His instructor was being kept overnight for observation, yet Konrad had broken his fall. The hospital reluctantly discharged her stubborn boyfriend, even after he had refused an MRI to check for internal bleeding. Roz had tried everything she could think of to reason with him and make him stay, but he just kept saying he was fine.
He sure as hell didn’t look fine. His denim jacket sleeves had been shredded, he was cut and bruised all over his face, and yet he wouldn’t let anyone lay a hand on him. He wouldn’t even let the doctor stitch the gash on the side of his temple. Once it stopped bleeding, and it seemed to stop quickly, a few butterfly bandages kept it from starting again. Roz hoped that was a good sign.
By the time they had been seen, processed, and spit out, it was evening. Konrad promised to go straight to bed.
She knew it was late, but to leave Konrad alone in his apartment was wrong. He was proud and stubborn, but she shouldn’t have left, even when he insisted. What if he was unaware of some kind of internal injury and died in his sleep? She’d never forgive herself.
She made a big pot of chicken soup and carried it carefully up the stairs. When she reached the landing, his door opened, and he stepped out of his apartment…naked!What the?There wasn’t a scratch on him. No blood, no bruises, no Band-Aids. He was as naked and perfect as the day he was born.
His gaze snapped in her direction. “Roz!”
“Konrad, why are you—? How did you—?” As she stammered, he stared at her as ifshewere the one standing there naked.
“I can explain,” he said.
She waited, but no explanation followed.
***
What the hell could he tell her? He was a fast-healing nudist? He wore a bruise suit earlier, but he took it off in favor of his birthday suit?
The full moon was approaching, and he could feel the urge to change. This fiasco couldn’t have happened at a worse time.
“Roz, can the explanation possibly wait until tomorrow?”
Her jaw dropped. “You’ve got to be out of your ever-loving mind! No, it can’t wait.”
Down below, Nathan exited his apartment with his bicycle. He froze when he saw Roz on the landing above. “Oh!” He looked quite surprised to see her, and then he spotted Konrad. “Shit.”
Now what?Nathan was the one who let Konrad out on his way to work in the evening, and Sly let him in just before dawn. Konrad had tried stashing his clothes in the alley behind the Dumpsters, but a couple of times they were gone in the morning. Although rare, some thorough city worker probably made sure everything hit the dumpster. In that case he had to wait until he could shift back, knock on Sly’s window, because his keys had gone missing with his clothes, and traipse naked through the hallway and up the stairs.Crap.
Quickly assessing his options, he realized there were only two things he could do. Get back into his apartment,fast,or change right in front of her.Notshifting into his wolf form during the full moon wasn’t an option. That decision had been made for him when he was bitten long ago.
He could feel his body vibrate, the first sign of an impending change. He fled into the relative safety of his apartment and hoped Roz wouldn’t follow and catch him in mid-shift. She’d be horrified. He had to leave the door unlocked and open a crack to get back out.
Could he manipulate the doorknob with his paws? Perhaps. But if he couldn’t, the wolf in him would likely panic and try to claw his way out. A wolf had to run.
Not this time. If she saw him change it would be more traumatizing than to think he had a pet wolf scratching and howling at the door, so he retreated and slammed the door.
***
Nathan, still gazing at the top of the stairs, said, “Uh-oh.”
Roz snapped her attention to him. “What the hell is going on?”
He shook his head and said, “Oh, boy.”
Roz set the pot of soup beside Konrad’s door and scurried back down the stairs for an “in your face” interrogation, which she’d occasionally done with the most tight-lipped criminals. “Nathan, you know something about this, don’t you?”
Nathan didn’t lose his cool. He cocked his head and answered, “I’m not known for my discretion, but in this case, I’m going to forget what I saw, and I suggest you do the same.”
“Forget what I saw?” Her voice rose. “Forget? How can I? I’m not just concerned about his coming out of his apartment stark naked. A few hours ago, he was badly bruised, cut, and bleeding. Now there’s not a mark on him. What the hell is that about?”
He shrugged. “What can I say? Some of us are fast healers.” He started to wheel his bicycle past her, but she grabbed his collar.
“Oh, no you don’t.”
He pried her fingers off and calmly said, “I’m afraid I can’t stay and chat. I’ll be late for work.”
