Surrogate for My Brother-in-law - Chapter 30: Chapter 30

I looked up at the nurse. He stared back at me with wide, frightened eyes. It was clear he had no idea what to do about the screaming patient.
“What are you doing?” I repeated.
“The patient is agitated,” the other nurse, a woman, informed me. As though I couldn't see that for myself. “He has to be restrained for his own safety.”
I looked at the cuffs in the nurse's hands. “Not with those. He'll rip his wrists apart.” I looked around. “Don't you even have padded restraints?”
“They aren't strong enough,” the female nurse said.
I looked down at the patient. He was frail and thin. I could probably wrap my index finger and thumb around his wrist joints.
The patient trembled. His breath was coming fast. He would be hyperventilating soon. I could see his pulse throb in his throat above the collar of his thin hospital gown.
“Let me examine him,” I ordered, and shoved past the nurses.
I crouched in front of the patient, making myself as non-threatening as I possibly could. I could see sweat beading on his forehead.
I was pretty sure I knew what was wrong. He was experiencing a panic attack. I'd read about them in Dr. Lee's texts, but this was the first I'd ever seen.
Still, I had to try to help. Restraints would only make the episode worse. The patient needed help to ground himself in reality and calm down. Being restrained and trapped would only make the terror he felt worse.
“Hello,” I said, keeping my voice soft and my posture open and soft, “I am Dr. Angel. I would like to help you. May I?”
The patient stared at me. I waited. Rushing him would not help.
He slowly nodded once, glancing up at the nurses.
“They'll back off,” I promised. “No one else will approach.”
I heard Ethan mutter something, and then the soft shuffling of several people retreating across the hallway. They weren't leaving me alone with the patient, but I had space to work.
“Can you tell me your name?” I asked.
“He's Wilson, of pack SilverRun,” the male nurse informed me.
I glared over my shoulder. “I asked him. I need to assess his mental state.”
“Oh. Sorry.”
I sighed and turned back to Wilson.
“Okay, ignore that question,” I said. “Wilson, I believe you are having a panic attack. Has that ever happened to you before?”
Wilson shivered and panted for several moments, but he ducked his chin and raised it back up in a hesitant nod.
“Very good. Thank you for answering me, Wilson,” I said. “Does your chest hurt?”
Another nod, and he gripped his chest. His breath sped up.
“That is normal,” I reassured him. “Your body is reacting as though you are under attack. But you are not. You are safe here.”
He shivered and opened his mouth several times.
“Are you trying to speak?” I asked.
He nodded.
“It's okay if the words won't come out. Don't push yourself. I would like to help you. Will you let me?”
He nodded, more certainly this time. He reached out with one hand. I took his hand in mine.
I reached for my wolf. I'd need her guidance for this. A panic attack was a real, physical thing but it wasn't an open wound I could nudge to heal faster.
“I am going to count for you,” I said. “I want you to breath in on my four count, then hold, then breath out for four. Focus as hard as you can on your breathing, on my voice. Can you do that?” I asked.
Wilson whimpered, but nodded.
I counted softly, matching my own breathing to the pattern my wolf offered in my mind. Wilson struggled, his breath coming too quick at first. He stared at my face and clutched my hand and his breathing eventually slowed to the pattern I called.
Meanwhile, I reached out with my wolf's senses, offering my own strength to bolster his. There was no wound to heal but my power found the strain in his heart, in his lungs, and eased it.
After several minutes, Wilson slumped back against the wall. He was visibly exhausted, but no longer gripped by panic.
“Thank you,” he breathed.
“I am glad I could help,” I said.
He nodded. I stood up and pulled him gently to his feet. Leo stepped forward.
“I'm not his alpha, but any alpha should be able to help stabilize him,” he said. “Let me help him to his bed.”
I stepped back as Leo gently wrapped the patient's arm over his shoulder and his own arm behind his back. I followed them into the nearest room, which held three other wolves, all deeply asleep.
“How did they sleep through that?” Ethan asked.
“They're sedated,” I said, reading the label of the nearest IV. “Why are they so heavily medicated?”
“We all are,” Wilson said, “so we're less trouble.”
“Is that true?” Leo demanded of Dr. Farron.
“It... it is for the patients' own good,” the so-called doctor insisted.
“This drug cocktail has severe side effects over long term use,” Ethan said, leaning over my shoulder to read the IV.
“Well, yes, but these patients are terminal,” Dr. Farron said.
Wilson shook his head. “I'm sick but not... not dying.” He shuddered. “My family sent me here. Paid the doctors to say I would die. To keep me here. But I'm healing. My wolf says.”
Ethan turned to me and tilted his head. I understood immediately what he wanted. I moved closer to Wilson, and rested my hand on his forehead.
Healing. Slowly. Starved. My wolf helpfully confirmed.
“He's healing,” I announced. “He would be healed already if he wasn't being starved.”
“They don't feed us much,” Wilson said, “only when we're awake long enough, and that's not often. The rest of the time they feed us through the tubes, when they remember. Sometimes they forget.”
I looked around the room, horror dawning on me as I realized these neglectful, barely trained excuses for medical staff had had custody of my mother for years. I wanted to scream every bit as loudly as Wilson had. Instead, I turned on Dr. Farron.
“I don't know what kind of place you think you have here, but I know these alphas will not be investing in it. You'll be lucky not to be banished for this.”
“I... I'm not the owner, though, I'm just following orders,” Dr. Farron said.
“Who is?” Ethan asked.
“Shut up!” Eva ordered.
“Alpha Arthur, of the NightHunt pack,” Dr. Farron said, ignoring Eva. “He is our primary investor and the owner. It's his policies we're following.”
“You're lying!” Eva shrieked. “You're just scared you'll get in trouble.”
“It should be easy enough to confirm,” Ethan said. “Let's go to your office, Dr. Farron. Show us those financial records.”
Dr. Farron was eager to cover his own tail and complied immediately. The records showed, clearly, that the sanatorium was, indeed, under ownership of pack NightHunt. My own father. I don't know how I managed to find more disappointment to feel about him, but I did.
“I will not be investing in this facility,” Leo growled.
“This facility will not be open much longer,” Ethan added. “As alpha of this territory, it is my prerogative to shut it down and I will be doing so the moment other arrangements can be made for the patients. In the meantime, I will have my own staff oversee the care the patients receive.”
Dr. Farron slumped, but didn't protest. Ethan made a few phone calls, and Dr. Lee arrived with several nurses and orderlies to take over patient care.
“If you need funds to pay your staff for the overtime, give me a call,” Leo whispered to Ethan. “I know things are tight for your pack.”
“Thanks, but it's in the budget. Mostly because Dr. Lee doesn't let me pay her what she's worth.”
“Okay,” Leo said. Then he turned to me. “You should probably take Dr. Angel here home, though. She must be tired.”
“You're right,” Ethan agreed.
He led me out of the room. “Would you rather go straight home, or would you like to try out a nice restaurant I know of? You have got to be starving by now.”
“I could eat, but... if funds are tight...”
Ethan snorted. “Pack funds. And I'm not as bad off as Leo thinks, he worries too much. I have my own budget for personal things like taking pretty lady healers out to dinner.”
“Well, if you're sure,” I said. “I am actually starving.”
“Great! No, not great, you're hungry, but great that you're willing to eat with me after this disaster of a day.”
I grinned and followed him to his car.