“Incoming! Someone page Dr. Noble!” a nurse shouted, covering the end of the phone receiver. “ETA, two minutes!” Sirens grew louder as she hung up and hurried with the others toward the ambulance bay entrance.

The EMTs rushed a stretcher through the double doors. “Jane Doe. Found unconscious by the reservoir in Central Park. Blood pressure slightly elevated—130 over 90. Respiration thready. Pupils are equal and responsive, but sluggish. Except for claw marks on her upper back, we found no obvious trauma.”

“Claw marks?” The nurse raised an eyebrow and then slid a quick glance toward the approaching doctor.

Dr. Paxton Noble shot the silly woman a look. “Trauma room one, nurse. NOW.” Ignoring her wince, he turned his attention to the EMTs. “Any idea on her identity?”

The EMT shook his head. “The police are canvasing the area. Looks like she was unconscious for hours near the water’s edge, if not longer, and with the overnight temps—” He didn’t finish his thought.

“Even so,” Dr. Noble replied. “It’s May, not March. It’s not cold enough for hypothermia. Even overnight. She’s young. If she were a senior citizen, maybe.”

An oxygen mask covered her face as he turned her onto her side to access the claw marks. A frown pulled at Pax’s lips. The jagged flesh wasn’t a simple slash. It was shredded, leaving no doubt as to the kind of animal that attacked. His frowned deepened. Shifter.

“Miss, you’re in the hospital. Can you hear me?” Pax asked loudly, taking her fingers to squeeze her nail bed for any kind of response. Nothing.

The EMT stole a glance at the woman. “Whoever or whatever did this is long gone,” he added as if reading the doctor’s mind. “Dual-natured, if you ask me.”

Paxton’s eyes met his, but he didn’t comment. Instead, he gave the ambulance crew a nod. “Thanks, guys. We’ll take it from here.” He turned, shouting to his nurses. “I want a pulse ox and full vitals, and a CBC panel with a complete toxicology screen.” Clicking his flashlight to check her pupils, his hand froze as the nurse removed the oxygen mask. Pax’s lips parted as he stared at the unconscious woman’s face.

“Dr. Noble?” the nurse questioned.

“Evelyn,” he murmured.

“Doc?” The EMT looked at him. “Do you know her?”

Paxton straightened, clearing his throat. “Yes—” he replied with a cough. “I mean, not really. We bumped into each other yesterday morning at the Starbucks near Bryant Park.”

He didn’t miss the twitch of a smirk his nurses shared. Grey’s Anatomy had its McDreamy, and Tudor Hill had the Big Bad Wolf, and not just because he was a wolf shifter.

“Bumped into or bumped uglies with?” the same silly nurse whispered with a chuckle, and he shot her another look.

“That’s enough,” he barked. “The how and why I know her isn’t the point. She’s our patient, so I would appreciate focus and not fantasies.” The smirk on the nurse’s face disappeared and Paxton turned his attention to triaging the patient.

The EMT unclipped his radio to call dispatch for the police. “What did you say her name was, Doc?”

“Evelyn.” He shifted his eyes from the woman’s pale face to everyone else’s. “Beyond that, I don’t know much about her.”

Dispatch chirped a reply and the EMT nodded. “Ten-four.” He clicked off his radio and shoved its clip back onto his shoulder. “The police are sending an officer to take a statement from you. Maybe they can trace her steps backward from there and get more of an idea as to who she is and what happened.”

Noble moved to Evelyn’s feet and had the nurse pull off her socks and sneakers. “The cops know where to find me if they need me.” He ran the flat edge of a reflex hammer over the underside of her foot toward her toes. “Call downstairs,” he said to his nurse. “I want a head CT and abdominal scan. STAT.”

With a nod, she scrambled, giving Evelyn’s wound a temporary dressing before wheeling her toward Radiology.

Paxton peeled his examination gloves from his hands. How did this happen? Thirty-six hours ago, Evelyn was a curvy beauty with a great sense of humor. He’d thought about her all day yesterday and half of last night, cursing his pager for distracting him before he could get her number. Now she was on a gurney in his emergency room.

He inhaled. His paranormal senses usually helped in diagnosing medical anomalies, even ones presenting no obvious symptoms, but Evelyn smelled just as delicious as she did yesterday morning. His body reacted as it had the moment she crashed into him in the Starbucks doorway. His wolf growled, both from an immediate attraction and the sudden need to rip the throat out of whoever did this to her. The force of the feeling unnerved him.

Paxton moved to the door, catching the gossipy nurse’s eye before they made it to the elevators. “Get someone from admitting. If her tests are inconclusive, I want her upstairs in Observation, ASAP. No questions. Got it?”

She nodded, darting for the telephone at the nurses’ station. He’d get to the bottom of this. For Evelyn’s sake, but also because his wolf wouldn’t let him do otherwise.