“Driving impaired is never a clever idea. He’s lucky that it happened on your parents’ property and that neither of them was hurt. A hundred or so more feet and he could have easily hit another car and he’d be looking at some help he couldn’t refuse. I’ll talk to him, as his doctor, but it might be time for a family intervention.”
Kat nodded. She knew he was right. Damn Mike for this. He was supposed to be the big brother. He was supposed to take care of her, not the other way around. Her parents were so mad, they wouldn’t even take him to get checked out once they determined he wasn’t dead or gravely injured. She’d had to haul him into her car and bring him down. No doubt, the doctor was sick of being disrupted by them on a nightly basis by now.
“I’d appreciate that.”
“Alright, well, I had to sedate him to calm him down, so he’ll be sleeping that off for a few hours. Just leave him here with me and I’ll give you a call to pick him up in the morning after he’s fit to leave, and I’ve had a little chat with him.”
“Are you sure?” Kat asked.
Mike had been known to get out of control if he was disoriented, and she knew the doctor was well aware of that from a previous incident.
“If he gets out of hand, I’ll call you and let you know he’ll be sleeping it off a bit longer,” he laughed.
Kat nodded. She should have known not to question the doctor’s ability to contain Mike. He was an Alpha, and superior in strength, plus armed with sedatives. If one thing didn’t calm Mike back down, the other would. Though it hopefully wouldn’t come to that.
She stopped by her parents’ house on her way back home. Her father already had one of the builders from their pack out looking at the damage and getting some plastic up to cover it until he could get a crew out to repair it.
“How is your brother?” her mother asked.
“He’s going to be fine. Some cracked ribs and cuts, bruises. That’s all.”
“He should be able to shift and shake that off by morning,” she replied.
“No. Doc had to sedate him. He’ll have to old school the healing until he sleeps off that and whatever else he was taking. Doc is going to have a chat with him about rehab, but suggests we have an intervention.”
“Like that has ever worked,” her father growled from nearby.
Her parents had written Mike off after one too many incidents involving his bad habits. They loved him but just weren’t down for letting him lead them around by the nose while he put his health and safety at risk.
“I’m going to go home and get some sleep. Doc said he’ll call me when he’s ready for Mike to get picked up.”
“Don’t bring him here. I’ve pulled his truck out back; he can deal with that himself. I can’t be assed.”
“Okay, Dad,” she sighed, not wanting to end up in the middle of the war between Mike and their parents. She hugged her mom and went home, not even bothering to undress before climbing into bed and laying her phone on the nightstand beside her.
It seemed like she had barely drifted off when it began to buzz heavily and then launched into the generic ringtone she had set for calls other than friends and family, something called “Majestic Melody.”
“Hello?” she mumbled into the speaker.
“Kat? It’s Doc. Mike’s gone.”
Now she was awake. She sat up and swung her legs over the side of the bed.
“Gone? What do you mean, gone?”
“I got up to check on him and he wasn’t here. He must have come to and snuck out during the night. I went out to look for him, but all I found were his clothes, shredded. Looks like he shifted and took off, so maybe he’s headed your way.”
“Alright, thanks, Doc. I’ll keep an eye out for him.”
“Yep. We’ll talk some more later. Bye.”
“Sure. Bye, Doc,” she replied and ended the call.
Damn Mike. What was he up to? She waited for a while, more than enough time for him to come by, but there was no sign of him. He might have gone to their parents’, but she doubted it. If he was clear enough to know what he did, he would know how pissed they are with him. His place was miles away, but his wolf form could run that with no problem on a good day. He might be slower with cracked ribs, though.
She called his apartment and got voicemail, realizing that his phone was likely with his shredded clothes or in his vehicle. She thought about calling her parents, but it wasn’t even daylight out yet. Though she was worried about him, this was also typical Mike. Frustrated, she lay back down and went back to sleep. Let him do whatever he was doing, and she’d go check on him when a decent hour to be alive rolled around.