“Point taken.”
Julian sniffed again and began walking toward the parking lot. He wasn’t catching a lot of rage in Ryan’s scent. It could simply be the hospital smells of worry, despair and sickness, but what he was catching off of Ryan was a strange calmness. That concerned him more than any amount of rage would have. “I think we have a problem.”
“What?”
He watched as Ryan drove sedately out of the parking lot. Even at distances he could see the five-inch claws wrapped around the steering wheel. “I think Ryan’s hunting.”
“I’ll call Gabe, so don’t worry about that. You get back in and see what you can do about Glory. They should let you in now.”
“Thanks, Jamie.”
“I’m curious about one thing, though.”
Julian stepped back into the hospital. “What’s that?”
“Is your life ever boring?”
Julian sighed. “Not since I came to Halle.” Hell, it had been downright somnolent before he came to Halle. He hung up the phone and stepped into the elevator, heading once more to ICU. This time, when he requested access to Glory’s room, it was granted right away.
The sound of life support machines disturbed him more than he was willing to admit. Glory had tubes down her throat helping her breathe. Another tube stuck out of her chest, indicating a collapsed lung. She was pale, and almost as blue as her hair. They were giving her blood to replace what she’d lost. The sounds coming from the heartbeat monitor were far too slow for his liking.
He could tell she was stable, but barely. A nurse was prepping her for surgery. How long had it taken them to get her stable enough for it? It wasn’t that far from Living Art to the hospital, but it had taken him an hour to get there. He could feel his Bear reaching for her, anxious to heal her. To see such a vibrant woman so wounded troubled him.
“Julian.”
Just one whispered, tear-laden word eased his heart. Cyn’s face was swollen from crying, her eyes red and damp. She reached for him, and he pulled her into his arms. He stroked her hair as she collapsed in his arms, all her strength deserting her. She sobbed against him like a broken child, and Julian understood why Ryan had gone hunting. He never wanted his mate to hurt like this again, and he would do anything to make sure it never happened a second time. “I’ll fix this, I swear.”
She stiffened and lifted her head. “Can you leave us for a minute?”
The nurse nodded briefly and left the room.
Cyn took his face in her hands and glared up at him. “I won’t lose either one of you. Do you understand me? You only heal her to the point where she’ll survive with surgery, and let the doctors take it from there. You don’t risk yourself. ¿Entendido?”
“I understand.” He pressed a kiss to her forehead, healing the swelling from the crying and the headache that was beginning to build behind her eyes.
Already he could feel his Bear pulling him back toward the bed. Glory needed him. Ryan and Cyn were counting on him. He sat on the edge of the bed and took hold of Glory’s hands. With a deep breath he focused on the healing path, his instincts and his understanding of anatomy blending together as he began to repair the damage done to Glory’s body. The harm to her lung was severe, and by far the most traumatizing injury. He began the slow process of knitting together the wounded flesh, the torn blood vessels. The bullet had glanced off her ribs and entered her lung, deflating it like an overblown balloon. He was surprised she wasn’t in surgery already. Things must’ve been truly bad if the doctors said it would be better to wait. As it was, odds were good she’d lose the lower lobe of her lung and require months of therapy. Even if Ryan bit her now, the change wouldn’t repair the damage done.
Julian did what he could to stabilize her condition and improve her chances in surgery, but unless he wanted to tip his hand or risk his own life, there wasn’t much more he’d be able to do. So he made sure she had the best odds possible before he pulled back from the healing path. He sighed as he pushed bone white hair out of his eyes. “She’ll live.”
Cyn smiled and popped a baseball hat on his head, hiding the thick white streak in his hair. “Good job, Super Bear.”
He allowed her to pull him to his feet just as the nurse walked back in. He smiled wearily at the poor woman. “Thank you.”
The nurse’s answering smile was sympathetic. “You’re welcome.”
Hours had gone by, and still there was no word on Glory’s condition. Cyn looked ready to tear her hair out in frustration. Gabe had called and told him he couldn’t find any sign of Ryan, which could be a good thing or bad thing. Good, because Gabe’s Hunter instincts hadn’t kicked in, meaning Ryan had not yet gone rogue. Bad, because nobody had a clue where Ryan was or what he was up to. Tabby and Alex had remained behind to close up the shop and get some plywood taped over the shattered window. A few policemen had come by to talk to Cyn and some kid named Tim about what had happened, but there wasn’t much she could tell them. None of them had caught sight of the shooter.
“I thought you could use some caffeine.” Tim, the young man who’d been in the shop when Glory got shot, handed Julian the cup of coffee. Julian took a sip and grimaced at the bitter taste. Tim leaned closer, his expression somewhere between curious and concerned. “Can I ask you something?”
“Go ahead.” He could guess what the boy wanted to ask him.
“Why doesn’t one of you bite her and change her? Wouldn’t that heal all of her wounds?”
Julian rolled his eyes. “Why does everyone think it works that way? Stupid Hollywood movies.” He leaned on the arm of a hard plastic chair and kept his voice low. He didn’t want any of the humans to hear him. “Look. Whatever injuries, diseases or other problems, physical or mental, that you had as a human will still be there when you get changed. If you have cancer as a human, you’ll have cancer as a Bear. If you have scars, they’ll still be there.” He took another sip of the really bad coffee and wondered if he could sneak out to Starbucks. “It’s nice to think that something as simple as a bite can cure everything, but this is the real world. Problems just don’t magically go away because you get bitten by a shifter.”
“Oh.” Tim grimaced in sympathy. “That sucks.”
“On top of that, it takes days for the change to fully manifest itself. Most people can’t change into their new animal form until about a week after getting bitten. I’ve heard of cases where it goes faster, but those people are incredibly strong-willed.”
“So Cyn got bit almost a week ago?”
Julian froze, coffee cup halfway to his mouth. “She got bit last night.”
“Then how come she had claws?”
Julian’s gaze darted over to where Cyn was resting. She was half asleep, her head resting on Alex’s broad shoulder. His mate was exceptional in all respects, and he couldn’t be more proud of her. “Because she’s Cyn.”
Chapter Fourteen
Cyn stared at the plywood over the window of her dream shop. What was she supposed to do now? Without Living Art, she’d lose not only her livelihood but her independence. She’d be forced to rely on Julian for everything. No matter how good a man Julian was, she’d never be able to tolerate that for long. They had to find whoever was targeting her and her friends and end this.
Glory had been in the hospital for two days. Thanks to the damage the bullet had caused, part of her lower lung had been removed. She was in a lot of pain and cranky as hell. The two tubes in her side were driving her crazy, but the doctors had told them that they’d be removed tomorrow. The physiotherapists were encouraging Glory to cough, something she wanted to do about as much as she wanted to shove red-hot pokers up her ass.