Standing by the open hangar bay doorway, was a tall, extremely handsome man. Six-foot seven, light brown hair and gorgeous brown eyes. When he saw her, he smiled, it had to be one of the nicest, sweetest smiles she ever saw.
“Hi. I’m Shannon Stevens. I understand you wanted to see me?”
“I’m Robert McCormick, I was the ranger that you spoke to the other day.”
She gave him a blank look.
“Hiker, broken leg, Yellowstone, southwest quadrant.”
“Oooh, I remember. You stopped me to get my name for your report.”
“That’s right.”
Robert was feeling a bit embarrassed at this point. Robert McCormack was a bear shifter and thought she might be his mate. She was beautiful, but he wasn’t attracted to her in that way. He tried not to show his disappointment.
“I just happened to be out this way. I wondered if you’d like to have lunch with me.”
“You just happened to be several hundred miles away from home and thought you’d stop by for lunch.”
“Yup.”
She raised one eyebrow and gave him a dubious look.
“Alright. I liked you, you looked smart. I thought maybe we could get to know each other better.” He fumbled a bit. “As friends. Would you like to have lunch?”
“Sure, why not. Let me get my pack and let my boss know where I’m going. I’ll be right back.”
She ran up the stairs, Gary was waiting at the top.
“It’s alright. He’s one of the rangers from Yellowstone, he wanted to take me to lunch.”
“You sure you’ll be okay?”
“Yeah, he looks harmless. We’ll be over at the Runway.”
She ran back down the stairs.
“Okay. There is a bar across the road, they serve a mean burger. I can’t go too far, I’m on call.”
“Hey, that sounds great.”
He walked her out to his truck and opened the door. It had been a long time since anyone opened a car door for her.
“Thank you. We could walk over there.”
“No, that’s okay. At least this way, I can be a gentleman, even if it’s only for a little while.”
He gave her a gorgeous smile, closed her door, then walked to the driver’s side.
“Sorry for not giving you any notice that I was coming. I just got a bug in my head and acted on it.”
“That’s alright. I like a surprise as much as any girl.” She gave him a sweet smile.
They had a nice lunch and talked for a long time. Robert knew she wasn’t the one for him, but he wanted to keep in touch. He liked her company and she seemed to enjoy his.
“I’ll tell you what. If I’m ever in your neck of the woods, I’ll come and see you, maybe we can spend a day together when I have some time off.”
“That would be great.”
They exchanged numbers and he kissed her cheek before he told her goodbye. She walked back into the hangar. Gary was standing at the top of the stairs.
“Is everything okay?” he asked.
She smiled up at him.
“Yes, everything is fine. Nice guy.”
Gary gave her a nod and went back into his office. He was like a mother hen when it came to Shannon. He had been given a copy of her medical records. He knew what happened to her the year before she joined the team. She wasn’t aware that he knew. He’d wait. If she wanted to talk about it, he’d be there.
There were times when she would have nightmares and Gary was there for her. Most times, she wouldn’t wake, and he would hold her until she went back to a restful sleep, he never told her the next day. He told Stan and Kenney, her teammates, she had PTSD caused by an accident in Iraq. A car bombing that killed her whole squadron, part of which was true. He made them swear to never bring it up.
She couldn’t remember anything about the beating that almost killed her. She did her job well. Her job performance wasn’t affected by her temporary memory loss. She remembered everything up until six months before the beating and everything after she woke in the hospital. It was like going to bed and waking up the next morning, only it was six months later.
No sooner had she returned from lunch, the alarm sounded, and everyone hustled to grab their gear and head for the helicopter.
As Robert McCormick drove down the highway, heading for home, the chopper flew above him. He looked up and recognized it immediately.
The pilot gave him a tilt, acknowledging him and flew on. He was glad that they had been able to have a little time together. He was surprised he wasn’t more disappointed she wasn’t the one for him.
Shannon saw Robert’s truck below, heading for home. She liked him, too bad he lived so far away.
“Nice truck, I saw it earlier. Friend of yours?” Kenney, her teammate asked.
Kenney was the third male member of their team, a Kodiak bear, the tallest; six foot six. He was blonde with the bluest eyes she had ever seen.
“Yes, as a matter of fact,” she replied with a smile. “Why not,” she thought.
Kenney left it at that. In the eleven months they had worked together, she had never had a visitor or mentioned a friend or family. She always kept to herself.
*****
“Stay sharp everyone,” Gary instructed.
“We have a traffic accident, multiple car pile-up. When the call came in, number of injuries hadn’t been determined. You know what to do.”
A short time later, they came upon the accident.
“Looks like four cars. We’ll be landing in the clearing just off the road.”
Gary had spotted an open field about a hundred yards from the road.
Once they were on the ground, they went to work. Most of the injuries were minor with the exception of an elderly man who appeared to be suffering a heart attack. Shannon jumped into action. The man’s wife was hysterical.
“Ma’am, does he have an existing heart problem? Does he have any pills?” she yelled. “What’s his name?”
“Oh dear, yes. His name is William; William Baxter. He has glycerin pills; they are in his jacket in the car.”
“Which car?” Shannon needed his pills and fast. “Ma’am, get that officer. Tell him where to find his pills.” She pointed to a State Trooper. The old lady finally pulled herself together and told the officer where to find the pills. Once Shannon was able to give the old man a pill, she got him stabilized.
“What do you have, Stevens?”
“Elderly male, heart attack. He’s stable enough to transport. I recommend airlift to Boise. His wife is with him.”
“Alright, let’s get going, ground EMT’s have the minor injuries under control.” Gary called to his men to get the stretcher. “I’ll have the Troopers transport the wife.”
“Sir, could we transport her as well?” Gary looked at the woman holding her husband’s hand. “Please.”
“Fine, you’ll owe me one.”
“Yes sir.” She gave Kenney the signal to load up.
Once everyone was on board and buckled in, the helicopter took off and headed for Boise General Hospital.
Chapter 3
Shannon monitored the elderly man. She looked at the old lady, she was white as a sheet.
“Ma’am, Mrs. Baxter, are you alright?’
“No dear, I’m scared to death.”
“Don’t worry, we have an excellent pilot.”
“Oh, I’m not worried about that.”
Shannon gave her a questioning look.
“He’s my life. I don’t know what I’ll do if I lose him.”
“We’ll do our best so that doesn’t happen.” She tried to reassure the old lady. Shannon kept her attention on the elderly gentleman. She thought about her own situation. At least the old woman had someone.
*****
Dr. Stevens opened her eyes. It wasn’t a dream. She was still in a hospital bed, she still hurt all over.
“Welcome back.” She had heard that voice before in a dream. At least, she thought it was a dream.
“Where am I?” She asked.
“Angels Hospital. NY General was maxed out. They were really swamped.”
“What did you say your name was?”
“Dr. Sean Myers.”
“Well, thank you, Dr. Myers. Now, would you mind telling me what happened. Was I in an accident?”
She hadn’t noticed before, but there was a police officer standing outside her door.
“Am I under arrest or something?”
“Arrest?”
She pointed to the door.
“Oh no, that’s for your protection.”
“My protection?”
“You don’t remember?”
She gave him a look that was obvious she didn’t know what he was talking about.
“Your neighbor found you. If it hadn’t been for her, you would have bled out before the EMT’s got to you. Someone gave you one hell of a beating.”
Shannon tried to remember, but she was drawing a blank. The last thing she remembered was leaving her apartment to attend a medical convention, nothing more.
*****
“Heads up, everyone, we’re here,” Gary announced. “Shannon, be ready to move.”
“Yes, sir.” She snapped back into action, her memories dissipating like a puff of smoke. She knew her job. As soon as the chopper touched down, Shannon was on the ground, giving a report to the ER team while she stayed by the man’s side. Kenney helped the old lady out of the helicopter and walked her into the ER waiting room.
“Is there anyone we can contact for you, ma’am?” Kenney inquired.
“Yes, our son, we were on our way to his home, he lives here in Boise. I imagine he is wondering what is keeping us.”
She reached into her bag, searching for something. She finally pulled out an old flip-open cell phone. She handed it to Kenney with shaking hands.
“Would you mind? His name is George.”
Kenney called the number. When George answered, he filled him in on what was going on.
“He’s on his way. I’ll leave you here. I’m sure someone will be out shortly to let you know how your husband is doing.”
“Thank you, young man.” She sat down to wait for whoever showed up first, the doctor or her son.
Kenney headed back to the helo pad; Shannon caught up with him.
“Is he going to be alright?” he asked.
“Yes, the doctor thinks he’ll pull through. It was close, thank god he had his pills with him. Was he the cause of the wreck? His heart attack?”
“No, someone had a blowout.”
“Shit, it can happen so fast. It makes you feel ……...” she couldn’t think of the word.
“Vulnerable?”
“Yeah, something like that.”
She thought about her months of rehab, then blanked it from her mind. They walked the rest of the way in silence.
With all the equipment secure, the team headed for home. Once they landed, they followed a routine. Everything had to be cleaned and repacked, supplies replaced. They could be taking off again at any moment, they had to be ready.
*****
Gary Morris watched Shannon as they worked around the shop. Something had changed. She wasn’t staying focused.
“Shannon, what’s up?”
“Nothing, why?”
“You seem distracted. You know, if you want to talk, my door is always open.”
“I’m fine, really.”
“I’m just saying.”
“I know. I promise, I’ll come and talk to you if something is bothering me.”
Shannon was afraid he’d notice, but how could she talk to him if she didn’t know what was wrong herself.
That night she had a terrible nightmare. She was screaming and woke the whole crew. Gary ran into her room and found her sitting up in bed, her face wet with tears. He sat beside her and held her in his arms.
“It’s alright. You had a nightmare.”
Stan and Kenney wanted to know what was going on.
“It’s alright, she just had a bad dream, go back to bed.”
They both said good night and left. Shannon looked like a lost puppy.
“Do you want to talk?”
She gave him a nod.
“Alright, let’s go downstairs and I’ll fix us some hot chocolate.”
Shannon knew it would have a hefty shot of rum in it. Once the hot chocolate was ready, they sat in his office.
“What’s going on, Shannon? Talk to me.”
“I don’t know where to start. How much do you know about me?”
“How much do you want me to know?” he held up his hand. “Don’t answer that, it was a stupid thing to say. I know what happened to you, and I know about your memory loss.”
“Why did you hire me?”
“It doesn’t affect your work performance, but something has changed?”
“I’ve been having flashbacks. Just bits and pieces. Damn it.” She got up and paced the floor. “It was horrible. The shrink indicated that is why I am blocking it out, I can’t remember.”
“But you have remembered something.”
“No, not really.” She shook her head. “I’ve been having these flashes lately. Nothing I can identify. Most of what I am remembering is when I woke up in the hospital. They don’t last long enough to leave an impression. I haven’t thought about what happened in a long time.”
“What did happen? I mean, what do you remember? You don’t have to tell me if you don’t want to.”
“That’s alright. Maybe if I talk about it.” She took a deep breath and let it out slowly. “The last thing I remember was getting ready to go to a medical convention. Six months later, I’m waking up in the hospital. My neighbor and close friend, Michelle, found me badly beaten and bleeding out on the floor of my apartment. Thank God she’s an ER nurse. If it hadn’t been for her, I wouldn’t be here. At least that is what I’ve been told.”
Gary let out a whistle.
“And you don’t remember anything in between.”
Shannon shook her head.
“So, what’s been happening lately?”
“I don’t know. I’ve been having these flashbacks of when I was waking up in the hospital. I haven’t thought about what happened in a long time. I keep seeing the shadow of a man. He’s watching me. I don’t know who he is. In my flashbacks, I can’t see his face.”
“Maybe it was the doctor or one of the nurses watching over you?”
“No, I don’t think so.”
“Did you have a boyfriend?”
“I don’t know. Michelle said I did, but I don’t remember him. Michelle was the only one, besides my co-workers, that came to visit me in the hospital.”
“No pictures?”
“No. You have to understand, I spent most of my time in the ER. I didn’t have time to take pictures, let alone spend time with anyone.”
“So, you don’t remember what he looked like?”
“How can I remember what he looked like? I can’t even remember him.”
“What about your neighbor? Could she describe him.”
“She never saw his face. Whenever she saw him, he always had his back to her; standing at my door or entering the elevator.”
“What about restaurants, did you dine with friends?”
“I don’t know. The police questioned all my coworkers, no one had ever seen him or met him.”
“That is really odd. There isn’t much to work with.”
Shannon covered a yawn.
“I think you should try to get some sleep. If we get an early call, why don’t you pass and get some rest.”
“Are you grounding me? Please, I’ll be fine.” She sat up.
“I just thought you might like to rest. It’s up to you. You have to consider the whole team.”
“I understand, I’ll be fine. If I feel there’s a problem, I’ll be the first to let you know.”
“Good, let’s get some sleep.”
Gary walked her back to
her room.
“Good night, Stevens.”
“Good night, sir.” Shannon returned to bed and quickly fell asleep.
There was no early call, in fact, they had no calls at all the next day. No one mentioned the night before; it was business as usual.
Chapter 4
Shannon worked as hard as ever. Her flashbacks seemed to subside for a while. She received a call from Mrs. Baxter in Boise. She called to thank her for saving her husband and let her know he was doing well. That gave her a boost.
“Are you going to go trick or treating, Shannon?”
Stan teased at dinner one night. Halloween was only a few days away.
“I think I’ll pass this year; I don’t have a costume. I see you’re already wearing yours.”
“I can loan you a broom and you could go as yourself,” was his quick retort.
The rest of the crew got a chuckle out of the friendly banter. They were always taking jabs at each other, all in fun.
Shannon had arrived at Idaho Air Rescue at the end of November of the previous year, her anniversary was just around the corner. She was happy and loved her job. Her team members tried to get her to go out more often on her off time, but she was content staying at the hangar.
She loved to cook, and even though they took turns preparing meals, they never minded if she took an extra turn, her food was delicious.
“You should have been a cook,” Kenney told her.
“If I had chosen to be a cook, I wouldn’t be here, and you would have to eat Stan’s food more often.”
“What’s the matter with my food?” Stan piped up, feigning hurt feelings.
“Absolutely nothing,” Gary added his two cents, “besides, Shannon is fun to watch.”
Shannon gave him a questioning look, was her boss being a sexist?
“There is something about the way you prepare food. All the ingredients seem to flow together smoothly. I think that's why your food tastes so good.”
Shannon laughed.
“I can flow,” Stan proclaimed.
“Like a herd of Buffalo,” Gary added.
“Alright you guys, in the future, I won’t go out of turn.”
“Ahhh, now you guys have gone and done it.” Gary shook his head and sat down to eat. “You never know how good things are until there gone.”
Haunted by the Wolf- Shannon Page 2