“I’m Dr. Jamie Howard. I saw the lights.” He knelt down next to Chloe, taking the bag a dark-haired woman, also Puma and smelling strongly of Dr. Howard, handed him. “What happened?”
“Julian Ducharme. I’m a nurse and acquainted with the patient. I don’t know what happened, but her injuries are bad.” Julian began a catalogue of Chloe’s wounds in a cool, professional tone that left Bunny feeling left out in the cold.
“Bunny? Who is she to you?”
He turned to find Tabby standing in front of him, shivering in her light dress. He took off his leather jacket and wrapped it around her shoulders, pulling her against him. He needed comfort, the scent of Chloe’s blood poisoning the air around him.
It was bad. He knew it was bad, just as he new his paltry gift was of no use here.
“She’s my baby cousin.”
Tabby sighed. “Oh, sugar.” She pulled his head into the crook of her neck, and held on tight. He took a deep breath but nothing could wash away the metallic tang of Chloe’s blood.
Tabby could barely see what Julian and Dr. Howard were doing. Bunny took up a lot of space in her field of vision, but she could hear what they were saying and it wasn’t good. Julian seemed to think he could help if he had time alone with her, but time was rapidly running out along with the other woman’s blood. Bunny trembled in her arms, his hands fisted at the small of her back. She knew he wanted to help, but there was no way he could. Even Tabby could see Chloe was beyond saving.
So she held on as hard as she could, feeling the fine tremors racking her mate’s body, while her friend knelt at the side of a dying woman.
“Make them go away, doctor. Get them away and I can save her.” Julian’s voice was intense.
“At what cost?”
Bunny stiffened in her arms at Dr. Howard’s soft words.
“Let me do this. I can save her, they can’t. Trust me.”
She almost walked over to tell Dr. Howard that Julian could be trusted, but before she could the man sighed. “I’ll see what I can do.” Dr. Howard walked over to the paramedics who’d huddled off to the side. “These are her family. They want a moment alone with her.”
“Sir, she’s not going to make it.”
Bunny keened softly, the sound full of anguish. His arms surrounded her, held her while he trembled.
“Let’s grant their wish. It’s not like it will hurt anything, or anyone.”
Somehow Dr. Howard got them away, got the paramedics to give them a moment of privacy.
Bunny let her go, grabbed hold of Julian’s hand and placed his other on Chloe’s shoulder. Tabby watched Julian take a deep breath and…
That’s when Tabby knew she was losing her mind.
Bunny relaxed and allowed Julian to direct the path of the healing. He might be a Bear, but Julian was trained as a nurse and had far more knowledge than Bunny could lay claim to. Modern medicine had made the healing the Bears did easier, allowing them to know the ways in which the body functioned, but it came at a price. A price Dr. Jamie Howard somehow knew about. The small amount of healing Bunny could do might keep his cousin alive long enough for them to get her to the hospital, but it would leave him exhausted. He knew he’d sleep around the clock after they were done.
He began to assess the damage. He could feel every cut, every bruise, every single broken bone his cousin suffered from. There was no way, no way they could save her. Her body was too injured to sustain life. It was amazing she’d lingered as long as she had.
He owed Julian for giving him the opportunity to say goodbye.
Just as Bunny opened his mouth to thank the other Bear, the strangest thing happened. Julian took a deep breath, focused, and his hair turned pure white.
And then the real healing began.
Julian mended the broken bones, repaired the severed blood vessels, healed the damage to her skull. The fluid pouring into her cranial cavity was causing pressure her fragile brain wouldn’t be able to tolerate. Julian drained it off efficiently and moved on to the next wound. Bunny could tell there was something wrong there, in the soft tissues of her brain, but he didn’t possess the knowledge to figure out what it was. He was pulled along in Julian’s wake, helpless to do anything but watch and marvel.
Bunny was stunned at the strength the other Bear possessed. Julian poured his energy into Chloe, revitalized flagging organs and sped the beat of her heart once all of the blood vessels had been properly repaired. He left enough outer damage that the paramedics would not be too suspicious of what had happened here this night.
He wouldn’t have much time when he was done. Bunny could sense the fatigue that pulled at the other Bear, trying to make him sloppy in his healing, but Julian pushed through. His healing remained precise, catching even the tiniest details of the internal damage Chloe had suffered. Bunny offered his strength, letting Julian pull on him to complete what Bunny knew was impossible. It wouldn’t be enough to keep the Bear on his feet more than five minutes, ten tops when they were done, but he would survive, thanks to the strength Bunny lent him. Bunny knew that Julian’s selfless act would have ended his life. The man had to have known it before he even started.
Bunny owed him, big time.
Another source of energy poured into him. Alien, feminine, it wrapped around him, scented by wild forests and the feel of soft paws on leaves. The howl of a wolf, barely heard, the pull of the moon on a four-limbed body told him whose energy filled him. Savage strength held in check by a heart too big for its frame coursed through him, leaving him dizzy and so aroused he almost lost the spiraling tendrils of the healing path. Tabby lent them her strength, using the bare beginnings of their mate bond to channel her energy through Bunny to Julian and ultimately to Chloe.
That added strength allowed him to help Julian finish healing Chloe. Julian pulled back and released his hold on Bunny, his hair turning dark once more.
Bunny watched the white fade from Julian’s hair until not a pearly strand was left. Julian was visibly shaking, deep dark circles under his eyes, but when he lifted his face, his expression was serene. “I’ve done all I can, and it wasn’t enough.”
And then he collapsed like a broken puppet. Bunny barely stopped his head from cracking on the street.
“Shit.” The blond doctor was suddenly there, concern in every line of his body. “I was afraid of this.”
“What’s this? He’s exhausted, isn’t he?” Both men turned and stared at Tabby. “I mean, I felt him…pulling on me, but it was weak. Like he was already tiring.”
Dr. Howard nodded. “Exactly.” He bent over Chloe, leaving Julian to Tabby and Bunny. Bunny checked Julian’s vitals with his own healing power and smiled.
He’d settled into a deep sleep and would probably be starving when he woke up, but he was going to be fine. He smiled at Tabby when she arranged Julian’s legs more comfortably on her lap. “Damn, Bear. Not bad. She’ll make it to the hospital.” Bunny turned from Tabby to find Doc Howard smiling. “I need to have a long talk with him when he wakes up. We could use someone like him.” Dr.
Howard stood and motioned to the paramedics. Out of the corner of his eye, he saw the horror that flashed across Tabby’s face and wondered at it. Could it have anything to do with the way Julian had collapsed after saving Chloe? How close was his mate to Julian anyway? “I want both Ms. Williams and Mr. Ducharme loaded into the ambulances. I’ll want vitals on both of them when I arrive.”
“But, Doc, the girl.” The paramedic still had that horrible look on his face. It made Bunny want to smash something.
“She’s going to make it. Just do what I say and load her up.”