The clinic used to be an old movie theater, but like the rest of the buildings on the reservation, it had been repurposed. The ticket booth had been turned into a receptionist stand after the glass was removed. It sat empty. Not that I’d ever seen Doc employ a receptionist. He probably couldn’t afford it, not with what he charged. The inside was dark. I hoped we hadn’t missed him.
I hauled Leo inside and shouted, “Doc! Doc Ramis!”
Footfalls on a padded rug echoed down the hall. A skinny white guy with an afro and thick glasses darted into the reception area, skidding to a stop. He took one look at us and stepped aside, gesturing back the way he’d come. “Room two. Where’s Valentino?”
Paint Rock is a small town of three hundred people, each one a supernatural of some kind or someone who works with supernaturals. Everybody knows everybody. Since Doc was the only person on the reservation with anything close to a medical degree, he knew everyone better than most.
“Outside on the sidewalk,” I shouted, bringing Leo back. He was starting to wake up, and I couldn’t tell if it was the lighting or not, but he looked gray to me. “He passed out.”
I pushed open the door to the first room I found with my hip and stopped cold when six sets of dead eyes settled on me. An otherworldly moan drifted out from the crowd of bodies gathered and one of them lumbered forward, arms outstretched.
Doc grabbed me by the collar and gave a hard yank. He wasn’t strong enough to move me, but the momentum tugged me back enough to get me out of the way of the door so he could slam it shut. He pressed his back to it and let out a huff. “I said room two.”
Something pounded on the door and another moan followed.
Doc rolled his eyes. “One sec.” He jerked the door open, stuck his head inside and shouted, “No, Stefan! We do not eat patients!”
The moan that answered sounded almost apologetic.
Doc closed the door and locked it with a key. “Sorry about that. This storm’s got my zombies all worked up.”
He ushered us into the next room and prepped oxygen while I laid Leo out on the bed.
“He got pulled into the river,” I reported, trying to keep my voice level. Enough adrenaline was still pumping through me that I still had to fight the urge to punch something. “I think Valentino might have gone in after him, but there were these strange, giant waves that pushed them both out. Valentino’s bleeding on his leg. Maybe something bit him?”
“We'll need to check for venom.” Doc positioned the oxygen mask over Leo’s face and worked at a fever pace to get his vitals. “No offense to Valentino, but I can’t get to him until I’ve stabilized Leo.”
I nodded, understanding what he’d inferred. “I’ll get him.”
Outside, the rain had eased up a little, but the streets were still rivers. Given that we were in the desert, it would all disappear quickly once the storm passed and the sun came out, but until then, Paint Rock would be flooded.
Hunter had managed to drag Valentino a few feet closer to the door. I squatted and pulled one of Valentino’s arms over my head to rest on my shoulder. Hunter did the same and, together, we stood, straining against Valentino’s weight.
Werewolf muscle is supernaturally dense. Valentino had to be at least two hundred and thirty pounds. Lucky for me, I had a little magick up my sleeve. I concentrated my will and pumped magick into my muscles, making it easier to lift him. The effect would only be temporary and I couldn’t maintain it more than a few hours before I crashed completely. Even magick has its limits.
Hunter and I dragged Valentino into the clinic and down the hall, depositing him on the second bed in the exam room. The two were separated by an ugly fabric curtain that I quickly pulled back.
Doc had Leo all hooked up to a battery-powered machine, monitoring his oxygen, pulse, and blood pressure. He glanced up at the monitor before turning to address us. “Leo’s going to make it, but he’ll need to be sent to the hospital after this once we can get him there. They both will. Take those scissors and cut off his jeans at the knee.” He held out his hand expectantly to Hunter.
Hunter twisted around and bumped into the tray of medical instruments behind him, but caught it before it spilled. He picked up a pair of stainless steel scissors. “These?”
“Cut his jeans at the knee,” Doc barked, his voice losing all patience. He’d busied himself getting vitals from Valentino. He held a hand out to me. “I need the bite kit. Bottom drawer over there. Hurry!”
I rushed to the plastic, three-tiered drawer where Doc kept medical supplies and jerked open the bottom drawer. Several packages fell out and scattered on the floor as I dug through them, trying to focus my eyes enough to read. I found something with the word bite on it and darted back to Doc, depositing it in his hand just as Hunter cut away the last of the jeans, exposing Valentino’s leg from the knee down.
Dark blood pumped out of a huge gash in his calf. The stainless steel table was already coated in it. Doc shifted Valentino’s leg with a gloved hand. “Wash up, Judah. I need an assist.”
“What, me?”
“I’m not about to ask a minor,” he snapped. “Yes, you! Sink’s over there. Gloves are beside it.”
My heart pounded in my ears as I did as instructed. I’d never done more than put a band aid on Hunter’s scrapes and bruises. I didn’t know if I could help Doc. I’m not normally queasy at the sight of blood, but the idea of being responsible for Valentino’s survival made my hands shake.
I returned only to be handed a white plastic bottle with a long spout.
“Saline. You’re going to help me clean him up while I assess the wound. Any idea what bit him?”
I shook my head and looked down at the wound. “There's nothing in the Concho River this big.”
Doc squinted and then seized the saline and sprayed it over the wound, clearing away some of the blood. For the first time, we could see the actual shape of the wound. Or rather, two wounds, each one a swollen slash about six inches apart, one on either side of the back of his calf.
“What is that?” I asked.
“It looks like...” His head snapped up. “Hunter, go into my office. There’s a chart of phone numbers there. Call the one for the Eden hospital. We need a med evac by helicopter if the roads aren’t passable.”
“Is Valentino going to be okay?” Hunter’s voice was small, the muscles of his face strained in worry.
“Not if you don’t make that call right now!” Doc pointed emphatically to the door. “Go!”
Hunter fell all over himself to get out the door.
When it slammed shut behind him, I turned back to Doc. “What is it?”
“It looks like a snake bite.” He shook his head at me. “But I’ve never seen one this big before, and the wound is necrotizing. He needs anti-venom and I don’t know what kind because I’ve never seen this kind of snake bite before.”
“Anti-venom? Doc, he’s a werewolf. Won’t he heal?”
“The wound will heal,” he answered and looked up at the monitor, “but he’s already showing signs the venom is affecting his body. I don’t know how well werewolves can fight something like this, especially since I don’t know what kind of snake bit him. I can’t save him, not without knowing that.”
Doc looked down at Valentino and pressed his lips together. “But I can give him a fighting chance.” He picked up Valentino’s hand by the pointer finger and took a deep breath before grunting and wrenching Valentino’s finger sideways. It broke with a resounding crack.
Valentino shot up into a sitting position and let out a roar of pain, eyes glowing gold. He looked awake, but he wasn’t. It was purely an unconscious reaction, proven by how he immediately fell back down.
“The break will stimulate him to heal,” Doc said, wiping sweat form his forehead. “At least, I hope.”
Hunter burst back through the doors. “Helicopter’s on its way.”
Doc nodded once. “Good, now help me prep them so we can roll them to the roof.”
~
The medical helicopter arrived not ten minutes later. By then, the storm had mostly let up, leaving us to bring them to the roof in a light, misting rain. Hunter and I stood back as Doc and the EMTs loaded Valentino and Leo into the helicopter.
I shivered. All I wanted was to go home, fall in a hot bath and then crawl under my blankets for a week, but that wasn’t going to happen. Whatever had bitten Valentino was still out there, and it might be connected to the strange, thirty-foot waves that had nearly wiped the town off the map. Catching it might also be the only way to create an anti-venom for Valentino.
Hunter intertwined his fingers in mine and squeezed. “Is he going to make it?”
Doc backed away from the chopper and put his hands over his ears after giving them a thumbs-up. The wind picked up as the chopper took off, threatening to push us back. We stood and waited until it was far enough away the sound didn’t drown out our conversation. Then, Doc turned to me. “We’re going to need to catch whatever is out there to make an anti-venom.”
I chewed on my bottom lip. “How much time do we have?”
Doc shook his head. “The break bought him some time by the looks of it, but they can’t keep breaking bones forever. All it’s doing is slowing the progression. If we don’t find an anti-venom in forty-eight hours, Valentino is a dead man.”
I stepped up to the edge of the roof, looking out over the town. Already, the water had begun to recede a bit. The river in the streets had been reduced to a shallow stream. People had come out of their homes to assess the damage and watch the chopper take off. The Concho River flowed in the distance, still out of its banks. No giant waves rose, and the water looked calm and still. Thunder rumbled behind me.
“We’re going to need help. Someone who knows a lot about snakes.”
“A park ranger?” Hunter volunteered. “Maybe freaking National Geographic should come out here if that snake’s that big.”
“No,” I said, crossing my arms. “I was thinking more like a wise old Indian.” I turned to Hunter. “My car can't make it through the high water. We’re going to need to hitch a ride.”
Hunter’s face lit up. He knew exactly who I was going to call.