Heart of a Wolf

“You too.” I turned on my heels to go. “Oh, and please don’t come home smelling like cat pee again. It’s disgusting.”

“It comes with the territory. Besides, it wasn’t that bad, was it?”

“If you call taking a bath in it not bad, then yeah. Sure.” I glanced back over my shoulder at her and smiled when she sniffed her freshly laundered clothes.

“I’ll do my best.”

“And now I’m really going to be late. Love you!”

“Love you t—”

The elevator door closed behind me, cutting her off. The moment it did, my heart sank. She may have been younger than me, but she’d always been there when I needed her most.

From doctors appointments to needle pricks and bad dates, she was always there.

She sat with me and held my hand through the worst of it and shared a box of crayons and her coloring books during the best. I couldn’t imagine my life without her. Our age gap of a few years didn’t matter as she’d always been around. She was my confidant, my shoulder to cry on, the arms I fell asleep in, and the laughter I longed to hear after a long day of work.

Unfortunately, she was so invested in my life that she’d never lived one of her own. Now that everything was over, I hoped that much would change. She’d wanted to date and had a handful of flings in the past, but none of them ever stuck because I had to call her home due to some medical emergency. It wasn’t fair.

But it’s over now, I assured myself as the elevator reached the lower level of the building.

After twenty-eight years, we finally had a chance to live.

Chapter Two

Jeremy was waiting for me with a stupid smile on his face as soon as I walked through the double glass doors. The smell of bleach and ammonia hit me like a truck, practically knocking me over as I steadied myself against the door frame.

“You okay?” he asked with a hint of laughter in his voice.

“Someone went a little crazy with the bleach this morning,” I told him, walking over to the reception area to take a look at the charts. Jeremy stopped me before I could read the one stacked on top. “What? I can look.”

“Orthopedics can wait,” he told me, taking the chart right out of my hand before putting it back where I’d found it. He then pulled me aside so an elderly couple could get by. “It’s your first day back, Jo. No jumping in with both feet. We need to find you an easy, lighter activity. You know, just to get your toes wet.”

Like I said before, I love Jerry to pieces, but like Val, he could be a little overprotective at times. Like right now.

He hadn’t said as much but I could see this morning was on the busier side. Considering the mussed hair on top of his head and his glasses already sliding down his nose, it looked as though he could use whatever help he could get.

“I’m going to tell you the same thing I told Val,” I said, flattening his brown curls the best I could. “I’m not glass. I’m not going to break. Please, Jer, I need this. I’ve been out of my mind sitting at home. Give me something I can really sink my teeth into.”

“Boredom won’t kill you,” he said, adjusting his glasses before walking me toward our office. “Besides, it’s just for a few days. Consider it a probationary period just to make sure your mind is as fit as the rest of you.”

I released a sigh of frustration. “How much is my sister paying you to keep me on a leash?”

“Nothing. Doctor’s orders.” He gave me a pointed look, his icy blue eyes narrowing in my direction.

“Meaning you.”

He smiled and pulled on a pair of invisible suspenders.

“You know how it is. A patient walks in after weeks of recovery claiming they’re ready to go back out on the field, but you never let them, do you?”

I let my arms drop to my sides. “You’re going to recite procedures to me?”

“It’s more of a guideline, but as a surgeon, I thought you’d agree.”

He ushered me inside the office and quickly removed the films off the screen before I could get my hands on them.

Man, he’d thought of everything! No charts. No x-rays.