Chapter 1
Kayce only had three more weeks to go, and he’d be able to leave the firm he’d been a part of.Having his name on the outside wall was great, but he’d never hated to work at a place like he did this one.The other doctors were selfish and mean.They wanted nothing to do with one another outside the offices, and they didn’t have each other’s backs.Ever.The nurses weren’t that much better in that they stuck together and didn’t help out when there was a problem.He wasn’t going to take his nurse with him when he left.He was going to let her be with the other bastards that were there.
He had a place all picked out where he was going to hold his practice.Being a pediatrician was all he had ever wanted to be when he’d been growing up.Now that he was going to be out on his own, he was excited for the next chapter of his life to begin and put the other place as far behind him as he could.He’d made no friends, and he didn’t feel bad about giving his notice when they were all scrambling to find someone to replace him.
“Doctor Tucker, you have a call on line two.I believe it’s your brother Hudson.He sounds like him anyway.”He went to his office to take the call, wondering why he’d not reached out to him.As soon as he put the receiver to his ear, he felt his lion wrap around him tightly.
“Hud fell down the stairs.I’m trying not to freak out here, but should there be that much blood?”He asked him if anything was broken.“His leg is for sure.I can see the bone sticking up from his leg.But there’s so much blood.I’m worried that he might have cut a vein or something.”
“Stop looking for trouble.Did you call an ambulance?”He said that he had first thing.“All right.I’m nearly done here.I’ll meet the two of you there.Don’t be surprised if they take him right away for x-rays.I’m going to call in orders on my way in.”
“Thanks.I told them that it wasn’t a good idea to go sliding down the stairs.Remember when we used to do that?I think you fell and broke something, too.”He said he’d broken his wrist.“That’s right.I remember now.The ambulance is here now, so I’m going to go with them.The neighborhood teenager is coming over to watch the other two for me while I’m gone.I’ve called Ivy as well.”
“Good.Then I’ll see you there.”Getting out of his last patient wasn’t all that difficult.Since she never showed up on time, and he’d told her the last time that if she wasn’t there on time, he wasn’t going to see her, he just left.Being forty-five minutes late would mess up his entire day when she was supposed to be there before noon.
Driving to the hospital, he called in orders for his nephew.This was the second time that Hud had been hurt at home, and he was going to have to have words with the little boy if he didn’t stop taking so many chances.He couldn’t really blame him; he’d been a risk taker too when he’d been his age and had gotten himself in all kinds of bad situations.He was going to have to explain that getting hurt had consequences.
His leg was indeed broken and needed to have surgery on it.While he could assist when something like this came up, he left that kind of thing to the professionals, like surgeons who dealt with broken bones every day.He spoke to Ivy and Hudson to tell them what was going on, and didn’t have to tell them that he’d been lucky that he’d been at home when it had happened.Doing things like he’d been doing might have broken his fool neck had he slipped off the staircase a little further up than he had and landed on his head.His parents had already done that before they got to the hospital.He was glad.It saved him from having to be the bad uncle who yelled at him.
After surgery, Hud was put into his room to recuperate.He’d told his parents not to allow him to shift for a couple of weeks so that he’d learn his lesson.Ivy was all for it, but Hudson was more than a little bit cautious.He’d said that boys will be boys and that he’d done the same thing as a child.He thought that after a couple of weeks of going through the pain of the break, he might learn something,but he was only the doctor uncle and not the parent.
Going home that night after talking to Hud, he realized that he only had about four days left on his term with the doctors park he was working with, if he didn’t count his days off or the weekends.That made him feel so much better, so when his phone rang, he was glad to have someone calling him other than the hospital.
“She’s been hurt bad, doc.I need for you to come out and see to her.”He asked who it was.“It’s me, William Toby, senior.Molly, my granddaughter, has been beaten up, and she’s in a bad way.Can you come out and convince her she needs to go to the hospital?She’s in a bad way, she is.”
“I’ll be out.Call an ambulance anyway if you think she needs it, and I’ll be there when they get there.”He said that he’d do that, but she’d be powerful mad.“Is she at least conscious?That would help me in dealing with her when I get there.”
“She’s in and out of it.My son…damn him.If he were here, I’d knock the shit right out of him.He’s done this to her, and there ain’t nobody going to tell me different.”Grabbing his coat, he was out the door while still talking to William.“He thinks it’s funny to have her around where he can beat her senseless.Poor baby.She’s only home for another day or two and has to go back.I don’t think she’s going to make it.Going back, I mean.Lord, I hope she don’t die.She’s all the family that I have left that I claim.”
“I’m on my way, Mr.William.I’ll be there soon.”He didn’t rush; there was no point in his getting into an accident, too.However, he did pause at a couple of lights instead of stopping at them.As soon as he pulled in, the ambulance pulled in right behind him.he thought that he’d done good to beat the medics.“All right.Let’s see what we have here.”
It took him twenty minutes to figure out all her wounds.She’d been beaten pretty good with someone’s fists, and he wanted to find the man responsible and teach him a few lessons as well.When she looked up at him, he asked her if she’d gotten in a few punches of her own.Laughing, then stopping when he assumed that it hurt too bad, she said he was more than likely in the emergency department now.She’d gotten him good.
“Good for you.But I’m afraid that you’re going to have to go into the hospital too for some x-rays.And a few other tests.Did he hit you with anything other than his fists?”She said that he’d had a knife, but she’d been able to take that from him.“Good for you.All right, I’m going to have the medics give you something for the pain that I’m sure you’re in, so that traveling will be a bit easier on you.”He moved out of the way so that they could do what they came here for.
“I have to call my boss.”He said that they’d get her a phone when they had more answers.“He’s going to be pissed off, but I can handle him.He might think that he’s all that, but he’s just a wussy in his heart.He is kinda sweet on me.”That made his lion want to do the other man harm, but he didn’t do anything more than wait until she was in the ambulance.“You’ll have to fill out some paperwork if I’m going to be hanging around much longer.I have a duty to my country that I can shirk on now.I only have a few more months to go.”
“What are you in the service for?”She told him that it was to get away from her family.“As good a reason as any, I would imagine.Let the drugs take you under, and we can get you loaded up in the ambulance.That way, we can get you taken care of when you get to the hospital.”
“Look out for my dad.He’s not going to be in a good mood after what I did to him.He might just have you for breakfast.”He said that he could hold his own.“I’m sure you can, but he fights dirty and doesn’t care who gets hurt while he’s making a name for himself.Mostly being an idiot, but I think you understand, having spent some time with him when Pop-pop was staying at the hospital.”
“He didn’t strike me as a man who had all his marbles.”She laughed and started falling asleep.“Let the drugs take you under, Molly.You might feel better when you wake up.”
Nodding, she told him that she was going to be fine and he believed her.She had something about her that made him want to pick her up into his arms and hold her until she was better.However, he knew that she’d kick his ass if he were to try that.
She didn’t have any broken bones, and he was surprised by that.He’d thought for sure that shehad at least three ribs broken when she’d been at the house.Now all she had was some deep bruising and some contusions as well.He had stitches put in her arms where she’d been cut with the knife, and was happy that she was doing so well.Mr.William seemed to be happy with the results, and that was more than he could have hoped for.He liked the elderly man and hated to see him so worried about his granddaughter.
After admitting her for her concussion, he decided to check on a couple of his patients.One had had their tonsils taken out this morning, and he released her so that she could be pampered at home.The other was his nephew, and since he was also doing fine, he decided that he’d release him in the morning.He would get more than enough care at home, and he wasn’t worried about him not getting the care that he needed.Kayce was only a phone call away and knew that Hudson or Ivy would call him if anything came up.
On his way home, he picked up something to eat.It had been a long day, and he was exhausted.It wasn’t until he’d had his shower and eaten that he went up to bed.Soon he’d be able to shift, and he couldn’t wait until all the aches and pains of helping out at the hospital were gone.
He’d been in the emergency department when a man came in who had been high on something.He had been able to get a gun into the place and had planned to kill himself and whoever tried to stop him.Since he was the only shifter on site, he wrestled the gun away from the man but sustained quite a few injuries himself in the process.Broken ribs and a bloodied nose were only a few of the injuries that he’d gotten when the man tried to kill him.Lucky for him, he’d not been shot in the process, but it was for the good, he kept telling himself, and that was all that mattered.No one else was hurt, for which he was grateful.
After waking up the next morning, he was happy to feel better.The ache in his shoulders was still there, but it wasn’t nearly as bad as it had been a week ago when he’d been hurt.Even his mouth felt better than it had previously.Getting ready for work, he was glad that he wasn’t on call anymore until the end of his time with the group he was in.He couldn’t wait to get out of the place and hang his own shingle out where he could pick and choose his own patients.
The day started off all right.Of course, the doctors didn’t talk much to him.He was fine with that as he didn’t care for them in the first place.As soon as lunch rolled around, he’d seen three patients, and most of it was minor stuff.One of them had to have a physical for the upcoming sports season, and he was happy to tell the young man that he passed.He remembered playing football in high school and sort of was jealous of the boy to be able to play something that he obviously loved.After lunch, it wasn’t much different.After two, when his last patient was gone, he made his way to the hospital to check on Molly and Hud, his nephew.
Both were doing well, and he got to see Mr.William when he was there visiting his granddaughter.She wasn’t in a good mood, having talked to her boss, he was told, but he was glad to be able to release her as well.Once he signed off on the paperwork, he was free for the rest of the evening.He could use it as he was still trying to catch up on sleep that he’d missed for the last few days.
