2 - Falling out of trees
"So how did you date go? Did you not just love her?" Donna asked as I added a few Steri -strips to the small incision on the underside of the patient's left breast. The right one was already closed and my resident was currently busy cleaning it before putting some light dressing on the sutures.
"Get all the iodine off or it will itch like crazy," the surgical nurse ordered while watching my resident with a stern eye. Sometimes the nurses taught the residents more then us faculty, though she did not really have to bother with Brian. He was one of the brighter ones amongst my minions. I tended to quickly weed out the ones that were not up to my standards, which gave me the reputation of being somewhat of an asshole but it also meant that the truly gifted ones wanted to work under me. I never had that much patience when it came to fools.
"Hey Doc don't ignore me, I know you are a smart boy and can multitask." Donna continued her post date interview. "Tell me about your date."
"She seemed nice, if a little enamored with the lives of celebrities." I tried to be polite since Sylvia was one of Donna's friends. I would have been more forthright had we been alone but with a roomful of nurses, techs, and the anesthesiologist it would have been crass to tell the truth. "She and Peter seemed to hit it off really well."
My comment made her pause for a minute or it could have been that she realized that she needed to do her job. "Peter? Which one? Please don't tell me it was Buckingham because that guy is a moron."
Donna started it so who was I to deny her my opinion. "Of course he is an idiot, but that does not mean he could not be potential ex-husband number, what is Sylvia up to now?"
My temper had improved a great deal from last night. My extra energy had been burned off not by the run with my brother but by the fist I planted in his face after he pushed to hard. After we knocked each other around for a while we had breakfast together. Nothing like a good brawl and food to make a man feel better, it was almost as good as a good fuck. Not that I would know, I had been going solo for several months now.
"She must really like you because she usually does not tell people this soon that she is divorced." Donna seemed impressed.
"A woman in her early thirties that seems to have a lot of work done without any visible means of supporting herself? Usually that means either a trust fund or alimony. Trust fund kids tend to be more destructive in their spending of the money so I guessed there was an ex-husband somewhere that is paying her bills." I looked up at my nurse, her face looked startled even behind the mask. Most days she underestimated my intelligence, this was not entirely her fault - it was easier to take someone down if they did not know the full extent of your capabilities. Not that I had anything against my nurse, Bee had just trained me to assess all situations. When I entered a room a part of my brain always analyzed the other people in the room and made a rough plan as to the easiest way to subdue everyone. Only on the Island would I ever truly let my guards down, everywhere else I was always prepared to massacre every person around me. The surgical tech would be easy, there were several scalpels next to her that could be used to easily cut her throat. While I used my left hand to do that it would be next to nothing to smash my elbow into Brian's throat, with enough force his the cartilage of his trachea would break causing his airway to collapse. The next move would be a swift kick to Donna's head, she would never see it coming. The anesthesiologist was sitting down so his attempts to run for it would be useless, the patient on the table would just never wake up. All in all it would take less than a minute to kill everyone in the room. It would take a little more effort if I wanted to cover up my actions. Pushing my morbid plans to the back of my mind I supervised Brian adding the Steri-strips to his side.
Donna did not have to answer my question since the anesthesiologist started to blast his music; we all were serenaded by Lady Gaga as we finished up. It was somewhat amusing to wake the patients up to her singing about her poker face. The paralyzing agents we used to relax the patient's muscles during surgery meant that they would not be able to show an expression for a while.
"Stay with her until she wakes up," I warned my resident as I pulled off my sterile gown and threw it in the trash.
"Yes Doctor Nelson, would you like me to order the post op labs or will you be putting them in." He at least knew the drill but I guess he did not want to have another 'chat' like we had to last time. It was my fault that he did not understand how to treat the private patients, this was not the local free clinic. These patients expected the best and that is what they were going to get.
My office in the hospital was smaller than I was used to but since I split my time between this smaller private hospital and a county hospital the chief of staff did not feel it necessary to give me a bigger place. Sitting behind my desk I quickly logged into the medical website to check on my patients at the other hospital. Noticing a nasty trend I quickly called my chief resident and had him personally take the patient down to dialysis.
"This is not a joking matter, I can't get there until late this afternoon and I need this done two hours ago. You will push the bed down to nephrology as soon as possible." This was one of my burn patients and you did not mess around with an increased BUN and creatinine, we would replace their kidneys until the patient healed a little more. I had to change clothes since I had clinic in the afternoon, and that would be followed by another night of doing dictations, surfing the TV for something to watch. I might change up the plans for a bit if the new edition of JAMA came out, then I would be reading a medical journal for a few hours before heading back to channel surfing. My research was currently at a standstill since the MD/PhD student I normally worked with was gone to Brazil for a few months of research. I had other students working for me but he was the only one I trusted to get things done so I had put my samples on minus 80 and shut down the lab. I could have done the work myself but since I was leaving in a few weeks it would have been foolish to start something with no one to take care of my cells.
My life went pretty much along this pattern, and it would continue along these lines for the next week, and the week after that. This was the glamourous life of a plastic surgeon; at least this was the thrilling life of an immortal warrior playing at being a plastic surgeon for a while.
The last day of August would change this routine, I was taking five months off from my practice. It was something I normally did, take off a few months and did whatever caught my interest. Several colleagues had pointed out that this was not the best method for advancing my career but obtaining the title of Chief of Staff at some posh hospital was not something that I needed. I would probably spend time in the Middle East donating my services as a surgeon, that was usually a great way to break up the monotony. It also helped that in some places the chance of the procedure being interrupted by armed men was very high, it always made it fun when you got to throw a scalpel at someone who burst into your medical tent. When you live long enough you learn to appreciate chaos, though I preferred controlled chaos more than anything else. Especially if I was the one stirring up the trouble.
Donna was in charge of my clinic and would orient the new doctor that I had hired to take care of my patients while I travelled the world. "Seriously, how am I supposed to break in another doctor?" She grumbled during the last week of work.
"Oh I am sure you will do great, and it is not like you have to do surgery with the man. All you have to do is make sure he does not piss off anyone that is coming in for a post op checkup. And you can always go help out Gerald." I gave her an innocent smile.
Gerald was one of the partners in the large private clinic that I was a part of, Donna absolutely loathed the man. The feeling was mutual but I had never bothered to figure out the reason, my best guess would have been that they slept together. Which was a foolish thing to do, you did not fuck a nurse as competent as Donna.
August thirty first saw me finishing up my last surgery, it took a little longer than usual since we had to do a lot of on my patients nose. He was of Asian descent and wanted to make his eyes look more white; I did not judge, I just did what they paid me to do.
"So long suckers," I told Donna as she followed me through the double doors of the surgical wing.
"Rub it in why don't you?" Donna did not seem amused.
"What is this? Are you missing me already?" I gave her a playful shove. "Don't worry I will only be a phone call away."
"Shut up you overgrown little boy," she gave me a small smile that quickly turned into a scowl. "So where are you going?"
"Seattle, my best friend is up there." Thanks to Sassy's paranoia regarding her mate I had been politely ordered by my grandmother to head to the Seattle region and watch over Seth. Nothing could be as stimulating as baby-sitting a pre-pubescent wolf; though I guess with the wolf genes activated his body would have been forced through puberty before it went through the change.
If that boy is getting any action I am going to kick his ass. Seriously I could not figure out my problem, I was not a total pig and had in the past gone for years without sex with a woman. For some reason at this point I could not seem to completely relax using my alternative outlets. Even yoga was only doing so much for me right now, mother might get upset if I beat up Myles on a regular basis.
It took me two weeks to find my way to the cabin Sassy had built when she had first imprinted on her little boy. It was a comfortable place as houses went along, but most of our property tended to be that way. We worked hard for a reason, so what if we liked the finer things in life? We deserved it, plus it was our money. The theme of the architecture and the furnishing was definitely oriental but Sassy had always been drawn to that continent. My mother's people and hence Sassy's tended to be about the well being of the group, if you reduced the poverty rate by one percent it was a major accomplishment. This was funny because my father's people valued individual accomplishment as opposed to the entire tribe doing well; they were more of a 'it is all about me' kind of people. Americans tended to be more like my father's people and therefore were a little too self-centered for Sassy's liking.
"Thank you for coming so early," Sassy told me as she passed me some hot tea. I was glad she had not whipped out with the traditional tea bowls, those were so small I could finish them in two gulps. Sassy of course was well versed in the Way of tea, or the traditional Japanese tea ceremony. Fortunately we were not doing that today, since I did not currently have the patience to sit still for several hours.
"Several new boys had joined the pack as a reaction to the large influx of vampires that had come to the region last Spring. Leah Clearwater, Seth's sister still has the distinction of being the only female that shifter." Kendrick gave me an updated report of the situation.
"Leah, poor girl is not having a good time of it. She is still very upset over the fact that not only did her boyfriend of several years break up with her but he did it because he imprinted on her cousin." Sassy added in a quiet voice while passing me a plate filled with sandwiches.
"Hmmm, these are good. Is that some sort of pepper chutney?" I asked around a mouthful of food.
"Yes I used habanero chili peppers mixed in with some bell peppers. It complements the Shiitake mushrooms." Kendrick told me as he ate one of his sandwiches in three bites. Of course the food would not include meat since both Sassy and Kendrick were vegetarian.
"Please send me the recipe, I think I might have to try to make this for myself." Personally I liked to eat meat but that did not mean I would say no to great tasting food.
"Another new development is the fact that the pack of wolves split. Jake got angry with what Sam the alpha wanted to do and somehow created a new pack." Sassy brought us back on task.
"Jake was the one who imprinted on the new hybrid and Sam was the one who used to be Leah's boyfriend." I nodded in her direction telling her what I knew so that she would not waste her time repeating herself.
"Yes and the best part is that Seth and Leah joined Jake, so that reduces the risk of exposure for our family." Sassy always put family first, no matter what it cost. We could not help ourselves it is the way we were raised.
"You need to watch over baby Seth to make sure he does not fall off a cliff or get bitten by a blood drinker or something. Things are going to be relatively calm until mid December, we will return by then." Kendrick continued his partner's explanation. In some ways partners in the family were almost like married couples, well all except the sex. We tended to live together and follow each other around, Phila would have been with me in LA had she not met her mate. As it was I was thinking of leaving LA behind for Seattle, there were several good hospitals here as well as a teaching hospital that was well known for putting out solid research. It would not take vast amounts of effort to move my practice here, though I would be leaving behind the glamour of playing the plastic surgeon from LA. Yeah that would be a big loss, not.
"You can stay in the cabin if you wish, that way you can be closer to the region." Sassy offered politely. Distance did not really matter for us, not when you considered our ability to jump.
I would have turned her down if it was not for the big shiny kitchen staring at me. While Phila's apartment was nice, it did not have the space to accommodate such a large kitchen. "I might have to take you up on your offer, though I might be adding a few small appliances to those bare counters."
"Please be careful to avoid the pack, their senses are better than ours." Kendrick gave me a friendly warning. We had gone over this last Spring, it was easy enough to accomplish with alien technology. The was an undershirt of sorts that could block the sounds of your breathing and heartbeat to the point that not even a vampire standing next to you could hear your heart. The scent was a little more tricky in that we wore one that neutralized our own personal odor and made us smell more like the environment around us. It was an easy enough trick to make ourselves invisible to the people around us, all you had to do was push the though into their minds to not see the person standing right in front of them.
"Please check in on him daily," Sassy pleaded with me, and I could see how much she cared about his young man.
"I will protect him with my life if necessary," I told her with a serious face. It had taken her nearly two thousand years to find this boy, I did not want her to lose him.
"Thank you," she stood and gave me a formal bow. She was preparing to go back to her country and would soon be playing queen. Sometimes it took a bit of time to completely immerse yourself in the role, Sassy took her job seriously. At times it became apparent that being a ruler was part of her personality and she could never fully shed the cloak of queen. "I will go pack a few personal items. Kendrick will you be ready to go within the hour?"
He merely nodded in agreement as she headed upstairs.
"They tend to have volatile tempers, so do not be surprised if fights break out on a daily basis." Kendrick told me as he too stood up to finish packing.
"This sounds fun, I will be sure to bring some popcorn." I told Kendrick with a laugh. This was teenage drama at its best, who needed Dawson's Creek when you had a pack of werewolves.
"It would be a lot more amusing if it was not for the fact that Sassy's mate is in the middle of this." Kendrick's face showed he was not thinking about Seth but about his own dead mate. He had found her at a very young age, he had been barely eighteen at the time. He had been inexperienced and thought he had forever, too bad he had less than ten years with her. Her death had altered the usually happy go lucky man, if you were to judge by outward appearances it would seem like he was the same person. Occasionally you could catch him touching the tattoos on his arm, his face wreathed in anguish.
Aodh chose this moment to show me the vision of trees again, I mentally rolled my eyes at it. Instead of paying attention to my frustrating spirit I picked up the dirty dishes and quickly washed them in the pristine sink.
Kendrick and Sassy found me staring out at the immaculate gardens that surrounded the house. "We can give you the number of a reliable gardner." Sassy told me as she hoisted her small bag over her shoulder.
"Thank you but it will give me something to do." I told her politely.
"It is not like he is going to be doing anything else with his nights," Kendrick added with a laugh, and I narrowed my eyes at him. Seriously how many people knew that I was not getting sex? Oh well, no secrets in this family.
I turned back to stare at the garden after waving my family through the ripples in the air that indicated the gateway to another place. The formal structure of the garden would mean that all it would need was maintenance, there would be no room for me to get creative. It was drizzling outside but the small amount of rain did not bother me despite of the fact that I was wearing shorts and a t-shirt. In a small alcove next to the house was the herb garden, the small raised beds were covered with the option to lift the lid as the weather heated up. This would give you fresh herbs almost year round, something that came in handy with people who loved to cook. Pleased with my find I decided to explore some of the area, but that would take some preparation if the wolves were out patrolling.
A few hours later I had found myself a nice tree on which to perch, the rain had increased to the point where I was glad that my jacket had a hood. It was close to dusk now, the clouds were getting darker by the minute. Seth was not only a teenager but a werewolf with faster than human metabolism. I speculated that the fastest way to locate him would be next to his home, from the smells emanating out of the house a few hundred yards away it was easy to guess that dinner would soon be ready.
I felt my pocket buzz and I quickly checked my phone for a text message. Hey there, when you are done with stalking that kid do you want to go out dancing? Phila knew where I was and therefore would not try to actually call. Knowing my partner this would mean hitting up several places in New York. Since she was a professor in Seattle she went to New York to avoid being seen shaking her ass by one of her students.
Sure thing but I get to pick out what I wear. I was quick to add the caveat in my reply. Last time she made me wear some leather pants and I ended up having to fight off the advances of gay men all night long. Not that I had anything against their lifestyle but I liked breasts far too much to be able to go for a man. I had this thing for the natural ones too, it pissed me off to no end when women wore those stupid padded bras. I loved the seventies when it was common for women to not wear a bra at all, something about that little extra jiggle really did it for me.
But this is not the jeans kind of place, I foundthe nicest pair of pants for you to wear. I could practically see her pouting as she typed her reply.
No, no and once more no. Phila tended to pick gay bars, something about those places having the best music. Needless to say, me dressed by a woman in what she thought was sexy coupled with the fact that I could dance usually equated to me being simply irresistible to the boys.
Don't be such a pussy, you know you can tell them no. If all else fails we can wear matching wedding rings.
Let me see if I can locate my lost little puppy and report back to his mate. I will call you if there is still time to go out. When taking time zones into account it was already starting to be late in New York, despite the fact that it was the city that never slept most bars shut down by three or four am. We could of course go back in time but that could quickly become confusing.
There were a couple of rows of trees between myself and the field that led up to the house but through the branches I could see clearly into the small kitchen. I shuddered at the appliances visible through the small window. I knew for a fact that color had been discontinued for at least twenty, if not thirty years. Though I never quite understood who in their right mind thought 'Avocado' was a color that should be used as a color for a stove. The house itself was small by the standards of my family but we tended to like our space, our personalities tended to be large and we did not share all that well.
Despite its size and age it looked well built, the windows were square and the doors fit well into the frames. The owners had spent a great deal of effort on maintaining the place, it was obvious that someone was proud of their home.
I heard the sound of something moving through the underbrush, the speed with which it approached my position was impressive. I knew the wolves were fast but I had not observed them moving at these speeds. It seems the little puppy was coming to get his food. I suppressed a laugh when I noticed the mother setting the table, Seth had impeccable timing.
A small wolf stopped at the base of the tree I occupied, there was something wrong. This was not the wolf I was expecting, Seth was larger and his coat was not grey like the one sniffing at the shrub by my tree. For a moment I was worried that somehow the wolf had picked up on my scent but that did not last as the wolf used its teeth to pull out some clothing that had been hidden in the underbrush. The half torn looking jeans and slightly muddy t-shirt had seen better days but the wolf made a pleased sound when it examined its find.
I moved further out on my branch, taking care to sound like the wind whispering through the leaves when I brushed aside some leave to see the wolf below me better. As it began to shift the grey fur receded to reveal clear bronze skin, it took me a few moments to realize that this was the infamous Leah. The glimpse of a slight curve of a breast was my first clue, I was male of course that is where I looked. Long slender limbs were stretched, and I watched in absolute fascination as she stood up to her full height and stretched her lithe arms to the sky. My reason for observing the creature below me moved away from being curious about a shape shifting woman to the woman herself. And she was definitely female, some of my body parts were a little more eager than other to figure out just how female she was. My dick definitely wanted a closer inspection.
I wanted to see her face. Unfortunately she was facing away from me, short sleek dark hair hid her face from me. She bent down to pick up her clothes and I almost came in my pants, holy shit what an ass. For all her gazelle like limbs her ass was full and high, a man could get a real handful as he pulled her closer to him using those round globes. I was already picturing her riding me without having seen her face.
I was somewhat surprised at myself, normally my reaction was not this strong especially when I knew nothing about the girl. The other surprising thing was that Aodh remained silent, usually it would show me at least one derogatory vision regarding a woman I had just met.
I moved further on my branch, it was easy enough to do since part of my mental abilities allowed me to hover in mid air. Much to my regret she pulled on her pants but that feeling was soon lost as she turned her head and I got a glimpse of her profile. For a moment I looked at a pretty face with the obvious features of a Native American girl but suddenly all that disappeared. Abruptly the feeling of falling hit me, vision after vision bombarded me as reality receded.
She was above me wearing only a t-shirt, as she moved it became obvious that she was not wearing anything else. Her face was shimmering with tears as she completely abandoned herself to laughter. Nothing could compare to the beauty and emotion that shone through.
I wanted to watch this woman laugh forever, I wanted to be the one that gave her the reason to laugh. The picture shifted to be replaced by another.
She was walking across the stage in a horrible looking black gown and graduate cap on her head, the colors looked familiar but I was not trying to figure that out. Again the breathtaking woman caught all my attention... the image shimmered to her throwing up that godawful cap along with her other classmates. Pride and a sense of accomplishment clearly written on her face.
Another shift, and I regretted that the vision lasted only for a moment. I had wanted to look at her some more.
Small delicate hands with long graceful fingers were being steadied by hands that I recognized as my own. Slowly I slid a ring on her finger, marking her as mine for all eyes to see. Bronze skin pulled over delicate bones shifted as I pulled the fingers closer to my lips. I could practically taste her skin as I kissed the delicate skin that covered her wrist. A blend of honey, roses, pine trees, and a unique scent I could not place.
The white gown she was wearing had giving me the clue that it was our wedding day, but Aodh did not give me long with that vision instead he moved on.
Two mud covered figures ran across the grass, based on their sizes I would think the oldest one was five, maybe six years old. The other one was not even year behind, that made sense since we put our children in a sort of time limbo so that they could wait for their siblings to be born.
"Mother," one of them called to the woman waiting for them just inside the gate of my house.
"What have you two done?" Hands on hips she tried to keep her voice stern but the love and affection was clear. "Wolf and Hawk! What in the world did you do today? You are wolves, not piglets!"
A set of childish giggles followed her inside the house.
My vision shifted back to reality but the sense of falling did not dissipate, that was because I was falling. The ground and my mate were quickly approaching. I had pictured meeting my mate several times, of course it usually was perfect. We see each other across the room and our eyes lock, somehow I manage to make my way to her side and I give her my full smile. We bump into each other in the subway and I say hello.
Not once did I imagine introducing myself to my mate by falling out of a tree and slamming my two hundred plus pounds into her. I think that would have made a poor first impression.
Fortunately I managed to stop just a few feet above her, but my relief did not last long as my distraction allowed her to cross the small field. The slam of the door signaled the fact that she was lost to me for now.
So here I was with a raging boner, hovering about fifteen feet above the ground when I heard another crash through underbrush. Reminding me that I was not in the best place if I wanted to avoid detection. This one was louder, proclaiming that it was a much bigger creature. Less that ten feet from me Seth Clearwater appeared and shifted into human form.
That erection I though would last forever suddenly disappeared as I got to enjoy the view of Seth running naked towards the house. His bits flopping around in the wind.
Your boy is home safe and sound, I sent the message to Sassy.
That was the understatement of my life.
A/N: I so loved writing how Phil first saw Leah. Did you girls like it?
So here is a question? Do you think that Phil is the type of guy that would make him go home and scream from the rooftops that he found his mate or is he going to go to great lengths to protect his mate from everything including his interfering family?
Toshii519: Glad you liked it, Phil is supposed to be funny and not as together as Leah seemed to think he was.
Jamie2772: Here is another little present for you inbox. I thought it was appropriate to show how much Leah actually does for Phil. Most of Dreaming at Dawn was about how Phil changed Leah's life, this is about how she changed his.
Inosolan: You would be cranky too if you could not get any. Well I think he just found Miss Right, now all he has to do is convince her of the fact. No small feat there.
Jada91: It is fun writing Phil's point of view, especially since he is much more self assured.
MargotTenser: Wow what a review, smoochies. I would think it would get to anyone when you could not settle down with one person, messing around might be fun but it might get old if you have to do it for two millennia.
: Glad you liked, it is fun to see Phil's view of Seth and Sassy but it will be more fun to see how he deals with Leah and her problems.