I said a mental thanks to Dorothy for the heads up that Niles was here, and gave my hair a pass-through with my fingers before opening the door to the room we kept for inmates.
Niles, a puma alpha with a small, compact body and enough starch in his shirt that it could probably stand on its own, gave me a quick once-over before stepping aside to show me his patient. He rarely exchanged more words with me than were necessary, so I was unsurprised to get nothing more than a clipped nod in greeting.
As much as I would’ve loved to stop and flirt a little, maybe brush a stray honey blond curl from his forehead or gaze for an hour or two into those pale green eyes, I forced myself to ignore him and focus on my job.
I wheeled my cart over and took a glance at my patient. He had dried blood along his temple and hairline and reeked of booze and vomit. Thankfully, the lad was out cold which would make my job that much easier. Drunks didn’t always make the best patients. The smell was particularly potent thanks to a small puddle on the floor where he must’ve tossed his cookies again before passing out. Biting back a sigh, I pulled out the blood pressure cuff. “Another drunk and disorderly, huh? Poor Officer Niles, what a way to spend a Friday night.”
While I took his blood pressure, something about the smell was pulling my attention away from the first top notes of eau de barf and Malibu Rum. I couldn’t believe I’d almost missed it, but that overpowering sweet smell that brought rotting fruit to mind was impossible to miss once I was paying attention.
My starched hottie naturally decided now was the time he finally wanted to chat. “It’s Officer Ford, Niles is my given name. Enough chitchat, Sunshine Boy. Just stitch him up so I can toss him in a cell and get away from the stench.” He was so cute when he was grumpy. His arrogant nose seemed to lift in the air of its own accord while his dark brows drew in and wrinkled, just begging for someone like me to rub a thumb over them and whisper softly until they relaxed.
“Is your headcount so low that you’re in a hurry to get this poor lad in lockup? Or do you get a rush when you lock that cell door?” I was focused on making a note on the patient’s chart, but not so busy that I couldn’t give Niles’ button a proper push.
“Cute. No, I promise I get no pleasure out of putting my prisoners behind bars. Unless they’ve committed a crime that deserves it, that’s another story. Procedures, nurse. We need to finish processing this one but he wasn’t in any shape to ask for an attorney, let alone sit through even the most basic interrogation. Drunk or not, the man still has rights, Sunshine Boy.”
I couldn’t help but grin at how by the book he was. It was downright adorable. “I understand that Officer Niles, but we have our own procedures that must be followed and…” I paused when I realized he’d called me that more than once now. Aww… he’d given me a nickname. I didn’t have time for a proper flirt, but a quick one would be okay. “Sunshine Boy? Oh, I rather like that one. You can call me Sunny for short, if you’d like.” I flashed him a wink. “I’d say Sunny-D, but who knows where your mind might go. Although, a little vitamin D is a good thing, I’ve heard… especially if you’ve been a bit tense. Nothing like a good injection of Vitamin D to make the world go round, I always say.”
He looked up in shock, staring at my flirtatious smile and recoiling like he’d smelled a fart in church. “Vitamin… D, did you say?” Niles rolled his eyes. “I should know better than to talk to you on a full moon. Look, I need to call for the wagon. How fast can you stitch him up and get us out the door?”
“Is it a full moon? Huh. I hadn’t noticed, but that does explain a lot.” I pulled on a rubber glove while I sniffed the air to confirm my suspicion, releasing the wrist with a snap. “Hold off on that, tough guy. I need to get the doctor in here for an exam. This fellow isn’t going anywhere but upstairs, I reckon. He’ll be bound for ICU.”
Niles snorted like I was joking, pulling a black tube of Chapstick out of his pocket. “For being too drunk? And don’t think I missed that sniff, Sunny. What are you playing at?” He didn’t mention the shifter gift more than that since our patient was a human and who knew how alert he was. The secret must be kept, all shifters knew that much. “Dammit. Well, that’s gone now. Fucking drunks.” He grumbled, glaring at the tube he must have dropped. It was now lying in the vomit on the floor beside the gurney.
I shook my head. “Yeah… no. He’s not drunk. If anything, he’s just been splashed with booze in whatever fight he was in. This boy has a case of ketoacidosis, but I’ll need to grab the doc for the official diagnosis. That’s me giving you a head’s up, by the way. You’re welcome. But remember, I’m just the nurse. I’ll be right back with the actual doctor.”
Niles was muttering under his breath about his lost Chapstick and I remembered Dottie’s warning, but I was already off and running without a second to spare to think about that right now. The patient came first. I’d worry about annoying Niles more later. He’d probably be back with another patient or two before the night was over, that being how it usually worked.
As much as I loved toying with the man and teasing him, I had a niggling worry in the back of my mind that I’d been carrying for a while now. How would he react when I told him we were mates? It was rare for alphas to be fated, and we likely had a third somewhere out there waiting to meet us since that was usually how it went when alphas were mates.
But right now… for whatever reason… fate had chosen to put Niles in my path first. I’d recognized it the first time I’d smelled his heathery scent. I just needed to figure out how to break it to him at some point.
2
Niles
Kyle hadn't been lying, not that I’d thought otherwise. Once my inmate was admitted for his diabetic-related illness, I headed back to the jail after making a quick stop at 7-11 to refill my coffee and pick up a new Chapstick. Nothing like living in the desert to dry out a man’s skin and chap his lips.
My shoulder radio when off before I could make it inside the building. "Ford, you got a copy? Got another one for you to escort."
I ignored the radio and walked inside instead. My sergeant was at his desk, looking expectantly at his radio for my answer. He leaned back in his seat when I walked in. "Oh, are we answering our radio calls personally today?"
"Looks that way, doesn't it?” I grinned and waved a hand. “Naw, you were lucky enough to catch me walking in. I need to fill out my paperwork on my last transport since the inmate was admitted.” I clapped a hand to my face and shook my head. “Which you know, since you would've been the one to send Rocky to take over for me. Sorry."
The sergeant chuckled as he shook his head. "Officer Ford, I hope I'm there the day you pull the rulebook out of your ass and quit trying to be perfect. You're good to go, no files to update. I just put the report on your last run into the system. Unless you have a note to add, that case is done. I have a new one, ready to go when you are."
I took a breath and counted back from ten before responding. Was I uptight? Yes. Did I believe in law and order? Yes. Did I appreciate being told I had a stick up my ass because of my value system? Nope. But since this was my boss, I couldn't tell him what I thought of his comment. Instead, I smiled at his joke and pretended it didn't faze me.