Aztec Treasure
Emergency Room

Maria (Meztli) Skollson’s POV

Highway 17 North of Sault Ste. Marie, Ontario, Canada

It wasn’t an enjoyable ride to the hospital. The big ambulance had to slow down for the turns, and I couldn’t see the scenery we came here to see. The EMT spent most of his time monitoring Lana and keeping her awake, but he did check on me. “You should take off your leathers and outerwear if you can,” he told me. “Emergency rooms have a habit of just cutting things off.”

It sounded like a good idea. I’d left my helmet behind with Lance, but with EMT help, I got my Steel Ladies cut and my motorcycle jacket off. I couldn’t move my shoulder around without pain, and a look at the leather showed why. The road had scraped up the leathers as we skidded across the opposite lane. He helped me get my leather chaps off, being careful around my knee. They were toast as well from where my knee, thigh, and hips had landed. My jeans underneath were intact, and there was no blood. He wrapped my knee with a cold pack and gave me a sling for my arm.

I’d saved more of my gear than Lana, although my leathers got so scratched up that I’d probably have to replace them anyway. With her body strapped to the backboard and her helmet taped in place, they couldn’t risk moving her just for clothing. The EMT used heavy shears to cut away the sleeve of her BMW motorcycle jacket and shirt to hook up the blood pressure monitor. He took one of her racing gloves off and cut the other because of the broken wrist.

“I don’t think it’s fixable,” I told her. “The front fork collapsed back into the engine housing when you hit the side of the truck. Nice distance on the dismount, though. I heard you cleared thirty feet.”

“I was trying for forty, but the cartwheel took away the distance,” she said with a smile. “How is everyone else?”

“The drunk driver wasn’t hurt, James stopped in time, and Lance landed on me.”

“You’re not much of a skidpad.”

“I know. My knee would have been fine if Lance’s fat ass wasn’t sitting on it.”

She giggled at that. “That’s why I don’t ride bitch. If I crash, it’s my fault.”

“You had no chance to avoid it, Lana. Lance barely did, and he had six feet more reaction time and an empty lane he could turn in. You were trapped.”

“Yeah.” She closed her eyes, probably riding out a wave of pain. “Can you get my phone out of my left breast pocket? I need to tell my boss about this since I’m officially on the job.”

The EMT got her phone, but it didn’t survive the crash. “I can call for you.”

She didn’t remember her boss’s number, but she had Allison’s. “Special Agent Cook,” she answered as I put the phone on speaker.

“Allison, it’s Lana. I’ve been in an accident.”

“I know, Chase called me, and I’ve already informed Smallwood. He’s going to speak with the SAIC of the Detroit office and send an agent to replace you.”

“We’ll be at the Sault Area Hospital Emergency Room on the Canadian side,” I told them. “Unless you can take us across to a US hospital.”

“Not with a head injury,” the EMT said. “We can arrange to transport her across the border after the doctor clears her for transport.”

“Got all that?” Allison had it all written down, and now she had my phone number. “Anyone else you want me to call?”

“No,” she said. “My brother is on a submarine in the Pacific, and my parents are dead.” The ambulance was slowing down and making turns, so we must be close. I could hear a half-dozen Harleys riding close behind us.

The ambulance came to a stop, and the back doors opened. Two orderlies were waiting for me with a wheelchair; they helped me down and out of the way as the rest of the team took the gurney. The EMT went with them as they rolled Lana in, giving an update on her vitals. One of the men wheeled me to Admitting.

The sliding doors opened as my friends rushed inside. Chase was first to my side. “Are you all right?”

“I’m fine, but I’ve never dealt with this stuff. Mom always took care of it.” I found my insurance card in my travel wallet and handed that over with my driver’s license. S~ᴇaʀᴄh the ꜰindNʘvel.ɴet website on Gøøglᴇ to access chapters of novels early and in the highest quality.

Chase explained how it would work. Although we got free medical care from the Pack clinic, the Alphas kept a group High Deductible Health Plan for major medical. The Canadian hospital would bill my insurance, and I’d pay the bill up to the deductible limit. “This shouldn’t reach that, though.” I finished the paperwork, and Lance rolled me over to where everyone was sitting. I wasn’t the priority patient, so I had to wait.

Two Provincial Police officers entered the waiting room while we waited; one went back to the examining room while the other took my statement. The second man came out with Lana’s pistol, badge, and magazines. They’d cut her shoulder holster off to get it. I couldn’t tell them much; I saw the truck when Lance did, then we were sliding.

I finally got taken back for X-rays, which didn’t show any fractures. The Doc told me I was lucky; my shoulder had dislocated but popped back in, so there was nothing to do but keep it in the sling with ice and rest. My knee had a bone bruise, so I was to stay off it as much as possible and ice it regularly. Since it wasn’t structural, I didn’t need crutches or a brace. He gave me a bottle of painkillers and a sample of Aleve. “Take the Vicodin as directed until they are gone, then take Aleve for two weeks at two pills per twelve hours. Keep the knee elevated and ice at least every four hours.” Lance was in the room for the exam, and I knew he’d take care of me. I asked about the baby, but the baby was tiny right now, and I hadn’t taken an abdominal injury. I signed my discharge papers, and Lance wheeled me back to the waiting room.

I wasn’t going to leave until we knew about Lana’s injuries, so I sat there in the waiting room with ice packs on my shoulder and knee. The doctor came out, speaking briefly to the police officers who went back to get her statement. “You’re all waiting for Miss Black?”

“We are,” James said.

“She’s lucky she was wearing quality protective gear. It saved her life. The helmet saved her face, but she has a concussion and a sprained neck. She also has three cracked ribs on her left side, a broken left wrist, and a badly bruised left hip and shoulder. We’ll be admitting her for observation.”

“Can I see her? I’m her boyfriend.”

“I’ll take you back for a few minutes. Visiting hours start at nine in the morning.”

I let out a sigh of relief; it could have been a lot worse. The RV and the rest of our group showed up while James was back there. “There’s nothing else to do here tonight. Load up, and let’s go to the hotel.”

Lance gave Granite his keys back and then carried me to the RV. The ladies fussed over me as I got settled on the couch. Maritza had been crying, and she tucked into one side while Lance held me on the other. “Chase is talking about cutting the trip short and going home after this.”

My eyes got wide. “NO! That’s not what I want!” Opening the link to Lance, Chase, and Rori, I told them that the show would go on in no uncertain terms. “I can’t ride, but I can stay in the RV, and I planned to do that some of the time anyway. I spent so much time planning this, Alphas. I don’t want one accident to ruin everyone’s trip.”

I hadn’t convinced Chase just yet. “What about Lana? We can’t leave her behind.”

“We already planned to spend a day in Sault Ste. Marie, then a day at the casino hotel not far west of here. James can stay with Lana and drive her back when she’s released.”

We finally agreed that Lance would finish the tour on the rental bike James had. One of the prospects and a support van would stay here as the group moved on, and Chase would arrange for a private jet to bring James and Lana home after her release. “By the way, did you see how James reacted?”

Lance laughed. “If there was any doubt Lana is his mate, it’s gone now. His wolf nearly came out when he saw the driver.”

“He’s lucky that Lana already knows about our kind. I think she’ll agree to the change.”

“They would be a good Beta pair. Sawyer and Ashley will want to keep them even more now.”

That wouldn’t happen, I thought. “Sawyer doesn’t have a chance to keep them; Lana is FBI, assigned to Minnesota, and we have a better pool.”

“And an empty Beta home ready to go,” Rori added. “I can’t wait to meet her wolf.”

Me, too. Lana was one strong woman, and her wolf would match.

Now we needed to convince her to get a Harley and join the Ladies.

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