“I told you to leave him alone,” said Doc and Sam almost at the same time.
Dave turned to Sam and started pushing her out of the door. “Sam, I think you aren’t the best person to have around at the moment and you are upsetting the old man,” he said as he tried to shove her out the door.
There was a growling noise and then a high pitched girly scream behind Dave. Dave turned to see the old man seemingly start to shift into a wolf and Matt pass out on the floor. The ‘wolfman’ was heading straight towards Dave. Dave let go of Sam, and ran for the door screaming at the top of his lungs.
Doc and Sam ran towards Buster/Brian and caught him as he fell off the bed.
“Oh Brian,” cried Sam. She and Doc put him back on the bed. Brian was half shifted and seemed even frailer than he had moments ago. Doc checked his pulse and when Sam looked up at him, he just shook his head slowly. The Doc dragged Matt out of the room and threw all of the paramedic gear out in the hall. He shut the door and locked it.
“I love you Sam. You remind me of my daughter,” gasped Brian. He coughed and wheezed.
“Oh Brian,” was all Sam could say as the tears rolled own her face. She curled up on the bed beside him and held him. Brian coughed again and shuddered as it subsided. Sam just rocked him slowly back and forth. His breathing became shallower and shallower until it was just a rattle in the back of his throat.
“Doc? I think he’s gone,” said Sam.
Doc came over and checked Brian’s pulse. Nothing. He checked again. Nothing. “He’s gone,” said Doc. “I’ll make out the death certificate.”
Sam still held Brian in her arms. “What are we going to do with them? And how are we going to deal with Betty Jane, the coroner?” she asked.
“I’ll deal with Betty Jane. As for them, they saw and old hairy man. That’s it. Now cover him up, because I think we are going to have company. I hear sirens,” said Doc.
Sam nodded. She kissed Brian on the forehead and covered his ears with his hair the best she could. Then she pulled the sheet up over his face.”Goodbye Brian,”she thought to herself.
No sooner did they get things set when someone hammered on the door. Sam walked over and unlocked it. At the door was Matt, Dave, the guest who started all the trouble, and Sheriff Dobbs.
“Um, Sam, um… These men say you won’t let them in to treat a patient. And, they are saying he’s some sort of wolfman. Do you have any idea what the hell their talking about?” asked Sheriff Dobbs.
“Yes, I do. One of my oldest friends fell ill, and this nosy bastard came in just as I was trying to get him to bed. He called the paramedics and I called Doc Rogers here. He’s Brian’s doctor. Now Brian didn’t want to go to the hospital to die, and told these two yahoos to leave him alone. When they didn’t leave, he got upset. He got more upset when they tried to push me out of my own room. They panicked and made one hell of a scene.
“Okay, and what about this old man Brian being a wolfman?” asked the Sheriff.
“Well, Brian is a furry kinda guy. A lot of those Canadians are that way. He growled at them and then coughed and fell out of bed. So if that makes them think he’s a wolfman, it ain’t my fault,” said Sam.
“And how is Brian doing?” the Sheriff asked Doc.
“He died about fifteen minutes ago. Might have made it long enough to call his family if these two shits hadn’t harassed him,” said Doc. He scowled at the two paramedics.
“Hey man, we were just doing our job,” said Dave.
“No, you were interfering with a man’s right to die peacefully,” said Sam. Now get out of my place!”
The two paramedics grabbed the last of their gear and headed for the door. Matt turned around. “What about Betty Jane?” he asked.
“I’ve already called her. She’ll bring the morgue wagon and we’ll deal with him,” said Doc.
Matt nodded and walked out.
“I still need to see the body,” said the Sheriff.
“Come on in,” said Sam. She wasn’t happy and felt no problem in letting everyone know it.
Sheriff Dobbs walked over to the bed. He pulled down just enough of the sheet to see Brian’s face and then let the sheet fall. “Sure hairy enough. Musta been a shave twice a day kinda guy,” was all he said. He tipped his hat to Sam and Doc. “My condolences.”
The Sheriff left the room and soon it was just Sam and Doc. Sam looked around. “How long till Betty Jane gets here?” she asked.
Probably two hours. She’s gotta put on that fright face she calls makeup and then wake up Teddy to drive the hearse. Why?” he asked.
“I’ve got a phone call to make,” said Sam.
“Can’t it wait? It’s 3am,” said Doc.
“No, not with those two idjets spreading rumors and such. Plus, maybe they know a place to take Brian so there aren’t no photos or autopsies,” said Sam.
“Then what you waiting for?” asked Doc.
Sam went and got the phone and brought it back to her room. She dialed Ginny and Patrick’s number.
*
Patrick heard the phone and tried to ignore it. Ginny woke up and got the phone. “Better be important if you’re calling at 3:05am!” she thought. “Hello? Oh Sam!” she said.
Patrick woke and sat straight up when she heard Ginny say Sam. He listened as Ginny talked. He nodded and went to get his own cell phone. He took it out to the living room and called Dr. Jeff. He explained what he’d heard from Ginny and then rang off. When he got to the bedroom, he found Ginny crying. Patrick took her in his arms and just held her. He knew he’d get the whole story when she stopped crying.
Dr. Jeff called a friend of his who ran a family mortuary less than ten miles from the B&B. He arranged for them to pick up Brian from the B&B. Then he called Doc Rogers and let them know what was going on. Then he went back to sleep.