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I bit back a smile at the answer, amused when Alan snorted. “You and your father are both wise to be worried.” I shrugged when the shifters and magics in the room froze. “You all know I would never push for violence, but I’m also tired of my kind being constantly treated like security guards and meter maids while other species get wildly rich.”

“And so are a growing number of vampire leaders,” Alan warned. “I can’t say this will heal all the hurt, but it’s at least something. Long overdue, but I think it will make a powerful statement that its origin came from the son of a very powerful Alpha.”

I interjected when Ha-joon looked a bit pale. “We’re not saying to use your family or back your father into a corner.”

“No, but you’re right on the framing if it’s also going to be political and try to mend a growing issue,” Renee muttered. “More he was raised right and clearly such a powerful Alpha teaches his pack andchildrento respect the sacrifices vampires make. It’s a smart message.” She shot me a worried look. “One that will epically backfire if they are the only ones to do this.”

“Still, he wins for the best presentation and idea so far,” one of the other department heads said firmly. “I thought the mopping robot was going to be the only decent one this week, so good job, Clark.”

I heard her loud and clear that it was time to move on.

He nodded and cleared his throat as he leaned over and tapped the keys on his laptop a few times. “This next idea was presented to my last hospital and rejected. Harshly.”

And obviously that had left a mark on him.

“ASH is more open-minded than others,” I reminded him, flicking off a few people when they made kissy noises.

Ha-joon ignored them and gave me a grateful look.

But it was hard not to cringe and withdraw my earlier comment when he told us the idea.

“Hear him out because he also talked to me about this and I think the idea has promise,” Carla interjected. “And I think I see where Sean’s head is about involving Renee and it’s brilliant.”

“Yes, bringing in dermatology would be smart,” Sean muttered. “I went right to mental health and—”

“ASH is never going to have a medical spa,” Alan interrupted. “It would shatter all of our credibility and—”

“Then it wasn’t launched correctly, and you still have too much toxic here that would undermine growth,” Ha-joon interjected, not backing down when Alan was annoyed.

“Even your own hospital rejected the proposal,” Alan threw back.

Ha-joon winced but seemed nervous. “I apologize for not being clearer. They rejected it because it wasn’t money-making enough in the current state. They’re planning to implement it now that I’m gone in the way I wouldn’t be a part of. I told them I would walk if they went with the way they wanted it.”

I knocked on the table when several people opened their mouths at once. “Let’s all calm down.” I met Ha-joon’s gaze andignored the puppy dog look he was giving me. “The sensitivity in this room is because too many have looked down on ASH and accused us of being a medical spa basically.”

“Corporate charlatans making up problems supes don’t have to cure them like we’re all humans,” Alan grumbled, his tone mocking.

Yes, because we’d heard that too often especially when ASH first opened.

And that was bullshit because it all came from people who were upset they hadn’t come up with the idea first or didn’t control it. But they were people with power and reach, so their bad intentions had been the least of our problems.

“We’re all going to give this conversation and idea a clean slate,” I said to everyone there. “His first idea was too good to brush off a different one because of our biases. I put myself in that category, and you all know how I feel about medical spas.” It was the truth even if I felt bad saying that for Ha-joon. “Now, explain it to us in crayon-eating terms.”

That made him ease down a bit and he nodded. “I’m not saying doctors recommend back rubs, here’s a punch card for you, and don’t forget to hit the gift shop on the way out. No, none of that.”

“You’re saying…” Someone started to interject but sighed when I shot him a shit look. “You saidconversation, Ellie. We don’t need a lecture. We need a conversation and yes, I will try to be open to it. But I think I see his point.”

“Sorry.” I sighed when that wasn’t enough and rubbed the back of my neck. “The board tried to beat this idea into me every other month. This whole thing is tense for me.” That worked, and I was glad we got back on track.

“You’re saying sometimes there’s a need for something between ortho appointments and physical therapy,” the department head said as he focused on Ha-joon. “My mind isimmediately on wolves since you are one. There are too many times I’ve heard ortho say they told the parent of a young wolf that physical therapy isn’t needed—”

“And they immediately hear everything is fine and the problem is done,” Ha-joon finished for him, nodding. “But really take-home exercises were prescribed along with massaging joints and soaks.” Several of us nodded, knowing the situation well. “In my perfect world, the standard of care after a first shift would be the following—”

My mouth wasn’t the only one that fell open when he clicked for the next slide. There was a whole flowchart next to a questionnaire.

“The child is brought in as soon as possible after the shift. They are asked questions that the parentsdo notanswer, especially when we know they will give certain answers out of embarrassment. From there, each child is given a full and specialized health plan. Girls that age will start their menstruation if they haven’t already.”

“Or our menstruation changes and certainly our sex drive which is always a dirty secret that hurts especially wolves,” Carla muttered, her tone a bit haunted. She’d seen too many be hurt and abused.