Lance storms over to us, all fluttering wings and sharp eyes, and uses a sand spell to put out the little fires before they can spread. He glares at me before striding away again, barely even glancing at Dhiren, but I’m too worried about my tiger to care.
Harley crouches near me. ‘Dhiren is breathing and I can hear his heartbeat, which is steady. The doctor is on his way. We’ll stay with you while they evacuate the building, okay? You’re not alone.’
I manage to nod as I scan Dhiren for any indication that his condition is worsening. I don’t see any change but my dragon gives a strong vibration anyway, still unhappy at being contained when our tiger needs us.
It seems like both forever and no time at all has passed when an attractive young man arrives. He’s carrying a messenger bag and pushing a stretcher with purpose as he heads straight for us. Harley and Felicia quickly clear away the debris to give the man space, then remain close.
‘Bryn, this is Doctor Payton. He’s a good guy, and the best doctor in the city,’ Harley signs firmly. The confidence in his hand movements reassures me more than his words.
There’s a faint white magical shimmer around Doctor Payton that travels down to his hands as he crouches next to us. ‘As your friend said, my name is Doctor Payton. I’m going to examine your colleague first, then I’ll get to you.’
I’ve never met a doctor who knows BSL before; I’ve always needed an interpreter. Doctor Payton’s signs are clear and concise, and his magic gives me a strong sensation of reassurance that’s unexpected considering I’ve never seen magic like it before. My dragon watches him intently.
Doctor Payton waits for my nod of acknowledgement before putting his hands lightly over Dhiren’s chest. The white shimmer moves slowly over my tiger before returning to the doctor.
The doctor looks over at me. ‘Your colleague is safe to move, so I’m going to get him onto the stretcher and into the ambulance. I’d like you to come as well so I can treat you both in my clinic. It’s a safe environment with all the equipment I need.’
Although he hasn’t actually asked a question, I nod again and point at Dhiren. Wherever he goes, I go. My dragon vibrates in agreement.
Doctor Payton immediately goes to the stretcher and lifts a yellow board off the top before placing it on the floor and splitting it into two separate pieces. After moving a piece to one side of Dhiren, he turns his attention to me.
‘I need access to his other side to get him onto the stretcher. Which of us would you prefer to help you move?’ His hand movements are professional, and it helps take the sting out of the correct assessment that I’m not going to be able to get up on my own.
My dragon sends me a warning as the pain in my body suddenly intensifies. Temperature doesn’t normally register much for me, but I’m hot all over, my breaths now coming in fast pants.
Doctor Payton’s signs turn rapid. ‘Bryn, I know your dragon is hurt and wants to get out, but that would risk injuring your colleague further. I need you to slow your breathing down and keep your shift under control long enough for us to get to the ambulance. I can help you, but you need to work with me. Can you do that?’
I thought I had control of my shift, but suddenly my body feels like it’s about to split apart, my scales too tight, smoke puffing out of my nostrils uncontrollably.
My dragon pushes against me again, desperate to protect Dhiren properly, but even with the space Harley and Felicia have cleared there are still boxes strewn everywhere—some intact andsome not—the rack on our right has toppled into the next aisle, and there’s a flashing red light somewhere that keeps lighting up Felicia’s hair. I point out to my dragon that shifting now would endanger the people trying to help Dhiren, and who knows if more of these boxes could explode if my dragon crushed them.
It doesn’t help.
I nod at Doctor Payton anyway then focus on Dhiren’s face. It’s too still, with none of the usual vibrancy that surrounds him, but it helps as I concentrate on doing everything I can to remain in biped form. I refuse to risk my tiger getting hurt further, no matter what my dragon thinks is best.
Doctor Payton digs around in his messenger bag before handing Harley a pair of heavy-duty gloves. They’re plain black, but as soon as Harley puts them on a silver sheen runs up his arms and covers his torso, then spreads over the rest of him.
‘The gloves provide heat protection across the entire body. Since you’re generating an intense amount of heat, this will protect Harley while he lifts you,’ Doctor Payton signs.
‘Ready?’ Harley signs.
I nod, hoping like hell Harley has the strength to lift a dragon shifter. My mouth opens on a silent scream as Harley struggles to help me to my feet. White-hot agony shoots through me and my legs don’t want to support me, but Harley manages to get my arm over his shoulder and hold me up, even as he staggers under my weight.
Doctor Payton moves quickly now, placing the second piece of the yellow board on Dhiren’s other side. He gently lifts one side of Dhiren up as Felicia crouches and carefully slides half of the board into place. The doctor lowers Dhiren, then they repeat the process on the other side before the doctor clips the two halves together and straps Dhiren in. With one of them at each end, they lift the yellow board onto the stretcher. After more straps, Dhiren is ready to go.
My dragon rages again at seeing Dhiren like that—beautifuleyes closed, legs covered in blood as he’s pushed out on a stretcher. With that added to the intense heat my damaged magic is generating, as well as the blinding pain, I’m not sure I can keep to my biped form much longer.
My vision swims as Harley helps me onto a second stretcher in the back of the ambulance. The urge to shift dissipates like smoke, an emerald green ward on the vehicle preventing it. There’s also a spell on the stretcher that’s trying to put me to sleep, but when my eyelids droop I force them open.
I can’t pass out now. I refuse.
As the doctor loads Dhiren’s stretcher next to me, my dragon agrees. We won’t leave our tiger unprotected.
Chapter Six
RAJ
I wake up with a groggy, fuzzy feeling in my head, not unlike the time Jet rescued me during a mission gone wrong in Afghanistan. For a brief moment I’m back in the abandoned house he’d found for us to lie low in, but then I blink and it’s gone, replaced by a plain white ceiling and the revolting scent of one of Doc P’s special healing tonics.
