Pulling a stool up to the table, I reached for her hand and turned it palm up. “I know it’s painful, but if you can hang in just a few minutes, I can make the hurting much less. Okay?”
She nodded, a tear escaping despite her blinking hard to stop it. “I’m being a big baby, I know. I’m sorry.”
“Don’t you dare apologize. Burns are one of the things that shifting can’t necessarily take care of.” Her hand was so soft, so small in mine, and felt like it had always belonged there.
“Oh.” She chewed her lower lip, gaze darting away from me and cheeks blooming dark rose.
“Did you…you didn’t shift?”
“I never even thought of it. I am sorry I wasted your time.” She tried to tug her hand away, but I held firm. “Really, I’ll go so you can help someone who really needs you.”
“What did I say about apologizing? You deserve the best care. Let me ask you a question.” I’d never had a hard time keeping my professionalism with any omega I treated before now. “Did your wolf try to get you to take your fur?”
She blinked. “No, she didn’t. And anytime in the past when I’ve hurt myself, she was right there, ready to go.”
“Exactly. If she didn’t nudge you, it was because she knew it wasn’t the best thing for you.” Cradling her injured hand in one of mine, I used the other to wipe away her tears. “Okay? You ready to accept the help you need?”
“I didn’t goof?”
“Not at all.” While I spoke, I reached into a drawer of the stand beside me and pulled out a tube of salve and what I needed to sanitize her burns. “If you’d tried to shift when your wolf didn’t think it was a good idea, you might have made the situation worse. You did the opposite of goofing.”
“You aren’t just saying that?”
“My job is to be honest with omegas about their health.” Tearing open an antiseptic pad, I warned, “I do promise you’ll feel much better, but this will sting. Can you be brave?”
“Bravery is my middle name,” she quipped, but her bravado was offset by the quiver mid-sentence. “Seriously, I’ve faced worse than a stinging boo-boo. Do what you need to. I’ll hold still.”
“Good girl—” I stopped. When had I said that to an adult omega? It was hardly professional.
But she showed no signs of taking offense, instead offering me a wavering smile. “I’m ready.”
Treating severe burns involved several steps, and distracting the patient could really help with their pain level. So I launched into a casual conversation that also gave me more insight into this female who had my wolf flipping and snapping with excitement.
“I work in a store with lots of candles,” she said, wincing as I finished cleaning her burns. “But I save the burning for heating up canned soup at home.”
By the time I had her bandaged and ready to leave, she was much calmer and more relaxed. The salve shut out oxygen from the burns, a guaranteed improvement. I told her to shift as soon as her wolf told her it was safe, but until then to keep her bandage dry and change it once a day. And then she was gone. I’d never felt so alone.
My friends and I had a lot to talk about when I got home.
.
Chapter Seven
Anathea
“You need a clarity tea,” a female voice said as I rearranged the incense displays. We’d gotten a new shipment from a small producer who’d sent a sample of some of her incense cones. Immediately some of the customers wanted to know where they could get it.
Morgana placed a huge order that day.
I turned around to see a woman about my age. She spoke softly, but her words had gained my whole attention.
“A clarity tea?” I asked. My fingers were smudged with powder from the incense, and we both noticed at the same time.
“You’re swirling with emotions. I can feel it in my chest. A tea should help.”
In my experience, tea never helped other than giving you a chance to stop and breathe. Maybe that was the magic. “I’m sorry?” I said, not really knowing how to respond. “I mean, about your chest.”
“No reason to be sorry. But sometimes confusion is less about making a choice and wondering if it’s right and more about accepting everything the universe is offering you.”
