Her Bear In Mind (10 page)

Their prey had wandered off, presumably in search of better grazing.

“
Let’s leave them
. We’ve
been out too late already. I have a big meeting tomorrow. Let’s go back to the car.”

“
Are you sure everything is all right?
” she asked.

“
Of course, it is
.” he thought in that same practiced tone.

There was something so intimate, even invasive about being connected to Joe this way. She wasn’t just hearing his thoughts, she could feel what he was feeling. Feel it as strongly as if the emotion had been her own. In addition, no matter what he said, what Joe had felt was
fear
, on an almost primal level.

The feeling startled her. It scared her. Joe was usually so strong. That feeling was the only thing keeping her from calling him out on lying to her. After some hesitation, Sierra made the decision to let it go.

For now.

He dropped her off at her apartment early in the morning, before driving to his place. Sierra tiptoed  past Molly’s door and crawled into bed. She lay awake for a long time, wondering why Joe would lie to her and thinking about how scared he had been. She fell asleep with that word ringing ominously through her head.

“
Strangers
.”

*

Nightmares plagued Sierra’s sleep that night.

She dreamed she was back in the woods near Sleuth. Joe was gone, but she could smell him somewhere, that lovely, musky scent of him. Beneath that smell was the sharp smell of fear. Fear of strangers in the dark.

There was no moon. Sierra ran naked through the woods, branches cutting into her skin as she whipped past. The shadows were pressing in on her. Reaching out to her with grasping fingers that would snatch her up and never let go.

She had to shift. If she could shift, the strangers wouldn’t be able to get her. She could find Joe then, and she could save him from whatever was making him so afraid.

But try as she might, her body would not shift. She willed it as hard as she could, all the while staring up in vain at the absent moon.

The shadows were catching up.

Sierra pushed her mind harder, trying to conjure up the exact feeling of being a bear. Something in her mind was holding her back, telling her not to change. Sierra screamed in frustration and drowned the little voice out, focused entirely on shifting.

Just as the shadows started to grasp her, the electric feeling started. She was going to shift! She could get away now! Sierra embraced the feeling, letting her body change as she fought back the shadows.

BAM!

The deafening bang woke Sierra with a start. Dazed from the dream, her mind spun wildly, trying to make sense of what had happened.

She was lying in bed, staring up at the ceiling -- a ceiling which seemed somewhat further away than she expected it to be, with the chain on the ceiling fan dangling several inches out of reach instead of the usual grasping distance. The mattress beneath her was cocked at the strange angle and something was poking into her back. Coming out of her cloudy state now, she realized that the bed had collapsed underneath her.

It had collapsed underneath her because she had shifted into bear form in her sleep.

With dawning horror, she heard Molly running towards her room.

“Sierra?! What was that? Are you alright?” she shouted.

Molly tried the bedroom door. The handle rattled, but remained mercifully in place. Sierra took a moment to thank all the gods that she had remembered to lock her door last night.

On the other side of the locked door, Molly was frantic. She was banging on the door now and continuing to rattle the handle.

“Sierra? Are you okay? Answer me!”

Reflexively, Sierra tried to answer. Instead of reassurances, what came out of her mouth was a strangled sort of moan produced by her deep, bear vocal cords. Sierra cursed herself for trying as the noise sent Molly right over the edge into a tailspin of panic. The door banged on its hinges as Molly tried unsuccessfully to knock it down.

“Why is your door locked? So I spilled a can of paint on your laptop
one time
! If you die

BANG! BANG! BANG!

“I’m calling 911!”

Molly ran off. Sierra could hear the muted sounds of her panicked phone call to 911, and some kind of crashing noise. Sierra tried to move off the wrecked bed. What little of the bed structure that remained, groaned beneath her weight. Her claws sunk into the bedding, shredding it beneath her.

Cursing and wondering how on earth she was going to explain all this, she tried to shift back into human form.

“
I need to picture my body
.” She told herself. “
Picture my face, my hair, the way my hands do not usually shred things…
”

Nothing happened. Remembering the naughty thoughts that lead to her shift last time, she tried to think about Joe. But all that the memory of Joe brought up was a lot of righteous anger accompanied by the thought, “
Why didn’t he warn me about this?
”

That was when she heard the whir of the power drill. Molly was taking her door off the hinges.

“
SHIFT!
” she screamed internally. “
SHIFT NOW!”

Her frantic need to resume human form finally convinced her body to cooperate. Her body began to shift as she heard one screw after another drop to the floor with a faint
clink
.

Sierra felt her claws recede just as the door fell inward. It cracked as it hit the ground, revealing Molly framed behind it, drill in hand. Sierra was naked on all fours in the remains of the bed, now fully human. Molly rushed to her and knelt on the ruined bed.

“I’m fine!” Sierra insisted in a choked voice.

She sat up and looked around for something to put on. The ripped remains of her red satin nightgown were scattered around her. Sierra tried to tuck them
surreptitiously
away.

“What happened?” Molly asked. Her jaw dropped as she surveyed the wreckage.

“I…I don’t know.” Sierra stammered. “It broke. The bed must be faulty.”

“Why didn’t you answer me?” Molly demanded.

“I…uh…I don’t remember. I think I hit my head.”

Molly proceeded to examine her head.

“I’m fine.” Sierra insisted again.

“You are not fine.” Molly said. “You were unconscious and you’re going to the hospital to make sure your head isn’t broken. Ambulance will be here any minute. I’m going to get you some clothes.
Don’t move
.”

Sierra slumped back in the bed, unwilling to argue. Molly pushed herself to her feet. She paused to look at the palm of her hand, which had several long, cinnamon colored hairs on it. Molly glanced around at the fur covering the bed.

“Are you hiding a dog?” she asked.

“Joe got a dog. Must have rubbed off.” Sierra lied quickly.

Molly accepted this without question. She tossed Sierra some yoga pants and a t-shirt out of the closet.

“Should I call the Governor?” she asked.

“I’ll call him.” Sierra reached for her cell on the nightstand.

The sound of the doorbell emanated from the living room. Molly rushed out of the bedroom to let in the paramedics. Sierra pulled on her clothes and dialed Joe’s number. He picked up after the third ring.

“Good morning, beautiful,” he said cheerfully.

“You have to get a dog now.” She said in a rushed undertone.

“What?”

Three EMTs rushed into the room, closely trailed by Molly.

“Here, let me take that,” Molly said, taking the phone out of her hand.

“How are you feeling ma’am?” an EMT asked.

“Could you look up?” another said as he shined a flashlight in her eyes.

They proceeded to wrap a blood pressure cuff on her arm and produce a
stethoscope
in a flurry of activity. Molly was talking to Joe.

“I don’t know, it just broke…They’re checking her now…How do you know she’s fine? You’re not here. That’s what
she
keeps saying. She’s not fine. I had to take the damn door down!”

The EMT with the stethoscope was listening intently.

“Ma’am, do you feel any shortness of breath? Light headed?”

“No.” Sierra insisted. “I’m fine. Really.”

“She’s tachy.” He said to the other EMTs.  “Heart rate’s 180.”

“Temperature’s 105.6.” another said.

Before she even had a chance to protest, two of the EMTs picked her up and deposited her on the gurney, while the other was asking Molly if she wanted to ride along.

“Joe, they’re taking her to the hospital. I have to go. You can meet us there,”  Molly said into the phone.

The EMTs were cutting off her clothes and covering her with ice packs. Sierra shivered violently.

“I’m fine,” she insisted again.

“You’re not fine. We’re taking you to emergency. This is going to make you sleep.”

“What will?” Sierra asked, and then felt the needle slide into her arm.

“Count back from ten.” They instructed her.

Her vision went gray around the edges.

“10…9…8…”

*

There were no dreams this time, but there were several moments where she woke up, if only for a few seconds.

The first time was in the ambulance. The siren was blaring. It made her head hurt. She saw Molly’s worried face floating over her own. Molly was holding her hand.

“She’s waking up.” A voice said.

Her eyelids felt so very heavy. She let them slide shut again.

The next time she woke to bright lights in her eyes. She was being wheeled down a hospital corridor. Masked faces loomed over her, exchanging urgent comments in medical jargon her sleepy brain couldn’t comprehend. She squinted against the lights for a few moments, then allowed her eyes to close again.

The next time she was looking up at the ceiling of a hospital room. It was quiet. Dark. There was moonlight shining through her window. It must have been hours later.

Joe was standing at the foot of her bed next to a doctor. The doctor was counting a rather large stack of cash. Sierra tried to talk, but only managed a small moan. Joe smiled at her.

“Go back to sleep, beautiful.” Joe told her. “Everything will be fine.”

She obliged.

She woke again later to the sounds of Joe and Molly talking. It was morning now. Bright beams of sunlight passed through the window, illuminating the dust particles in the air.

“Well, I’m gonna call my lawyer.” Molly was insisting. “This is medical malpractice.”

“She’s
fine
, Molly.”

“
She is not fine
.” Molly hissed. “
Why
does everyone keep insisting she’s fine? She had a 105-degree fever and her heart was trying to beat its way out of her chest. They can’t just call it a fluke and release her.”

“I’m being released?” Sierra asked sleepily.

Joe rushed over to her.

“I’m going to take you back to the mansion just as soon as you feel like getting up.”

Sierra sat up in bed.

“Could you give us a minute?” Joe asked Molly.

“Fine.” Molly said. “I’m gonna go call my lawyer. This whole place should be condemned.”

Molly exited the room, still muttering darkly about inept doctors.

“You need to get dressed and we need to go before Molly seeks a second opinion. I already had to pay off one doctor, three EMTs, and two nurses. Not to mention the paparazzi, who snapped your picture on the way in here. I will have to release a statement to the press now. And I’m not getting a dog just because your roommate is nosey,” Joe said in a rush.

“She’s not nosey. She is concerned and lacks boundaries. You are so getting a dog because I didn’t have a better explanation for the bear fur all over my broken bed. What is going on with me? Why didn’t you tell me this could happen?”

“I’m sorry. Look, we have to leave, okay? You can’t ever go to the hospital. You won’t need it, anyway. Your body is very good at healing itself. But your heart rate is faster than a human’s now and your temperature runs hotter and…I don’t really know what else is different, but I do not want them to cut you open and figure it out.”

There was that note of fear again, and Sierra didn’t need to be able to read his mind to notice it this time. Anger fading, Sierra got up out of bed.

“Okay. Let’s go.”

She hurriedly pulled off the hospital gown and took the bag of clothes Joe was offering. In the bag was a new pair of jeans, black leather flats, a beautiful lace bra and panty set, and a blue silk top from Bloomingdale’s, all exactly her size. Joe’s personal assistants really were amazing sometimes. Sierra made a mental note to bring them coffee the next time she came over. And perhaps ask how on earth they figured out what size panties she wears.