Free The Werewolf Whisperer (The Werewolf Whisperer Series Book 1) by Camilla Ochlan, Bonita Gutierrez Page A

surgeon.
    She
saw Lowell flash her badge to the attending nurse before following her partner
and the medical team through the automatic sliding glass doors.
    "Hey!"
Xochitl shouted after Officer Lowell.
    "Wait
here," Lowell called over her shoulder, barely looking at Xochitl.
    "¡Hijo
de puta!" Xochitl grumbled and walked through the sliding doors just as
another medical team dressed in the same green colored scrubs rushed past her
to the outside.
    Xochitl
stood in the middle of the emergency room as various hospital staff scurried in
and out of draped off examining bays, displaying, amidst the chaos, an eerie
calm. Xochi noticed the partition for one of the rooms pushed back slightly.
Through the small gap, she could see a teenage boy no older than her brother
lying on a bed with his head turned in her direction. The entire right side of
his face was bandaged. Blood seeped through the gauze where it covered his eye.
    "Madre
de Dios," she whispered and crossed herself.
    "She's
crashing!" a female voice startled Xochitl from behind.
    Xochitl
whipped around to see the second medical team rush through the glass doors with
a small woman straddled over a body lying on top of a gurney. The woman counted and
pushed down on the patient's chest as a male team member squeezed the clear bag
of a breathing mask placed over the patient's mouth.
    "Out
of the way!" the man shouted at Xochitl.
    Xochitl
jumped to the side , hitting her arm on the edge of the
nurses' station.
    "Ow,"
she hissed.
    "You
can't be in here, miss," a young Latina nurse said from behind the counter.
    "I
came in with a cop." Xochitl rubbed her elbow. "She went up with her
part—"
    "East
Los Angeles?" a male voice broke in.
    The
nurse put a hand up to Xochitl as if to say "hold on" before picking
up a radio mic. "Go ahead."
    "Got
another Staples Center mauling victim," the voice replied. "Being
diverted to you. Better expect more."
    "Copy,"
the young nurse said. She jotted something down on a piece of paper. "Hey,
Star," the nurse called out past
Xochitl.
    Xochi
followed the nurse's gaze and saw a petite older woman carrying a box and
notepad enter through a door opposite the nurse's station. Star wore black
slacks, a fuchsia blouse and a white nurse's scrub jacket covered with little
pink stars. Her blond hair was fastened in a loose bun; tiny tendrils had
fallen around her face. Despite appearing tired, she had a pleasant smile.
    "What's
up, Leticia?" Star asked, placing the box filled with different colored
bands on the counter.
    "Crazy
night." Nurse Leticia handed the paper to Star.
    "And
it's not even a full moon." Star chuckled, reading over the note.
    "I
know, right?" Leticia smiled.
    How
can they crack jokes?...Maybe it's either that or start crying.
    "Do
me a favor and show this young woman to the waiting room," Leticia said. "She
came in with an officer."
    "No
problem." Star smiled at Xochitl. "Come with me, dear." Xochitl
followed Star who headed for the door through which she had come.
    "Oh,
and tell Julia," Nurse Leticia called after Star, " we're expecting more. They're diverting to us from the
Staples Center."
    "Will
do," Star replied without looking back.
    "What
happened at the Staples Center?" Xochitl asked as they approached the
door.
    "Not
sure." Star pushed a large flat button on the wall, and the door began to
slowly open. "Something about a rabid dog let loose during the Lakers
game."
    "¡Híjole!"
Xochitl whispered.
    "You're
telling me." Star and Xochitl walked through the door and into the main ER
waiting room. "But you know how Lakers fans get."
    Sounds
of the sick and injured filled Xochitl's ears.
    "You
can wait for your friend here." Star leaned over and set her box on the
admitting desk.
    "She's
not my friend," Xochitl said, staring in disbelief at the overcrowded waiting room.
    "I
have to go." Star placed a hand on Xochitl's back. "Are you okay,
dear?"
    "Yeah."
Xochitl barely registered Star's question as a baby wailed in the