“Courtesy of Rourke and Ashton.”
“Oh, brother.” She peered down the hall. “Here come the food trays. Now you’re in for it.”
“It’s your show.” He grinned at her.
“Oh, great, so I have to explain this? The two Stooges left me with the evidence? I should leave you alone here to explain it yourself.”
“I’m the innocent patient. I couldn’t have left the bed.” He shook his I.V.
She whipped the towel off her head, tossed it on the bathroom floor, and then stepped into the hall. “Here, I’ll take Mr. Grey’s breakfast for him.”
Hunter smiled with satisfaction. If the circumstances had been different, they would all have made pretty decent pack members.
Tessa closed the door and carried the tray in to Hunter. He sniffed the air. “Do you like pancakes?”
“Sure.”
“Why don’t you eat them then.”
She opened the lid. “How did you know?”
“Excellent sense of smell. Did the doctor talk to you about my condition last night?”
“Yes, he said it might take months of therapy to recover the full use of your shoulder.”
“Won’t take that long. What did he say about my release?”
“You just got here.”
“I’m ready to leave.”
She poured syrup on her pancakes. “You’re not going anywhere, Hunter. You were in terrible shape when we brought you in. Even the doctor said so.”
“All I need is you to take care of me. I’ll heal ten times faster. Fever’s all gone even.”
She looked up from her pancakes and frowned. “Your face is still flushed.”
“Nearly all gone then. I was thinking we ought to go to Rourke’s place until I’m healed.”
“He’s got a studio apartment. No bedroom, couch makes into a bed. Kind of cramped.”
“Oh. What about Ashton’s place?”
Tessa licked the syrup off her lips and laughed. “He lives with his dad. Big house, but somehow I don’t believe he’d appreciate it if we moved in with him.”
“Still lives at home?” Hunter shook his head. “He does need to join the Navy.”
“He’s never held a job long enough that he could afford to live on his own.”
“I wish I could remember where I live. That would solve the problem.” Footsteps sounded down the hall headed in their direction. “Someone’s coming. Probably the nurse.”
Tessa flew into action. He hadn’t planned on hiding the evidence, but Tessa took his empty dishes and stuffed them in the clothes cabinet. She sat back down on the chair, her face crimson.
“Good morning, Mr. Grey. I’m here to take your vital signs,” the nurse said, smiling broadly at him, her long, dark curls bouncing as she walked with a spring to her step.
“I’m ready to leave.”
She gave a breathy little laugh. “We try to get patients out of the hospital as quickly as we can, but—”
“Good. I’m ready. Just sign the papers.”
“I’m sure you’ll be here a couple of more days at least.”
Hunter wasn’t waiting that long. Not with the lupus garou nurse itching to destroy his relationship with Tessa and the rest of the grays still a real problem.
“The fever’s come down quite a bit. The doctor will be here after a while to check on you. Do you need anything?”
“Just the release papers.”
She chuckled. “We need more male patients like you. Just push the button if you need me.” She wiggled her butt a little too much as she left the room.
“You can’t leave until the doctor says so. Enjoy all the pampering. You deserve it,” Tessa said.
Hunter was surprised she wouldn’t be upset with the way the nurses were making fools of themselves over him. “Food’s not as good as yours.”
“Yeah, but you get three times as many dishes here.” She motioned to the leftover pancakes.
Ashton and Rourke returned looking well fed. Rourke sniffed the air. “When did you get pancakes?”
Ashton laughed.
“Yeah, very funny, guys. I had to hide the other dishes,” Tessa said.
Hunter pointed to the clothes cabinet. “I’m ready to go. I was trying to come up with a safe place to stay, but…”
“Snow’s melting off the roadway,” Rourke said. “Temperature rose to forty-five degrees.”
Tessa shook her head. “He has to stay here until the doctor says.”
Ashton folded his arms. “Yeah, I agree.”
“My place is kind of small.” Rourke rubbed the back of his head. “But you and Tessa could stay there for the time being. Place is well stocked. The electricity’s back on all over the county. And phone service has been restored.”
“What about the stalker?” Ashton sounded disappointed.
“Hunter can’t mess with him for a while,” Tessa said.
Hunter considered his options. But only one seemed viable. “All right. We return to Tessa’s house. We need new locks, a window, and lots of food.”
“And medical supplies. Bandages, tape, gauze, antibiotics. But you’re not leaving here until the doctor releases you.” Tessa gave Hunter a hard look.
“You’ve got your mission,” Hunter said to Rourke.
Ashton’s face brightened. “You’ve got it!”
The two vacated the premises pronto. Hunter took Tessa’s hand and kissed it. “Want to snuggle some more? All that food made me sleepy.”
She rolled her eyes. “I can just see the doctor catching us.”
“Now there’s an idea. Then he would release me, figuring I was well enough after all.” But when she didn’t make a move to join him, Hunter smiled and let go of her hand. “Wake me when he comes, if I don’t get up before then.”
Although it didn’t matter if he got the doctor’s permission or not. He couldn’t stay much longer before someone discovered he was healing too fast for it to be normal and wonder why.
Wake Hunter when the doctor came? No way. Tessa was determined to keep him right where he was. Rourke should have had better sense. Ashton was being Ashton, impulsive, devious, loving to go against the rules whenever he could.
The time dragged on and she knew if the doctor didn’t hurry, Hunter would wake. She didn’t want Rourke or Ashton returning either and trying to convince the doctor to let Hunter go. Then again, she figured at least someone on the medical staff would say no.
When the doctor arrived, she wanted to shove him into the hall and talk to him privately. The blond-haired man looked like he had barely finished high school.
“Hi, I’m Tessa Anderson,” she whispered. “Hunter wants to leave, but he needs to stay for a couple of more days, don’t you think?”
“After being torn up by that Rottweiler? I’d say so.”
“Rottweiler?”
“Yeah. His friend said the dog had attacked Mr. Grey, but that they were so close to the edge of the cliff, the dog fell to its death. Tide washed him out or we would have been able to run tests on him to see if he had rabies. But Mr. Grey and Mr. Thornburg are receiving the rabies shots anyway as a precaution.”
“The dog looked more like a—”
“Rottweiler,” Hunter said. “Ready to release me, Doc?”
“Where’s the man who was bitten by a wild dog?” Sheriff Wellington asked down the hall.
Hunter’s expression darkened. Tessa took a deep breath. Now what story would Hunter tell?
The sheriff stalked into the room like he owned it, glanced at the doctor, and then at Tessa. His eyes widened. He whipped his head around and stared at Hunter.
Hunter gave him an arrogant smirk.
“You were the one bitten?”
“It’s me.”
“Where’s my son? He said he was coming to see you. If anything happened to him—”
“He went into town to get some supplies for Tessa’s house. Doc’s releasing me and we’re returning to her place.”
The doctor cleared his throat. Good, he would set Hunter straight. Even if he did look like he’d just graduated high school. The doctor took a look at Hunter’s injury. “Hmm, looking better, Mr. Grey, but you’ll be here for a couple of more days as bad as the wound is.”
Tessa smiled at Hunter. She was glad at least the doctor had enough sense.
He wrote something in his chart. “I’ll be back later to check on you.”
The doctor walked out and the sheriff folded his arms. “I don’t want you filling my son’s head with glorified stories of how wonderful serving in the Navy SEALs is.”
“Wouldn’t think of it. The notion of joining them is all his idea, not mine.”
“You could have told him why you quit. The downside of being in the Navy.” The sheriff shook his head. “So what’s the story about this wild dog? Are you sure it’s dead?”
Hunter repeated the farfetched tale that Rourke had made up. Tessa couldn’t believe it. Was he trying to protect the vicious animal? Or was it like Ashton had said? Hunter wanted to take care of the menace personally?
She watched his facial expression—the amusement in his lips and eyes—even though he was trying to keep a straight face while he told the story. What did she really know about him? Nothing. Except that he was super-protective of her, dependable when it came to survival instincts, a great handyman, a born leader, a damned good cook, and the greatest lover she’d ever had. But she still didn’t know who he was, where he had come from, or how he had gotten there. What if he was a bad guy, but didn’t remember being one? Could a person forget a past life of crime and become someone new? But when the memories returned, then what?
“Is that what happened?” the sheriff asked Tessa.
“What?”
He frowned at her. “Did it happen like Mr. Grey said?”