Dragon’s Curvy Patient

by Daniels, Mychal

  “I know that, and I tried to start a conversation with her.”

  “Did you lead off with your feelings?”

  “Yes, but I—”

  “But hell nothing. That’s y’all Kelnar boys’ problem. You always want your women to cater to your feelings first. How about you try attending to not only her medical needs but emotional ones too.”

  “I was going to get to that.”

  “And that’s why your ass is out here sulking with no appetite. Your Dragon is just as pissed at you as I am. I wouldn’t allow you to enjoy eating if my health depended on a great mating either.”

  “Don’t lecture me until you’ve been in my shoes, Danny. Final warning.”

  “She hurt your feelings, so you’re trying to hurt mine? You’ve got to come at me a lot harder than that. Remember, I’ve been around Mac for years now, and you know how much of a bruiser he is.”

  “I don’t care. I’m done with this conversation.”

  “Not if you want to salvage your mating you ain’t.”

  “Look,” the breaths came hard and audible as Colson tried to control himself. “I’ve tried to connect with Bria. She’s not interested.”

  “That’s why you came out here blowing smoke?”

  “I wasn’t blowing real smoke. You exaggerate too much.”

  “Hah, maybe, but what’s with the stomping out of your lady’s room brooding and huffing, huh?”

  “Let’s get a few things straight. No stomping or brooding were involved in my leaving Bria and coming out here.”

  “Then why are you out here still not eating?”

  “Bronwyn told me she didn’t think you’d eaten since Friday.” Danny lowered his voice doing a poor job at a whisper. “Word to the wise. If you want to keep the peace, you better not let Bron catch you messing over that food. She worried the hell out of that poor guy Mac hired as an occasional chef. Bron wore that man down to nubs. She had him fixing this food on a Sunday morning with no notice. Dude, I wouldn’t wish how she harangued that guy on nobody." Danny laughed at the spectacle.

  "Don't worry about me when it comes to Bronwyn."

  "Um-hmm. I'm telling you what. She ran the ultimate guilt job. He didn't stand a chance. That Bronwyn's something else. Mac has his hands full with that one." Danny laughed and shoved another fork-full of food in his mouth. He chewed and grinned. “That Bronwyn is so lethal she could take down that girl scout cookie syndicate with half a mind and a box of cookies. Who knew a Brownie-Fairie would have so much mojo?”

  Colson wanted the guy to shut up and eat. He needed quiet to concentrate on what to do when he went back in there with Sabra.

  “Danny, are you done? I get it, you admire Bronwyn. We all do.”

  The Wolfman kept smiling and talking. “You best believe if you ever see Bron in a fight with a pack of pissed off hyenas, bet on Bronwyn.” Danny paused. Colson had no inclination to join in his laugher. The werewolf looked long and hard at Colson. “Man, you have a case of lovesick hangry.”

  Colson pushed the shock of Danny using a word like harangue properly aside to deal with the absurdity of his goofball diagnosis. “What? Danny stop with the made-up conditions. And, for the umpteenth time, why do I have to remind everyone that I’m the doctor and not any of you?”

  “Because you make a piss-poor patient. Look,” Danny leaned in over the kitchen counter that separated them. “Bronwyn is worried about you, not that young lady in there. She knows you, not her. Let me tell you, she’s worried you’re not taking care of yourself.”

  “I don’t know why she’d think that. I’m fine, and she needs to take care of herself. She’s the one having a baby soon.”

  “But you’re the one going through an intense Dragon mating. From what I’ve seen between you and that lady, your chemistry is off the charts. It’s your ability to connect that's abysmal.”

  This next advanced word Danny used caught Colson short on a quick comeback. Who knew the guy had more to him than bronze and confidence to spare?

  “Wow, man, didn’t know you had that word in you,” he offered with a chuckle.

  “You can laugh all you want. Just because I don’t choose to use them big words all the time doesn’t mean I don’t know how to use them to get a simple concept into your thick head.”

  “Hey, watch it there, I’m not in the mood to be disrespected in my own home.”

  “You shouldn’t be in the mood to lose your mate either.” Danny’s snapback did its job.

  Colson dropped the fork he’d been using to pretend to eat. It was time to come clean. “I feel like I’m a Dragonling going through puberty again. I can’t get a lock on myself. I worry about her injuries, I fight my Dragon wanting to take over and mate with her every second, and I can’t seem to drum up an appetite for anything but her.”

  “Man, you’ve got it bad. Have you talked with Mac about it yet?”

  “No, Bria’s been my only concern except for the few calls I made to Bron checking on Ava.”

  “Oh, by the way, I think Mac and Bron have spoiled your kid beyond repair,” Danny said through a mouthful of food.

  “Tell me something I don’t know.” Colson gave up on pretending to eat and shoved the plate away.

  “I know that you need to loosen up a bit. Your tension is rubbing off on that young lady.”

  “She has a name. It’s Bria, I mean, Sabra. You’re to call her by her name, Sabra. Not that lady. You got me?”

  “See what I mean. Uptight as a church mother at a strip joint.”

  “Huh—Danny I’m not doing this with you today. Sabra isn’t responding to the pain medication as I’d hoped. She has to endure painful spasms with little relief.” Colson couldn’t help the loud noise the churning of his empty gut made. “I’m only out here because I forced so much healing energy into her leg that the pain receptors are blown out for the next hour or so.”

  Colson’s stomach punctuated the statement with a loud growl.

  “Feed that thing, please?” Danny didn’t stop chewing and macerating the piece of meat he’d shoved in his pie hole. “I rest my case. Your lady, I mean, Sabra,” he paused and winked, “isn’t going to get better until you do better.”

  “How do I do that, old great and wise Dragon sage.”

  “You laugh but don’t knock the superior ability of a werewolf’s sense of smell. Your la—I mean Sabra has faint traces of were in her blood. I can smell it. Based on how she’s behaving, I bet ten will get you a hundred that she’s impacted by smell more than anything else. Hey, have you considered bringing flowers into that room of hers?”

  Cascading memories of Sabra’s office loft collided to create a new inspiration. “You know, I think you might be on to something. When I was at her office, the place smelled like a scent extravaganza.”

  “Yep, all those scents were hard to ignore when I had to get the movers going.”

  “Oh, about that whole move, let me pay you.” He reached around to the familiar spot. The usual indentation of his phone in his back pants pocket wasn’t there. Colson hadn’t remembered to grab his phone from the medical suite. “Looks like I left my phone back in the room with Bria. Send me a text with the amount and where or how to send it and I’ll make you whole.”

  “Thanks, man. Appreciate that. As for all that stuff she had, do you plan to keep it stacked up in the guest house out back like that?”

  “Yeah, about that. I’ll need to defer to her about what she wants to do with it. I don’t want to worry her with that until her injury is stabilized, though.”

  “Understand, but with Bronwyn coming down to the wire on her due date, you might want to get that settled in the next few months if you want me to help. I know you don’t like having anyone around here because of Ava. But trust me, you’ll need help with all the boxes and stuff she has in there.”

  Images of boxes stacked high in one of the rooms of his unused medical recuperation guest house flashed in Colson’s mind’s eye.

  “I’ve got
you, and you’re right. Bron’s delivery is going to take up a lot of our attention. As for what to do with Bria’s things, it will be a while. Based on her progress, it’ll be a few more days before she can handle the logistics of what to do with them.”

  “Now back to what I was saying,” Danny cut in. “Get Bron to do her thing. She can get some flowers, candles, and other stuff women like that smell good. Good smelling flowers should pave the way for you to have another go at wooing her.”

  Colson considered the idea. It wasn’t a bad one. “Go on.”

  “Yeah, see I told you I was good at this. I do have sisters, you know.” Colson was sure Danny saw the huge eye roll he gave him. The younger man continued to talk with more vigor. “To get the ball rolling, I suggest you start with focusing on her complete comfort. Like, does she have family or friends you need to contact. A few more hours from now and you could have the police at your doorstep if someone has been looking for their missing relative or friend.”

  “Good call. I completely forgot about that. She already mentioned she doesn’t have relatives, but there were a few friends she said she’d guilt.”

  “Those friends could be looking for her. Have you checked her phone for missed calls or texts?”

  “No, I didn’t bother to do that.”

  Danny shook his head. “Just like Mac. It’s all about you, horn dog, isn’t it?”

  “Hey there, I was trying to make sure she didn’t slip into a coma or worse. How about you try remembering to do all this stuff while working on multiple injury sites.”

  “My bad,” Danny raised his hands in mock surrender. “I would be in the same boat. That’s why you have Bron and me here to help you out.”

  Colson noticed how Danny’s level of glee increased with every word. True to his calling, he was an alpha and enjoyed making sure his adopted pack was well taken care of. Mac had helped Colson understand Danny’s drive to be their all-around helper when he first came to Mac years back. In Danny’s eyes, they were his pack that he was responsible for supporting.

  In the grand scheme of things, it was endearing that a werewolf would claim ornery Dragons as his pack. The fact that he would think he could be the alpha over them was even more farfetched. But his demeanor and ways had been rock steady for eight years now. By Colson’s guesstimate of how engaged Danny was with his situation, it would be easier to ditch a pharmaceutical sales rep at the end of the month than to get Danny to back off now.

  Colson decided to continue to roll with it.

  Instead of interjecting with comments or questions, Colson remained quiet. He allowed the alpha wolf to continue laying out his plan for Colson to win his mate’s heart.

  “That’s when you show her your Dragon side.”

  “Wait, go back. I must have missed something.” Colson had missed a big jump from flowers and contacting friends to revealing his Dragon to Bria.

  “I knew you weren’t paying attention. Gotcha. No, what I was saying was for you to be there for her as she sorts through her upside-down world. Be the strength she uses to figure out her next steps. You’ve got the financial resources and the desire to be her rock in this time of need. Nothing says love and mating like a couple working through a difficult event together. Take advantage of that to help both of you.”

  Danny gave him another wink.

  “Is that all, Hitch?”

  “That is all.” Danny dove back into his huge plate of food. After a few bites, he seemed to remember Colson and asked, “I wonder what Bronwyn is saying to Sabra?”

  Colson’s stomach rumbled louder as the implications of what an unsupervised Bronwyn Kelnar would say to his prospective mate.

  “Don’t know, but let’s hope she keeps it simple and doesn’t say anything to make Bria want to bolt.”

  Danny scooped the last bite of veggies in his mouth and talked around them. “Like what—the Dragon thing?”

  “No, I don’t think she’d do that.” Colson wanted to tell Danny to stop eating with his mouth open. But he didn’t want to endure another lecture about being uptight. Instead, he went with the directness of his concern. “I’m thinking about Ava. A Dragonling starting to bond with her Dragon nature isn’t an easy journey, even for a full-grown Dragon to deal with. Bronwyn’s still riding the Ava honeymoon, but raising a Dragonling is harder than it looks.”

  “Man, Bronwyn wouldn’t say anything to Sabra about Ava.”

  “Maybe not intentionally but she’s about to deliver her own baby. You never know what could slip out in casual conversation.”

  “Oh, shit. If that’s the case, you’d better eat up. You’re going to need your energy to go another round with our little Brownie-Fairie.”

  13

  Bria

  “When Colson called to let us know about your mishap, he was shaken up about it.”

  Bronwyn lowered her soft voice a bit as if he would be able to hear them in here. “Don’t let him know I told you that. He tries to be so professional about everything, but he refused to leave your side the entire time.” She gave Sabra a light pat on the shoulder as if to drive home the impact of her words.

  The woman’s light voice managed to float over the spray of mist. Many water jets hissed while Sabra to still able to understand everything she said. In a stone shower big enough to host a party—DJ included—the two women worked on de-funktifying almost three days of Sabra’s body odor.

  The shower took up the entire width of that side of the bathroom. In an area that resembled a high-end spa or athlete’s retreat more than a private home, the bathroom’s decor beamed with luscious earth tones. Sleek fixtures and streamlined equipment pushed it over the top. Even the shower chair was an ergonomic wonder.

  Sabra continued to take in the room outside the shower. She tried to buy herself time to figure out how to respond to Bronwyn’s statement. The accumulated condensation of the glassed-in walls of the shower provided entertainment. Sabra continued to think and try to come up with something to tell the stranger.

  An adjoining wall hosted a state-of-the-art whirlpool soaking tub. This place exuded taste and affluence. It pulled that off in a subtle way that broadcast assumed normalcy about it all.

  Delicate circles of a soft, soapy bath sponge ran along the length of her arm. The external sensation brought Sabra back to the moment. The steam surrounding the two women did little to hide Sabra’s current state.

  Sabra had tried to exert her autonomy only to face defeat. Sabra had to admit, the water felt good though. Bronwyn had insisted on helping. They were in a bathroom large enough to have a sauna and long bench along it’s opposing wall. Sabra tried to ignore her old insecurities.

  Sabra had refused help and almost slipped more than twice trying to wash. Bronwyn finally donned a disposable poncho and flip-flops. They came from that never-ending mountain of supplies she’d brought. Without another word, she entered the shower to help Sabra wash. It was weird having a stranger in the large bathroom with her. Here she sat in a chair with water rivulets running down her naked body, but Sabra was grateful for the help.

  If not for the way Bronwyn worked so fast to assist her, Sabra would have descended into a heap of tears. The embarrassment of her situation took its toll. The short woman continued to work as if nothing was out of the ordinary.

  “Each time I spoke with him, he was back here with you,” Bronwyn continued. “I’m telling you what I know. You have him wrapped around your little finger.”

  “I don’t know about that. He seems pretty nonchalant about my progress.”

  Bronwyn dismissed her with a wave. “Child, please. You and I both know men aren’t that great at talking about their emotions. That one in there is no different.”

  Sabra fought back the urge to slump down in the chair. Colson hadn’t been the one unable to express his feelings. Nope, that disgrace went to her. The truth was downright sad and pathetic. Sabra had no clue why she couldn’t accept that he wasn’t off his rocker for wanting to “take her out for a c
offee.” Or, why he went over and beyond to help her.

  The more she took in her surroundings, the more Sabra convinced herself of a reason for his attention. Colson was into the whole Savior-complex thing. Yeah, that explanation made sense.

  She didn’t belong here in this world of luxury and privilege, or with a man like Colson. Dating him would be too exhausting trying to get caught up on what rich folk already knew and took for granted. Then there was the gulf of differences between their cultures, looks, and the like. Sabra could just see herself hiding behind a huge bush every time they had to go to an event with his peers. The embarrassment would be too great.

  Bronwyn’s words brought her back to the conversation. “I haven’t known him to bring anyone home. You’re special to him. I can tell.”

  “You don’t say?” Now Sabra was flat out placating the other woman.

  “Yes, I do, and you better believe it too. That man doesn’t flirt or give any woman hopes where there isn’t any. He’s got too much at stake to do that. Trust me on that one.”

  Sabra was too caught up on her own rumination to press Bronwyn on what that last part meant.

  “He’s a very nice man. I’m grateful for his help. He’s gone over and beyond to help me. I don’t know how I’ll ever repay him.”

  “Start by not breaking his heart.” The other woman’s tone held a definite note of serious threat for her to take heed.

  Bronwyn’s change in tone was enough of a pattern-interrupt for Sabra to ease her mind. “Trust me, I have no intentions of doing that.”

  I don’t think I could even if I tried. Her thoughts were back off to the racings spinning a narrative to make sense of her being here.

  “Good. Now lift your arm up high.” Bronwyn continued to scrub away.