Chapter 97: Chapter 97

I find the name 'Jay' in my contact list on my phone and call his number. After a while, the call connects and Jay's voice is warm. “Hello sister.”

"I have something to do. I'm afraid that I will be back late today. You... you can prepare dinner for yourself," I say.

”What do you mean ‘you have something to do’?"

“Just tell him that you're in the hospital right now!” Lina interrupts.

“What does she mean you are in the hospital right now?" There is a pronounced change in Jay's tone.

"I took a fall, and now I’m waiting for X-rays.”

“In the hospital?” Jay says as if confirming.

“Yes.” I sigh.

He’s going to be furious.

"Which hospital?" Jay asks. “I'm coming now.”

"You don't have to come. Lina is here with me. Just wait for me at home," I say in a hurry. “I’ll be there as soon as I can.”

The other end of the phone is silent. After a long minute, Jason repeats his previous question, "Which hospital?"

God, I shouldn’t have called him. I now he’s going to drop everything and come to me and that’s not good for his new job.

And, if I really do succumb to these injuries, then he will be burdened with seeing me die. And Jay, my sweet Jay, he already has enough ghosts following him.

“Brother,” I say lightly. “I’m all right. Truly.”

“I’ve warned you about lying to me, Grace.” His tone is furious. Then the call disconnects.

Chills wrack my body and my stomach drops.

Most of that is from the fall, but part of me is also anxious over Jay.

I cough and blood splatters my hand.

“That’s not good,” Lina whispers.

* * * * * * * * * *

JASON “Track her cell phone and determine which hospital she’s at.”

“Yes, Alpha.”

Terrence moves swiftly into action. He’s on the phone with one of our tech people and rattling off Grace’s phone number in seconds.

She must be seriously injured to go to the hospital.

I’ve seen her beaten and hurt multiple times, with injuries that most people would’ve nursed for days.

But Grace…she’s tough.

So this injury—whatever it is—must be really bad.

Theo scratches beneath my skin, like a dog at the door.

But I can’t let him out.

I have much better control than this. But where Grace is concerned, my instincts are strong and I am very defensive.

“First City,” Terrence tells me.

He’s already moving toward the bank of elevators and barking orders as we go. “Have the car brought around. Now! I want a two team unit ready to roll.”

We step into the elevator and I flex my hands and force myself to take deep breaths.

“She’s going to be fine, Boss. That girl is tough. She’s a survivor.”

Yes. But that’s what I’m afraid of. Just how much could her frail human body actually endure?

"Investigate what happened to Grace today.”

Terrence holds open the door for me and gets in the front seat to drive himself. He uses bluetooth to keep working as he whips the car out onto the busy street.

“Backtrack Grace Cummins whereabouts using her cell phone. I want a minute-by-minute accounting of her location for the day. Then cross reference for any disturbances or any surveillance videos you can obtain…”

I tune him out.

My thoughts are on Grace.

I’m … I swallow hard and label the emotion for what it is.

I’m scared.

I don’t want this woman to die. I try to imagine my life without her in it and it’s a future too bleak to see.

“Get the best doctors—our doctors—in place.”

Terrence glances at me in the rearview mirror. “Yes, sir. On it.”

“I expect a report before I arrive there.”

“Understood,” Terrence answers again.

GRACE Just as I’m waiting for the results of an X-ray scan, a nurse suddenly comes and wheels me out of the shared space in the ER and to a private wing of the hospital. The rooms are single bed, spacious and the entire look of the area reflects a higher quality.

“Where are you taking me? Dr. Haan is supposed to read me the results of my scan. He is already treating me.”

“I was told to bring you to Dr. Craigge.” The young woman smiles. “He’s the best there is, so I wouldn’t complain. You’re lucky. He’s usually off today.”

I’m rolled into a nice room with a big window. Everything is white and bright and clean; the aesthetic is very modern. A large television is up on one wall and two couches occupy the opposite side of the room.

This room is the size of my whole apartment.

The hospital bed has scarcely stopped rolling when a middle-aged man enters the room and grabs my chart off the rack at the foot of the bed.

“Hello,” he says, although he’s looking at the chart, not at me.

“Hello Doctor,” I say carefully.

The nurse smiles and leaves.

Dr. Craigge had been awakened by the hospital director and ordered to return to the hospital immediately. He was the senior attending physician and he knew that such a call would not have been made lightly.

There were plenty of other top orthopedic surgeons—he should know, he’d interviewed and hired them.

But that wasn’t the call that put him on high alert. It was the second call, from Beta Terrence that let him know this was a patient of the highest priority.

But one sniff of the air tells him she is not a wolf.

Which makes the priority placed on her by his pack…puzzling.

While under the guise of reading the chart, Dr. Craigge took stock of his patient.

Her clothes were simple. Cheap even.

They’d removed her top and put her in a hospital gown, but her pants and shoes were worn. Not dirty, just showing signs of use. The fabric faded.

The woman herself was of average weight and height. Her eyes were clear and her hair clean, if not simply styled. She wore no makeup. No jewelry.

Her chart revealed disturbing things.

Hmm. Interesting.

‘Don’t make any mistakes,’ the hospital director had said. This was echoed by Terrence with a warning that the death of this woman would have repercussions. He didn’t need a threat to inspire him to bring his A game.

He’d been called in like this a few times before, for politicians and business chairmen. The girl didn’t appear to be anyone of consequence.

Not that it mattered.

She was his patient now.

As a doctor, he did not care about whether the patient was important or not. Wealthy or not.

There was an injured human in front of him, and he’d do everything in his power to help them.