Free Chasing His Bunny by Golden Angel

how much she'd relaxed and opened up to him. 
The phone had more than interrupted their conversation, it had
reminded her of the outside world.  
    "What?" he barked into the phone,
doing his best not to snarl.
    Since it was Doc, and nothing fazed
her, his aggressive tone didn't matter anyway.  "Bailey needs
Bethany.  Now."  She hung up on him before he could
respond.
    Double dammit!
    ******
    When Steele's phone first rang,
Bethany had been annoyed at the interruption - which then made her
glad it had happened.  She hadn't realized how relaxed she'd
become in Steele's presence.  She'd been enjoying herself,
enjoying the conversation, and it had started to feel like a real
date.  The thing inside of her had been completely silent, but
its contentment had seeped through her like a drug, until the phone
rang and it had been like an alarm clock to her brain.  Being
with him, in his company, had felt too easy... too comfortable...
too right.
    Of course, all of that was set aside
for panic as soon as Steele told her that Bailey needed
her.
    As Steele rushed her over to the
clinic, Bethany felt like the worst sister in the world. 
Sure, she'd spent all day with Bailey after the boys had left, but
had indulging her hormones really been so important that she'd been
okay with leaving her little sister completely alone so soon? 
Granted, Bethany hadn't meant to be gone for more than a couple of
hours, and Bailey had encouraged her, but that was no excuse. 
The urge to see Steele had been so strong - not that it was
anything like that mating call she'd been told about, she wasn't
going to admit anything like that - but she couldn't let her own
selfish desires outweigh what was really important again.  And
Bailey was the most important thing in the world.  It didn't
matter how good Steele smelled or that she'd stupidly started to
consider spending the whole night with him, or how much just being
in his presence felt right, Bailey came first.
    Rushing into the clinic, she couldn't
help but scowl as Steele rushed into Bailey's room first, demanding
to know what was wrong. 
    "Bethy!" Bailey cried out, reaching
for her sister, like a child reaching for a hug.  Bethany went
to her immediately, her eyes scanning Bailey, but other than a
panicked look in her eyes, Bailey looked just like Bethany had left
her earlier.  
    Wrapping her arms around her little
sister, Bethany patted her back as Bailey buried her in face in
Bethany's stomach.  "It's okay, sweetie, I'm here now," she
crooned comfortingly, stroking Bailey's dark hair.  "I'm here,
I'm sorry I left you, I'm here now."
    "She was fine up until a few minutes
ago," said an unfamiliar male voice.  Bethany turned to see a
man wearing a white lab coat standing next to Steele. 
Obviously another doctor.  Her instinctive negative reaction
was tempered by the fact that the man looked like Santa
Claus.  He had pure white hair that curled around his head and
a full, thick white beard, blue eyes twinkled above rosy cheeks,
and if he'd been chubby he would have made the perfect Saint
Nick.  Instead he was compactly built and lacking the belly
like a bowl full of jelly.  Still, he wasn't someone she could
feel intimidated by or scared of, despite the white lab coat. 
There was too much friendliness in his eyes and Christmas had
always been her favorite holiday.  "Then she started screaming
that she needed Bethany, so I sent Harley to call you."
    "Bethany, this is Dr. Philip
Mansfield," Steele said, his voice gentle.  "He's officially
retired, but he spends most of his time here helping out
Doc."
    "Hello," Bethany said tightly, more
focused on the way Bailey was trembling against her, wondering why
her sister had been screaming for her but was now remaining silent.
 "Um, do you mind giving me a moment alone with
Bailey?"
    "Of course," the doctor said, pushing
at Steele's shoulder.  Mr. Too-Big-To-Actually-Push-Around
frowned, but allowed the doctor to steer him out of the