Care

ADARA

I heard the patrol had brought in a rogue last night. That must be why the pack link had gone crazy. The patrol must have been calling for help to restrain him.

I walked down the stairs to the dining hall for breakfast, wondering if I could get any information. It wasn’t often a rogue was taken, or even seen. Most rogues had left these lands.

“Good morning.” I smiled as I entered the room.

“Good morning Adara,” my father replied.

I walked up to the kitchen island and grabbed a plate of food. “So what was all that about yesterday?”

My father shrugged. “A rogue was found just outside the border.”

I knotted my brow. “If he was outside the border then what’s the issue?”

“I’m just making sure he doesn’t have any plans to cause problems,” my father replied.

I chuckled. “And holding him in a cell is going to do that? Sounds like keeping him prisoner is ensuring he ends up causing problems.”

My father shook his head. “I have to be sure he isn’t a danger to our pack. You know that.”

I shrugged. “Well, you are at least feeding him, right?”

My father rolled his eyes. “Yes, I sent a meal down just a little while ago.”

“Good,” I said with a smile, giving my dad a wink before sitting at the table and eating my breakfast.

“Mornin’ little sis.”

I looked up to see Austin standing above me. “Hey, Austin.”

He sat beside me with a yawn. “Are we going to Olivia’s tonight?”

I huffed. “I’m not. You can go if you like. I have no desire to sit by myself at a party while you make out with some girl in the corner.”

“Suit yourself,” he replied, taking a bite of his breakfast.

“I need to head to work. I’ll see you later,” I said, standing from the table.

I walked into the office again, greeting Frankie with a smile before making my way back to see what the day would be like and start getting things ready.

Thankfully the day was easy and slow—until the end.

An hour before we closed, we had three emergencies. A pup ate a couple magnets, an older wolf had a blood sugar issue, and finally, one of the Jenkins twins was back in with a broken arm.

Even though we, as wolves, healed quickly, a broken arm needed to be set fast so it didn’t heal wrong. Uncle Rick was putting his arm in a brace when a call came over the pack link.

~“Help!! The prisoner! He just passed out, something is wrong. Dr. Adams!!”

~

Uncle Rick looked at me with confidence. “Well, go see what’s wrong, Nurse Adara.”

I grinned brightly, reaching for my bag. “You are the best.”

He gave me a wink and I ran out of the clinic and over to the pack house. I rushed down the stairs to the basement where Johnny, the guard who had sent out the call, was waiting for me.

“Adara? I thought Dr. Adams . . .” he stuttered.

“He’s in the middle of setting a broken arm, so you have me. What’s wrong?” I asked, feeling very sure of myself.

“I don’t know. He sat up saying something was wrong and then passed out. I can’t get him to wake,” he said, opening the cell.

He stood behind me, making sure I was safe and the prisoner stayed in the cell.

As I stepped into the cell I caught the faint smell of redwood. I ignored it and walked toward the man lying on the bed. I touched his head and turned toward the guard. “I need ice packs, lots of them.”

He hesitated for a moment and I could tell he didn’t want to leave me alone down here.

“Close the cell if you need to, but get me some ice packs. He has a dangerously high fever.”

He turned and began walking up the stairs as I continued to look the prisoner over, my eyes resting on his wrists. They were red, blistered, and infected. I took his temperature—116 degrees.

It was high, too high. Wolves ran a bit hotter than humans to begin with, but 116 was pushing dangerous levels. He was at risk for serious damage.

“What the hell happened to you?” I whispered, before grabbing the supplies I needed from my bag.

I set up a portable IV, giving him a dose of ibuprofen as well as a dose of antibiotics to hopefully help with the fever and the infection in his wrists.

The guard returned with an armful of ice packs. He sat them down on the bed and I placed them all over the prisoner’s body, hoping to bring down his temperature quickly.

After placing the ice packs I began to work on his wrists, carefully taking one into my hands and looking at it.

“This is bad . . .” I said quietly, examining his wrist. There were infected blisters from burns and they were raw and inflamed.

I cleaned his wrists, glad he was passed out so I wouldn’t have to hold him down or hear yelling.

I knew this was because he had somehow gotten silver in his wrists, probably from whatever they had restrained him with.

After bandaging his wrists I checked his temperature again, sighing with relief when I saw that it had gone down to a safer level.

I gathered my things and stood up. “I’ll be back in just a bit to check on him. If anything changes, you call me or Dr. Adams, do you understand?”

Johnny lowered his head. “Yes ma’am.”

“Good, thank you.” I smiled before walking upstairs. I went to the kitchen and washed my hands before heading upstairs. I mind linked my uncle.

~“Rick, the prisoner was in bad shape. An infection made worse by the silver from his restraints. I got his fever down and dressed his wounds. I’ll go back in a bit to check on him.”

~

Rick replied, ~“Thanks, Adara. Don’t worry about checking on him tonight. I’ll do it.”

~

~“You sure?”~ I asked as I turned on the shower.

~“Yep, you can check on him first thing in the morning.”~

~“Alright, goodnight,”~ I replied. I quickly pulled off my purple scrubs and climbed in the shower, releasing the stress of the day.

My wolf had been restless all evening, but I ignored her as I drifted off to sleep.