Bear With Me (4 page)

Chapter Five

Bear
had only been in his office ten minutes when Mia knocked on the door and then
stepped inside. He looked up from the brochure he’d been reading about a
medical convention taking place in Billings next month and wondering whether it
was worth the drive to attend.

“Dr.
McWilliams, Trent
Burgreess
has brought his wife in
the clinic as she’s not feeling so good. He wondered if you could take a look
at her.”

Bear
looked up. Emily was human so he didn’t know why Trent hadn’t taken her to a
regular hospital. Nevertheless he’d be more than happy to be her doctor.

“Okay,
tell them I’ll be right with her.”

He
took a sip of his coffee which was already cold, stood, and headed out of the
office and down the corridor to the outpatient section of the hospital.

“I’ve
put them in examination room two,” said Mia. “And I’ve given Emily a bowl because
she’s throwing up constantly.”

That
didn’t sound very promising. He knew there was a stomach bug still making the
rounds from the winter flu season. Maybe Emily had been unfortunate enough to
catch the tail end of it. If he remembered correctly, she was an elementary
school teacher which meant she came in contact with kids and their germs on a
daily basis.

He
tapped on the door and then went inside to see Emily sitting on the side of the
examination table. Trent was dressed in his policeman’s uniform and holding
a silver
bowl as his wife leaned over and retched. Trent
glanced Bear’s way.

“Hi,
Dr. McWilliams, or is it okay to call you Bear even though this is a
professional visit?”

“Bear’s
always fine with me. And you do know
it’s
okay to take
Emily to a regular doctor. I won’t get offended.”

Emily
retched again and threw up what looked like the entire contents of her stomach.

“I
thought about it, but I think she needs to come here because she took a
pregnancy test two days ago and we’re having a baby.”

Bear
agreed that bringing her to the clinic had been a smart move just in case
anything was strange about the pregnancy and made a doctor curious enough to
run tests.
“Hi, Emily.
I know you’re not in the best
shape to say anything, but do you think
it’s
morning
sickness or a bug you’ve picked up?”

Before
she could respond, Emily threw up again and flopped back on the examining
table. Bear washed his hands and then ran a washcloth under the tap. He handed
it to Emily, who wiped her mouth.

“I
think
it’s
morning sickness. I haven’t been near
anyone with a bug, none of the kids at school have been sick. Well, not that I
know of.”

Bear
took another wet washcloth and placed it on Emily’s forehead as Trent held her
hand.

“So
how far along do you think you are?” asked Bear.

“I’m
guessing about six weeks,” said Emily.

She
looked pale and tired.

“How
long have you been throwing up?” asked
Bear.

“About
a week, but the last couple of days it’s been like this, really bad and I can’t
keep anything down.”

“Can
you give her anything?” asked Trent.

“I
can but first I’d like to keep her in the hospital for a day or two and put her
on a drip so she doesn’t get dehydrated,” said Bear.

“Hospitals
aren’t my favorite places,” said Emily.

“This
one’s fun,” said Bear. “I’ll get Mia to bring you in a robe and once you’ve
changed into that we’ll get you into a bed. Then I’ll start the IV and we’ll
take it from there.”

“Can
I stay with her?” asked Trent.

“I
think that would be a great idea,” said Bear.

 
Bear walked out into the reception area to
look for Mia.
Another half human, half shifter baby on its
way.
Trent and Emily’s would be number three.
 
He hoped he wasn’t going to be too busy with
work, because he had a certain lady who he was planning to spend some time
with.

****

Hannah
hoped that business picked up soon so she could hire another person to help out
in the kitchen. So far she had the cook, Simon, and his wife who assisted him,
but they really needed a third person so Hannah could concentrate on the actual
dining room duties. She had two college students who’d be working weekends
which was going to help somewhat.

She
folded the last of the napkins and placed them in the basket by the reception
desk. She looked out and saw that it was raining again. Sam was out back and
sometimes he didn’t come inside even when he was getting drenched.
 
Hannah went through the side door and peeked
outside to see him sitting on the ground with his jacket over his head, the
rain pelting down on him.

“Sam,
honey, come in and you can go back out when it stops raining.”

He
shook his head.

“Fishing,”
he said.

“That’s
not until the weekend.”

“Fishing,”
he said.

She’d
have to go get him or he’d be drenched.

“Sam,
get inside.”

“Fishing.”

She
pulled on his arm, something she knew he didn’t like, but it was either that or
leaving him outside in the downpour.

 
She pulled on his arm again. Sam screamed
bloody blue murder, making Hannah go cold. He’d done this so many times. Once
while they were grocery shopping. The store had fallen silent and everyone in
the aisle had had turned to look at her like she was the worst mother in the
world. They’d then hurried away like they didn’t want to get involved or were
somehow scared she’d ask them for help.

Hannah
had never done that before and her pride was strong enough that she never
would. She’d dealt with Sam’s problems all by herself, but sometimes that
wasn’t easy. However, he was her problem and hers alone so she’d battled on.
Sam screamed louder, sliding back down onto the grass. Hannah’s hair clung to
her face as the rain picked up intensity.

Having
help would be nice, someone by her side so she could lift the weight off her shoulders
and put it on theirs for a few hours every day.

“Sam,
you have to come inside.”

She
tugged on his arm again, but he was stubborn. She wondered where he’d gotten
that quality from; always thinking it was something to do with the man who’d
fathered him. The truth and shame of it was she didn’t know anything about the
man who’d gotten her pregnant besides his first name and that he lived in
Kalispell.
 
She’d often wondered if he’d
had something wrong with him and had passed on some faulty genes to Sam. It was
the reason she’d come to live and work in the area. She knew it was crazy
because she guessed he was long gone by now, but in the back of her mind she’d
had this strange feeling about running into him again. He’d know what was wrong
with Sam and have all the answers plus the cure. Life would suddenly be
wonderful.

A
tear joined the rain on her face. She guessed her mascara was running down her
cheeks, making her look like Alice Cooper or one of the guys from Kiss.

Truth
was Sam’s stubbornness didn’t come from his father. It came from her. She’d
always thought she knew best and looked where it had landed her.

“Please,
Sam, just this once,
do
as Mommy tells you.”

How
many times had she heard that from her own parents? How many times had she been
stubborn and purposely done the opposite of what they’d asked of her?

Frustration
and desperation set in and she grabbed both of Sam’s wrists and began dragging
him along the grass. He dug his feet into the ground, tearing up the sod as
they moved toward the door of the back of the café.

“
No. No
!” He screamed, kicking the ground
the more she pulled him. “Hurt me, hurt me.”

She
finally got him to the door, pushed it open with her foot, and dragged him the
rest of the way inside. She let go of him and tried to get her breath back.

“Bad momma, bad.”
He pointed at
her, shaking his finger in much the same way her mother had done when she’d
scolded Hannah. She brushed her wet hair away from her face. She wanted to cry
but had to keep her composure.

Sam
turned and pounded on the wall with both his fists. The back of both his pants
and t-shirt were soaked in mud and grass.

“Stop
that because you’re going break your hand. Remember when you hurt yourself
before and you needed to go to the hospital?”

He
smacked the wall again, so Hannah grabbed his hands and tried to hold him still,
but now he was older and bigger. She hadn’t realized just how strong and
powerful he’d become. She couldn’t hold him back and he smashed her hand
against the wall.

It
was her turn to cry out. She pulled away from him, slumped to the floor, and
sobbed.

“Bad
momma,” said Sam as he ran up the stairs to their apartment. She held her hand
and cried as she heard her son slam the bedroom door. So much for thinking he
was on the road to being normal.

Chapter Six

Bear’s
stomach rumbled. Out of the blue, one of his patients, Tina, a cougar shifter,
had gone into labor. She wasn’t due for another two weeks so it looked like
she’d be the first one to give birth in the new hospital, and not Charlotte.

He
glanced through the window at Tina and her husband Mickey, who sat on the bed
beside her rubbing her back and talking to her. Mia was perched on a chair. Mia
and Tina had gone to school together, were best friends, and no one was more
excited to hear that her friend who after fifteen years of marriage and trying
to have a baby, was finally pregnant.
 
Bear knew Tina was coming close to the end of
her mating cycle years, so this baby would be her one and only.

His
stomach rumbled again, reminding him he’d hadn’t eaten since he’d taken an early
lunch. Tina was doing okay for now. He’d estimated that she was at least a
couple of hours away from the stage where she could start pushing. He glanced
to the other side of the corridor and into the window of Emily’s room. He’d
started her on meds and a drip, and the color had returned to her cheeks. Trent
sat on the chair beside her bed while reading a book.

Bear
didn’t know if her sickness was due to the fact that she was carrying a
shifter’s baby. Charlotte had experienced sickness and lightheadedness, but
nothing as bad as Emily, which meant he’d have to keep a close eye on her. He
had
an inkling
what was causing her to be this sick,
but he couldn’t confirm it until she’d had her first ultrasound.

Both
women didn’t need him right now, which meant it was the perfect time to go and
grab an early supper before he delivered Tina’s baby. He could head to the
vending machine and get himself a sandwich and bag of chips, but he felt like
some fresh air too. He’d go get something at Hannah’s café and bring it back
with him. The thought of seeing Hannah again made him smile. And yes, if he was
honest, it stirred feelings in his cock too.

Bear
opened the door to Tina’s room.

“Mia,
I’m just going to grab something to go from the Starlight Café. I won’t be
long.”

“Starlight
Café, didn’t you eat there yesterday?”

What
were they keeping tabs on him or what?

“I
did, yes.”

“Anything
in particular you like there?” asked Mia.

“Salmon’s
really good. You should try it.”

He
closed the door before she could ask any more questions. The salmon
was
good, but that wasn’t the only
reason he was about to become a repeat customer.

****

Today
he actually took her breath away. She’d heard the bell above the front door
ting and had quickly walked out to the front desk, ready to show a customer to
a table when she’d spotted Bear standing there in his scrubs. His hair was just
long enough to curl over the back of the pale green top. The more she looked at
him the harder it was to resist his spell.

“Hi,
Hannah, how are you today?” he asked as she approached the desk.

“I’m
fine, how about you?”

“Busy
and that’s why I’m wondering if you serve meals to go. I have a patient in
labor and don’t have much time.”

Labor.
She remembered
that.
An almost twenty-four hour event.
Another reason
she never wanted to get pregnant again.

“Sure,
just about anything on the menu can be boxed up to go.”

She
slid one of the menus across the glass on top of the desk.

“What
did you do to your hand?” he asked.

By
now it was peppered with black and blue marks, its knuckles scraped, and it
throbbed. However, she wanted to keep the cause of her injuries her secret.

“I
stumbled down the last step from the apartment and used my hand to break my
fall. I accidently slammed it against the wall.”

A
pang of guilt washed over her for her lies.
Just as it always
had when she’d lied to her mother and step-father.

“Have
you put anything on it?”

“Sure,
I washed it and applied some antibiotic cream to the knuckles.”

“I
haven’t got time to check it out right now, but how about I come back later and
take a closer look at it? In the meantime try not to use it too much.”

“No
there’s really no need. It’s fine.”

“I’m
not the sort of guy or doctor who takes no for an answer.”

She
was beginning to realize that.

“Okay, but for your services let me give
you something to take away and it’s on the house.
Sort of bartering, food for medical services.”

“I
guess that works for me. Can I have the salmon with a tossed green salad?”

“Absolutely.
And I made a teriyaki
salad dressing that I think will be perfect for it.”

“Wow,
you can you hear my stomach rumbling?”

“No,
but I’ll go put this order in straight away.”

“Fine.
 
Is Sam around? I thought maybe I could hang
out with him while I waited.”

“He
was tired when he got home from school. He’s up in his room.”

She
didn’t want to tell him she’d put him there as punishment. It was the only
thing she knew how to do when he threw one of his tantrums.

“I’ll
go and ask the chef to put a salmon on the grill.”

She
hurried back to the kitchen, told Mike that they needed a salmon ASAP, and set
about boxing up a green salad. Next she poured the dressing into a plastic
container and put two slices of whole wheat bread into a brown paper bag.

“One
salmon grilled to perfection,” said Mike, handing it to her in a box.

“Great,
thanks.”

She
placed everything in the paper sack and carried it out to
Bear
who was now sitting reading a flyer someone had placed at the front of the café
about an upcoming flea market.

“Here
you go.”

“I
can smell the salmon and it smells even better than the one I had here before.
 
I hate to run, but like I said my patient’s in
labor.”

“Tell
her good luck,” said Hannah as he headed out of the door.

If
only she’d had a handsome doctor delivering Sam it might have taken her mind
off the pain.

****

“I
think you are ready to push,” Bear told Tina. “You want to try standing up for
a bit to see if gravity helps get things started?”

One
advantage shifter-women had over their human counterparts was that if they
stood and pushed down, with the help of a doctor, the baby could be moved out
of the mother’s body a lot quicker.

Mia
and Tina’s husband helped her up. He loved the homemade orange and yellow
booties she’d put on to keep her feet warm. So far Tina had done perfectly. Other
than a little oxygen, she hadn’t needed any pain meds, and her labor had
advanced quickly despite her age.

“You
enjoy the salmon or was that really the reason you snuck out?” asked Mia.

“I
really did eat salmon. You want to smell my breath?” asked Bear.

“You’re
going to break every woman’s heart if you have your sights set on someone,”
said Mia.

“What
am I missing here?” asked Tina.

Bear
put his hands either side of her belly and pressed as she pushed down, gripping
both Mia and her husband’s hands until he saw their knuckles turning white.

“Bear’s
seeing someone,” said Mia.

I wish I was.
“I can assure
you I had my stomach in mind each time I went to the café.
You
doing
okay, Tina?”

“I
think so. Could I lie down and push now?”

Bear
helped her back on the bed. “Okay, another push.”

He
smiled as he saw a little bald head appearing from inside her. He’d never known
any cougar shifter baby to be born with a single hair on its head whereas wolves
had a good head of hair upon arrival, bears, well they were just a downright
explosion of dark hair.

Tina
cried out as she pushed again.

“You’re
doing so well I’d think this was your third or fourth baby,” said Bear.

“I
only wish we had that many children,” said Tina, pushing again.

Bear
hung onto the head and shoulders as Tina gave another huge push and soon the baby
slipped out into his waiting hands.

“It’s
a boy,” said Bear. “And he’s beautiful.” He held him up so the parents could
see him. Tina burst into tears. “I’ve waited so long for you, little baby.”

“Does
he have a name yet?” asked Bear, giving him a quick check but everything about
the little guy looked absolutely perfect. In fact, he knew Tina probably could
have delivered him all by herself.

“Ross,”
said Tina.

“Hi,
Ross,” said Bear. “You want to meet your parents who I know are going to love
you so much.” Bear placed Ross on his mother’s belly and clamped off the cord
for Mickey to cut.

“Papa,
you can do the honors,” said Bear, handing him the scissors.

“Papa,
I like the sound of that,” he said.

Yeah,
suddenly Bear liked it too.

****

They’d
had a good evening at the Starlight Café. Hannah kicked off her shoes and
flexed her toes as she put the night’s takings into the bag she used to deposit
earnings at the bank. She jumped when she heard someone knocking on the glass
in the door. Couldn’t they read the sign that said they were now closed and had
been for the last fifteen minutes?

The
knocking continued, scaring her a little. Maybe someone was trying to rob the
café. However, did people who wanted money actually bother to knock? She walked
to the door, ready to tell them to go away they were closed, but when she
pulled up the blind there was Bear’s handsome face looking back at her.

She
unbolted the door and slid the lock over. She’d forgotten he said he’d be back
to check out her hand. She’d only mentioned bartering services in hopes he’d
soon forget about her injury.

I’m not the sort
of guy who takes no for an answer.
Yeah, obviously
not.

“Hi,
thought I’d check out your hand now that I’m all done for the day.”

“You
really didn’t need to do this. I’m sure you’re tired.”

“No
problem. Café’s on my way home.”

He
stepped inside and she noticed he’d brought along some supplies, including a
bandage.

“I
think it’s a lot better than when you saw it earlier.”

“Let
me be the judge of that.”

In
a way she liked his persistence. Underneath the slight bossiness was a man who
cared.

She
didn’t want to seem rude and make him sit in the café. Sam was in bed, safely
tucked away, so she knew it was okay to take Bear to their apartment.

“You
want to come upstairs? Don’t know if I told you that’s where Sam and I live.
Well, at least until this place makes enough money that we can afford a house.”

“At
least it’s a short commute to work.”

“Yeah,
that’s the biggest plus.”

She
led him through to the hallway to the door leading upstairs. “The previous
owner used it as the storeroom, so I’m gradually trying to make it look like an
actual home.”

Hannah
wondered where he lived and if it was someplace fancy. Doctors made pretty good
money, right? Not that she was embarrassed by the small apartment, but it
wasn’t anything special to look at. A living room, kitchen, bathroom, and two
bedrooms, and that was about it.

She
pushed back the door and held it while he stepped inside.

“Sam’s
asleep and he’s a pretty sound sleeper, but let’s
go
into the kitchen which is the farthest away from his room.”

He
followed her to the back of the apartment and she pulled out a chair for him.
She sat and Bear placed the supplies on the table before sitting.

“If
you want to rest your arm here, I can take a better look.”

Hannah
set her forearm on the table as Bear gently touched her grazed knuckles. She
flinched despite how careful he was being.

“Sorry.
I’m going to spray some antiseptic lotion that has some antibiotic formula in
there so you don’t get an infection. That can happen before you know it.”

He
reached for a dark brown bottle and proceeded to spray all four knuckles. It
stung like hell, but she didn’t want to seem like a baby so said nothing.

“Did
your patient have her baby?”

“Sure
did.
A beautiful boy who was twenty-one inches long and
weighed just around the eight pound mark.”