Thomas cared nothing about the wolf, save he was Juliana’s friend, but he wondered at the wisdom of this modern medicine. What was the harm in letting a patient sleep, letting his body recover at its own speed? Currently a doctor was examining a range of machinery while another took the wolf’s vitals manually. A third sat near his head and held his hand. It seemed a lot of activity for someone that probably just wanted to be left alone.
“He’s hiding,” Juliana said, her voice quiet.
“What?” her boss asked.
“He’s hiding,” she said again. “He probably retreated into his brain when the demon took over and now he either doesn’t realize it’s safe to come out or he’s having trouble making the trip.” She made her way over to the group surrounding her friend. “Hey, Doc? What do the case histories say on host recoveries? I know you’ll have read them all by now.”
The doctor looked up with a frown. He cupped Juliana’s face in his hand and turned her head, shining a light in her ears. “Can you hear already?”
Her face burned again and Thomas chuckled. Knowing his bride, she was cursing her fair complexion right about then.
“Yep. All better,” she said, not giving any further explanation.
“Turn around so I can see your back.”
She turned so the doctor could complete his examination. The man lifted her shirt and ran fingers over the now unmarred flesh.
“This is incredibly quick healing, even for you. And there’s not even a scar.” When he continued to run his fingers over the skin, looking for any imperfection, Thomas made his way quietly to the other side of the room.
“Is there some way I may be of assistance?” he asked, stepping in front of them.
Juliana bit her lip and he could see the amusement in her eyes. “He’s the doctor, Thomas.”
He arched a brow. “Indeed. I assure you that you will find no trace of injury, doctor. My blood is rather potent.”
The man’s hand quit moving. “Your blood? But I thought... Oh, I see.” Finally, he lowered her shirt and stepped back. “I was merely checking on the welfare of my patient.”
“Of course you were, Doc, and I appreciate it. Now case studies. What do you know?” Juliana asked.
“Not a lot unfortunately.” He tugged on his goatee and leaned against the wall. “You know most of the hosts don’t recover. I’ve found three where the host came around completely.” He gestured to large, cluttered desk at the side of the room.
Juliana moved over to Doc’s desk and snatched up the papers on top of the pile. Three hosts all fully recovered. The first was a selkie from Alaska. He’d plunged into the Arctic Ocean after the demon left him and immediately came to. The second was a light fae that had been in the middle of a fire when the demon fled. The heat and flames had apparently woken the host up. And last was a human that fell off a building. By the time he landed on the jump cushion the fire department had set up on the street, he was himself again.
“We’ve tried cooling him down and heating him up to no effect,” Dr. Daniels said.
She nodded absently and looked past him to her friend. What did the three survivors have in common? Her eyes snagged on the defibrillator next to the bed and a slow grin spread over her face.
“A shock, Doc,” she said. “He needs a jolt.”
He frowned at her, his brow furrowed. His face smoothed when understanding dawned. “Of course. The cold, the burns from the fire, the jump. Brilliant. But don’t even think about it.”
“Think about what?” she asked.
“If we use the defibrillator it could stop his heart. Let’s try something a little less extreme, huh?”
She scowled. She hadn’t been thinking about actually shocking him. Well, not really. At least not without permission. The doctor came back with a large syringe and Juliana moved to stand by Nathaniel’s bedside.
“A nice jolt of adrenaline should do the trick,” he said. “A very nice jolt.” He said the last so low that Juliana barely heard him.
She cringed as he injected the liquid into her friend, but the doctor didn’t look her way again. His attention was all on his patient. “Come on. Come on.”
Placing her hand on Nathaniel’s arm she leaned slightly over him, her eyes searching his face, looking for any sign of him returning to them. Suddenly, his eyes flew open and he sucked in a breath. “Nathaniel?”
“Walker West?” Doc said from the other side of the bed.
Nathaniel’s eyes darted around the room in a panic, not focusing on anything.
“It’s okay, Nathaniel. You’re all right,” she said, squeezing his arm. “Everything’s okay now. Everything—” Her words were swallowed when her friend sat upright in the bed, grabbed her head in both hands and planted a huge closed mouthed kiss right on her lips. Juliana tried to pull away but Nathaniel had a firm grip and wasn’t letting her go anywhere. She started to laugh and so did he. He was back.
Then a hand was between them and Nathaniel was pushed back several inches though he still had hold of her head. “Wolf, you will remove your lips from my...Juliana. Actually, I would prefer it if you quit touching her at all.”
“Who’s the vamp?” Nathaniel asked her, amusement coloring his words.
“Nathaniel West, meet Thomas Kendrick. Thomas, Nathaniel.”
Her friend jerked his hands away from her like she was diseased. “Sorry, no offense meant. Strictly platonic.”
“Hmm,” was all Thomas said before moving back across the room.
Juliana threw her arms around Nathaniel’s neck. “I’m so glad to have you back.” When he just continued to sit there, she added, “If you don’t hug me back I’m going to kick your ass.”
“But you don’t know the look I’m getting right now,” he said in her ear even as he did as she instructed.
“He’ll get over it.” She released him and leaned back, looking him over. “And so will you. Promise.”
He nodded. “Thank you, Jules.”
“It’s what I do.” Seeing a medic hopping around behind her, she stepped out of the way so the girl could launch herself at Nathaniel. If Juliana remembered correctly Nathaniel and the girl had been out once or twice.
“I’m so glad you’re all right,” the medic said as she all but landed in Nathaniel’s lap.
He grinned at Juliana over the top of the girl’s head. She stepped away to give them some privacy and felt an uneasy pang of jealousy. Warmth appeared at her back.
“We could have that, if you’d let us,” Thomas said.
“We’ll never have what they have, Thomas. For one thing, I know Nathaniel would never threaten someone just for touching her.”
“He doesn’t deserve her then.”
Hardly the argument she expected, his words sent a thrill of excitement racing through her. She couldn’t stop the grin that crept up. Amusement shone in his eyes. Somehow she’d forgotten this side of him. The playful sense of humor. She missed it.
“Besides, that was a kiss, not a touch,” he argued, his irritation evident.
She snorted. “That was not a kiss.”
“Then what was it?”
“That was him saying hello.”
“Well, he needs to learn to use words like everyone else.”
Her snicker turned into an outright laugh at Thomas’s amused grin. Thomas making fun of himself was almost impossible to resist. Tamping that thought down, she looked at Ben. “Where am I staying?”
“You’ll stay with me and Anna,” Jeremiah said before anyone else had a chance to speak.
She nodded her thanks.
“Those Neanderthals don’t live there, do they?” Thomas said in her ear. Her elbow caught him in the gut, her reward a small grunt.
“What’s wrong with your place?” Nathaniel asked.
She balled her fists and started forward but Thomas took her arm and steered her toward Jeremiah.
