The next couple of weeks passed pretty much without incident though Caleb had the oddest feeling that Quinton was trying to avoid him as much as possible. He might have just been over reacting but ever since the incident with Shelby things seemed...strained. Quinton always seemed to have somewhere to be, more work to do, and would often come home late. More than once Caleb had gone to bed after eating alone and leaving a covered dish in the refrigerator for Quinton to heat up when he did finally return.
Caleb understood that as the pack Alpha, Quinton was pulled in many directions and had more responsibilities than what the average shifter had but his avoidance seemed more than just his busy work schedule. Caleb may have just been imagining things. He'd always had an over active imagination and with his own insecurities in play it seemed logical that he was just making more out of it than it was but still, it worried him. Was Quinton already sick of him? Did he finally see his mating as a mistake and now wanted to take it back?
"Oh, for wolf Gods sake knock it off!" Caleb told himself. "Get yourself together." He'd just finished cleaning and drying the dishes and had started putting them away, his mind lost in his own anxiety, when he suddenly heard the front door open and Rusty came rushing into the house in a complete panic.
"Caleb!" He called out. "Caleb, where are you?"
Caleb stepped out of the kitchen, immediately running to his friend when he saw the look of horror on the young omega's face.
"Rusty, what's wrong?"
"Oh, thank wolf God!" Rusty shouted as he ran towards Caleb full force. It was then that Caleb realized Rusty was clutching a bundled up pup against his chest and tears were streaming down his face.
Caleb felt Rusty's panic as the two collided and Caleb wrapped his arms around Rusty, leading him to the couch in the living room.
"It started with just a sniffle." Rusty explained through exasperated gasps and tears. "Then the fever hit. He was fussy last night, still fighting the fever, but it was low grade and I thought he was getting better but this morning it got worse. Caleb, he won't wake up and I can't get a hold of Malcolm, there's no one at the clinic and I don't know what to do so I came here."
"Malcolm and one of the nurses, Naomi I think, went to the Cabot's place early this morning. Sarah went into labor last night. Do you want me to go get him?"
"I don't know." Rusty was shaking as he held the pup to his chest. "I don't know how serious it is. I thought maybe...I'm sorry Caleb, but I have to ask. Is there any truth to what they were saying about you in Silver Moon? I wouldn't ask if it wasn't important, I hope you know that."
"It's fine, Rusty, really. And, honestly, I don't know. I don't know what happened to me in Silver Moon. I should have been dead but then I wasn't. But none of that is important right now. Even if I do have some kind of healing ability I don't know how to access it. It just kind of happened."
"Please, Caleb. You have to try. I'm so scared." Before Caleb could protest, Rusty was pushing the pup into his arms. Caleb unwrapped the blanket and looked down at Shay's tiny face. He was nearly a year old but still so small and at the moment he looked so frail and helpless. His color was off and he was sleeping but his breathing was raspy. Caleb placed his hand on the child's head and frowned. He was hot. Way too hot, even for a shifter.
Logically, Caleb knew that the child needed medical attention, and quickly. His instincts and experiences telling him that the condition was serious but he wasn't sure what to do. If there was no one else at the clinic then that meant that the only other nurse available, Alice, was probably on rounds checking on her elderly patients. There was no way to know whose house she was at now. He could go to the Cabot's but would Malcolm leave a woman in labor for a sick child? Probably not.
They seriously needed more medical staff in Black River but that, unfortunately, was one profession that was hard to get into. It wasn't for a lack of interested people but more an issue with money and then finding a school that would allow shifters to enroll. That's why most packs had healers that were grandfathered in, many using old homeopathic remedies as well as shamanic medicine. Neither of which Caleb had a lot of faith in. He was both surprised and relieved to see that Black River had actual medical staff. The issue was, they just didn't have enough.
"Go and get some ice out of the freezer." He instructed. "Wrap it in a clean towel and bring it back." Rusty didn't waste time. He jumped up and ran to the kitchen to do as he was told. Caleb's plan was to try and get the fever down to minimize the risk of more serious complications. That would buy him enough time to get Malcolm or try and find Alice.
Caleb lay the pup on his across his knees then opened the blanket the rest of the way. His breathing was heavy and Caleb could still hear the raspy sound of his breath as he lay there. His tiny chest heaved up and down with each labored breath and his eyes were tightly closed as though breathing itself were painful. Caleb gently pushed around the pup's belly, watching for signs of discomfort but the pup made no indication that the pressure caused any pain.
A moment later and Rusty returned with the ice wrapped in a towel. He handed it to Caleb and Caleb began to gently dab the towel against the child's skin. First around his head and face and then slowly making his way down the pup's body. He squirmed and shivered some then make a few whimpering sounds of disapproval which Caleb took as a good sign. He wasn't totally unconscious, probably just way too exhausted to stay awake.
In Silver Moon, Caleb had seen many adults with bad fevers sleep for days without waking. They did eventually wake though, once the fever broke. Children didn't fare as well though. Weaker immune systems meant they had less chance of recovery without medical care and that was something Bowden wouldn't allow. If they were too frail and weak to survive on their own, Bowden felt it was a waste to use pack resources on them. Unfortunately, many of them fell into a deep sleep from which they'd never wake.
Luckily, Quinton wasn't the heartless monster that Seth Bowden was. Malcolm would do what he could but it if the pup needed more medical care than what Malcolm was capable of, Quinton would have the child sent to a human hospital in a heart beat. Thankfully, human laws prohibited any hospital from turning shifters away so long as they were able to pay for the treatment so there was no concern that the hospital would refuse to treat Shay. They were bound by law to do whatever was necessary to save the pups life. If it came to that. Caleb just prayed to the wolf God that it would not come to that.
While Caleb was tending to Shay, he watched as Rusty nervously fumbled with his cell phone. "Finally!" He practically screamed into the phone. "I've been trying to reach you all morning. Where the hell have you been? Don't you dare tell me to calm down Zev! Shay is sick and I'm freaking out!"
He went on to explain what had happened and where he was. Apparently Zev and a few others had gone into town to pick up supplies for a new house they were building and his cell phone had been out of range. Now that he was back though he'd promised to drop whatever construction project he was working on and leave to find Malcolm. Rusty didn't seem any calmer though and continued to yell into the phone. He was crying and shaking but Caleb didn't hold it against him. He'd likely be in the same state had it been Rhylan who was ill.
The screaming and near hysterics though seemed to upset Shay because he began to whimper and fuss more, coughing and wincing each time he let out a pathetic little wail that seemed to hurt his throat terribly. Without even thinking, Caleb drew the child up to his chest and cradled his small head against his shoulder. He gently bounced him some while cooing softly at the pup to calm him. Caleb made circles on the pups back with his hand and soon the baby seemed to relax back into a calm sleep.
"It's alright." Caleb whispered. "You're going to be fine sweet boy. Everything's going to be fine. Your daddy's just having a slight mental break down."
Rusty shot him an angry glare but Caleb only shrugged. "Go put on a pot of coffee." Caleb whispered to his friend. "It's going to be a long day."
***
