Page 34 of The Cowbears of Curvy Bear Ranch

The bear rose up on his back paws and sniffed the air. She hoped he’d recognize her scent. She hadn’t been in the presence of his bear in years and the animalistic side of himself might notrememberher.

He turned in a circle, revealing a long gash in his back. A thick patch of gauze covered most of the surgical site, but a corner had ripped lose. A viscous mat of blood saturated his fur. Thick drops of fresh blood landed on the tile nearhispaws.

She had no idea how to reach him, so she just said anything that came to mind. “Remember the time we went out to Old Faithful to watch the full moon rise? We saw that moon rainbow in the geyser’s mist and thought it was the most magical moment of our lives. That night, you kissed me for the first time. Bright stars twinkled in the sky. The ground was covered in shimmering snow. It was so silent. We felt like we were the only two people left in the world. Do you remember thatnight?”

The bear cocked his head to one side, as if trying toremember.

Encouraged by his changing demeanor, she continued, “I wanted to make love under the stars, but I was too afraid to tell you. I was a virgin and so incredibly shy that I thought I was going to faint when youkissedme.”

The bear dropped to all fours and sat back on hishaunches.

“It took me another two weeks to summon enough courage to kiss you again. But when I did, I wanted to kiss youforever.”

Tears formed in the corners of her eyes. “Brady, come back to me. I need you. Your son, no…our sonneedsyou.”

The bear’s fur slowly receded. His paws transformed into hands and feet. His body cracked and twisted as bones retracted andreformed.

Rachel stood in awe as the powerful beast morphed into the man she couldn’t help but love. She raced forward as he collapsed ontohisside.

“I need help in here,” shescreamed.

One of the guards ran in, took one look at the situation and yelled, “Nurse!”

Rachel slipped in a small puddle of blood as she ran to hold Brady. She landed with a thud on her butt. A sharp pain stabbed up through her spine, but she couldn’t worry about thatrightnow.

“Brady, can youhearme?”

She stared into his pale, sweat-drenched face. As she smoothed his hair away from his eyes, he drew in a sharp breath then stilled. She froze and held her breath until he drewanotherone.

Two male nurses ran into the room. One said, “Ma’am, we need you to move. We have to get him back on a gurney and get an IVinhim.”

She nodded and pushed back, sliding along the floor until her back hit a steel tray. She watched as the nurses lifted Brady onto the gurney. They immediately started anewIV.

A doctor she didn’t recognize stepped into the room. “Stats?”

“BP seventy-five over forty-five, heart ratefifty.”

“That’s dangerously low. Push point fiveccepi.”

As one nurse scurried to grab a small glass bottle, the other nurse wrapped two straps across Brady’s chestandhips.

“Is that really necessary?” Rachelasked.

They looked at her like she’d lost her mind. She used the wall to climb to her feet. As she carefully stepped over scalpels and surgical scissors, she watched Brady’s chest riseandfall.

The doctor leaned over and used two fingers to pry his eyelids open. Glassy and unfocused, Brady stared at theceiling.

“Is he… ishe,dead?”

“No. He still has a pulse, but I’m afraid he’s fallen intoacoma.”

A sharp pain sliced through Rachel’s heart. “I can’tlosehim.”

“Ma’am, we’ll do everything in our power to save him, but right now, we just havetowait.”

She nodded and didn’t resist as one of the nurses led her into the hall. She stared down at the blood drops on her tennis shoes and startedtocry.

Dr. Landry approached from down the hall. “Your son’s doing fine. The procedure couldn’t have gone any better in his case. How’sBrady?”