When she was fairly dry, Patrick carried her to a chair and grabbed a teeshirt and panties for her. He helped her dress and then stripped the top blanket off the bed. He tossed it on the floor and then put Ginny in bed. Then he got dressed.
“Stay put, or you will not like the consequences,” he said as he left the room.
“Okay,” said Ginny. He was still using sub-vocals and the rumble made her wince. She tried to get comfortable on the bed.
*
Patrick headed downstairs to Sam’s room. He knew it was nearly 5am, but Ginny needed aspirin and ice for her head and ankle. He knocked on the door and waited. He knocked again and finally heard someone moving on the other side of the door.
“You better have a damn good reason to wake me up twenty minutes before my alarm is gonna to go off,” said a rather grumpy and sleepy Sam through a partially opened door.
“Sam, I’m sorry to wake you up, but Ginny had an accident. She slipped on the balcony and hurt herself. She has a bump on her head and sprained her ankle. I would have waited…” was as far as he got.
“Just shut up a second. Let me get dressed. Do you need a doctor or a vet?” Sam asked.
Sam’s question brought Patrick to an abrupt halt. He blinked and then his brain kicked back in.
“A… a doctor would be just fine. Thanks Sam,” he said.
“There are extra blankets in the hall closet. Grab a few and toss the dirty stuff down the chute next to the laundry bin. I’ll take care of that stuff later. Meanwhile, get back to Ginny. I’ll be up in a few minutes,” she said.
Patrick nodded and headed back upstairs at a run. He grabbed two blankets and was back in the room in under a minute.
“Sam’s calling a doctor and I brought up some blankets,” said Patrick
“Okay,” said Ginny. “I’m sorta cold.”
Patrick wrapped Ginny up in the blankets and waited for Sam to arrive.
*
Sam called Doc Rogers. Then she headed up to their room with a hot water bottle, ice in a bag and some water. She knew Doc would have a fit if she gave Ginny anything else before he’d looked her over. The door was open when she got to the room, but she still stopped and knocked on the door frame.
“It’s me, Sam. Can I come in?” she asked.
“Sure Sam. I have Ginny in here on the bed,” called Patrick.
Sam walked in and stopped. Ginny had a knot the size of an orange on her head and her eyes were showing bruises. “Oh my. What on earth happen? You get in a fight with an elk?” Sam asked.
“No, her paw slipped on the railing and she face planted on the deck,” said Patrick.
“Oh damn. Which paw?” Sam asked.
“My right one,” Ginny said softly. She pulled the blanket away from her foot.
Sam gently poked at it and checked it out as gently as she could. “Yeah, you twisted that a good one,” Sam said. “Now, did you bust your nose too?”
“I don’t think so,” Ginny said. “My head hurts though.”
“Well Doc Rogers will be here in a few minutes,” Sam said. “And before you panic, he’s treated shifters plenty of times. I swear that damn bar across the street attracts them like flies.” Sam put the ice on Ginny’s ankle and gave her the hot water bottle to snuggle.
“Not surprised. The food’s good and the name is a tease,” said Patrick. “So, what gave us away if you don’t mind me asking, because you certainly weren’t surprised.”
“Hon, I been running this place for nearly thirty-five years. Ain’t a lot that I haven’t seen to be honest, and I’m not the kind to get my feathers ruffled. This has always been a real remote spot, and I think I’d been open a whole week afore I saw my first couple sneak out and shift inta wolves. A real nice newly wed couple from back east. Next morning at breakfast, I asked him to come into the office for a minute. Scared as hell I was, but figured I better see if I was crazy. I wasn’t. We had a nice long talk. He’s the one that helped me fix up the rooms to be more shifter friendly,” she said. “As to what gave you away? Just the way you handle yourselves, and after a while, you just sorta know. Plus, ol’ Buster sorta whined when you came in.”
“Buster?” asked Patrick.
“Yeah. He’s an old wolf. Lives here and he hangs out near the kitchen. He came here four or five years ago. Decided he was gonna kick off out in the woods. Even left me a note telling me what to do with his stuff. Three days later, this big ol’ mangy looking husky thing scratched at the back door. I didn’t know what to think, so I gave it some water and a blanket to lay on. Ten minutes later, there was Buster, sitting on a chair wrapped in a blanket,” said Sam.
Patrick took this information in and just blinked. “What happened then?” he asked.
“We talked. He was old, tired and wasn’t coping well in human form. Had trouble changing. His ears and whiskers don’t always go back. So, we came to an agreement. Buster can live here and acts as sort of a guardian. ‘Specially at night. He gets room and board. I made him up a real fine place to stay outside when he wants and he has a room too. Most days, he stays on four legs,” said Sam.
“When this is all over, I’d like to meet Buster,” said Patrick.
“Fine. I’ll bring him up. Now I’m wonderin’ where Doc Rogers is,” said Sam. She walked over to the door and out into the hall. “Doc, I said we’d be up here,” she shouted over the railing.
There was some mumbling out in the hall and then footsteps on the stairs. A moment later, a rather sleep older gentleman in jeans and a flannel shirt walked into the room.
“Howdy, I’m Doc Rogers,” he said holding out his hand to Patrick.
“Hi. I’m Patrick and this is Ginny,” he said and pointed to Ginny on the bed.