Chapter 7
CHAPTER SEVEN
Trust me—I’m a doctor.
N orbert lived and worked in a smaller version of Hudson’s house, except the ground floor was a mini hospital, complete with three beds and an operating room. Shifters didn’t suffer from illness and diseases that affected the human population. Broken bones and fight injuries were the typical issues, but with their accelerated healing, they didn’t warrant a longer stay. So the sight before me was definitely unusual.
Norbert had set up temporary beds, creating extra space for patients, and a child occupied every one of them. Parents fitted themselves between the tiny spaces to offer words of comfort and watch over their offspring. As I stepped inside, all eyes turned to me. My brows knit at the still forms beneath the white sheets. There were no visible injuries or blood that I could see.
“What’s happening?” I wondered. Did the kids get into a squabble?
Norbert jerked his head to follow him into the back room, where he kept his supplies and performed consultations. He closed the door, sealing the soundproofed room to prevent supernatural eavesdropping.
“We’ve had an outbreak of pox.”
I blinked as he waved his hand at the chair placed beside his desk. Pox? That makes no sense. “But shifters aren’t susceptible to human diseases.”
Norbert plopped onto his chair and pushed a large open book in my direction. “Not human, Cora. This family of pox comes from the animal kingdom, and we are more likely to be affected because the jump to the shifter DNA is less of a leap than humans.”
I spun the book toward me and scanned the detailed history of the family of infectious poxes affecting the packs over the ages. This was a well-guarded secret. I knew nothing about it, which made sense, as it could be weaponized and used against the pack.
“Death rate?” I asked.
Norbert swiped a hand down his face, suddenly looking older than ever. After he left Hudson’s house, he’d returned here, staying up all night to stand vigil over the children. “Previous outbreaks have been anywhere from five to twenty percent.”
Damn, that was high. “And this one?”
“Yet to be determined. We’ve had a hundred cases, but they only started five days ago.”
Wow. That’s so many. “No deaths?” I checked.
“No, but they aren’t getting better. Out there are the most worrying cases, and I expect that to increase.”
“You are going to run out of space,” I deduced.
Norbert nodded. “Space and medical personnel, too.”
“Well, you have me.”
His shoulders relaxed. Did he think I was going to just leave? I might struggle to sit through a meal and navigate the politics of the pack, but this, caring for the ill? This was my world.
“There’s another twelve coming in now.”
“We can convert Hudson’s home for now. Triage there, and bring the most urgent here.”
Norbert nodded. “Where do you want to work?”
“Triage.” While I was sure they’d rather have their familiar doctor assess them, he was better placed here with an illness he knew how to treat.
“What are the warning signs that things are deteriorating?” I asked.
“Fever above one hundred and three, and a rash covering over ten percent of their body. Those two things suggest the virus has gotten a hold of them.”
“Treatment?”
“Fluids, intravenous pain meds, and time.”
So we were keeping their body alive while they fought it off. Not unusual, but definitely terrifying. Antivirals took time to develop, and if this hadn’t made the jump into the human population, then the research hadn’t begun.
He stood and moved around the room, collecting everything I would need to help. He piled banana bags, needles, vials of pain meds, gloves, and other supplies on his desk, completely covering it.
“Let me get Dave to help carry this back.” Norbert grabbed his phone and typed out a message using only his index finger. “He’s on his way. He’ll stay with you to deal with any reluctant parents and reassure them you are more than qualified to handle them.”
Two minutes later, the door opened and Dangerous Dave swept in. He nodded at me and grabbed the items. “Follow me,” he said. “I’ve started prepping the house, but we have a lot of work to do and only ten minutes before the children arrive.”
Ten minutes? Goodness me.
Norbert squeezed my shoulder as I stood to follow Dave. “Thank you, Consort Royal.”
“Cora.” I hated being referred to by a title.
He smiled. “Cora.”
Worry settled in my gut as I glanced around the mini ward on the way out. The pack needed more medics. Dave’s strides were long and determined as he led the way back to the pack house, with me hurrying after him. The women had pushed the furniture in the sitting room to the edges, and Aunt Liz was setting up temporary beds in the cleared space while Melissa and Keira worked to cover them with clean sheets and pillows. That was good. We could fit at least twelve in here.
“Where do you want these?” Dave asked.
I pointed to the dining room and followed him inside to sort the supplies into piles that made sense to my doctor’s brain. Norbert provided vomit bowls, so I used them as mini emergency kits, while moving the pain meds to the end of the table.
“Let’s push this against the wall and set up another bed in here so I can examine them privately as they come in.”
Dave nodded and moved to do as I asked.
Keira poked her head in. “All the beds are set up. What else can we do?”
“Put bottled water and one of these bowls beside each bed, please.”
As she and my aunt worked, the door opened. I braced myself, letting out a deep breath and rolling back my shoulders. My first real act as Consort Royal might not be something mundane, like picking out paint colors or fabric swatches, but I was in my comfort zone. Handling the pack’s ill children was terrifying, but it would also allow me to show them who I was.
One hour later, the beds were not only full, but we’d needed to add three more. Eighteen sick children, ranging from age three to sixteen, lied in pain, waiting for my help.
I pointed at the drip I’d hooked up to the worst three who were in and out of consciousness. “Keira, monitor their fluids. As soon as the bag is empty, let me know. Liz, please take their temperatures every thirty minutes and note it, along with the time, down on the pad at the foot of their beds.” My heart went out to the anguished faces of the adults. “Parents, please get my attention if any of them stop responding to your voice.”
Everyone jumped into action with renewed focus. The very youngest appeared to be the worst off, which made sense due to their less developed immune systems and diminished ability to self-regulate their temperature compared to the teenagers.
For the patients still awake, I gave oral pain meds and noted it on their makeshift charts. Everything was going fine until the eldest, a teenage wolf shifter called Jack, suddenly convulsed. His mom jerked to her feet and blocked my approach. “No, not you. I need Doc Norbert.”
“Move, Frances,” Dave snapped. There had been plenty of little digs about not being the doctor they wanted, but I refused to let it bother me. I understood the need to be looked after by someone you trusted. I might be Hudson’s chosen mate, but I wasn’t one of them.
Frances clenched her fists, and the threat of violence coated the air. Indigo, who had been silently observing the scene, raised her head and peered at the woman. I didn’t need her adding to the patient numbers.
“Don’t be ridiculous. I wouldn’t do that.”
“You forget that I can feel your intentions like they are my own.”
“I wouldn’t give you another life to save, Cora. I’d simply kill her, and then she’d no longer cause any problems.”
“Not a solution.”
Dave grabbed Frances’s arms and shifted her away from her son’s bed. I snapped on a pair of fresh gloves. Jack was fine seven minutes ago—I’d checked on him myself. What changed? I took out a mini flashlight and waited for the seizure to pass before checking his pupils. Still reactive. I took his pulse with my fingers. Dammit. I grabbed a needle and gave him some fast-acting pain meds. I needed to get his temperature down.
A shout rang out, and I spun around. Another of the kids was seizing. What the hell? I took a deep breath and shoved my panic beneath the layer of cool detachment we honed in medical school to allow us to focus in a crisis. My mind sorted through the steps, and then I moved and started barking instructions. Time passed, and we fought for each and every life as they all started deteriorating. I was not losing a single life today. Nobody could die on my watch.
Sweat trickled down my spine as I fought with death. Norbert burst into the room, looking frantic. “I need—” He froze, looking around the room at the children we were working flat out to save.
“What do you need?” I asked. My voice was calm, but inside, I was falling apart.
“My patients are in the same state. It’s accelerating.”
I couldn’t be in two places at once. We needed to move them into one space, because this was bigger than we could handle alone. “Dave, grab some males and move the doctor’s patients and beds over here. Norbert, get the females to bring along any medical supplies we might need.”
His gaze caught mine as Dave ran out of the door. Oh shit. He was out of supplies. I strode to him and squeezed his hand in mine. “It will be okay.” It had to be—I had no other choice.
Indigo tugged on my consciousness. “Not now,” I snapped and ignored her attempts at communication. I did not have the mental headspace to manage a crazy angel right now. The room was jam-packed full of worried shifters. We should prioritize the most sick, but they were all clinging to life by a thread.
Indigo shoved past my mental shields. “Let me help.”
I froze. “How?”
“Death is within our control, Cora.” What did that mean? “Let me through, and I’ll show you.” Her power hummed in my veins, but I had it leashed. I loosened the chains and felt her intent. Was that really something we had power over? “Yes. Stop living in fear.”
I felt each and every heartbeat in the room, but I sifted out the steady, strong ones and focused on the sluggish and erratic ones. My power curled into their chests and cradled their hearts. Pump. Pump. Pump. Steady. Easy now.
My legs wobbled as their souls brushed against my own. But it wasn’t the same as the souls I met in the afterlife, the ones I had helped to cross over. This was more fundamental. It was unique to the living.
My knees gave out, and I crouched on the floor. Pump. Pump. Pump. I took a deep breath. If I could keep their bodies alive, give them the opportunity to fight this illness, then we had a chance.
Someone shouted my name, but it was like hearing it called down a long tunnel. My eyes fluttered closed as I grounded myself in this world. I could do this. No one was dying. My head slid against the floor, and a long sigh slipped from my lips.
Correction—no one other than me was dying.