Instead of listening to her, he crouched beside her and reached for the icepack.

“What are you doing?” she asked, weakly slapping at his hand.

“Taking a look.” He lifted the icepack, cringed, and gingerly placed it back down on her wounded face. “We’re taking you to a hospital.”

“I’ll be fine. It’s just a little swelling.”

It was more than a little swelling. “How did this happen?”

“I was on a job, and when I removed this pipe a badger was lying in wait.”

Lying in wait? “Are you suggesting it targeted you?”

“Yessss,” she hissed. “The badgers hate me.”

“I didn’t know plumbing was such a dangerous business.”

“It is for me.”

“How long have you been like this?”

“Not long. Gwen wanted me to go to the hospital, but I felt fine. Finished work, came home to change and get something to eat so I could meet you, and then suddenly I didn’t feel so good.”

“Let me take you to the hospital, Blayne.”

“No. I’ll have to deal with that goddamn ER nurse again, and I’m not in the mood to be mocked.”

“The nurse made fun of you?”

“She’s a bigot.”

“I’d like to think you’re talking about race, but you aren’t, are you?”

“She’s a breedist. Now go away. I’ll be fine in the morning.”

Not wanting to take that risk, Bo reached into his back pocket and pulled out his phone. He had tons of numbers programmed in it, but he barely used any of them. But he still liked having the information because he never knew when he’d need them. Like now.

After a quick search, a voice he knew so well but hadn’t heard in years answered on the other end. “This is Dr. Luntz.”

“I somehow knew you’d still be in your office.”

There was a long pause and then, “Oh, my God. Bold?”

“Hi, Dr. Luntz.”

“Bold! Oh, Bold. I’m so glad to hear from you. How are you? Are you okay? I’m so proud of you. Do you know how proud of you I am?”

Bo couldn’t help but smile. There were just some people in the world who were naturally amazing. Marci Luntz, M.D. was one of those people.

“Thanks, Dr. Luntz.”

“Marci. I don’t know why you won’t ever call me Marci.” Because it felt weird? “So what’s up? I’m sure you’re not calling me this late in the evening for no reason.”

“I need your advice, if you don’t mind.”

“Bold Novikov, you know I don’t mind. If you ever need anything from me, all you have to do is ask. What’s going on?”

“I have afriend—”

“A girlfriend?”

“Dr. Luntz.”

“Sorry. Sorry. Go on.”

“She had a run in with a badger, now her face is swollen.”

“Is she grizzly, polar, or black?”

“Actually, she’s wolfdog.”

“Ohhh!” And he could hear the excitement in Dr. Luntz’s voice. Not surprising when she only handled bears and foxes on a daily basis that she would find the hybrids fascinating. “A wolfdog? Really? Well, well. Now that is interesting. Okay. First, tell me what you see. Lacerations? Bites? What?”

Bo moved the icepack again, trying not to cringe this time. “Her face has definite bite marks.” He lowered the icepack and checked the areas of her body he could see. “And scratches on her hands. She seemed to have attempted to put up some kind of weak, sad little fight.”

Blayne gave him the finger while Dr. Luntz giggled. “Bold Novikov, stop that. Now, what’s swelling on her?”

“Just her face.”

“Around the bites?”

“Yes.”

“Wolfdog, right? Has she had her rabies shots?”

Bo tapped Blayne’s shoulder. “Did you have your rabies shots?”

“Yes. I’ve had all my shots.”

“Yes. She’s had all her shots.”

“Excellent. Then she probably just has an infection. Badgers are nasty little bastards, you know.”

“Should I take her to a hospital?”

“No, I don’t think that’ll be necessary. What she needs is antibiotics and sleep. I can call in a script for you. She will need to take half the pills as soon as you get them, followed by at least three eight-ounce glasses of water. She’ll sleep then. It’ll probably look like a coma, but she’ll just be sleeping. If she wakes up in three hours, she’s clear. Give her the rest of the pills and she’ll be right as rain by sunup. If she doesn’t wake up within four to five hours—take her to one of our hospitals.”

“Okay.”

“Don’t worry, Bo. I’m sure she’ll be fine. Hybrids have amazing immune systems as you well know.”

“I’ll e-mail you the info for a local pharmacy that’s run by a leopard. So no worries about dosage.”

“Excellent. I’ll need her weight, height, age, and wolf breed, also.”

“Her wolf breed?”

“Gray wolf,” Blayne piped up. To be honest, he’d thought she’d already passed out. “Daddy’s a gray wolf. And my metabolism is sixteen times that of other wolf shifters.”

“Oh, my,” Dr. Luntz said, overhearing the conversation. “That is fascinating.”