Forbidden Hunger by R.L. Kenderson

One

“Siya,I need your help in room eight.”

Siya Patel looked up from the computer at the nurses’ station in the emergency department to see Dr. Murphey standing in front of the counter. Friday nights in the ER were always busy.

Room eight’s nurse was Scott, which meant that the doctor most likely needed a female chaperone for a pelvic exam.

“On my way,” she said and followed Dr. Murphey to the room, but before they were halfway there, the doctor pulled her aside.

“I need to do an exam on a young girl who is injured and bleeding vaginally. The mother claims that the girl is seventeen, but I have my doubts. I also asked if they needed me to call the police to file a report, and the mother said absolutely not.”

“What about the girl?”

“She didn’t say a word. I’m hoping to pull the mother aside after the exam and speak to her privately. When we step out of the room, I’m thinking you might be able to get some information out of the girl.”

“I’ll do my best,” Siya said, feeling heartbroken for a teenager she hadn’t even met yet.

This was why she didn’t like working in the ER. Too many sad things came in. She much preferred the cardiovascular floor. Not that there weren’t sad patients there, too, but it wasn’t the same as seeing someone bleeding everywhere from a car accident or a guy who had gotten his face punched in during a fight. Or in this case, a possible rape victim with a mother who didn’t want her daughter to report it. Siya had seen it before. It had ended up being the stepfather, and that was why the mother hadn’t wanted to press charges. It made Siya sick to think about.

A young girl who didn’t look any older than fifteen lay on the bed with a woman standing next to her. The girl looked frightened and unsure, but the woman looked angry and irritated, and right away, Siya knew things were worse off than what the doctor suspected.

“Hannah,” the doctor said to the patient, “this is Nurse Siya. She’s going to stay in here and help me while I do your exam, okay?”

Hannah looked at her mother and then back to the doctor and nodded.

“Siya, this is Hannah and her mom, Jane,” Dr. Murphey said.

Siya managed a fake smile. “Hello.”

“Let’s get started, shall we?” the doctor said.

As he gave Hannah instructions and told her what to expect, Siya studied the two females and wondered what the hell they were doing in a human hospital.

Because these two were shifters. Siya was ninety-nine percent sure of it. She didn’t know enough to know if they were cat- or wolf-shifters, but thanks to her best friend, she knew they weren’t fully human.

Her best friend, Demi, was half-cat-shifter and had lived her life in secret until about nine months ago when she had been injured and had no choice but to reach out to the local cat-shifters. Before that, Siya had known only Demi, but since then, she had met many more shifters and could recognize them now. She couldn’t put her finger on it, but there was something about them that made them different from humans.

Now, she knew that shifters had their own hospital with their own doctors. They wouldn’t come to a human hospital unless they wanted to hide something.

Like the fact that this Jane—or whatever her real name was—was not Hannah’s mother. They looked very different from each other and were too close in age. There was, of course, adoption, and shifters aged more slowly, but adoption didn’t seem to happen often in the shifter community. Also, Jane didn’t once reach out and hold her supposed daughter’s hand despite the young girl obviously being scared.

The doctor motioned Siya to come closer to him.

“I’m going to need a suture kit,” he said in a low voice, and Siya momentarily closed her eyes.

This poor girl must be in a ton of pain if she needed to be stitched up.

Siya straightened and looked at Jane. The woman was on her phone, too busy to pay attention to what was wrong. Or she was pretending to be distracted. Siya had best remember that Jane had better hearing than she and Dr. Murphey combined.

Siya went to the door and stuck her head out to ask for the supplies the doctor needed since she was required to stay in the hospital room until the pelvic exam was done.

“I’m just going to check you for STIs—or STDs, as you might call them.”

Jane smirked at her phone, and Siya knew they wouldn’t find anything since shifters couldn’t catch sexually transmitted infections or diseases.

Once the doctor finished with his exam, he made sure Hannah was comfortable and asked Jane to go to a private room reserved for family members for when the doctor needed to discuss issues that shouldn’t be talked about in front of certain patients, like minors or elderly who could no longer take care of themselves. Thankfully, it worked because if it were any other seventeen-year-old patient, the doctor would speak to both her and the mother in the same room.

The second they were out of the room, Siya pulled up the doctor’s stool and moved to the side of Hannah’s bed.

“Hey, Hannah, you know that we’re here to help you, right?”

“Yeah,” she said uncertainly.

“Is there anything at all you’d like to share with me?”

She hesitated, and for a second, Siya hoped she’d get something out of the girl, but Hannah just shook her head.

Siya chewed on her bottom lip. She needed another approach. Hannah needed to know she could trust her.

“Do you have any pets?”

“No. No pets.”

“That’s too bad. I have two pets. I have a huge cat named Vance and a large dog named Damien, who almost looks like a wolf.”

Hannah’s eyes widened to the point Siya thought they might pop out of her head.

“Some people think my names are odd, but both of my pets are fearless leaders in their own right, and I think their names are fitting.” Siya kept her voice casual, as if she really were talking about pets she owned.

“What about you?” she asked. “Do you like cats or dogs better?”

Hannah licked her lips nervously. “Um…I like cats.” Her hand shook as she pointed to the door to her room. “But my mom likes dogs.”

“That’s interesting.” So, Hannah was a cat-shifter, and her fake mom was a wolf-shifter. “Hey, do you want to see some pictures of my pets?”

“Yes, please.”

Siya pulled her phone out of her pocket and brought up her Notes app. She rapidly typed, asking if Hannah was her real name.

She showed her the screen. “What do you think? Does he look scary?”

“No, he looks nice.”

Hannah wasn’t her name.

Siya took her phone back and quickly entered another question, asking if Jane was the real name of the older woman.

“What about this picture? Do you think my dog looks silly?”

“No, he looks kind of mean in that photo.”

Siya nodded and took her phone back, swiftly erasing her messages before “Jane” came back.

But if she could find out Hannah’s real name before that happened, she would feel so much better. Jane’s real name would be good to have, too, but she didn’t know how much time they had.

She supposed she could have Hannah type her name in herself, but she was scared what Jane would do if she walked in and saw that Hannah was on Siya’s phone. It was easier to pretend like she was showing the young girl pictures.

“So, are you sure you don’t have any pets?” she asked, hoping that Hannah would understand the question. “Because now that I told you my pets’ names, you could tell me yours.”

“Oh, um, I used to have a cat. Her name was Emery Telfort, but she ran away, and I haven’t seen her since.” Hannah—or rather Emery—started crying. “I think she really misses home.”

“Oh, honey,” Siya whispered. “I’m sure your cat will make it back home and soon.”

She sniffled. “You think so?”

“I do.”

Siya was at the counter to grab a tissue when the door opened and Jane walked in.

“What’s going on here?” Jane’s eyes bounced from Hannah to her and back to Hannah.

Siya could see the alarm in the other woman’s eyes, and she didn’t want her to panic and do anything stupid.

Bringing the tissue back to her patient, Siya said, “Nothing. Your daughter is in a lot of pain, and Dr. Murphey has yet to prescribe her any medication.”

He had numbed the area he sewed up, but Siya was sure Hannah really was in pain. Or she would be once the lidocaine wore off.

“Oh, yes, I meant to do that.” He looked at Hannah. “I’m so sorry about that.”

Hannah sniffled. “It’s okay.”

Dr. Murphey signed in to the computer. “I’ll order that right now, and a nurse will bring it in.”

While Jane watched him, Siya quickly took a picture of her since her cell was still in her hand. She had no idea if she’d gotten a good angle, but she prayed she’d gotten something identifiable as she slipped it into her pocket.

The doctor looked up and over at Siya. “Thank you for your help, Siya.”

“You’re welcome.” She turned to Hannah. “I hope you feel better soon.”

“Thank you.”

She headed to the door as Jane narrowed her eyes at Siya, but she wasn’t going to let herself be intimidated. She knew bigger and badder shifters than her. Plus, it wasn’t her first day as a nurse. She could handle threatening looks any day.

As soon as she exited, she rushed to a break room and pulled out her phone.