Free What the Sleigh? by Mina Carter Page A

the mission in the mall, the armed gang…getting shot…all flooded back to her and her body replied with a mass of aches. She groaned. So that was what getting shot and killed felt like. Like she’d been run over by a truck. No, a fleet of them.
    Blinking, she turned her head to find herself in a hospital room and frowned. If she was dead, this was a pretty shitty heaven. Shouldn’t there be way more clouds and harps and less a room which looked suspiciously like the hospital wing of the PPA building?
    She leaned over with an effort to look at the floor by the bed. Yeah, there was straw there and by the looks of it, she’d shifted form a couple of times to heal. Straw in a hospital… A snort escaped her. She could imagine the human doctors totally freaking out.
    It was why the PPA had its own medical facilities. Normal hospitals weren’t equipped to deal with paranormal injuries. Not when the patients wore hooves half the time, or in the case of dragons, toasted everything in sight when in pain.
    Her gaze swept over the medical equipment and get well cards on the nearby cabinet. Was there? She squinted. Yeah, there was even a bunch of grapes in the middle there. She fucking hated grapes.
    How long had she been here? Leaning her head back against the soft pillow, she counted back to the day of the mission. Five days? Had to be if it was Christmas Eve now, and she never doubted her internal clock on that score.
    It was the same every year, her deer stomping and yodeling at her they should be out delivering presents, not understanding why she’d locked them up in the bedroom and hidden under the duvet when it wanted to be out flying.
    Christmas Eve and she wasn’t dead. Why wasn’t she dead?
    She closed her eyes and sought the answer within herself. She might have been out for the count, but her deer hadn’t been. She filtered through its memories as it happily stomped and called, telling her all about the Christmas magic which had brought them back from the brink.
    She opened her eyes in shock.
    Christmas magic?
    Nick.
    It had to be.
    He’d saved her life with Christmas magic.
    A bittersweet smile crossed her face as she looked out of the window into the night sky beyond. He’d saved her life and had no doubt gone back to the pole with Ginger. Even now he was probably out there delivering presents. She listened, extending her senses… and caught a faint ho ho ho! on the air. Yeah, the Claus' were out already.
    A slight sigh escaped her. Maybe next year she’d go home for Christmas, find another Santa to work with. She couldn’t live there full time, but there had to be a way to combine the two. She was Rudolph’s grand-daughter…it was her birthright to fly.
    Her gaze fixed on the jug of water on the counter by the window and thirst filled her. Fly later. First, she needed to walk. Gathering herself, she sat up and swung her legs off the end of the bed. Her head swam, dizziness assaulting her, but she ignored it. She needed a drink and she’d be damned if she’d call a nurse. She wasn’t some helpless invalid. She was one of Santa’s reindeer and she could do this.
    Slowly she eased herself forward until her feet were on the ground, then just as carefully, transferred her weight from her hands to her feet. So far so good. It all went well, right up to the point she tried to take a step.
    Her legs went from rock solid to limp noodles in less time than it took her to take a breath. With a cry, she found herself falling with no way to halt her downward progress…
    But strong arms wrapped around her before she could hit the floor and she was hauled up against a broad, muscled chest.
    “What’s a good looking girl like you doing in a place like this?”
    She hardly dare look up, even at the deep, familiar voice. Instead, she closed her eyes as love and heartache swirled through her. It was Nick. It couldn’t be Nick. He’d gone back to the Pole with Ginger. So…
    “I’m dreaming,” she whispered softly.