I’m already tired, but he’s got a point. If the cat shifters from work have decided to wait out there until they know I’m okay, they won’t leave without at least one of them seeing me.
I sigh. “That’s a good idea. Thank you.”
He smiles slightly. “I’ll assess whether there’s anything remaining of your concussion once the healing tonic has done its job. I expect it’ll be minor, but you may experience a headache, nausea?—”
The familiar list goes on. I heard possible concussion symptoms from Naida, our medic in the SAS, so many times that I know them by heart. She was a lynx shifter and more of a loner, so she stayed in the unit when the rest of us left. Other than the occasional email, we rarely hear from her now.
“Are you still with me, Raj?” Doc P asks, taking out a tiny penlight from somewhere and shining it in my eyes.
“Pardon?” I push the light away. “I’m fine. Can you please let one of them in?”
He purses his lips and studies me for a few moments before leaving. My eyelids droop. It’s really warm in here.
“Dhiren!” Felicia bursts into the room. “Thank fuck you’re okay. That’s the worst one yet. I’m seriously fucking sick of that waiting room. No offence, Doc!” She closes the door and hurries over to the visitor’s chair. “The others are all here too, but the doc said just one of us could come in. Wow, you look like shit. Are you sure he healed you? Sorry, I ramble when I get the fright of myfucking life. Fucking hell, that scared theshitout of me.”
My fuzzy brain struggles to process all of… whatever that just was. Felicia’s usually pretty laid back.
“Are you okay?” I ask, struggling to keep my eyelids open. My tiger has definitely decided it’s nap time.
She gapes at me. She’s a leopard shifter with strawberry blonde hair that she keeps short, tanned skin, and an obsession with Italian food. “Am I okay? I’m not the one who just got blown up!”
Right. That was me. Something she said before tickles the edges of my scrambled brain.
“Did you say… the worst one yet?” I manage to ask. I think Doc P’s added a sedative to his healing tonic, because I’m not going to be awake much longer.
She leans forward in the chair, forearms on her knees. “Yeah. Used to be, like, one or two random accidents a year, but you anddragon boy are the sixth in the last three months. There was a bear shifter who got injured just last week.”
I swallow around my dry throat. This feels significant, but it’s hard to focus enough to put the pieces together. “I didn’t hear about that.”
She shrugs. “He’s in transportation, drives a lorry. He was in Nottingham at the time. I didn’t know myself until Toby mentioned it half an hour ago. He heard it from his cousin who works over there. I’d just assumed Jay quit.”
“Who’s Jay?”
“The bear shifter who got hurt. You maybe didn’t meet him. You know what the drivers are like, all keeping to themselves.” Felicia narrows her eyes at me. “The others who got injured all found new jobs, which, fair enough. But the bastards ghosted me! Val I get, because it’s not like we were ever gonna be besties what with her being a wolf and all, but I really thought the others would keep in touch. So if you quit then ghost me as well, I will hunt you down and force you to watch every dumb cat meme I can find until you beg for mercy.”
Val. Does she mean Valerie Lunaire, the maybe-missing wolf shifter? I rub my eyes and try to stay awake. I’ve been trying to subtly get information out of my work colleagues for weeks. Why does it have to be now that Felicia opens up?
“I won’t ghost you,” I promise. After this is all over, I’ll come clean about my real identity and see if she wants to keep in touch. “How did everyone else get injured?”
She opens her mouth to reply, only to be interrupted by a knock at the door right before Doc P enters. “I’m afraid that’s all Dhiren has the energy for today.”
Talk about bad timing. Still, he’s not wrong. As if to prove his point, my body decides that’s the time for me to yawn so wide they can probably see what I had for lunch.
She gets to her feet. “Yeah, sure. Get some sleep, and message me when you feel better. You and dragon boy can come over fordinner at ours. We can bitch about work and how Far Out Freight needs a health and safety inspection before anyone dies, for fuck’s sake. Later, boys.” She leaves the room with the same furious energy she entered it with.
Doc P crosses to the window. “I apologise for interrupting when I did, but Ayo let me know that Skye has run out of patience and is about to arrive any—ah, here he is. I thought it best if Felicia was gone first.” The doctor opens the window for a familiar golden eagle who lands on the windowsill.
Skye hops inside and immediately shifts before rushing over and hovering next to me, completely unconcerned with the fact he’s naked. His eyes are wide and he reaches out to scent me but stops short without making contact. “What the fuck Raj, you look like pure shite.”
“Sorry.” I yawn, my jaw cracking.
“It’s safe to scent Raj anywhere except his legs and head. I’ll get you something to wear, Skye,” Doc P says before slipping out of the room.
Skye scents me on the side of my neck immediately, then takes my hand. “The others’ll be up as soon as the waiting room’s clear. The entire pack are going bananas not being able to get to you when you’re hurt. How are you feeling?”
“I’ve had better days.” My blinks are getting longer, but I don’t want to miss out on time with Skye when it’s been so long since we’ve seen one another. “I’m glad you’re here, little one.”
He brushes a hand over my eyes, encouraging me to close them. “Sleep, ya daft eejit. I’m not going anywhere.”
