"For weight loss," I mumbled, turning my face into the pillow as my limited strength fled me.
"Do you have it with you?" The doctor's voice seemed to be fading in and out.
"I can get it." I heard Clint interject. "I'll be right back." Then there was some murmuring back and forth that I was too tired to try and decipher before I could pick Clint's voice out again. "Rafe? Can you take over here?"
There was another murmur – this one an agreement of some sort – and then Clint's familiar calming scent was replaced by another, less familiar one as a pair of warm hands began to gently stroke my hair.
"Sleep, Trev," Colby's voice was soft in my ear. "We've got you."
~*~
The next time I woke up, everything seemed clearer in a bright, harsh, sun-trying-to-fry-my-eyes sort of way. Clint was asleep in an uncomfortable looking upholstered chair across the room, and a giant white wolf was curled around me in the bed, sandwiching me between his body and the wall behind me as he dozed with his head on my shoulder and one blue eye half open.
"Colby?" I nudged him with my shoulder. "My arm's asleep."
The wolf shifted off me immediately and jumped to the floor, his plumed tail arching as he stretched and yawned, showing long red tongue and an impressive set of fangs.
"Excuse me?" a timid voice came from the door. I glanced over to see a tiny female in a stark white nurse's uniform standing in the doorway. "Can..can you have someone hold your dog? I need to come in and check your heart rate."
I forced myself to hold back a snicker at Colby's disgusted snort.
"He's not a dog.." Assuming the girl was human, I started to explain but ended on a shrug as Colby's eyes took on a mischievous glint. I was pretty sure that I knew what was coming.
Sure enough, he took a theatrical step back, stretching each leg out and throwing his head back to release a full-throated howl. Then, dropping into an exaggerated downward dog pose, he threw himself into his shift. The air crackled and sparked with the magical energy as bones broke and reformed, claws retracted, and the white fur morphed into tanned skin and silky hair. When the air cleared, her clipboard lay on the ground at her feet, and her saucer-sized eyes were drinking in every inch of the unusual Omega I called my best friend.
"How's this?" Colby asked as he climbed to his feet, his voice a little gravelly from hours without use.
"F..fine," she gasped, still staring. "How..?"
"They're shifters, Mara." Another nurse – this one a college-age male – stepped briskly past her into the room, his eyes roving appreciatively over Colby's naked form before he stopped beside me. "Sorry about that. She's one of the new interns from the human side of the hospital." He rolled his eyes. "They seem to forget why we double major in humanandshifter physiology to work here." He glanced over to where Clint was still occupying the chair, wide awake and obviously alert based on the territorial pheromones overtaking the room. "Your paperwork says you're an unclaimed Omega?"
I nodded.
"Okay. My name is Byron. Are you okay with me examining you or would you be more comfortable with a human nurse?"
I must have looked confused because he smiled kindly. "I'm a Beta, but not human. I'm a tiger."
"Oh." I could feel Clint's eyes on me, but I forced myself not to look back. "You're fine." I cleared my throat. "Can my friends stay, though?"
"Of course," he agreed and set to work.
Temperature, heart rate, blood pressure, reflexes – everything checked out within acceptable parameters - and Byron clicked his pen closed with a grin.
"The doctor will be in shortly, but I don't see any reason that you won't be released in the next day or two."
Day or two? My jaw dropped, but before I could argue, Colby grabbed my hand and squeezed lightly. Taking the hint, I thanked Byron and waited until the door closed behind him.
I groaned. "What happened to me?"
Colby, Rafe, and Clint exchanged the loudest silent look I'd ever seen. They were saved from having to answer by a rap at the door followed by a short, roly-poly man in a doctor's coat.
"How are you doing, Trevor?" The doctor greeted me, significantly less irritated than I remembered from before. He grabbed the file hanging at the foot of the bed and continuing to speak quickly. "Oh, good! All your tests are finally coming back positive, your vitals are all good. Good, good!" He paused for a breath and gave me a concerned look. "I see that your body is resetting well, but how do you feel?"
"I'm not sure," I said slowly.
He nodded seriously. "That makes sense. You were in pretty bad shape when you came in." He pulled a familiar box from his jacket pocket. "Can you tell me about this?"
"About the tea?" He nodded, and I shrugged. "Sure. I was trying to take off some weight, and the woman who runs the spice shop on the corner of Main and Chester sold it to me. She said all I had to do was drink it and it was guaranteed to help me get rid of the fat."
