Eddie stared down at a shattered tibia. It was pretty gnarly. The logger lying on the bed, now somewhat comfortably sedated, was smiling drunkenly at the nurse.

“You’re pretty,” he slurred.

“Of course I am,” the nurse replied.

Eddie delivered the news. “Well, Mr. Keats, you have a messed up leg. Here’s a tip – you versus log? Log wins.”

“Goddamn thing rolled the wrong way!” the man exclaimed.

“I can see that. Now you get surgery, pins – maybe some screws – and you are off your foot for at least three months,” Eddie told the man.

“Fuuuck,” Mr. Keats slurred again.

“Yup, fuck,” Eddie repeated. “Nurse, you get the log wrangler here prepped for surgery. I’m going to call in Dr. Platt to cover. I want to run a consult through Seattle before we start.”

The nurse nodded, and Eddie headed to his office. When he got there, he emailed the X-rays to a colleague at the University of Washington medical center. He was a top-notch orthopedic surgeon, and although Eddie was confident in his assessment of the injury, a second opinion was a smart move.

He placed a call to Seattle and discussed the case. His plan for the repair was sound. The follow-up rehabilitation would take place in the hospital. They had a traveling physical therapist who just got a new client in Mr. Keats.

Eddie checked his messages after he hung up. Nothing from Tanner yet. He wasn’t a stalker, so he was resisting the urge to call. He realized his cousin probably had real police work to do – or he was doing his mate. Whichever, it was keeping him busy.

His bear was getting louder the longer it took Eddie to get some information on the boy. He’d almost convinced Eddie that just driving by the address listed on his paperwork would be okay. A follow-up, yeah that would be a nice doctorly thing to do.

Eddie knew it was bullshit, but his bear was proud of himself for thinking that one up.

Giving himself a kick in the proverbial ass, he got up and went to scrub up for surgery.

Three hours later, Eddie was wiped. He’d successfully made Mr. Keats leg look like a leg again. The man would forever be setting off metal detectors, but there was a good chance he’d be able to go back to work eventually.

Eddie knew that he worked for the Rochon family’s logging business. The Rochons always took care of their injured employees. Logging was a dangerous job. Anyone who got hurt on the job but was still able to do something worked in the local camp. Same pay, just lighter duty. Mr. Keats would probably be on kitchen duty with his Alpha’s mate Sophie when he was able to walk again.

Spending the day peeling potatoes, chatting up a cute girl, was not a hardship for most of these guys.

Stripping out of his gown and making sure he didn’t need a new set of scrubs, Eddie checked his cell phone. No voicemails, just a text from Tanner.

Call me, dumbass.

“Professional,” Eddie snorted.

Dialing his cousin, it rang too many times. Eddie was sure Tanner did that just to fuck with him.

“Stop ogling the nurses and earn your paycheck,” Tanner said as a hello.

“Oh yeah, Patricia is wearing scrubs with scary-ass clowns on them today. I was mesmerized,” Eddie shot back.

“You and clowns, dude. Oh wait, they’re kinda like gnomes….”

“Don’t think I don’t know you are behind the gnome bullshit. You aren’t that clever,” Eddie returned.

“Sure, sure. Anyway, you wanna know about your patient or not?”

“Hit me,” Eddie replied.

“Don’t tempt me,” Tanner said with a laugh.

Eddie just gave an exaggerated sigh. He waited.

“So, Dashiell Ellis, four years old, moved to Apex around seven months ago. Skinny was him and his mom lived at the motel for a while. Betty said she even babysat a few times when the mom went to work. Gemma Ellis currently lives at the same address, and there are no police calls or disturbances listed for that location. No reports to child welfare, no complaints. Sounds like a hard-working single mom. Nothing interesting,” Tanner reported.

Eddie disagreed. He was interested; he just didn’t know why.

“Thanks for your help. Glad to hear there is nothing to be concerned about.”

“Do you need something else? Anything the law enforcement of Apex can do for you?” Tanner asked sarcastically.

“Not today,” Eddie drawled.

Eddie hit end on the phone and stared at his desk. Gemma Ellis! The scent that clung to the little boy must be hers. His bear wanted to meet her. That was not a reason to give him what he wanted; Eddie decided when they went somewhere. His bear could disagree, but he made the final decision.

Today, he wasn’t feeling so confident in his ability to control the beast inside him.