Flashing him a grateful smile, she jogged for Zan’s room. As she arrived, Melina slipped from inside, closing the door softly behind her. “How’s he doing?”
Melina waited, expression neutral. “He’s got a pretty nasty concussion, and there’s swelling putting pressure on his optic nerve. Both eardrums burst as well, and he bled some. When he wakes up we’ll be able to better assess the damage, but I won’t lie—I’m concerned about this. He’s not healing as quickly as the other guys.”
Mac nodded. “It takes a serious blow to injure a shifter to that extent. Has he regained consciousness?”
“For about a minute. The poor guy was totally confused and I don’t think he knew I was there.”
“Okay. I’ll check on him and then see to the others. Who do you have left that needs to be seen?”
“Let’s see . . .” She consulted some notes on her clipboard. “Aric, Hammer, and Kalen, all waiting in exam rooms. Thought you’d want that last one to yourself.”
“You thought right.” With a wink, she left her friend and walked into Zan’s room.
He was asleep, collar-length dark hair feathered on the pillow. He really was quite handsome, and that wasn’t just her penchant for dark-haired men talking. True to his nature as a Healer, he was kind and giving almost to a fault. There wasn’t anything the black wolf wouldn’t do for the ones he loved, and she admired that about him.
Moving his head, he moaned and opened his eyes. He blinked and stared at her in confusion, hardly able to focus. “Where . . . ?”
“You’re in the infirmary,” she told him, speaking slowly. “You tangled with a Sluagh and ended up here. Do you remember what happened?”
“I . . . yeah. One threw me against the side of the house. Hit my head. Still got him, though.”
“Good for you.” She smiled for his benefit.
“Doc?”
“Yes?”
“Can’t hear you very good,” he said hoarsely. “You’re muffled.”
Not good. Leaning closer, she tried to reassure him. “You took a bad hit, and there’s some swelling inside. Your eardrums burst, too, so that’s why you’re in pain and having trouble hearing. We’ll do more tests soon, but don’t worry. Did you get all of that?”
“Sure.” But his voice was barely a whisper, his lids drifting shut.
Briefly, she smoothed his hair from his face. “You’re going to be all right, Z-man. Rest and float on the good drugs while you can, okay?”
But he was out again. Probably for the best at the moment. On the way to her next patient, she fretted about Zan’s condition. Another blow to the head as bad as that one, and he could be in real trouble.
As she turned to leave, a worried-looking Jax entered quietly. “I’ll sit with him for a while, if you don’t mind.”
“Of course not.” She touched his arm. “I’ll be back later.”
Aric was next, and true to form, he bitched the entire time she was cleaning and stitching his scrapes and slices. God bless Rowan for being around to tame the fiery wolf, because if he belonged to Mac, she’d end up smothering him in his sleep. She was more than glad to send him on his merry way.
Hammer was the complete opposite. The big, bald man was a huge teddy bear. A gentle giant among men to his friends, but a deadly fighter in the field. She’d known him for only a few months, since he’d joined the Pack with Nick, but she adored the guy. He took his doctoring without a cross word, unlike most of his buddies. When she was finished, he thanked her shyly and was gone.
That left a certain Sorcerer to see about. When she entered his exam room, she found him lying on his side facing the door, the table barely long enough or wide enough to accommodate him. His duster and shirt had been placed over a chair in the corner, and he wore only his dark jeans, which where stained even darker with blood.
He must’ve heard her come in, as his eyes fluttered open. “Hey, baby. Fancy meeting you here.”
“Ha-ha, real funny. What am I going to do with you, stubborn Sorcerer?”
“Keep me?”
“I’ll think about it.” Her gaze found the ragged wounds on his side. “Those are some nasty souvenirs you’ve got there. Why don’t I clean and dress those, then take you to my quarters to recover?”
He perked up considerably. “Best idea I’ve heard all day.” He tried to sit up, but she moved over to him quickly.
“No. Stay like you are. It will be easier to get to the wounds this way.”
Settling on his good side, he gave himself over to her care. After fetching the alcohol and some wipes, Mac began to clean the scored flesh. The tears were too uneven to stitch, but thankfully, they’d already started to heal. Next she retrieved some gauze, bandages, and tape, and helped him to sit up.
“Help me hold this,” she said, placing several large gauze pads over the abused skin. He did, and she took the roll of bandages and began to wrap his torso. As she worked, she eyed the pendant dangling attractively on his smooth chest. “Thought that thing was supposed to protect you from evil.”
“Yeah, but not so much from stupidity.”
Mac couldn’t help but laugh, and he joined her. Kalen didn’t joke around much, and she loved how his eyes lit up on those rare occasions.
“I take it I’m going to live?”
“You are,” she assured him. “Let me see who’s going to monitor Zan tonight and then we’ll get out of here, with any luck.”
“Wait—what’s wrong with Zan?” he asked in concern.
Quickly, she gave him the rundown on the Healer’s condition, something she couldn’t have done in the human world. But HIPAA didn’t amount to shit when the compound and everyone in it didn’t technically exist.
“Damn,” he said, sobering. “I hope he’s going to be okay.”
“He should be, but another head trauma like that one could cause serious complications.” She patted Kalen’s bare shoulder. “Hold on, I’ll be right back.”
She went in search of Melina, who assured her that she and Noah would split the night into two shifts and check on Zan. Mac could “nurse” her man tonight and take duty tomorrow night if the Healer hadn’t been released by then. Grateful, Mac returned to Kalen.