashes that aren't healing. My frustration and fatigue has me cursing.

"I heard that about you, Luna," the warrior who I'm cleaning says to me. Not one one of these men and women has flinched as I've scrubbed their wounds clean. It makes me think back to earlier when I saw Warren's chest. As muscular as he is, he was riddled with scars, they all are. There's only so much that a wolf can heal before the wounds heal and scar on their own. This pack's scars is a testament to their courage, their fearlessness, and their constant fighting.

"What's that," I ask, not looking away from the nasty wound I'm cleaning.

"You mumble to yourself. It's cute," he says, and I look up at him.

Is he seriously flirting with me right now?

"Cute?" I ask, incensed.

"We don't get a lot of cute around here, Luna. When we do, we appreciate it," another warrior says, holding a bandage to his head.

The others sitting around all nod and mumble their agreement.

"Don't let the cute fool you. Our Luna's an incredible doctor,"

Haynes says, walking up with another triage kit. I turn and look at him, surprised and a bit humbled by his praise. I'm not sure what I would have said but at that moment, warriors come rushing in carrying another warrior, this one covered in blood.

"LUNA!" the warriors yell. I rush over, putting my fingers on the pulse of the man and not finding one.

"I NEED A CRASH KIT!" I yell, as Savannah grabs a gurney and swings it over to us.

"Get him on the gurney," I yell, jumping on top of him and beginning compressions.

"What happened?" I ask, looking up as Savannah puts a resuscitator mask over the warrior's face. I realize that this is Beta Charlie and my stomach drops.

"Don't you dare think you're coming into MY hospital and dying on MY watch Beta! No one fucking dies in MY hospital," I say, continuing to do compressions.

"Luna, here's the defibrillator," Savannah says.

"Get it ready," I say as Piper comes over and hooks Charlie up to a machine so we can see if he has any heart activity. Normally, we'd be able to hear it, but right now, there are too many people in the room, too much adrenaline, and too much blood pumping in my ears for me to hear it.

When they're both ready, I look at Savannah. "On three, ready?"

She frowns at me, but nods. "One, two, three!" I say and I leap up into the air above the gurney, as she hits Charlie with the paddles. His body jumps from the electric shock and Savannah pulls away quickly before I land, still straddling his body. I look at the machine. Nothing.

"What part of no one dies on my watch didn't you understand, Beta," I growl, continuing my compressions. "Don't you dare make me chase you into the Moon Goddess' realm Beta because I swear to all that is good and holy in this world I will, and I'll drag your sorry ass back down here. This isn't your time and I'm not letting you die," I snarl.

"Ready, Luna," Savannah says again.

"On three," I say and this time she's ready. When I leap, she slams the paddle against his chest, moving quickly before I land again.

I watch the machine, and then I see it, a blip, then another, then another.

"About time to you listened to your Luna, Beta," I say, getting off his gurney. "Get him to a room and prep him for surgery," I say, suddenly realizing that the room around me is silent.

I turn, looking around at the awed faces in the room. I'm about to follow Savannah when I see him, Arric, standing in the doorway, watching. He's covered in blood to, but I'd know his scent anywhere.

I point at him "You are also on my shitlist. Don't you dare shift until I've had a chance to look at that leg. Haynes, are you strong enough to lift your Alpha onto a gurney?" I ask.

Before he can answer, Arric growls. He isn't willing to show weakness in front of his warriors.

I stomp over to him, taking his furry face in my hand. "Now you listen to me, Alpha. You put me in charge of this hospital. I don't care if you're in human form or wolf form, you are not in charge here, I am. You will not shift until I can look at that leg and you will get on a gurney and let my nurses put you in a room until I can make sure Charlie is stable. Are we clear?" I ask him, my eyes holding his. He pushes his nose forward and licks my face.

"Unbelievable!" I say to him, wiping my face and grabbing a gurney. "Get up here," I say and he leaps onto the gurney with three legs, as I hold it. I quickly look him over, not seeing anything terrible before nodding to Haynes to take him into a room.

"Piper! You're in charge until I've got Beta Charlie stable. Any one of you gives my nurses a hard time, you'll answer to me," I say, staring down the room of warriors.

"Yes, Luna," they answer, and I rush into the surgery room to make sure Charlie survives to fight another

day.