Reforming the Bear (3 page)

First
time anyone had told him that. Had he not been kind in the past? He could be a
little rough around the edges but it hadn’t always been that way. His brother
Danny’s sudden death had made his heart bitter, but then he learned about Sam.
Maybe it was Sam who was changing him for the better.

“The
doctor’s one of the best in town,” Liam assured her.

“He’s
a relative of yours?”

“No
… well, he’s going to be my nephew’s stepdad very soon.”

Liam
wasn’t sure if she wanted to hear the whole story but he was going to tell her
as a way to pass the time and take her mind off the pain in her leg. He wasn’t
usually a man of many words––well, sometimes angry ones––but she was scared and
talking might help her.

“Sam,
that’s my nephew, is my younger brother Danny’s child. Danny died and didn’t
know that Sam’s mom was pregnant.”

This
was beginning to sound like a soap opera. He hoped he wasn’t boring her but
he’d started the story now, so he might as well finish it.

“Sam’s
mom, Hannah, fell in love with Bear … Dr. McWilliams, and they’re getting married
at the end of the month.”

“How
old is Sam?”

“He’s
seven. In fact, I have a photo of him somewhere in my wallet.”

Liam
leaned over on his left hip and pulled out his wallet, resting it on the
steering wheel and opening it up to the spot where he had the snapshot of Sam.
He handed the wallet to Lucy. Her hand shook as she took it and Liam turned on
the overhead light so she could see it more clearly.

“He’s
so cute. He has freckles? I did too when I was a kid.”

“Yeah,
he gets those from both his mom and dad. He’s a great kid.”

Liam
smiled. All uncles and parents thought that, right? Sam was his whole life now.
It was almost as if fate had brought Danny back to him, albeit in a smaller and
newer form. “I’m going to look after him for a couple of weeks while Bear and
Hannah go on their honeymoon.”

Boy,
was he looking forward to that. Two weeks of him and Sam and no one else. And
Hannah had trusted him enough to agree to the arrangement. Coming from a human,
it had meant a lot.

Lucy
handed the wallet back to him.

“Do
you have any kids of your own?” she asked him.

“Nope.”

“You
married?”

“No,
not married either. How about you, husband or kids?”

“No,
none of the above.”

“We’re
going to be at the hospital in a couple of minutes,” said Liam, turning off the
main road.

“I
can’t thank you enough for doing all this. I’m sure you’ve got better things to
do tonight.”

“Who,
me? Nah. I’d just be watching TV and drinking beer.”

Liam
pulled up the Mustang up outside the front entrance of the hospital and spotted
Bear already waiting by the door with a wheelchair.

“You
stay in the car and Bear and I will help you out,” said Liam.

Liam
got out of the car and waved to Bear who headed toward them with the chair.
Liam opened the passenger door.

“Lucy,
this is Dr. McWilliams, or as he likes to be called, Bear ... Bear, this is
your patient, Lucy Hunt.”

“Hi,
Lucy. Liam says you hurt your leg so let’s get you into the wheelchair and
inside so I can take a look.”

“Hi,
Doctor … Bear,” said Lucy.

“You
want me to hold your bag for you?” Liam asked her.

“No,
that’s okay. I can keep it on my lap.”

Bear
got one side of Lucy, Liam the other. She cried out as they lifted her up and
then eased her down onto the wheelchair.

“It’s
okay, Lucy. Bear’s going to take good care of you,” Liam assured her.

Instinct
kicked in again and he held her hand as Bear wheeled her inside the hospital
and along to one of the examination rooms.

“Thank
you for everything,” said Lucy, shaking his hand.

“Is
it okay if I wait outside until Bear’s done examining you?” asked Liam. He
suddenly wanted to continue protecting her. Maybe that was the bear in him, or the
fact he didn’t have a mate of his own to watch over.

“It’s
okay … but you really don’t have to stick around,” said Lucy.

“I
know, but I think I should. You know, just in case you need some more help.”
Even if she demanded that he go, he’d stick his ground and insist on staying at
the hospital.

Bear
winked at him as he shut the door. The hospital was quiet at this time of night
and Liam wasn’t sure what to do. Being a single bear, a loner in fact, he
wasn’t sure what the protocol was. Go wait in the family room? Maybe lean
against the wall outside … He opted to pace. Yeah, pacing was good because it
got out all his pent-up feelings and nervousness over hoping Lucy was going to
be okay. He’d chosen to be her bear protector, and he’d stay in that role until
she was one hundred percent okay.

A
few minutes later, Liam heard the handle on the door opening as Bear wheeled
Lucy outside into the hallway.

“I’m
taking her to get some X-rays of her leg and then we need to get all these
scrapes cleaned up.”

Liam
nodded. “I’ll wait here.”

He
began pacing up and down again, but decided to go to the waiting area and get
himself a coffee from the vending machine. He sat and sipped it. Not as good as
the sort he made at home, but it would keep him alert.

Liam
picked up a magazine and began paging through it. Someone coughed and he
guessed it was Bear. He looked up to see him leaning against the wall.

“Is
Lucy going to be all right?”

Bear
nodded and walked over to sit beside him. “She has some deep scrapes and cuts,
but I’ve cleaned them up and given her a tetanus shot. The really good news is
her leg isn’t broken. However, it is badly sprained so I managed to convince
her to stay here overnight. She didn’t want to say much about what happened. How
did you find her?”

“I
took the Mustang I’d just fixed out for a test drive and I saw her crawling
along on the shoulder. She said her car broke down, some trucker stopped to
help and then tried to rape her and she took off and fell.”

“Jeez.
Did either of you report this to the police?”

“She
didn’t want to get them involved.”

“Yeah,
she does seem a bit guarded … and what’s with that bag? I had to pry it out of
her hands so I could X-ray her.”

So
it wasn’t just Liam who noticed her overprotectiveness of it.

“I
don’t know, but she was adamant that she went back to her car for it. Once she
had it she treated it like her baby.”

“I
guess everyone’s entitled to their secrets. We should know that better than any
human,” said Bear.

Liam
finished the last of his coffee. “Can I go see her before I head home?”

Bear
smiled. “Sam really has been a good influence on you. I think you’re beginning
to see that humans aren’t all bad.” Bear stood.

Liam
wouldn’t go as far as that, but Lucy seemed vulnerable and it brought out his
bear’s protectiveness. It didn’t matter whether or not you were a shifter or a
human. It was always a good thing to have someone watching out for you.

Chapter Three

Lucy
jumped when she suddenly noticed someone standing in the doorway of the room
Bear had wheeled her to. He’d gotten a nurse to bring her a robe and she’d
settled Lucy into the bed, where at least her poor banged-up body finally felt
some relief.

“Sorry,
Lucy. I didn’t mean to startle you.” It was Liam––and she was happy to see that
he’d stuck to his word and waited around a bit.

“No
problem. It’s just been a strange sort of night,” said Lucy.

“Yeah,
I can imagine it has been. Is it okay if I come in and visit with you for a few
minutes?”

She
was tired and wanted nothing else but to go to sleep but he’d probably saved
her life tonight. Lucy had no idea what would have happened if he hadn’t come
along when he had. She probably would have laid on the side of the road, and
maybe even been run over by a car. When he’d first walked over to her she’d
been in too much pain and shock for his good looks to really register in her
brain. Now that she felt safe and he was standing in the light, she realized
Liam was the most gorgeous man she’d ever set eyes upon. She’d been saved by
Prince Charming himself. What girl didn’t fantasize about that?

“Sure.
I’d love to have you visit for a bit.”

“Bear
said you’re staying in overnight so I’ve brought your suitcase in from the car
just in case there’s anything you need,” he said, carrying it into the room and
sitting it by the chair where she’d placed the bag. As long as she still had
it, well, that was all that mattered. How stupid of her to run like she had. To
take off leaving it in the trunk unattended … but she’d panicked when the
trucker had begun manhandling her.

Her
carelessness told her she wasn’t the right person for this job. Tonight had
been proof that she didn’t have what it took to survive when the going got
rough, and if Mike was correct, the going could get a lot rougher.

Liam
pulled up a chair. The jeans he wore stretched across his thighs. Lucy sat
spellbound. “Do you want me to check out your car for you tomorrow? If I can’t
fix it roadside, then I can tow it to my garage. I fix cars for a living.”

“You
really are turning out to be my guardian angel,” said Lucy. Maybe someone was
out there looking out for her and Mike.

Liam
blushed. First time she’d ever seen a guy do that.

“Just
your lucky night, but maybe you don’t see it that way,” he said.

“If
you hadn’t come along, who knows what would have happened to me.”

“Just
glad I could be of some help.” He stood. “I think I should let you rest and get
some sleep.”

“I’ll
pay for the car repairs, and the gas you used driving me here and out to my
car.”

“Unless
it’s something really expensive that needs fixing, it’s going to be on the
house. I get more pleasure out of putting cars back on the road than my
customers realize. In fact, I should be paying them rather than presenting them
with the bill.”

He
smiled. He had dimples and beautiful blue eyes.
Kind eyes.
Yeah, Liam Ahern was a bit too good to be true. A
universal truth said he had to have some fatal flaw, because all handsome men
with charming personalities did. It got her wondering just what Liam’s actually
was.

“I
guess if you enjoy fixing them, then I won’t argue with you,” said Lucy.

“I’ll
drive out to check out your car first thing in the morning. Then I’ll stop by
here to let you know what I found. You have a good night.”

“I’ll
try, and thanks again.”

He
left the room, the smell of his aftershave still lingering minutes after he’d
made his exit. Sort of musky, with a hint of spice. Lucy liked it. Had done,
even when she’d been shaking with fear and planted her nose in his chest as
he’d carried her along the road. She dimmed the lights in the room, still too
apprehensive to turn them all the way off. She’d liked a nightlight shining in
her room when she was a child. Kept the monsters under the bed away.

Now
that her big brave hero had left, she was suddenly scared all over again. She
slid down under the sheets and pulled them up around her shoulders, wincing as the
bottom sheet caught her foot and twisted her leg.

How
lucky she’d been that Liam had been driving along and that she’d managed to
crawl back to the edge of the highway. Another lucky thing about this hospital
… more like a small clinic rather than a hospital, but it was clean and the
equipment all looked new.

Lucy
heard footsteps, which made her heartbeat quicken. A woman in her late thirties
looked in on her.

“I’m
Fiona, the night nurse. I just thought I’d say hi and see if you needed
anything.”

“Hi.
No, I’m doing fine right now and thought I’d get some sleep.”

“Good
idea. Just press the call button if you need anything during the night. I’ll be
just down the hallway.”

“I
will, and thanks.”

Fiona
was gone so Lucy first of all checked that the bag was still there. Yes, it
was. It was safe. She closed her eyes, hoping that sleep would come easily and
quickly because she really was exhausted not only from the cross-country
journey but also from the attempted assault, falling, and being brought here.
When she’d woken up that morning she never thought she’d be spending the night
in a hospital.

Her
mind drifted to Liam again. She’d heard pride in his voice when he’d talked
about his nephew. She’d seen love on his face when he’d dug out the boy’s photo
and shown it to her. She loved her niece and nephew too, and that was one of
the main reasons she’d agreed to do this for her brother. If anything happened
to him or them, well, she didn’t know what she’d do.

Lucy
eyed the phone sitting on the table by the bed. She wanted to let him know that
she was, as they’d agreed, in the middle of nowhere.
 
The bag was safe but they’d agreed she
shouldn’t have any contact with him. He’d call her on the cell phone he’d
placed in the bag when it was safe to return home.

Her
eyelids grew heavy, so she took a chance and turned off the light all the way.
She glanced up at the ceiling. A constellation of glow in the dark stars
twinkled, holding her spellbound. Lucy guessed it was there probably to relax
patients. She’d never been into astronomy before, but after seeing how
beautiful they looked she suddenly had an interest in all things cosmic.
 
She lifted her hand and traced each star. So
pretty, like lights on a Christmas tree.

Her
hand felt heavy and she could no longer keep it in the air. She let it drop by
her side, suddenly feeling very sleepy. Maybe she’d dream of a tall, dark and handsome
stranger coming to her rescue.