Georgianna rapidly flipped through the bottles in the extensive collection as she listened to their unexpected guest scream incoherently in the other room.
Then the screaming stopped suddenly.
Grabbing the medical kit and three bottles with faded labels, she ran back to the front parlor.
Granny shook her head as she took the man’s pulse. “Passed out from the pain. We gotta work fast, Gigi. Get everything ready for a quick surgery and let’s move him to the table. We’ll have to work on both sides before he bleeds to death. He’s been ripped clean open. We’ll never get him to the doc on the other side of the mountain.”
“Yes, ma’am.”
Literally running through the house Granny’s great-grandfather built in the heart of Montana when he was ready to propose to the woman he loved, Gigi gathered towels and started boiling water. Stoking the fire in the formal dining room, she laid several long needles on a special grate.
She carried their unexpected patient to the twelve-seat table where she’d spread out a plastic sheet and a clean blanket.
For the next two hours, they stitched the man from the inside out. They did what they could to rinse the wound as they went with moonshine. As pure a blend as it was, Gigi didn’t imagine any germs would survive the bath.
They knitted muscle, reattached loose pieces, and slowly put the man’s torso back together from his left shoulder to his right hip.
Near dawn, they stepped back from the table. Granny murmured tiredly, “I’ll say a quick prayer. Let’s douse that wound, wrap him up, and get him in clean clothes.” She pointed at the man’s inner arm. “He bears the brand of the Montana Pack front line - another Rogue pressed into service. Too weak to enter Change. Wonder what he’s doing all the way out here wounded as bad as he is. Gotta be two hundred miles to their base. Tread careful, Gigi. Those Wolves been strange the last years.”
“Don’t worry.”
The elderly woman snorted. “Oh, I don’t.” She tilted her head. “Your hands get better with every person or animal we patch up. You’re ready…”
“I’m not leaving you so don’t even say it, Granny.”
“You don’t need to be stuck all the way out here, honey. You’re still young.”
She walked around the table and kissed the woman’s soft cheek. “I’m content and right where I need to be, Granny.” Leaning back, she smiled. “Get some rest. I’ll clean up and stand watch.”
Sighing heavily, the old woman picked up her cane and turned for the bedroom she slept in on the first floor.
“Give a holler if he wakes up mean. Wolves get bitchy when they’re hurtin’.”
Laughing, she replied, “Goodnight, Granny.”
Gigi cleaned the makeshift operating room and their patient. Putting clean clothes on him that some of the locals on the mountain donated now and again, she moved him to the couch in the parlor and built up the fire.
Calculating dosage for a full-grown male Were, she shot him up with an antibiotic/sedative cocktail and grabbed a book.
Throwing herself into her favorite chair, Gigi ignored the patient she’d hauled back to the house when she found the source of the screaming.
Deep in her book, she glanced up when there was a soft tap on the glass of the window that opened to the front porch.
A male stood there.
Another Were.
Knowing he could hear her, she said softly, “Granny is sleeping but this is neutral ground – has been for a hundred years. You give me trouble and I’ll enforce the rules we demand here. He’s a patient and what he did or didn’t do is of no concern to us.”
He answered, “You think a little girl will keep me from finishing what I started?”
“Damn it. I was at such a good part,” she muttered angrily.
Setting down her book, she stood and stretched. Walking across the room, she opened the front door and whistled at the Were to join her in the yard.
“I’ll remind you again that this is neutral ground established by every surrounding Pack a century ago. Back when Pops did the surgeries. You can’t have our patient. We spent hours stitchin’ him up.” Rolling her hand, she added, “I tell you that to cover the bases - all formal and whatnot. You’ve now been warned twice.”
“You can’t fight me, woman.” He stopped a foot in front of her.
“Does that mean you plan to try to take our patient by force from established neutral ground?” He shrugged and she exhaled in annoyance. “I’m not going to fight you. I’m not the best fighter. I spend my time patrolling, doing medical procedures, and reading.”
“Yet, you dare to stand against me…?”
“Also,” she interrupted, “I’m not a woman. You Wolves have really gotten lazy with scent markers.”
Reaching out, she put her hand on the Were’s shoulder, transitioned him through the Between and left him in a cave system on the Daemon plane she’d used for this exact purpose over her long life.
Returning to the parlor, she picked up her book and dropped happily into her chair. She’d let the male experience confusion in the Daemon realm for a few days before she fetched him out.
Maybe he’d be a little more interested in following the rules then. Or…he’d be completely feral. Always hard to tell with the Weres.
They were quick to fight or fuck.
Glancing at her patient, she figured his body would be strong enough to take over healing within a couple of days.
“One more interruption and I’m gonna have a hissy fit.” She loved the little sayings she’d picked up from Granny and her ancestors. Finding her page, she smiled happily. “Best damn part of the book…”
© Sabrina Rue
Author’s Note…
At the moment, I’m working on a larger project for Shayne McClendon (a long-awaited dramatic romance in my Street of Storms series).
In order to keep my focus, I distract my brain with paranormal and fanfiction stories (reading and writing) or a dash of anime. I carefully avoid anything in the same genre so I don’t accidentally absorb someone else’s idea. When I’m working on a paranormal romance for Sabrina Rue, it’s the opposite.
Now, I must return to Kendrick Storm. I’m working through a sticky plot connection and needed a little break.
By the way, I’d completely forgotten this story. That happens when you have as many as I do. I wrote it during one of my live writing Game Nights on my Facebook reader group. I haven’t done one in a while but…they’re pretty exciting. Feel free to join us if you’d like.
I have the first five books of the series done. [Harmony, Hope, Desiree, Ridge, and Madeline] I'll be releasing Rainier and Margo's story soon as well as Volume 3 of the Others short stories. I'm probably going to be obnoxious in the coming months.
I absolutely adore Sabrina! Her stories speak to my heart. I will read them over & over! 💕💕💕