<b>Chapter </b>60


    Amber’s POV


    I was surprised when I received a page directing me to the emergency room. Typically my patients were those that needed long term care with long term problems. The issues they faced in emergency traumas, idents, and the like weren’t really my forte.


    But a page was a page, and I would go wherever I was needed.


    As I made my way down to the emergency room, I encountered many worried faces and hear many whispered rumors. By the time I reached the main waiting room and saw Julian, I had a pretty good idea what was going on and why I was called.


    A high profile case like the sudden weakness of an elder required the diligence and attention of a high profile Healer. As things were, there weren’t any Healers of higher profile than I was in this moment.


    Spotting me as I exited the stairwell, he quickly made his way over to me. “Healer Amber… or Amanda? Forgive me, I’m unsure how to properly address you.”


    “Either is fine,” I said. “But for simplicity, call me Healer Amber.”


    He nodded. “Healer Amber, please do what you can for Elder Jeffers. I’m sure I don’t have to tell you how important a member of the elder council is to the pack.”


    “You do not.”


    He nodded again, surprising me with how… differently he was acting. There wasn’t true time to reflect on it, but in this moment, after not having seen each other for weeks I thought he might act apologetic or<b>… </b>familiar. As he always had in the past.


    Instead, he was acting polite but distant, using his professional Alpha voice with me in a way he never truly had before. He was speaking to me like a coworker, not a former lover.


    This made things easier, certainly, and I should have been d for it.


    Oddly, it left me feeling somewhat off–kilter.


    But I could evaluate those feelingster. For now, I needed to focus on my patient.


    “Does he have any known health problems?” I asked.


    “Not to my knowledge, but his family will be here soon.”


    “Do you know his age?”


    At this, Julian looked somewhat grim. “He is nearing one hundred twenty.”


    Werewolves generally had longer lifespans than humans, but even a hundred twenty was a long time for a body to run. Around this stage, it would start naturally breaking down.


    Julian must have known that, from the tight expression on his face. “Please,” he said. “Do what you can.”


    “Of course,” I said, then I turned away from him and entered emergency. I found Elder Jeffers bed fairly quickly. Despite being separated from the rest with several privacy curtains, he had still drawn quite the crowd of Healers, nurses, and assistants.


    “Necessary personnel only,<b>” </b>I reminded them as I pushed through the crowd. “We have other patients here who need you.”


    The crowd dispersed at my scolding


    Nearer the elder, actually examining him, were three of the higher ranked doctors, including former Head Healer


    Eric.


    As I approached, he gave me a strange look that was a mix of relief and bewilderment.


    “We’ve stabilized him,” Eric told <b>me</b>. “He’s in a medically–induceda for now.<i>” </i>


    “Do we have any theories?<b>” </b>I asked.


    “Not yet,” Eric replied. “We are still running tests.”


    “Excuse me, Healer Amanda,” said one of the assistants. “The patient’s family is entering the waiting room now.”


    I excused myself from the Healers and headed back out into the waiting room to receive what I could about the patient’s medical history.


    The two that had arrived, Elder Jeffers youngest son Pete and his wife Rachel<b>, </b>were very little help at all. “What do I know of his medical history?” Pete demanded. “Aren’t <b>you </b>the Healer? Shouldn’t you tell me?”


    I’d been through this kind of questioning before. Family members handled the shock and grief in different ways, oftenshing out at whoever was the closest and most responsible–looking. More often than not, that was me.


    I was used to this burden and could bear it.


    I wasn’t used to Julianing to my side. “You will speak with Healer Amanda respectfully,” he demanded of Pete and his wife. <b>“</b><b>If </b>you know anything that could help the treatment of your father, you will tell her.”


    Pete lowered his head, looking like a child who had been scolded. Rachel, as before, was barely paying attention, scrolling on her phone.


    <b>“</b>I really don’t know anything,” Pete said. “Dad kept his problems away from us.”


    <b>“</b><b>If </b>you discover anything from anyone else in your family… I began.


    “I’ll let you know,” he said. “Yeah.”


    “Good,” Julian said.


    “Thank you,” I said, and turned.


    Julian followed me back toward the doors of the emergency room. Looking at him, I said, “Thank you, but that was unnecessary.”


    “No one in my pack should act so rudely to any Healer,” he said.


    My heart squeezed at his words. So he wasn’t acting for me specifically, and would have done the same for any Healer.


    Right. That was good. I should be happy about that.


    I still felt hollow.


    Julian’s POV


    Standing in front of Amber like this, I wanted more than anything to apologize and somehow work to mend the broken bridges between us.


    But what was there left to mend?


    My wolf growled at me, wanting to be close to our mate, but I pushed at him, forcing him to the back of my mind. Amber didn’t want us around. Maybe she never had.


    And I certainly had no right to be close to her. She had made clear that she would never choose me.


    The only thing I could do to protect myself and to respect her wishes was to treat her with a cold, businesslike attitude.


    I protected her from Pete Jeffers‘ vile attitude, yes, but I had to believe I would protect any Healer in exactly the


    same way.


    Amber couldn’t be special to me anymore. At least not outwardly.


    She didn’t belong to me.


    “For the sake of the pack,” I said to her, refusing to make this request overly personal. “Please do your best for Elder Jeffers.”


    “I will,” she said curtly. She was responding to my professional attitude with her own. Good. This was how things should be between us, and how they would remain for the foreseeable future, no matter how much I might have wished for things to be different.


    Before she went, her gaze drifted back to Pete. “If you hear anything more about Elder Jeffers‘ medical history or any family conditions, please let me know.”


    “You think they are hiding something?” <i>I </i>asked, surprised


    “I don’t know,” she said. “But it’s been my experience that men in power will go through anything to hide their weaknesses.”


    The words hit me like a p to the face.


    She couldn’t mean me, having hid her away, yet that was still the first thing that I thought of. When I looked at her, hoping to find confirmation in her gaze, she wasn’t looking at me. Instead, her gaze was on the ground.


    “Please, excuse me,” she said. “I should return to the patient.”


    I stood unable to say one more word to her as I watched her walk back into the emergency room.


    Men in power will go through anything to hide their weaknesses,


    Just like I had hid her?