If Gavin lived, he would be a member of the shifter community with every ability of the grizzly pack. Dale wouldn’t waste a moment. He would bind the man to him as soon as possible even if he had to tie him to the bed for two days to get him to consent, though Dale seriously doubted any arm twisting would be necessary.
Binding would be a game changer. It would give Dale the ability to reach out to his lover from anywhere at any time. It would give him a peace of mind otherwise in jeopardy.
George leaned toward Eleanor, punctuating his words as he spoke again. “So yes, I was there. I witnessed true love for others, and I made the split-second decision to give that man a fighting chance at life. It won’t be the same life he knew before he was forced to shift, but I have the utmost confidence that it’s what he would have wanted had he been conscious enough to make the decision.
“I didn’t make my choice purely out of some romantic desire to see Dale happy, but also from a personal belief that a truly good and kind individual had a right to a chance at life. My actions were spur of the moment, but they weren’t without cause.
“I acted in defiance of our current policies, but in the last few days, it has come to my attention that perhaps some of our laws are antiquated and in need of refreshing. If this means you’d like me to resign from my position, so be it. I won’t fight you on your decision. I will, however, request that you consider this matter further and open up discussions among the council members to reevaluate our stance on human conversion.”
Dale couldn’t help but shift his gaze toward Eleanor in the ensuing silence. Her expression was unreadable. Finally, she spoke. “You told Dale to change his partner.” It was more of a statement than a question.
“I ordered him to. Silently, of course. Privately. No one else heard me.”
What the hell? Now George was adding to his story to ensure no one else in the room could contradict him?
Eleanor gave one firm nod. “I’m going to need some time to process all this information.”
“Of course,” George responded.
“I trust you both will be staying here for the foreseeable future?”
Dale recognized her discreet way of saying that Dale and George were not free to leave the city while she made her decision. “You have my word.”
With nothing more than a blink, Eleanor left the room, her head held high, her shoulders back.
Dale’s heart raced. He stared at George. “I—”
“You should get back to Gavin. He needs you.”
“But—”
George closed the distance between them and met Dale’s gaze, leaving inches between them. “Look, I know you were distraught and confused when they first brought Gavin into the clinic. But that’s how I remember the conversation. Are we clear?” He lifted a brow.
“Yes, sir.”
“All right. Get back down the hall now. Gavin’s going to need to know you’re nearby as he fights. They say the best thing for a coma is for the patient’s loved ones to talk to them and encourage them to fight to live.”
Dale nodded. He was still stunned, but he took George’s advice and fled the room.
»»•««
“As I was saying, all we can do is guess here,” Doctor Towers stated. “It’s been almost two days. The clock is ticking. I don’t know what will happen when Gavin’s body begins to shift. I don’t even know if it will, but historically speaking—which is all we have to go on—his body should be close to making its first involuntary shift.”
“So, what do you suggest?”
“I suggest we stay closer, let nature take its course, and hope for the best.”
A woman Dale recognized from the reception desk opened the door a few inches and stuck her head inside. “Doctor Towers, I have Doctor Felipe Durand on the line calling from France.”
Doctor Towers’ eyes lit up. He held up a finger. “Hold that thought.” And then he was gone.
Dale prayed the call meant the doctor had finally found someone who had answers. It was horrible to hope someone somewhere in the world had gone through a similar fate, and their experience could somehow provide hope for Gavin, but Dale couldn’t keep from praying such was the case.
While the doctor was out of the room, Dale wrapped his fingers gently around Gavin’s and gave a slight squeeze. He had no idea if Gavin had any sensation from the neck down, but he didn’t want to cause him pain or risk injuring him further, so every time he touched his partner, he did so as carefully as possible. “Hang in there, Gavin. The doctor is doing everything he can. I need you to keep fighting.”
The clock on the wall ticked, every second seeming to reverberate off the walls in long stretches of silence. Dale was hoarse from speaking to his mate almost non-stop. And yes, he had begun to think of Gavin as his mate at some point in the process.
After several minutes, Doctor Towers rushed back into the room, two male nurses trailing behind him. “Change of plans.”
The taller, broader nurse was carrying an IV bag and quickly made his way to the IV stand at the head of Gavin’s bed. A tube ran from the current pouch to a vein in Gavin’s left arm.
“What’s happening?”
The doctor leaned over Gavin with his stethoscope and listened to his heartbeat. He then took his pulse before saying, “I hope we aren’t too late. I don’t know why I didn’t think of this sooner.” His words were murmured as if he were speaking to himself.
“Doctor?”
Finally, he lifted his gaze and met Dale’s eyes. “That call from France sent me in another direction. Spoke to Doctor Durand, and he said he was aware of two cases similar to Gavin’s. In the first case, the victim was permitted to shift which occurred about fifty hours from being bitten. He didn’t survive.
Dale’s chest seized.
The doctor kept speaking. “As we suspected, a patient in this condition isn’t strong enough to make the transition.”
Dale took a deep breath. “And the other case?”
“They decided to put the patient in a medically induced coma.”
“What does that mean?” Gavin was clearly already in a coma.
“It means we’re going to sedate your partner enough to keep him from waking up. The sedation will slow down his brain metabolism to allow his body to heal. It’s quite common in the human population. When someone is gravely injured, an induced coma often buys their body time to heal without the added stress of wakefulness.”
“What does this have to do with shifting?” Dale wasn’t quite following.
“Apparently, in cases like this, the induced coma suppresses the first transition.”
Dale’s eyes widened. “Oh. That’s a thing? You can do it?”
“We’re going to try.”
“For how long?”
“We’ll monitor him and hope his body begins to heal on its own.”
“His human body.” Dale swallowed, a thought occurring to him for the first time. “If you succeed and he gets strong enough to wake up and make his first shift in better shape, does that imply he would have survived without me stepping in?”
Doctor Towers shook his head. “Not a chance. He was nearly dead already. Another minute or two and we would have lost him. Your actions saved his life. I still can’t promise we’re out of the woods. He might not make it in the long run. But this is the first breakthrough we’ve had. Hope.”
“If he hasn’t even shifted yet, how is he not technically still human?”
“Your serum raced into his bloodstream instantly. Even though the results aren’t apparent to the naked eye, inside his body is slowly mending. I say slowly because he isn’t a full grizzly yet, nor is he in his bear form, but even his human body is working at a faster healing rate than a normal human.
“It’s the same for any of us. If you break your arm and don’t shift, it still heals quicker than a human. Might take a week or two, but much faster. If you shift, the bones will mend in days.”
“Right.” That made sense. It also me
ant Gavin’s body was knitting itself back together from the inside out.
“As soon as I feel like he’s no longer in grave danger, I’m going to take him into surgery and properly set every bone so that his limbs heal in the correct position. That’s been my greatest fear so far. It’s why I’ve taken so many X-rays. I’ve been monitoring him, watching for that fine line between ensuring he’s strong enough to tolerate the surgery but not so healed that even more damage is introduced from misaligned bones that start to mend themselves.
“I have no way of knowing what rate his body will heal since he’s not like any other patient I’ve ever treated. There’s very little data to indicate the healing rate of a newly transitioned patient in their human state compared to a full-blown shifter in their human state.”
Dale rubbed a hand over his face. “When do you think you’ll operate?”
“I had imagined it would be sometime tomorrow morning. But now that we’ve induced the coma, we need to evaluate him again. It’s possible his rate of healing will slow down and buy us more time.”
“So we wait.”
“Unfortunately, yes.”
Chapter Twenty
Dale paced the waiting room, unable to sit on the uncomfortable fiberglass chairs that lined the wall too perfectly. Every time he looked at them he cringed.
Paige stepped into the room holding two cups of coffee. “Here.” She handed one to Dale. “Any news?”
“No.” He took a sip. “It’s been seven hours. I’m pulling my hair out.”
“They said it might take as long as twelve hours.”
“I know, but it’s so frustrating. Not knowing. Not being there to hold his hand.” Dale met Paige’s gaze, noticing her pained expression. “I’m sorry. I’m so insensitive. You’ve known him for your entire life. I’ve known him a week. You have way more of a claim on him than I ever will. And yet, I’m monopolizing the situation as if the world revolved around me.”
She shook her head. “It’s true that I love him. He’s my best friend. He’s been by me my entire life. But he’s not my mate. Now that I’ve bound myself to Wyatt, I understand the connection. It was there before we finished the binding. And I’ve seen that same connection on both of your faces. You have every right to be here and claim him as your responsibility. I’m so glad he has you. He’s a lucky man.”
Dale fought the lump in his throat, unable to speak. He pulled Paige against his chest and hugged her tight.
“He’s going to be okay,” she whispered.
“You still think it’s for the best that we haven’t contacted his parents? I feel nervous about that choice.”
Paige stepped out of his embrace and held his biceps. “Trust me. If they didn’t have the courage to keep him from walking out the door when he told them he was gay, then they haven’t earned the right to be with him now. Plus, this is no place for humans who have no knowledge of shifters. The entire clinic would be on pins and needles if they were hanging around. And your stress level would go through the roof if Percy and Joan Wright arrived and took over. I’m confident they would ignore you entirely and cut you out of the decision making. Probably not even let you see him. Or worse—insist that he be moved to a hospital in Calgary—a human hospital.”
Dale took a long breath. “That would be a disaster. I’d like to see anyone try.” He forced a half a smile.
“So let’s not test the theory. Besides, he’ll be completely healed in no time, and they will never be the wiser. You’ll see.”
He hoped she was right. Her confidence calmed him. Wyatt was a lucky man.
Dale sensed another presence approaching from far enough away that he had a few moments to take deep breaths before Eleanor walked into the room. George was with her. She smiled warmly at Paige. “Would you mind giving us a moment, dear?”
“Of course.” Paige scrambled from the room, shutting the door behind her.
“How’s he doing?” Eleanor asked politely.
“He’s in surgery now.” Dale’s heart rate picked up a notch. He sensed the council had made a decision regarding his fate.
Eleanor nodded. “That’s promising.”
“Yes.”
“I’m actually here to speak to you about your actions and their consequences.”
Dale nodded.
“The council has met with a majority of twenty-three members present.”
Wow, that number made Gavin nervous. There were only forty members total. Nearly every one of the twenty-three present would have had to agree on his fate for the vote to pass.
“After a lengthy discussion, the council came to a unanimous decision to review our current policies with regard to human conversions.”
Dale withheld a sigh, hoping his elation wasn’t premature.
“We did not take this matter lightly. We were bombarded with pleas from Carla and her parents as well as your parents, Paige Osborn, and even the attending physician. I don’t mean to imply that anyone has the ability to alter the laws of our land, but we did take their testimonies into consideration. You have powerful allies, Dale.”
Dale didn’t move. That many people pleaded his case to the council? He was humbled.
“It has been determined that from now on, we will hear individual cases on a case by case basis. No one will have permission to arbitrarily decide to convert a human without consulting the council. And though we agreed there is a gray area that may cause problems down the line in situations like yours where the human is in imminent danger of death, we don’t feel at this time that we can permit the choice be left up to any one individual shifter. It’s not feasible.”
“I see.” He didn’t see at all. In fact, he had no idea where she was going with this conversation except for the fact that she had insinuated that no regular citizen would have the right to shift a human without consulting with the council first, even in dire situations. Where did that leave Dale?
“That being said, I’m forced to take into consideration the testimony from George. He is a wise and trusted member of our society at large and the council. Because he made a split-second decision to spare the life of your mate, it would be unfair of the council to punish you for the decision made by one of our members.”
Dale wanted to let out a long exhale of relief, but he could see by her expression, she was not done. And what fate was George to endure?
She stood taller, if that was possible, her shoulders back, her expression serious—more serious than usual. “Am I understanding correctly that you will indeed be returning to work for us as soon as your mate is out of the woods?”
Ah. There it was. The unspoken trade. Dale would not be taken into custody in exchange for agreeing to serve his people. He glanced at George whose eyes were slightly wider than normal, his pupils dilated. He didn’t communicate directly into Dale’s head in coercion, but his expression spoke for itself. He had gone to bat for Dale, and the price had been set.
“Of course,” Dale responded. “As soon as possible.” What the hell would this return to his previous job look like? Would he need to move? He was afraid to ask. His life was in Silvertip. He’d built his home with his own hands. It was his soft place to fall. A haven when the world didn’t spin the right direction. He wanted to grow old there with Gavin by his side.
“Excellent,” she declared. “I’ll have my people contact you in a few weeks to set up a time to ensure your house is properly wired and that you have all the equipment you need. The fastest internet. The latest computers. Whatever you need. You let my men know, and they will have it delivered.”
Dale was speechless. They were going to let him work from home. The perfect setup.
Now all he needed was for his mate to live through the surgery and get himself mended so the two of them could build a life together.”
After a few more pleasantries, Eleanor left. George followed her. He set a hand on Dale’s shoulder and squeezed on his way by. Into his head, he said, “He’s going to make it. I can feel it in my soul.”
“Thank you.” Those two words encompassed so many things, but nothing else was necessary. George knew how Dale felt, and Dale would forever be indebted to the older council member. Dale watched George walk out of the room, wondering what it had cost him to lie to Eleanor. He may never have the answer to that question, but it would haunt Dale.
A few minutes after the Arcadians left, Paige returned. “Everything okay?” she asked.
Dale smiled. “It will be.”
She had a white paper bag in her hand, and she lifted it. “Burgers. From the diner. I heard they’re your favorite.”
“Bless you.” Dale didn’t know Paige well yet, but what he did know warmed his insides. She was a kind and generous person. Thoughtful. She had gone to bat for him. They would be good friends.
While they were eating, Dale’s parents and his sister, Jackie, showed up. They had come and gone every day in support. They sat with him and Paige. Waiting. The clock moved so slowly.
Two hours after the food was gone and the remnants cleaned up, Doctor Towers finally came into the room. He was smiling. Thank God. “The surgery went well. And by that I mean, he lived through it. We had to address many things, but I’m confident we have taken care of the majority if not all.”
Dale and Paige both stepped closer as she grabbed his arm and held on, providing moral support for both of them. He could feel his family at his back. Each of them had a hand on him.
“He had twelve broken bones, including several in all four limbs, some ribs, three vertebrae, and the back of his skull. We aligned every bone, using pins in about five of them, and then went to work on his neck. The majority of our time was spent in the tedious process of ensuring his vertebrae were properly aligned and no fragments remained to injure him further.
Grizzly Survival Page 22
