Chapter Seven
Toby
Noises assailed him from all angles. None of it made sense when his nose twitched at a mix of scents, one of which got his bird tweeting enough to make Toby’s throbbing temples feel he’d somehow squashed a drum in there.
He attempted to open his eyes when beeps and alarms added to the noise pounding on his skull. The bright light above got his eyes scrunching shut.
What the heck had happened to him?
He worked to take a breath when panic came as he curled his hands, which throbbed, and found them wrapped in something preventing his fingers from bending more than a few centimetres.
“Oh, look at him,” he heard Morty cry.
“They said he fired out of the basket and banged his head on the ground.” That was Niall.
Toby got a flood of events and groaned at what had led him to be in what he now figured was a hospital bed.
“Toby, Toby, can you hear us?” Morty sobbed as a cool hand pressed to his forehead.
“Stop shouting, my head has a drum in it,” Toby replied hoarsely, his mouth tasted of dirt, and it didn’t take a genius to figure out why. He tried again to open his eyes and squinted in the light that lanced into his brain.
“You gave us a fright,” Niall said in a watery voice as he came to stand next to Morty.
“Gave myself a fright too.” He managed to twist his head to look around at what was a cubicle, only something caught his attention. A smell on his dirty hoodie. His heart rate kicked up faster than a horse on a racetrack.
“What is it?” Niall asked, his eyes on the monitor next to Toby’s trolley, which was alarming like crazy.
“How did I get here?” He sniffed at his shoulder, his body having a reaction that made no sense.
“Erm, from what the nurse said—who called us when they found your wallet and next of kin details—it was the owner of the land the balloon landed on. I think the guy just wanted to check that you didn’t want to sue him or something.
He was hanging around in the foyer when we got here.
We told him he could go when he was waffling about plants and seedlings.
Or some such thing.” Niall waved it off.
“But he at least was kind enough to bring you to the ED department without waiting for an ambulance.”
The information went in one ear and out the other when Toby’s heart sank at the fact, he must be mistaken about the smell clinging to his clothes. A mate would never leave, he was sure of that.
He must have a concussion, that was it. He had read somewhere that it could cause changes to the brain. His sense of smell must have been affected.
I told you I could smell our mate!
When? I don’t recall you saying anything. He didn’t.
That might be because you were flying in your human form out of the basket at the time.
Then why didn’t you shift and save me from the head banging I got off the ground?
I was in shock. And I told you it was a bad idea to go in a hot air balloon after the first landing, but did you listen?
Toby was too upset to argue about what a spectacular impression he’d given, if indeed his bird was right.
I am right.
Then where is he? Why isn’t he here making sure I’m alright? The more he thought about it, the more the alarms bleeped.
His bird had gotten it wrong.
“Ah, good, you’re awake.” A tiny guy strolled in looking far too young to be a doctor despite the scrubs and the name badge that identified him as such. “I was getting worried we’d need to ask the surgeons to come and review you, even when your CT scan came back negative for any trauma.”
Toby was sure there was damage, he just wasn’t going to argue with an infant when his temples throbbed.
“When can we take him home?” Morty sniff-sobbed, taking hold of one of Toby’s damaged hands and squeezing hard enough to make Toby wince and grit his teeth to prevent the cry escaping when Morty didn’t notice.
“We need to observe him for another hour, check that the lump on his head is healing as it should, given how long he was out cold. Then I’d say you’ll be free to go.
” He’d picked up the chart and looked at it, mumbling something before he put it down on the table, offering a toothy grin.
“I’ll write up a prescription for some pain medication for when you need it and arrange for a follow-up in the outpatient clinic for tomorrow for your head, and get the dressings removed from your hands.
“You did a good job in ripping the skin off and filling the raw wounds with dirt. We just want to check we got all the dirt out, so you don’t add insult to injury with a nasty infection.
No telling what kind of bugs were in the soil.
” Back was the toothy grin like he’d just said ‘What a delightful cake this is’ rather than talking about dirt, bugs, and infections.
“Right, if you have no questions…” The pause was all of two seconds, not enough time for Toby to get his pounding head to form a question. “Great.” Then the guy was gone leaving a very bewildered Toby.
“He’s… young.”
Morty giggled wetly, rubbing at his damp eyes with the back of a hand. “It’s a sign we’re getting old when he looks no more than a teenager!”
Niall snorted and nodded in agreement. “I feel ancient next to him, and I’m only in my late twenties! And let’s not talk about underachieving when he had to have finished school years ahead of his time.”
Toby was grateful for the distraction, giggled at Niall’s mournful sigh, then regretted it when his body allowed him to feel all the aches and pains of his flight out of the balloon and over the ground. He groaned and went to rub his head, only to stare at his bandaged hands and sigh in complaint.
“What do you need?” Morty asked as they heard a commotion coming from beyond the doorway.
“For whoever is complaining in the corridor to shush, and some of those painkillers would be good.” He didn’t like taking pills, but right then, with the drum speed increasing at how angry the person was somewhere in the department, Toby gave in.
“I’ll go find that doc, give me a minute,” Niall said, walking out.
“Did you leave Hector at home minding the baby?” Then something else struck. “Shit, the café…” tears welled in his eyes at what it meant when both his friends were here with him.
“Shush now, I just put up a sign to tell everyone we were closed due to unforeseen circumstances, it’s no biggie. Our customers are loyal, they won’t flee to some other café,” Morty reprimanded him softly.
Toby sniffed and got another whiff of the scent on his top, his lower body, regardless of the aches and pains, didn’t seem to care and reacted to the smell.
He really was in trouble.
You are not. I told you he’s our mate.
Who is our mate? Everyone we met—none of them made me react like this, he argued, even with his head hurting. His animal side was really starting to get on his nerves.
You're getting on mine. And you did meet him, it was just you weren’t conscious at the time he picked us up. Very swoon-worthy moment.
Honestly, I don’t know why I put up with you.
As I was saying, very swoony. Lifted us like we weighed nothing. All those big muscles…
The sigh had Toby release an exasperated groan, giving Morty the wrong impression.
“Niall won’t be long, I’m sure. At least whoever was getting loud out there has calmed down.”
As if hearing his name, Niall appeared with a smiley nurse who held a small white pot. “Toby, can you give me your date of birth, please?”
She looked at the chart she held in her other hand as Toby recited it before she offered him the pill pot, and Niall picked up a glass of water off the table to offer it to him.
He held up his hands and waved them at them both. “A little help, please.”
The nurse giggled and stepped close enough to place a pill on Toby’s tongue when he stuck it out.
Niall held the glass to his lips so he could sip and swallow.
They repeated the move, then Toby settled himself back, his eyes drifting shut, and he turned his head to bury his nose in his hoodie, pretending nothing was happening in his nether regions.
Count my blessings.
He might not have a mate, but it smelled like he did, and while his brain was playing tricks on him, he was going to enjoy it.
You really are daft, his bird chirped.
“Don’t suppose there’s another entrance out of ED, is there?” Niall’s question, though odd, wasn’t strange enough for Toby to bother opening his eyes.
“There is, it’s used to bring in emergencies.”
“I think it’s an emergency when there seems to be someone kicking off out there.” This was Morty.
“I’m sure it’ll be fine to go out the back door when the doctor is happy to release your friend.”
Release him, sounded like a prison, but if it came with the heavenly scent, then Toby wouldn’t mind at all. The thought drifted through his mind as the pill took effect and left him on a nice, warm cushion, accompanied by the smell. Maybe getting a head injury wasn’t so bad after all.