But all he does is point back to the waiting room. “Sit and wait. We’ll get to once?—”
“No,” I say as I march right up to him. “Now, I’m not sure if they have an appointment or anything like that, but I’ve never known this clinic to take people back this quickly, even with an appointment.”
“Mr. Black, if you can just?—”
I shake my head. “I’ve been waiting for my appointment for half an hour. It was supposed to start fifteen minutes ago. Iknow what’s going on with my daughter, but I need it tested and logged.”
Dr. Quinn crooks an eyebrow as a whimper sounds from the patient room. “And what is it you think is wrong with Amber, Mr. Black?”
“She’s presenting early as an Omega.”
That stops him in his tracks. My daughter whines against my shoulder, and I can feel the heating of her skin as her instincts rage through her body.
I can only imagine how scared she is right now. Omegas don’t usually present until somewhere in their teenage years. Dr. Quinn walks over to my shoulder where she rests. He reaches toward her neck and places two fingers against her pulse while looking at his watch.
“Sit her up for a moment,” he says.
“Come on, princess,” I whisper as I shift her. She gives me a tepid little harumph, and I have to bury the smile on my face. If I wasn’t so worried about her, the sound would be kind of cute. “Dr. Quinn just wants to check something.”
“Hello there, Miss Amber,” Dr. Quinn says as he presses the back of his hand to her forehead. “How are you feeling today?”
“Doc!” Walker bellows from the room.
“You better hold on for a moment!” I yell back at him.
“Oooouch,” Amber whimpers out.
I press a kiss to her temple. “I’m sorry, princess. Just a bit longer.”
“Doc,” Knox says as he pokes his head out of the room, “she’s getting worse.”
Dr. Quinn sighs as he pulls his hands away from my daughter. “Spring has sprung, I suppose.”
“So?” I ask. “What can we do?”
Dr. Quinn points to a chair by the room filled with blood pressure cuffs and a weight stand. “Sit in that chair. I need her vitals, but I need to tend to others first.”
I sigh. “But?—”
Dr. Quinn shoots me a look. “You can sit there, or you can sit in the waiting room. But you have to sit until I can put out all of the fires in this office one at a time.”
“This is a fire, Dr. Quinn.”
He sighs and places his hand on my shoulder. “Yes, more than likely, Amber is emerging early. But she’s not in distress and she’s not in any pain that isn’t normal for this type of development. You will be seen next; you have my word.”
I grind my teeth together. “Thank you, Doctor.”
He nods and points to the chair. “Ten minutes, tops.”
“Come on, princess,” I whisper as I make my way to the chair. “Just a little bit longer.”
My phone buzzes in my pocket and I manage to wiggle it out. My daughter clings to me, and I can smell the fear pouring from her in waves. But there’s another scent in there that I don’t recognize. Something like… cinnamon and nutmeg.
My nose lifts as my head tilts back, trying to get away from my daughter’s emerging scent long enough to enjoy the one creeping down the hallway toward us.
It’s actually kind of nice.
I look down at my phone, and I see Tracy’s parents calling. I decide to let the phone ring to voicemail. I’ve only got one bar of service back here in Dr. Quinn’s office, anyway. The phone call won’t do much if all we’re doing is yelling “can you hear me?” at each other.
