Lisa's Bear

by Rayne Rachels

  “Was that last one an ambulance or just a smaller fire truck?” asked Willis.

  David glanced at the man standing next to him. Theo Willis wasn’t much older than him, but the man had made millions as a real estate developer. He seemed to instinctively know what worked and what didn’t in various communities. “The smaller vehicle was one of two Special First Responder Units,” said David.

  “Special First Responders Units?” asked Theo.

  “The units are teams of men and women who have advanced medical training—training beyond typical EMTs. The vehicle is one of two in town. It has a little more equipment than a standard ambulance.”

  “Impressive. How does the town fund them?”

  “A couple of fundraisers are held every year, but the bulk of the funding comes from private donations.”

  “Very impressive.”

  “Since we don’t have a hospital in town, the units are actually very practical.”

  Go find mate. His bear stood up.

  We will see her tonight.

  Go find mate. Now! His bear was agitated.

  She’s at work.

  David’s bear growled at him but it returned to pacing just under his skin.

  “Are you feeling okay? You seem a little off today.”

  Theo’s question surprised David. “I’m fine. Why don’t we get back to the blueprints.” He walked back to his desk and waited for Theo Willis to follow.

  The business meeting with Theo Willis went better than David thought it would, especially with the odd way he felt and his bear’s constant demands to go to Lisa. Theo liked the drawings and only requested a few changes which were easy to make, and he was even interested in hiring David’s cousin, Skylar to run the construction side of the project.

  David leaned back in his chair. Tonight he would celebrate his accomplishment with Lisa. He smiled at the thought of caressing her luxurious curves. The front of his jeans became a size too tight.

  Want my mate. Mate needs us.

  David shook his head. She’s at work. We’ll see her this evening.

  Go to mate now. She needs us.

  David felt his bear just under his skin. The animal pushed and clawed as it tried to take control. He gave the bear a huge mental shove, causing it to growl at him.

  “You can’t go in there. I have to let Mr. Anderson know you’re here first.” Tessa voice was louder than normal.

  “Get out of my way!”

  David frowned. The door to his office burst open and his brother Jason came charging into the room.

  “I’m so sorry Mr. Anderson. I tried to stop him,” said Tessa from behind Jason. “But he wouldn’t listen.”

  “It’s okay. I’ll handle this.” David raised his eyebrows. “You don’t have to push around my secretary.”

  “Get your jacket.” Jason shoved his hand through his hair. Splotches of blood covered his arm and the front of his shirt. His jeans and boots were covered with mud.

  “Couldn’t you have cleaned up a little bit?” asked David. A sweet rose scent drifted over to him. He sniffed again.

  Mate’s blood! David’s bear rammed its huge head against his chest.

  “I’ve been trying to call you for the last hour. Get your jacket.”

  “Why is Lisa’s blood on you?” David felt his world tilting.

  “They finally got her cut out of the car about ten minutes ago. Aunt Sally is in the emergency room waiting for the ambulance. We have to go now.” Jason’s voice had a slight tremble in it.

  David felt like someone had just punched him in the gut. Lisa was cut out of a car. She was hurt. He grabbed his jacket and his cellphone out of the pocket. There were several voice mails, texts and missed calls. He turned the sound back on. In seconds the phone started ringing. “Todd what’s going on?” He asked when he answered the call.

  “Is Jason there?” asked Todd.

  “Yeah, he is. What’s happened to Lisa?”

  There was a long pause.

  “Todd, answer me!” roared David.

  “Jason’s going to take you to the hospital. Lisa was in a bad car wreck. Just get to the hospital.” Todd abruptly ended the phone call.

  “We have to go now,” said Jason.

  David looked at his brother. “How bad is it?”

  “It’s bad,” said Jason. He turned and left the office.

  David stared at his brother’s back. “Tessa!” he yelled as he left his office. “Cancel all my appointments.”

  “For today?” she asked.

  “For the rest of the week.”

  The woman stared at him. “Is everything okay?”

  “No, my ma—fiancée was in a car wreck.”

  Tessa’s hand went to her mouth as she gasped. “If there’s anything I can do?”

  “Just cancel the appointments.” David followed his brother out of the building.

  CHAPTER 6

  “How could this have happened?” David was barely containing his bear.

  “The road was wet. Maybe she was going a little too fast around the curve and lost control or hit a patch of water and skidded. A lot of people do speed around that curve.” Jason shrugged his shoulders.

  “She wasn’t speeding. She’s too careful for that. There’s got to be another explanation.”

  “There wasn’t a sign of another car, but then I wasn’t looking either.”

  David looked at his older brother. “What were you doing out that way?”

  Jason glanced at David. He heard the accusation in his brother’s voice. “I was going to check on Carl Thompson’s mare. It got caught up in some barbwire last week and the wound isn’t healing properly. I dropped Ben off at school, and then stopped by the clinic to pick up some extra supplies.”

  David closed his eyes. “Lisa was out there at least forty minutes before anyone found her.” He hit the side of the door with his fist.

  “That’s not going to change anything,” Jason said in a low voice. “Trust me. I know from experience.”

  “But the head injury?”

  “It may not be very bad at all. You know head wounds always look worse than they really are because they bleed like crazy. We’ll just have to wait until we get to the hospital. Aunt Sally and her team were notified. She will take good care of Lisa.” Jason knew David was barely containing his bear. All of this brought back too many memories. Memories he thought he had buried a long time ago when Allison died.

  “What is it you’re not telling me?” David looked at Jason.

  “What do you mean?”

  “Don’t pull that with me. You may not be a doctor, but you’re a veterinarian. You have an idea how bad it is. Tell me,” pleaded David.

  Jason swallowed. He knew David needed the truth, no matter how bad it was. He knew because he had been the same way when Allison was sick and dying.

  “Jason?”

  Jason took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “The car was upside down when I found it. It looked like it had rolled several times. Lisa’s left arm was at an odd angle. I knew it was broken without even checking it. There was blood everywhere. The driver’s side window was shattered. I’m not sure if it was because her head hit it or if it was because the car rolled. The blood was coming from several cuts on her head.”

  David paled. “Was she conscious?” He knew the importance of people with head injuries staying awake.

  Jason shook his head. “She wasn’t conscious when I found her and she didn’t make any sounds when they moved her. She—” Jason pressed his lips together.

  “What? Say it.” David growled.

  “Her vitals were really weak, and she was cool to the touch. I’m hoping it was because of her exposure to the elements.”

  David and his bear let out a mournful roar that shook the cab of the truck.

  “I know man. I know.” Jason knew his brother heard his whisper.

  Want mate!

  I want her too. David told his bear.

  Mate is not dead!

/>   I pray to the Great Mother Bear she isn’t.

  Want mate.

  I want her too, said David.

  Want mate. Want cubs.

  The rest of the ride, David’s bear paced back and forth calling for their mate. How the bear could even think of creating cubs right now, David had no clue.

  David, though reverent to the Great Mother Bear, had never actually prayed to her before. But for the rest of the trip to the hospital, he prayed and pleaded with the Great Mother Bear to save Lisa’s life.

  The emergency room waiting area was already filled with most of David’s family. His mom hugged him as soon as he and Jason walked in.

  “Have you heard about Lisa?” asked David as his mom released him.

  “No, but Sally’s with her,” said a tall man who looked like an older version of David.

  “She will be okay.” David’s mom patted his arm.

  “This isn’t real. It’s a frickin’ nightmare!” David paced back and forth.

  “Accidents like this never seem real,” said Robert Anderson, David’s dad.

  “This wasn’t an accident!” David and his bear roared together causing the nurses and other people in the waiting room to stare.

  “Get control of your bear. There are too many humans around,” warned his dad. “We understand what you’re going through, but you can’t let your bear control you. Lisa needs you right now, not your bear.”

  David nodded. You have to chill for a while, he told his bear.

  Don’t’ like this place.

  I don’t like it either.

  Smells like death, growled his bear.

  We have to be strong for Lisa. She’s the only one who matters.

  Want my mate!

  Yeah, I want her too.

  His bear growled but settled down to pacing.

  David ran his hand through his hair. “How can this be an accident? How did something like this happen to her?”

  Before anyone could speak, the double doors leading to the emergency room opened, and David’s Aunt Sally walked out. Streaks of gray filled her chestnut hair which was pulled back into a ponytail.

  “Aunt Sally?” David’s voice trembled. “How’s Lisa? Can I see her?”

  “Let’s sit down.” Aunt Sally gestured to several empty seats.

  David felt like she had just punched him in the stomach. It was never good news when a doctor wanted you to sit down. He sat but kept his body rather stiff and rigid. He folded his arms across his chest.

  Aunt Sally sat down next to him. “I’m not going to lie to you. Lisa is in bad shape. Her left arm is broken in two places. That’s the minor of her injuries. I’m more worried about her head injury.”

  David didn’t say anything, but he nodded his head.

  “She is in a coma right now. We won’t know if she’s going to make a full recovery or not until she wakes up. Her vitals are stronger than they were when she first got here, and that’s a good sign.” Her eyes were filled with sympathy.

  “When will she wake up?” asked David.

  “When her body is ready, she will wake up. All we can do is wait and pray. I’m sorry I can’t give you a better answer than that.”

  “Can I see her?” David’s voice wavered.

  “In a little bit. They’re putting a cast on her arm and then she’s going up to the Intensive Care Unit.” The woman stood up.

  “Sally is there anything we can do besides wait?” asked David’s mom.

  “All we can do is wait and see. I know it sounds cruel and uncaring but it’s the only answer I’ve got right now. Her vitals are stable and stronger. We have her body temperature back to normal. Now it’s up to her. The sooner she wakes up the better, but there’s nothing we can do to force her to wake.”

  “Should we wait here?” asked his mom. She put a hand on David’s shoulder.

  “Go on up to the ICU waiting area and as soon as we have her settled up there, someone come and get you.” Aunt Sally nodded at them before she retreated through the double doors.

  Jason sat down next to David. “When you see Lisa, talk to her from your heart. Let her hear what she means to you.”

  David nodded.

  “And hold her hand. You voice and touch will get through the fog her brain is lost in. She will respond to them.”

  “I wish I could take her place. At least I’ve got my bear to give me extra strength. Lisa doesn’t even have that.” David’s voice was toneless and his shoulders were slumped down. He looked several years older than he really was.

  “You can’t give up. Lisa’s strong. She deals with eighth graders. She has to be strong to do that, so right now you need to be strong for her. Give her your strength and your love.” Jason started to stand but David grabbed his arm.

  “What if it’s not enough?”

  Jason drew in a deep breath and let it out slowly. His chin quivered slightly. “You have to believe it’s enough because right now it’s all you can do.”

  David let go of his brother’s arm and nodded.

  “We need to head on up to the ICU,” said Jason as he stood up.

  “Where do we go?” David stood up.

  “It’s on the fourth floor in the south wing of the hospital. We need to go down the hall to the main elevators.” He led the way out of the emergency room waiting area.

  “Lisa Anderson family.”

  “Finally,” muttered David. He and his family had sat for two hours in the ICU waiting area. He tossed his unfinished cup of coffee into the nearest trashcan when he got up. How anyone could drink that stuff or even call it coffee was beyond him.

  “Are you Lisa Anderson’s husband?” asked the nurse.

  “I am.”

  The nurse nodded. “We have Mrs. Anderson settled in ICU 4A. Only one person at a time can go back. I assume you want to go first?”

  “Please, I have to see her.”

  Mate. Must see mate.

  David tried ignoring his bear, but he was just as anxious to see her as his bear was.

  “Follow me.” The nurse led him down a hallway and through another set of doors. They went around a corner and straight into a huge nurses’ station that took up the entire center of the room. The walls on three sides of the station had floor-to-ceiling glass windows. Each revealed an individual room. The nurse he was following walked around the right side of the nurses’ station, stopping in front of one of the glass sliding doors.

  David saw the plaque with 4A on it. He followed the nurse in, and his heart stopped.

  His bear let out a mournful howl.

  This was not the same Lisa he left in bed this morning.

  “We’ve made her as comfortable as possible. Doctor Anderson will be by shortly. If you need anything, just press this button.” She showed him a button on the railing. “One of the nurses will help you.” She turned and quietly left the room.

  The bright pink cast encasing Lisa’s left arm stood out against the white sheet covering her. Wires connecting her to various chirping machines were everywhere. Their noises were all but drowned out by the rhythmic hiss of the machine breathing for Lisa.

  David pulled a chair next to her bed and sat down. “Lisa. Lisa, baby. It’s me, David. I really need you to open those beautiful blue eyes.” He gently caressed the fingers sticking out of the pink cast. He wanted to touch her face, but the whole left side was bruised and swollen, and he could see the stitches in her scalp.

  Anger like he had never felt before filled him. This was his mate. He had failed to protect her.

  Mate hurt. Want mate better.

  So do I.

  Must protect mate better.

  David couldn’t agree more with his bear.

  The growl cut through the inky darkness.

  Lisa turned in a circle, looking for the source of the growl, but all she saw was the blackness. Hello! Who’s there?

  You must protect. The growly demand came from somewhere in the blackness, only now it was closer.

  What are yo
u talking about? I don’t understand.

  You must protect the life you carry. My bears must survive. The voice was now soft and musical. You carry the future. The future must be protected.

  What life? Lisa frowned. A sharp pain shot through her face. She put her hand to her left cheek, but it only made the pain worse.

  The cub in your womb must be protected. She is the future.

  Lisa swallowed. I’m pregnant? I’m carrying David’s child?

  Yes.

  How do you know? Who are you?

  I am the one they call the Great Mother Bear. I am the source of my children’s existence.

  Lisa wasn’t sure what to say or do. If this really was the creator of David’s kind, should she kneel or something out of respect?

  A soft glow penetrated the blackness and slowly moved toward Lisa.

  Her first instinct was to run. But where could she run too? She couldn’t see anything except the glow getting closer to her. She didn’t even know where she was or if she was safe.

  The soft glow grew closer until Lisa saw the outline of a woman. The glow dimmed and the woman came into focus. Her black hair draped over her shoulders and fell to the ground like a cloak. Her features were Native American, but different. She was wrapped in a bear skin, and on each side of her walked a Kodiak bear.

  Lisa’s knees trembled. She bowed her head, hoping it was the right thing to do.

  The goddess moved closer. Look up child.

  Lisa swallowed. Slowly she lifted her head.

  You were not born one of my children, but I claim you as my child, as so you will be like my children. Mother Bear touched the forehead of one of the bears, and then she touched Lisa’s forehead.

  Lisa felt a strange warmth surge through her body. Her eyes widened. The bear Mother Bear had touched disappeared.

  You must sleep now. When you awaken, your bear will be with you. Trust in her. Learn from her and grow. You and she now share the same body. She is David’s bear’s mate. Mother Bear faded away, leaving only a fading glow.