Chapter 39
Angela smiles as she agrees with my observation. “If I can’t touch the bruise to determine sensitivity and potential fracture then I need to do an x-ray.”
“If you can get the x-ray without moving him then that’s what we need. Otherwise it can wait until I do his physical.”
“You’re going to do it personally, privately?”
“Yes. If we’ve gotten him out of the cycle then I should be able to move him up stairs after dinner tomorrow. He needs to be up, walking around before I can move him.”
I state as I tie his gown back together.
“Even though he seems asleep I’m going to distract him as you give those shots. Enough time has passed for us to get back to Jamie. He should be fairly numb by now.”
She nods in agreement as she picks the syringes up off the bed as she sits behind his back. I take the stool next to Jamie, who’s practically sleeping himself, and run my hand through Cole’s hair. To my surprise, he opens his eyes.
“I didn’t think you were completely asleep. Are you upset that I looked at your rear without asking?”
He shakes his head as he whispers.
“No, only.... a matter... of time..... before.... you saw.”
“Angela is going to give you those shots she talked about. Stay relaxed. You won’t feel much.”
He nods his head as he closes his eyes again. I slide my hand into his. It’s faint and slow but I can feel the steady rhythm of his hand gently squeezing mine as Angela cleans his arm with alcohol before wiping the same area down with the lidocaine.
“Would you like me to count before the stick?”
He makes the thumb down sign with his free hand before taking a deep breath. He still has a decent wheeze going on but I smile at how deep he was able to go.
“No, Angela. Just go ahead with them while he’s still relaxed.”
He flinches slightly with the first stick but was practically asleep with the second. It’s as Jamison and I get up that Cole grabs Jamie’s hand.
“I don’t think.... it will do.... much.... but you can... tell what.... little you’ve seen.”
There’s a look of shock on Jamie’s face as we walk back to the bed to take care of him.
Jamie stays quiet as we approach the bed. I can tell by his numbers that Cole fell asleep during the short walk from one side of the room to the other. I’m grateful that he’s finally relaxed enough with us that he’s finally able to rest. Hopefully we can leave him be for a solid two hours without having to introduce something new to him.
“Go ahead and kick your shoes off. This is going to take a while, that’s why you're getting the comfy bed. If you don’t mind, I’d like to ask some questions about what went on in the dining hall with Dallas.”
Jamison shrugs his shoulders.
“I don’t mind. I have nothing to lose, right?”
“I don’t like sending prospects home early, especially when you’ve barely been here a day. Being honest with me will make the process of figuring out who started the fight a whole lot easier. So I would say nothing to lose but something to gain.”
“I thought you automatically went home for fighting?”
“Council rules for prospects dictate that assault at any time while you're outside your own territory is grounds for dismissal but, they say nothing about self defense. I have a long standing rule that I don’t punish wolves for defending themselves.”
“So you found a loophole?”
Angela has started with the deepest layer of stitching causing Jamison to startle. I can tell by his eyes that he’s uncomfortable with what he feels going on.
“Jamie,” I try to call him back to me. When he makes eye contact I smile gently trying to reassure him. “Be honest. Does it hurt? Sometimes it doesn’t numb down completely.”
A sudden yelp answers my question before he can, with persisting whimpers following behind it. I grab hold of his hands as Angela finishes the stitch she’s working on before standing and leaving the bed.
“I’m sorry, Jamison. These deep cuts can be quite tricky to get completely numb. Hold still. I’m going to hit a few more places.”
He squeezes my hands hard as she injects lidocaine into several more spots, relaxing slowly as she hits areas that have numbed nicely.
“I’m going to leave you a few minutes to let that set in. Getting x-rays of Cole’s ribs shouldn’t take long.”
As she takes off across the room setting everything up for the x-ray I turn my attention back to Jamie.
“Are you doing okay?”
“Yeah,” he nods his head. “Alpha, why do stitches hurt worse than busting my head open?”
I can’t help but chuckle lightly.
“Adrenaline. It reduces your perception of pain while increasing your strength and stamina but once it dies down you’re left kind of wimpy.”
He nods his head again as he looks towards Cole. Angela manages the x-ray nicely without even touching Cole. It’s only when she hooks a syringe into his IV that he stirs uncomfortably. She bends down towards his ear with her hand on the back of his head as she speaks, calming what little fight he has.
“What did you give him?” I ask when she walks back over.
“A small amount of Vicodin instead of vicoprofen. Acetaminophen blocks pain while ibuprofen reduces inflammation. I was trying to avoid the acetaminophen because of the damage to his liver but I’m just going to have to monitor his liver closely for a bit. I don’t want him to be in any unnecessary pain.”
“Thank you, Angela.”
“For what?”
“Your kindness towards him.”
“I’m a doctor just like you Demetri, it’s my job to help.”
“I don’t think every doctor thinks that way. Not based on what he tells us of his stays at Red General.”
“He’s had a hard road to travel. He deserves a little kindness in his life.”
I nod my head as she sits back down on the stool by Jamie’s head.
“All right Jamie, shall I try this again?”
He grabs hold of my hands and closes his eyes as he lets out a quiet, nervous whine.
“You asked about a loophole in the council’s rules on assault a minute ago.”
I decide to try and distract him as Angela gets started again.
“Yes sir.”
I can hear the nervousness in his voice. I gently start rubbing the tops of his hands trying to get him to relax as he squeezes me with the first stitch.
“These shouldn’t hurt Jamie. If you feel anything outside of tugging and pressure then you need to tell Demetri or I.”
“Yes, ma’am. I don’t feel pain. I’m just nervous that I’m going to feel it again.”
“I’m sorry about that. I should have checked the area better before starting.”
“Try to relax Jamie.”
I give his hand a gentle squeeze. I watch him closely as he starts taking some deeper breaths. Angela is working quickly now and he appears to not be in any pain.
“Are you doing better? Are you ready to talk a bit?”
“Yes sir. I think I’m okay.”
“To answer your question, it’s not a loophole. Similar to human laws, assault is charged when one or more individuals engage in fighting causing injury but, just like humans, if you can prove self defense, you will get a lesser charge if you get one at all.”
“So if I can prove he started it I might get to stay a bit longer.”
“Sort of. You tell me your side of what happened. Andrew, Richard, and Dallas will also get the opportunity to tell their sides as well. I’ll go over security footage of the event and decide from there who’s telling me the truth.”
“Well there’s not much I can really say. Dallas was talking shit about Cole. I told him to stop. That he doesn’t know Cole and that Cole would never do what the rumors claim. He started talking shit towards me so I tried to leave. I was going to wait outside until you or one of the alpha trainers showed. Richard is Dallas’s best friend. He grabbed me and shoved me into Dallas. Dallas then shoved me into the wall before hitting me in the gut. Andrew tried to step in but Richard hit him before he could get to me. At some point Dallas slammed my head into the corner of the table. That’s when he got me on the ground and I couldn’t get up until you came.”
“Thank you Jamie. As I said, everything will be verified by video feed but I have no reason to doubt you right now.”
“Yes sir. Thank you.”
He grows quiet as we listen to Cole’s soft whimpers. Sadness is in his eyes as he looks towards his friend without moving his head.
“He’s been abused for a long time, alpha. Yet he’s hesitant to talk about what happens to him.”
“How did you get to know him so well? It seems like his father has managed to turn the entire pack against him.”
“Most of the pack, yes, but not all. He has weird behaviors about him. Tics my dad calls them. Some are benign and easy to ignore but others are..... well..... more extreme.”
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