by Meg Ripley
It hadn’t really hit home for him until he’d gotten out of bed one night when he couldn’t sleep. Gabe could still see the memory clearly instead of all the palm trees and glittering glass around him. His mother sat at the kitchen table with papers spread all around her. Her back was hunched over, and at first, Gabe thought she’d fallen asleep. But then he’d noticed her shoulders shaking and heard the sound of her weeping.
“Oh, Gabe,” she’d said when he came forward and put his arm around her shoulders. “There are many things I hope for you and your sisters, but the one thing I want for you most of all is not to have to choose between feeding your family and paying your bills.”
Gabe’s mind had drifted to the pantry, which he knew was nearly empty. His sisters had been complaining about it earlier in the day, and so had he. Guilt washed over him.
“Life isn’t easy, Gabe,” his mother had continued. “And kids are wonderful, but they’re also very expensive. I want you to make me a promise.”
He was only ten; he didn’t know what to make of any of this. Gabe had never seen his mother cry unless they were watching a sad movie. She hadn’t told him she couldn’t pay the bills, and in that moment, he wished she hadn’t. He didn’t know what it meant or what he should be doing about it, but he didn’t feel he could ask, either. “All right.”
“Promise me you will never start a family and then leave them behind. Family always takes care of family. It might not be easy. We won’t always get along and agree on everything. But you must always take care of your family.” Her dark eyes, eyes he hadn’t inherited from her, implored him to do as she asked.
“Okay.” He hadn’t known what he was agreeing to at the time; Gabe only wanted to make his mother feel better. In time, he’d come to understand that she meant she didn’t want him to make the same mistakes his father had. At the moment, though, he’d understood it in a completely different way.
Within a week, Gabe had a job delivering papers. It meant getting out of bed before the sun came up, taking his bike across town to fold and stack his newspapers for the day, and feeling like he’d had a complete workout before he’d even started school. He got home just in time to help his sisters get ready, something that always seemed to take a few of the worry lines out of his mother’s face.
At the end of his first week, he once again found her at the kitchen table with her bills spread out on the battered surface. He set his pay down in the middle of all of it, a smile on his face.
“What’s this?”
“It’s what I earned this week, and I’ll do the same again next week. Mr. Robinson even gave me a tip.” He’d felt so proud of himself, knowing he was keeping his promise to his mother.
“No, sweetheart.” She gently pushed the cash back toward him. “That’s not right. You keep your money.”
He’d stared at those crumpled bills, bewildered and confused. “But there are bills to pay. I want to help, Mom. I can do this.”
She pressed her lips together, still uncertain, but finally, she nodded. “All right. You have enough here to take care of this one.”
He watched as she filled out the payment slip and put it along with the money in an envelope. Gabe went to bed that night knowing he was a real man, one who took care of his family the way he should. And from that point on, he’d never looked back.
“What do you think?”
“Hmm?” Gabe had let himself get so lost in his thoughts that he’d hardly paid attention as they toured the building.
Garrison gave him a look. “I was asking what you think of the place. We can do whatever we want with this floor when it comes to remodeling and such, but being in a district full of office spaces might pose a problem.”
He looked around, suddenly realizing he’d come a long way without paying a lick of attention. He hadn’t officially started his new job with the SOS Force, and already he was failing. “I agree. Something a little more out of the way might be better.”
They followed the realtor to another building that they wouldn’t have to share with anyone, but it was still located at a major intersection. Another warehouse had ample space and wasn’t too close to traffic, but it didn’t meet Garrison’s expectations on something he could make habitable.
The realtor, Mrs. McKeal, stood on the sidewalk flicking through listings on her tablet, her long fake nail tapping faintly against the screen each time. “I think I have one more place. It might not be quite what you’re looking for, as it’s currently a residential building, but if you’re running a private business that doesn’t require a lot of foot traffic, I think you’ll be okay.” She’d seemed a bit sour over the fact that they didn’t like anything yet.
Garrison nodded. “We’re open to anything.”
“Okay, but it’s a little expensive.”
Her sedan slid through a gate and into the driveway of a sleek and modern house. It didn’t look like much from the road, but the fact that it butted up against state park land was certainly a bonus. He got out of the rental car and smiled, finally starting to feel good about moving there.
“We’re looking at six bedrooms and seven baths,” Mrs. McKeal announced as she let them in through the front door. “It’s just over four thousand square feet. This is the perfect place if you like to be outdoors with the number of patios and outdoor living places it features. Here.” She strode through the main room, sailing past the fireplace and the twelve-foot ceilings toward the back of the house.
At the push of a button, large sections of the back wall began to move. They receded into themselves like pocket doors, making the living room more of an outdoor space with not so much as a door separating them from the private pool out back.
It was impressive, and it was certainly a nicer place than Gabe had ever lived before, but what intrigued him most was when they made their way up to the second floor.
“Like I mentioned, there are a lot of outdoor spaces,” Mrs. McKeal reminded them before opening a patio door with a flourish.
Gabe stepped out, warm fingers of sunshine brushing against his skin as he took in the scenery. The wild hills, with their scrubby brush and soaring trees, were calling to him already. The grizzly bear that lived inside him lashed and growled, demanding that he shift immediately and jump over the rail. He’d make it safely to the ground, and then it would only be a short run before he was in those hills that called to him.
When he turned back to the senior SOS Force members, Hudson and Garrison were discussing details while Mrs. McKeal stepped into the other room to answer a phone call. “It’s not the norm,” Hudson admitted, “and I’m certainly jealous compared to the space we get to call HQ. But there’s no doubt you can fit plenty of people in here. Even if one of the recruits has a mate or a family, I think we can make it work.”
Garrison nodded. “The layout of the house certainly lends itself to be used the same way as our other buildings. All the common areas like the kitchen and the living room are centralized and the bedrooms are already made like suites with their own bathrooms. I don’t think we can go wrong. Gabe? You’re the one who’s going to be living here.”
He grinned as he gestured over his shoulder to the gorgeous scenery. “You’re damn right I am.”
2
“Dr. Cruz, we’ve still got a line all the way out the front door. What do you want me to do?”
Emersyn finished washing her hands and looked up at the clock. It was nearly closing time, and she had to get home to Lucas. Melody was with him, and she never complained when Emersyn showed up late, but that didn’t mean she wanted to take advantage of her best friend if she could avoid it. She sighed. It was so hard to make the right decisions. “Cold and flu season is hitting so hard already this year. I’m willing to see them if you’re willing to keep helping me corral them, but we’ll have to cut the line off where it’s at or we’ll never get out of here.”
Louise nodded soberly. “You know I can handle it. This is a vacation compared to all those nights I worked in the E
R. I’ll check in with Wendy, but I don’t think she’ll mind.” She headed back to the exam rooms to continue setting up patients.
Knowing she had her staff working with her always made things better, but Emersyn still felt her forehead wrinkle with concern as she sent a text to Melody to let her know she’d be late once again. Then she headed down the hall toward the next exam room. “Good afternoon, Mr. Bridges. I understand you’re feeling pretty rough.”
The old man sat on the end of the exam table, his feet dangling like a small child’s, even though he was taller than she was. His gray hair stuck out in all directions, but his beard had been smoothed down by his nervous habit of running his hand down his face. He nodded.
“Tell me about some of your symptoms.” Emersyn washed her hands once again and then donned a pair of nitrile gloves before taking his temperature and checking out his eyes, nose, and ears.
“I think I have a fever,” he replied. His voice was hoarse, but it had been like that for as long as Emersyn had known him. “I’m really cold, and then I’m really hot. And my body hurts. And my throat.”
“Sounds like you’re a bit congested, too.” She made a few notes about his exam as she ignored the powerful odor that emanated from Mr. Bridges. At a free clinic in the heart of the city, not all of her patients had the opportunity to get cleaned up before a doctor’s appointment.
“Yeah.” His hand moved of its own volition through his beard.
Emersyn knew that touching his face all the time was probably not going to do him any favors when it came to getting sick, but it was a nervous habit he wasn’t likely to get rid of anytime soon. “We’ll need to do a quick swab to verify it, but I’m pretty sure you’ve got the flu. Once we have that result, I can get you a prescription.”
Mr. Bridges shook his head quickly, alarm brightening his eyes. “I don’t have any money.”
She smiled and laid a hand on his arm. “That’s okay. You’re on Medi-Cal, remember? The state covers everything you need.”
“Oh. Right.” He nodded, but he didn’t seem to quite understand. Emersyn suspected he’d had a stroke at some point, a small one that hadn’t affected him too much physically. She’d attempted to get him to a hospital that could check it out for him, but he refused to see anyone but her.
“That means everything will be taken care of. You don’t have to pay for your exam here with me this evening, and you don’t have to pay for any medicine. Okay?”
She found the relief she was looking for as she searched his face. His shoulders relaxed, and he no longer looked like a hunted animal. “That’s wonderful. Thank you, Dr. Cruz.”
“You’re very welcome. I’ll just go get the test kit and I’ll be right back.” Emersyn stripped off her gloves, but she turned back to her patient as she reached for the doorknob. “Mr. Bridges, do you have a place to sleep tonight?”
His hand dropped to his lap, and his lower lip turned up. Emersyn always had a soft spot for sweet old men, and she blinked to keep herself from tearing up at the sight of him. “No. The shelter’s full.”
“I thought you had a place with them in their transitional program?” There were only so many spots available in that particular program, which helped homeless people like Mr. Bridges get back on their feet, get jobs, and be able to care for themselves. Getting a spot with them was a big deal.
“I was,” the old man admitted. “But I saw a young woman and her two kids come into the soup kitchen, and I overheard her telling one of the workers she had no place to go. I told Ms. Joann that she could have my spot.”
Emersyn pressed her hand against her chest, feeling her heart break. Here was this man, out on the streets in a cruel world, elderly and ill, yet he gave up the one good thing he had going to care for someone else. It was people like him who kept her working there day after day when she could’ve earned so much more if she went to one of the hospitals. “Mr. Bridges, that’s so sweet of you. I’m going to place a few calls and see if I can get you in somewhere else.”
She left the exam room and closed the door behind her. Now it would be that much longer before she got home. It was so difficult making these decisions, knowing that many times she was choosing between her son and the people in the community she cared for so much. But there was no question on this one. Mr. Bridges needed and deserved her help, and she’d do everything she could to make sure he got it.
“I’m so sorry,” Emersyn said as she walked through the doorway of Melody’s apartment. “Things have just been so crazy at the clinic, and I can’t bear to send anyone away and tell them to come back tomorrow. Not when they already have so little.” She scooped her son out of her friend’s arms, happy to feel the comforting weight of his little body.
At almost a year old, Lucas was beginning to show so much personality. He could speak a few words, but he mostly preferred a long string of chatter that sounded like absolute music to Emersyn’s ears. He let out a long string of it now as he gestured wildly with his arms.
“Are you telling me all about your day?” Emersyn asked with a smile, “or are you tattling on Aunt Melody?”
Melody tickled Lucas’s back. “I’m pretty sure he teaches me more than I teach him. I keep trying to show him how to add and subtract, but he refuses to lift a finger and help me with my work.” A bookkeeper who worked from home, Melody was the perfect person to watch Lucas all day—especially because she was a shifter, too.
Lucas turned in Emersyn’s arms and reached for Melody’s glasses, causing his babysitter to quickly yank her head back. He’d already broken one pair out of sheer curiosity.
“I really am sorry,” Emersyn repeated. “I hope he hasn’t been keeping you from your work too much lately.”
Melody shook her head, her curly auburn ponytail swaying along with it. “No, he’s fine. It’s nice to have some company while I’m stuck here by myself all day. He keeps me entertained.” She held Lucas’s hand to keep him from grabbing her glasses again and gave him a loud kiss on the cheek, eliciting a giggle from the little boy.
“So, has he…?” Emersyn trailed off, knowing Melody already understood what the question was.
Her friend shook her head. “Nothing yet. It’ll come.”
“I know.” Emersyn felt a distinct mixture of relief and worry at the answer. Emersyn looked like a typical human, and most of the time, she felt like it. But the panther that lived inside her made her completely different. It usually only showed itself when her emotions got out of control, and with years of practice, she didn’t need to bring it out very often at all. Lucas’s father was a shifter, too, but not a panther. She anxiously awaited the day he’d first show signs of what animal hid inside him, but it had yet to come. She worried that perhaps something had been incompatible between her and his father and that Lucas would never actually come to know his inner beast, but she worried even more that she’d miss the moment while she was at work.
“Here’s his bag. He’s running a bit low on diapers, but don’t worry about restocking. I need to get out and go to the store tomorrow anyway, and I’ll just pick some up.”
Emersyn took the diaper back and shook her head. “No way. You already do so much for us.”
Melody raised one dark eyebrow above the frame of her glasses. “It’s fine, really. You’re not going to have the chance to go. I’ve got to get some groceries, and Lucas always attracts lots of attention in the store. It’ll be good for the little guy and me to get out together.”
“Okay, but at least let me know how much you spend so I can reimburse you,” Emersyn insisted.
She looked like she wanted to argue, but she knew better. “Fair enough. Oh, and Lucas already had his dinner. I’ve got some leftovers if you want to take some home.”
“No, that’s okay. I’ve got some things at my place. Thanks again, Mel. I’ll see you in the morning.” Emersyn, with her sweet baby boy in her arms, made the short walk back to her apartment. She’d been very fortunate in getting a place that had been recently re
modeled in an older building. That meant the rent was relatively inexpensive, but the walls were freshly painted and the old wooden floors were sanded smooth. There was a certain comfort that came along with it, even though deep down, she knew it wasn’t permanent. Nothing had been permanent in her life ever since she’d enlisted at eighteen, and her post-military life hadn’t been much different.
She took the stairs, wanting the exercise even after a long day at work, but she was startled to find a figure leaning casually in the corner near her apartment door. Emersyn immediately took a step back, securing Lucas to her hip with one hand while she readied her claws with the other.
“Take it easy,” the figure said as it stepped out of the shadows. “I mean, I know it’s been a long time since we’ve seen each other, but it’s just me.”
“Leona?” Emersyn’s jaw dropped as she took in the blonde hair and intelligent brown eyes that had once been more familiar than her own face. She grinned, running forward to hug her old friend. “Oh my god, I can’t believe it’s you!”
Leona hugged her back. “In the flesh! I was starting to think I’d shown up at the wrong place. I was going to send a search party after you.”
“The clinic is pretty overwhelmed right now, and I couldn’t just leave. If I had any idea you were coming, I’d have called and told you. Why are you here, anyway? And how’s the leg?” She dug around in her pocket for her key.
“Oh, it’s fine. I knew it would be.” They stepped into the apartment and Leona did a little jig to prove her point. The two of them had served in the same unit as Green Berets, and Emersyn was the one who tended to Leona’s leg when she’d accidentally stepped on an IED. The fact that she was a shifter meant she would heal far more quickly and efficiently than any typical human, but since none of the others could know her true identity, the injury had left her with a medical discharge. “I see you’ve been keeping yourself occupied since we last parted ways.” Leona gestured at the bundle in Emersyn’s arms.