Desired by Wolves [Call of the Wolf 2] (Siren Publishing Ménage Everlasting) (15 page)

If all went well, Oliver could start physiotherapy almost immediately. Alex looked at the calendar. The next full moon was a week later. It gave Alex a lot of incentive to follow doctor’s orders. If he had any setbacks, then it would be another month before he had a chance to do the mating ceremony with her. Of course, she might still not want to be his mate, but he had to think positively. That was the thing with soldiers. They learned to define an objective, develop a strategy, and then execute to win. Alex now had two objectives. Get healthy and join with him mate, and he was going to do everything in his power to achieve both.

* * * *

Sunday dawned cool and clear. His brothers had wanted to come with them, but he asked them not to. He told them that he would need them when he got back because he was going to be the world’s worst patient and they would have to ride his ass to make sure that he did all the assigned physio. He felt a little sad inside when they were so happy to hear him say he needed them. He realized he had been a crappy Alpha in more ways than one and resolved that no matter what happened with the surgery or with Lena, he would change that, too.

Alex waited with his brothers on the veranda for Lena to pick him up. She was right on time, arriving at eight sharp. Alex turned to Joe and Will.

“I love you both more than I can say. I’ve been a terrible Alpha and brother for a long time…” He paused. “I think this is where you are supposed to jump in and deny it.”

Will and Joe laughed.

“You have been a terrible brother,” agreed Will.

“And a sucky Alpha, but we love you, too, and we’re happy to have the old Alex back,” added Joe.

“Yeah, well remember that while I’m recuperating. As bad a brother and Alpha as I’ve been, I’m a far worse patient.”

He hugged them both.

“If I ever turn into a jerk again, you have my permission to hit me on the nose with a rolled up newspaper.”

He hugged them again and then rushed down to Lena who was waiting patiently and climbed into the passenger. He found himself tearing up as they drove away. He turned to look out the window, watching the road, trying to not think about what was going to happen in a few hours, trying not to hope for too much.

As if she understood his mood, Lena didn’t talk. She just reached over and gripped his hand hard before putting her hand back on the steering wheel.

* * * *

Lena snuck a glance at Alex. He looked pale and determined and a bit like he wanted to throw up. In other words, just like she did.

In no time, they were pulling up in front of the facility where the surgery was being done. It was a private clinic, two actually. Most of the building was devoted to its human practice, but there was a separate animal clinic with its own entrance. Oliver had explained to her that it was specially built to service shape-shifters as well as the traditional human and animal clientele. The two clinics were secretly connected so that patients such as Alex could be moved to whichever side they needed to be on, but to all applicable authorities, when the building was inspected, there would be no sign that the two facilities were in any way connected.

She held Alex’s hand as they carefully walked up the pathway. She’d noticed that Alex’s limp sometimes became more pronounced when he was stressed or tense, and today he had to be at one hundred on the stress-o-meter.

She was gratified to see Oliver McKay himself meet them at the door and usher them inside. She’d seen his photo online, but it didn’t do him justice. He was a tall redheaded man built like a long-distance runner. He had a very comforting smile and a smattering of freckles across the bridge of his nose that made him look like a mischievous boy when he grinned, which, she quickly learned, he did often. They’d talked several times leading up to today, and she’d learned that he loved his job and he loved a challenge. Alex presented him with a serious challenge, but he was convinced he’d solved the problem and couldn’t wait to put his plan into action.

Alex wanted to scream with pain, but it was impossible with the tube down his throat. He felt the tears stream down his face as the pain in his leg was almost unbearable. But then he looked up at Lena standing over him, her face creased with concern, and then he felt her gloved hand covering his. When he looked up at her, she reached out, rubbed his head, and then gently removed the tube.

“Time to change, my love.” She leaned down and kissed his forehead.

“Anything for you, dearest heart,” he whispered, and he closed his eyes and did as she requested. He could feel the prick of a needle in his foreleg and then blessed oblivion again.

* * * *

Removing the intravenous and breathing tubes while Alex was in such pain was one of the hardest things Lena had ever done, but everything had to be removed when he shifted. She managed to refrain from crying as the anaesthesiologist put him back under. She wasn’t sure where Oliver had found Dr. Lopez, but she was grateful that the doctor obviously understood about shifters and showed no surprise at Alex’s change. Quickly and efficiently, Dr. Lopez reintubated Alex and reattached the intravenous, adjusting the dosage, and soon Alex was asleep again. She added heart monitors, and they were good again.

Using the portable X-ray machine, Oliver examined how the bone looked now that Alex had shifted. Lena looked at the films. She was no orthopaedist, but she’d been studying up, and things looked pretty good to her.

Oliver caught her gaze and gave her a thumbs-up.

“I just see a couple of small fragments I want to re-position. Then we’ll cover the wound. Redo the films in twenty-four hours, and if all looks good, you can suture this puppy up.”

Even though he was masked, she could tell from his tone and the crinkling at the corners of his eyes that Oliver was smiling. He really was a very nice man. She wondered if he was married. She had a few single friends he might like.

She looked back down at Alex. All of his vital signs were good. He was breathing easily now. She ran her hand over his silky head before ensuring that all the various leads were secure and then checked all the outputs again while Oliver finished with Alex’s leg.

“There. All done. We have to move him very carefully now, and keep him sedated for twenty-four hours. And try not to worry. His leg looks good. All we can do now is wait.”

* * * *

Oliver was right. At the twenty-four hour mark, Lena could see just by looking that the bones had begun to knit. She used the portable X-ray and sent a copy to Oliver. He was in surgery, so it took almost an hour for him to call her back, but he confirmed that things looked good and she could close the wound and move Alex back to her clinic.

So as not to jostle him, and with all of the equipment she needed, Moe, Will, and Joe all came out to help her move Alex into the ambulance. Moe drove while she sat in back and made sure that everything was fine. Back at her clinic, the four of them got Alex unloaded and situated as comfortably as possible.

The week seemed to pass in a haze. She worked on her patients but spent every spare moment with Alex. And when she couldn’t be with him, his brothers Will and Joe took shifts. They even offered to stay with him at night so she could go home and get a good night’s sleep, but she insisted that the cot was fine. She was surprised when they gave in easily but realized later that they hadn’t. They had just decided not to bother arguing. They brought her food and snacks, and each night, one of them snuggled up behind her on the cot, holding her tightly. Their presence was comforting, and she realized that, without them being there, she probably wouldn’t have gotten much sleep.

Alex passed each milestone with flying colors, and before Lena knew it, they were back at her clinic and Oliver was examining Alex in person again while Will and Joe paced anxiously. She was about to banish them to the waiting room as their hovering made her nervous, but Oliver just laughed.

Lena felt helpless. She wasn’t there as a doctor. She wasn’t even helping with the X-ray or the exam. Moe was doing that. She was there solely for Alex, and the waiting was killing her. She couldn’t even imagine how anxious Alex felt.

“Relax, the lot of you. If I wasn’t the best in the business, you’d have me second guessing myself. I told you things were going well, and you need to chill. You are making the patient tense, and all the pacing isn’t going to make the X-ray develop faster or make me read it quicker.”

Will and Joe came up behind Lena and put their arms around her as she stroked Alex’s forehead. He looked anxious and whined quietly as he, too, awaited Oliver’s pronouncement.

“I’m tempted, but I’m not going to drag this out. The film looks even better than I’d hoped. If all my patients had this type of recuperative powers, well, I wouldn’t be out of a job, but my job would be a hell of a lot easier.” He turned to Alex.

“Well, I think it’s time to meet Alex the man again.”

“Wait.” All eyes turned to Lena. She grabbed a towel and draped it over Alex. “Okay, you can shift now, baby.”

And then he was lying there. His face was pale, but he didn’t seem to her to be in any pain. She reached out and took his hand in hers while smoothing his hair back away from his forehead and leaning down to give him a kiss.

“Honey, stay still for a little while longer. We’re going to X-ray that leg again. Just lay still for a few minutes longer.”

* * * *

Alex watched as Oliver and Moe walked back into the room where he and Lena waited. She’d helped him into a hospital gown and was now sitting on the edge of his bed holding tightly to his hand. They hadn’t exchanged a single word since he woke up, but they also hadn’t let go of each other. He needed that physical connection, and it seemed like she did, too. Will and Joe stood right behind her. Alex was grateful to have them all there and that they understood that he didn’t want to talk until he got the news from Oliver.

Oliver looked from one to the other. Alex felt his chest tighten as he had trouble breathing. He had done a lot of thinking during his recuperation. He wasn’t going to saddle Lena with a lame mate. His future hinged on the next few minutes.

“Looks good on paper. Now for the real test. I need you to stand up and take a few steps. Don’t rush, and don’t overdo it. Will, Joe. You two get on either side of him. I want him to take three steps toward me, with his weight on his left leg, and then return and sit on the exam table.

Lena helped him to sit slowly up. It had been a while, and he felt a little light-headed. He took his time, and the others didn’t rush him. Lena kept her arm around him as he got his bearings. Alex found he wanted to cry and hold her tight, but that would have to wait. He felt her move out of the way, and his brothers moved closer. They didn’t touch him, but got close enough to catch him if his leg didn’t hold. He realized he was trembling with anticipation and fear. He refused to think about what would happen if this didn’t work.

Carefully, he let his right foot touch the ground. It was his good one. The gown flapped open in the back, but at least his modesty was somewhat preserved. He put his weight on it. He got his balance. And now the real test was about to come. He tentatively put is left foot down and slowly shifted his weight. Not only did it hold, it didn’t ache. The first tear slipped out. It didn’t even hurt that much considering he’d had major surgery a week ago, which was a benefit to being a wolf-dog-shifter.

Tentatively, he moved his left leg forward and then shifted his weight onto it. The tears started falling now as he took two more steps. He wanted to do more, but he felt his brothers encouraging him to turn around and turn to the bed. He let them guide him because his vision was now obscured as the tears flowed freely.

“You should probably use a cane the first few days as you get your strength back. Physio starts tomorrow. It’ll be two hours a day of torture, but it’ll be worth it. I can’t promise he’ll be one hundred percent, but I’ll eat my shirt if he doesn’t get to ninety-five percent. And now I have to head home. Call me if you need me.” He kissed Lena on the cheek and shook Alex’s, Will’s, and Joe’s hands and then walked out with Moe.

Alex didn’t notice them leave as Lena leaned down and kissed him gently on the mouth. He wrapped his arms around her and kissed her back with the desperation of a starving man who was about to have his first meal in weeks.

They didn’t stop until Moe came back with the wheelchair.

“I can walk. You saw me.” Alex’s tone was mutinous. They were the first words he’d been able to say in a week, and he sounded like a petulant three-year-old. Lena and his brothers laughed as he scowled at her, and then he saw the ridiculousness of it all and laughed along with them.

“You’ve been sedated for a week.” Moe's tone was mild. He was clearly used to difficult patients.

With an exaggerated sigh, Lena replied to the room in general, “Why do I get the impression that he was a much better patient when he was a wolf?”

The next week passed in a whirlwind. Alex found himself traveling between the physiotherapist and his other therapist. Luckily, with it being his left leg that was the problem, he was able to drive himself around.

He was exhausted at the end of each day and fell into bed at nine, sleeping for a good ten hours. He found himself improving quickly as he pushed his body as hard as he could without reinjuring it. He’d been in peak physical shape before the incident and combined with his shifter DNA, by Wednesday had ditched the cane and by Friday was barely limping as he visited Lupo’s for the first time in years, not counting that aborted visit a few weeks earlier where he had stayed in the office and avoided everyone.