It killed Ulric to see her on the floor. He wanted to scream, “No she’s fucking not,” but he had to stay cool. “Well, she’s not too impressed by the mess she made when the fucker scared her. Which reminds me, bring some garbage bags. Maybe some bleach. Pasta will come out of grout, right?”
That cryptic message told Griffin they had a body situation with blood.
“There goes my Friday night with my wife.” Griffin kept playing along even as he probably had questions.
“Speaking of wife, you should bring Maeve to keep Honey company.” She’d still yet to move or make a sound.
“Coming. I’ll bring Quinn too. He’s got a way with wild animals.”
Ulric hung up, tension making his muscles taut despite the cavalry on its way. He stood between Honey and the wolf, torn between removing the body before she woke and doing something—fucking anything—for her. But he was no doctor. He couldn’t even be sure if moving her wouldn’t do more damage. Didn’t paramedics and 911 always tell people to not move victims? He clenched his fists because that went against his urge to gather her close and lend her his strength.
Maeve would be here shortly. Griffin wouldn’t fuck around. What Ulric should do was perhaps gather some clues as to why this fucker had attacked Honey in the first place. That couldn’t be a coincidence.
Ulric had the door open for Griffin and Maeve before they even knocked.
The doctor’s gaze went immediately to Honey. She didn’t even remove her coat or shoes as she strode briskly to Honey’s side. “What happened?”
“Not entirely sure. By the time I broke in, Honey was weaving on her feet. I think the bastard who broke in hit her.”
Maeve knelt by her side. “Definite contusion on the left side of her face. She’ll have a shiner for sure. Nose doesn’t appear broken, though.”
“So she’s okay?” He couldn’t hide the worry in his tone.
“Hard to tell until I examine her further.”
“I didn’t move her,” he hastened to say.
“Good, let’s see if anything’s broken.” Maeve quickly ran a visual inspection before shifting Honey to further check for damage, muttering, “Everything looks intact, but she most likely has a concussion given the shiner she’s going to wake up with.”
“What about the baby?”
“I can’t tell with what I have here. We should take her to my clinic for a more thorough exam.”
“Before you steal Ulric, a few questions, such as what the fuck happened? And who is that?” Griffin asked, pointing to the wolf.
“Don’t know who. He broke into Honey’s house. I was chatting with her while on my way over when I heard her scream. I kind of lost it after that,” Ulric admitted, hanging his head.
Griffin clapped him on the back. “Can’t say as I blame you. We’ll talk more shortly. Get Honey to the clinic. Use my car.” A timely offer given Ulric’s was too far. He’d been walking to work, needing the exertion to tire out his mind.
“Ulric”—Maeve pointed to Honey—“can you carry her out?”
Given he’d waited for permission, he wasted no time scooping Honey up, gently rising with her. As he did, Maeve kissed Griffin while taking his keys.
She’d accepted Griffin as he was. Could he ever expect the same with Honey? How could he even explain what happened tonight?
Griffin’s car was parked right out front. For that short stint, Ulric made it seem like Honey walked by his side, even as his arm kept her upright. Maeve flanked her, pretending gaiety, a group of friends going out.
They slid Honey into the backseat, where Ulric held her on the short ride to the clinic. Once there, he carried her in, seeing as how Dorian could access and control the feeds of all the cameras in the alley. In other words, no one would be watching that shouldn’t.
Maeve flicked on lights as she dropped her purse and shrugged off her coat. “Take her into exam room two.”
As he stepped into the space, he faltered. To his surprise, Dr. Silver was there. “Why are you here? Did Griffin call you?”
“I did,” Maeve declared, entering behind him. “While I’m good at diagnosing and fixing a bunch of medical issues, Dr. Silver is more knowledgeable about the child Honey’s carrying.”
“She was punched,” Silver noted as he lay Honey on the medical bed.
“Yeah. But I don’t know what else might have happened before I got there.”
Maeve began examining Honey thoroughly, shining a light in her eyes, taking her pulse. Silver was just as busy, fitting a blood pressure cuff and palpating limbs.
“Nothing visibly broken,” Silver announced.
“Heart rate is normal. Flesh is responsive. I expect she’ll waken shortly with a hell of a headache.”
Ulric didn’t say it, but Silver did. “No sign of a miscarriage, but no idea if any trauma was done to the baby until we get a peek inside.”
“Did you bring the portable ultrasound machine?” Maeve asked.
Silver nodded and rolled over a trolley with a small machine sitting atop, a wand on a cord coiled in front of it.
“Nice setup. I’ve been thinking of getting one for the clinic.” Maeve appeared very interested in the tech while Ulric wondered what they’d see inside Honey’s belly.
Turned out the thing that might kill her really was a baby. A baby he’d told her to abort. A baby that took shape with a head, two arms, two legs. Until that moment, the pregnancy had been a concept. Easy to dismiss for him because he had no attachment. Honey got it the moment it began growing in her belly, and it hit him as he saw the little person taking shape on the screen, a person that he’d help make.
“How do we stop the child from killing her?” he asked softly of Silver.
“I have a few ideas, but they will require her cooperation,” the doctor said point-blankly.
“Like?”
“Like the fact she’ll have to be taken somewhere she can be monitored twenty-four-seven. We’ll be testing her and tracking the growth of the fetus.”
“You’re going to lock her up and make her a science experiment?” He saw through the words to the gist.
“We don’t have much choice. She’s carrying a Lycan child. You know a human doctor won’t know how to help her when she runs into trouble.”
“Maybe she won’t?” He couldn’t help a hopeful lilt.
“She will, and that’s why she needs me.”
“You sound as if you have a plan.”
“I do.”
“How can you know it will work if you’ve never encountered a Lycan pregnancy before?”
“I don’t know, but I’ll tell you one thing; without me, she dies for sure.”
“She is going to hate me,” he muttered.
“You should try telling her the truth,” Maeve murmured. “Griffin had that same fear. He thought I wouldn’t accept him if I knew.”
“One big difference, you and Griffin were totally in love by the time he told you.”
“And you aren’t?”
“I am, but I don’t know how Honey feels about me anymore.” He’d made so many mistakes.