Chapter 1

Chapter 1

Harman was glad that he'd been able to leave the hospital, but he wasn't as sure that he was fit enough to be living on his own like the doctor had told him and was glad now that he'd gone to stay with his parents for the first few days. Being pampered was the best when his mom did it.

Twice now, he'd fallen over when reaching for something just beyond his reach and overestimated his ability to get something. So, he needed to call the doctor again before he did something permanent to his noggin. His mom came in the back door, and he nearly sobbed, he was so happy to see her. She'd been out pulling the last of the garden things out of her plot out back.

A week ago, he'd been volunteering at the hospital, feeding babies, changing diapers, and such. He'd really enjoyed it, all of it that had anything to do with his plan of playing nursemaid to the little ones. Not to mention, he also had learned a great deal about babies too. Since his brothers were finding their mates, and some children were coming along, he thought of himself as an expert on changing the diaper in record time. But he had also hated the job.

Harman had been planning to write a book that he knew would be fun to write. He was still going to write one but things had evolved into something more when he was working with the nurses. He'd never met a more bitter group of women than he had in the nursery department. He was sure that it was only this department at this hospital as he'd not run into it at other places he'd been.

It had started out with it being a book, a manual, so to speak, about what babies and mothers, too, had to go through before they were able to take their little ones home. He was also going to suggest things that the nurses and staff told him that would be helpful to new parents as to what they will need as opposed to what they might not. However, working with three or four nurses who were caring for the babies had gossiped every day about what the children would have to endure—in their opinion—when they got home. They made every parent sound like they were drug addicts as well as mooching off the government's tit—in their opinion. He'd heard that several times and ‘popping' out babies so they'd get more money. They didn't know half of what they were talking about, he soon discovered and had been, but not taken seriously, asking them not to talk about others in his presence.

So he'd taken notes on what their lives were up to so as to show them that they were no better. The things that they did while working to compensate themselves for being ‘short-changed' for being a nurse. A job that they specifically went to college for. Stealing was the biggest factor in these ladies' lives right after badmouthing people who weren't at their best when bringing a new life into the world.

When he was leaving after telling them off, one of them picked up a fire extinguisher and knocked him on his ass. Before going down, he was hit again and then a third time. Had he been human, he would have died then, but he did end up in the hospital for several days with a concussion as well as a hundred stitches in his head alone. He'd found out later that they had kicked him several times in the ribs, breaking three ribs, as well as dislocated his shoulder when they tried to drag his wounded body to the bathroom. They confessed they had hopes of him dying then and where no one could come to his aid. Lucky for him, when he'd been hurt, his family could feel it and alerted someone to come and help him. Damn, but his head still hurt.

"Should you be up and around, young man? I thought you were told to do nothing but lay on the couch for a few weeks. You took a hard blow to—You look a little pale, son. Are you all right?" He told his mom that he'd been bored and had to keep moving, or his wolf was going to take him. "Oh well then. That's good. I know that you can heal yourself, Harman, but those women need to see what harm their actions can do to someone. Would you like me to get you a cup of tea? When was the last time you had a pain pill?"

"I would love a cup of tea so long as you sit with me to drink one yourself." She got busy at the counter, and he sat down. It was his head that was bothering him the most, he told her. Harman told her about the dizziness he was still feeling, too. "I've fallen over a couple of times. And I swear that something is in my ears ringing all the time. But it's my headache that really bothers me. My ribs, too, if I bend too much. Other than that, I'm all right." He wasn't, and the look she gave him told him that she hadn't believed him for a moment.

"I'm going to call the doctor. When I first came in, I did think that you looked a little off. I'll do it now." While she was on the phone, he stayed in the chair. If he was honest with himself, he didn't want to move. He was dizzier with his eyes closed and not moving than he thought possible. Christ, he wanted to shift and get better. "I've spoken to your doctor. He's concerned, and Edwin is going to come over while we wait for an ambulance. He will be better at keeping you steady than I can, I think."

He didn't even argue with her but said he was ready to go. His mom looked as if she'd been crying, and it hurt him that he'd caused it. Trying to talk to her, however got him nowhere. All of a sudden, his brain froze up like an ice cream headache, and it was all he could do to not fall over. Again.

Harman had to close his eyes several times while the medics were there. They were afraid to put him on the gurney they had because he was bigger than the two women who came to get him. It wasn't until two of his brothers, he couldn't focus on who they were, came into the house to help him off the chair and on the gurney that he started feeling sick again.

When they told him he was going to feel a small pinch, Harman thanked them for the meds that he knew would knock him out. Telling his mom that he was better now had her smacking him gently on his arms. Then she sobbed, telling that she loved him with all her heart. And that he needed to know that daily. That was the last conversation they had because it was the good meds he was getting.

It scared him when he woke with a man standing over him with a mask on. He tried to pull his arm free to lash out at him, but he was chained up. Nothing in the world could have prepared him for the fear he had at that moment.

"It's me, Harman. Doctor James. You are at the hospital, and I'm going to send you to surgery to see what we left behind. That's the only thing I can think of that's having you so sick. Even as a wolf and not shifting, you should be feeling better and about healed. You have a hard head, boy." Harman asked where his mom was. And why he was chained to the bed. "She's down the hall. And you're chained up because you've tried to take out a few of my nurses when you're barely awake. Come on now, Harman, just let the meds take you under, and we'll get this taken care of."

He was given more medication, and he felt himself slipping away. Hearing the doctor say that there was an infection scared him enough that he woke fully again. With a nod from Doctor James, he was out again. The meds were finally kicking in.

When he woke again, he was in a pretty room. Harman didn't have any idea why he thought it was pretty. The walls were drab brown, the curtain was a sickly green color that had too many patterns in it, and he could smell every person who had ever been in this room recovering. He looked around when he heard a small sound.

"What's a four-letter word for fucking?" Before he could think about it too hard, he told his dad that it was shag. "Thank you. It fits. You're awake again. How are you feeling?"

"I don't know? Maybe I'm better? What kind of newspaper has that sort of crossword question in it." Dad laughed and showed him the front cover of the book of crossword puzzles. Then he explained where he'd gotten it. "Mom know that Storm gave you that for helping her out the other day?"

"She thinks it's a hoot. The two of us sit in the living room and, just at random, pick a page and ask each other questions. It's about as much fun as watching television as we've ever had. What do you mean, maybe?" He eyed his dad and realized that his vision wasn't blurry anymore. Haman told his dad. "How about that noodle of yours? Is it still as painful as it had been?"

"No, now that you mention it. I mean, I'm still in pain, but not like I was at home. This morning?" Dad corrected him. "Three days ago? I really don't care, actually. I do feel a great deal better the more I talk to you. What happened?"

Harman could remember being afraid because someone said infection, but he must have misheard them. But when his dad started explaining what he'd gone through, he was glad that he had been at his parents' home instead of by himself. The doc said that Mom had kept him from dying. He knew that he couldn't, but it could have made him lose some function that his brain needed. Well, he supposed that would be about everything in his body.

He was talking to his dad and sitting up in the second chair in his room when his mom showed up. She hugged him several times, telling him how much he'd scared her and not to do that again. He told her how grateful he was that she'd taken such good care of him. It made him chill a little to think about how close he'd come to having a severe brain injury.

"They found two itty-bitty pieces of red paint from the fire extinguisher in your noodle. I tell you, son, when he showed them to us afterwards, I had a hard time seeing them. But he's what he is, a good doctor because of what he found." Dad wiped his face with his handkerchief, very emotional sounding too. "That's why he makes the big bucks, I guess. Saving my son."

The doctor in question came into the room to talk to him. Telling him what he'd found and that the police had matched it up to the extinguisher that they had in evidence. He could see the tiny specs and, like his dad, was amazed that they'd been found at all. Then he told him his restrictions for when he was in the hospital and when he got home.

"You've had a nasty bump, Harman. Stay down on the couch and let your head rest. No reading, and don't do anything that would cause any kind of strain on your head, face, and neck. I mean this, son. You have to listen to me. And no shifting. I know that will heal you completely, but you and your wolf went through some major trauma, and the two of you must rest." Mom and Dad both promised that he'd stay down even if they had to hog-tie him. "Good. All right. I'm going to keep you one more night, then we'll see about tomorrow. No, why don't we say two nights. Your head looks like it's paining you now, so I'll keep you two nights so that you can get the stronger stuff to keep you down. That way, too, I can keep an eye on you. All right? Any questions?"

No one had any, so he left them there. Mom said that she let the others, the rest of the family, know so that they'd not worry. Haman felt tears fill his eyes when he was emotionally overcome with love for his family. After about ten minutes, he was given the good drug, and his parents left him for home. Harman settled down for a good night's sleep and closed his eyes.

Waking up afraid, he looked around the room. There wasn't anyone in the room that he could smell, so he laid his head back down. The strain, quite a bit of it actually, on his neck hurt him all over. Closing his eyes, he reached out beyond where he was to see if he was the only one up in his immediate area.

The sounds of a woman crying had him listening harder. When that was painful enough, he just listened to her. His mom usually talked to herself when she was upset or happy. This person was silent as the night was around his home. Harman didn't try to search her mind for her problems as his head was paining him again.

~*~

"Oh, Aye then, you try to go on with your life as you wish. Katie and I will just wait for you to get your head out of your arse and come to the same conclusion the rest of us have. You go on to meet your maker and—You know what, Grannie, how about this? Why don't I drag your skinny arse down to the plot of dirt we just buried your sister in, and you two can go to the pearly gates together? That sounds grand now, doesn't it? Arms around each other and all that. While we are singing and dancing—we'll all do that when you're finally gone on your plot of dirt? How about that? Will you believe us then that she's gone and settle your butt down?" Grannie told her that she wasn't going to speak to her anymore. "You said that yesterday and the day before to myself."

Carrie loved her grannie. But there were times when she wanted to pick her up, give her a good shakin', and put her back. She was ten times the most aggravating person that—not including her cousin Katie. She could wear down a stone with trying to make it move like nobody she'd met before.

A man with a cane entered the room. While she didn't have any idea who he was, he was the most delicious-looking man she'd seen, well, forever. When she saw his face pink up a bit, she grinned.

"You've no right to trespass, ya know that, don't ya?" He said he was sorry and fumbled around with telling her the reason he'd come into her room. "'Tis my grannie's room, not mine. Yet. She's beginning to wear meself down, and I might be needing a rest before this is all settled. I'm Cassie Donahue, just that, not short for anything. This is my grannie, Catherine Donahue. She's the stubborn one of us all."

"All?" Cassie explained how she'd come to the United States a few weeks ago when her grannie was found at the bottom of the stairs where she'd fallen three days before, just after her sister's funeral. "I'm sorry to hear that. You're very lucky, Ms. Donahue, to have family that will come for you when you need it."

"You'd think that wouldn't ya? Well, I've got something to say about that too. My sister ain't dead. I'm not going to go into one of the hospital places to be wheeled around all the time. I ain't wearing a diaper like some old folks. Nor am I going to wear a big bib and be told like I'm some kind of drunken Irish idiot because I made a shite in my drawers." The man was either shocked to his core or trying hard not to laugh. She thought it was the latter. "Another thing I'm going to say then I won't speak to either of you again, I want a bowl of—not those dainty kind they've been bringing me while here but a bowl of oats that have cooked on the stove like a good and proper oat should be. That'll make them sit up and take some notice when I give them a nice fermenting shite after that. Don't you think, young man?"

He cleared his throat twice before he nodded. "Yes, ma'am, I do think that'll do it. Is there anything that I can get for you? I'm here until the day after tomorrow, and I can get you anything you wish. I've been waiting to get home, and I'm bored again. Not that I think that you're boring or anything, but my mom, who was going to take care of me, was called away suddenly, and she's the only one that—I'm babbling. I do that when I'm embarrassed or confused. I think right now, I'm both. First for—I'll just be quiet now." Grannie asked the young man if he was smooching up to her, and his face went pink again. "No, ma'am. I'm just trying to help you and your granddaughter out."

"If you could see your way to get me some oats that don't have instant on the box, I'd be grateful." Grannie looked at her. "Why don't you be dating this kind of man? I believe that he'd give you a good ride or two before you plum wear him out. I would like to have meself a great-great-granddaughter or two before I meet my maker with my hands as empty as they are now."

"You have five, at last count, great-great-grandchildren. You could be snuggling up to them if ye'd not be so flipping aggravating all the time. Joesph is here with his kids come to see you." Grannie told her that they were here for the supposed funeral. "Awe, there's no talking at ya at times. Ya drive me batty."

It was rude of her, but she left the man with her grannie. She was headed to the lifts when he caught up with her. They didn't speak about anything until they were in the lift. She did ask him what floor he was going to and when he asked where the cafeteria was, she said she was headed there to see her cousin as well.

"Why is she having such a hard time believing that your aunt is gone? I'm assuming that she wasn't able to go to the funeral." Cassie told him that she'd been there but was having a bad day. "I'm sorry. That was rude of me to ask. I do hope she gets better."

"She won't. From here, it gets worse by the minute." She asked him what his name was. "I've heard that name before…Canna remember right now, but I know it was something to do with the—" Cassie snapped her fingers. "You're the nursery room man. The one that got them people to show their true colors a few weeks back. It was in the newspaper around here."

"Yes, that's me. And thank you for not saying that I got them fired. I didn't. They did that all on their own." Cassie remembered it now. How the man had been volunteering for the baby section when he'd been hit a few times. Then, a few days later, he'd been brought back into the hospital with an infection. "I should have been home by now, but my mom was called away to help with the death of one of her friend's husband. She would have worried about me if she'd brought me to the house and then left. This is better, anyway. I'm not feeling rushed about getting better. My name is Harman Griffin, by the way. Your grannie is something else."

"Aye, she is at that." They were in the cafeteria when she saw her cousin sitting all alone at one of the tables closest to the windows. It was snowing again, too cold. She'd thought for anything to be out if she were to be asked, but Katie caught the attention of a bird hopping around in the food that had been left out for her. "Grannie is complaining again. I've had enough. It's your turn to talk to her. This here is Harman Griffin. He calmed her down a bit with a promise of steel-cut oats. She's talking up a storm to anyone that isn't us. Have you heard from Joey?"

"She embarrassed me, is what she did." When he did put out his hand to meet her cousin, Katie didn't take it. In fact, she glared at Harman instead. "I see. I guess rudeness doesn't just run in the elderly part of the family. At least she was good-humored about it." He looked at her. "It was nice to meet you, Carrie. And enjoy the rest of your stay here."

Carrie looked at the good-looking man and then at her cousin. It was true that they didn't know one another all that well. They'd been together when they were both five, but she was carted off to Wales as soon as school started. The two of them talked on occasion, but it was the death of their great aunt that brought her back here with her brother and his family, Joey Donahue.

"You were rude to him." Katie shrugged her shoulders and turned away. "This got something to do with that doctor? The one that made a pass at you?"

"He didn't make a pass at me, and no, my mood lies squarely in Grannie's lap. Why did she have them call us in if she's no mind to listen to what we have to stay about things? I've got more important things to do rather than sitting around here on my ass all the time. Joey, with his four children, is having a better time than I am. And he's stuck in the house with them. Oh lordy, I need a break." When she turned and looked at her, Carrie would have slayed the world for her cousin. She'd helped her enough over the years. "My boss calls. Or my former boss, I guess. He said that I've missed too much work and that I'm not to come back there for any reason. They'll mail my things to me."

"Can they do that?" Katie just looked at her. "Aye, and I ain't from around here now, am I? Just get your panties out of your twist and be nice to me. You know why Grannie refuses to believe why her sister isn't dead?" Carrie sat down on the closest chair and asked her if that was true. "She really believes that her sister is the only one that cared for her. Where she'd get a notion like that, do ya know?"

"I would imagine it has a little to do with her sister dying and her brother blaming it—why do they live to be so old, Carrie? Most of the family is still hanging on after hitting their nineties. You think that Grandda was right in saying that it had to do with the Donahue blood that run rich over the mountains? He's full of malarkey if you were to ask me."

"You have such a pretty way with your wording, cousin. I would have called him a bald-faced liar and been on with my business. You have to pretty it up with 'malarkey' and the likes." Carrie was glad to see the smile on her face. "You're a beautiful woman, Katie, dear. Why are you wasting away over here when there are men around…well, like that Griffin person. He's a sure lot of eye candy if you were to ask me."

"Well, I didn't." Carrie noticed that her cousin did look in his direction but didn't let her gaze linger very long. "Men like him would eat me alive." Carrie told her that would be a nice way to go. "Oh, behave yourself, why don't you. Everything isn't about sex, you know."

"Aye, I know that. I don't believe you do, but therein lies the issues. You're getting to be a dried-up old prune, and that's bad for us Donahue women. You're ruining our reputation by being a old spinster. How old do you be now? Fifty, sixty years old. That sweater that you have on and those ugly shoes tell me that you're that old, at least. Or more. Where is the fancy clothing that all of you Americans wear? You're making me look bad here." Carrie watched her cousin, and when she stiffened, she stepped in front of her. "Aye, I'll be helping you if you wish. We're having a conversation."

"I'm Katie's boss. I want you to…why are you talking like that. You came from the south, didn't you? Some hillbilly or something." Carrie was still trying to figure out why the man thought she was from the south? South of what when he sat down across from her cousin. "I've decided to give you a second chance. You'll come back to work today, and I'll pretend that nothing happened. What do you say?"

Carrie looked at the man, but she was still concerned with her cousin. When Katie stood up and stretched, she thought for sure that she was going to go back to work for the man who had been harassing her for the last several days. She did wonder if this was the reason that Katie was forever in a vile mood.

"No." When she moved away from the table and went to the line that served the people food here, she followed her. There was something going on here, and she wanted to get to the bottom of it before someone, him, she was thinking, got hurt. "What kind of pie did you have before, Carrie?"

Confused, she answered her. "Banana Cream, I think she called it. Best way to use up bananas I've ever heard of. The cherry pie is good, too. Not like Grannie's, but good." The man tried to stop Katie from putting a slice of both pieces of pie on her tray. "Excuse me. What are you talking about?"

"I said that I'm going to take you back despite having more than enough good reason for firing you. You'll have to make up for it by working weekends and overtime. But you'll work hard on things because I'm doing you a big favor right now." Katie asked while not looking at him if he'd figured out her computer was blank. "Yes, and you'll not do that again either. I want your passwords to everything that you do from now on. I'm your boss, and what I say goes, Katie. We'll not be having secrets between us again. Or I will have to terminate you. See that I don't."

"The clients won't work with you. Nor anyone on your staff. While I'll have nothing to do with them leaving your firm, I know for a fact that your daddy will come down on your ass hard if the entire firm closes down because you can't keep your hands and fists to yourself. What do you think he'd say if I brought in the police reports of me having to have you arrested to keep you from raping me? Or the huge hospital bills when you knock me around because I won't have an affair with you." She turned then and looked at the man. For the life of her she couldn't remember his name. A tall shadow slid over her, and she turned to see that Griffin was standing there.

"The lady has given you an answer, and I believe she means it. Why don't you move on to someone that is more your size? Beating on people not necessarily weaker than you but smaller is against the law." Carrie watched as Harman straightened up and looked to be about a foot taller than the man. "Ms. Donahue, if you'd like to beat the crap out of Jimmy here, I'll gladly stand back and make sure he plays fair when you do. He's been a big bully since we were in high school together. Isn't that right, Jimmy boy?"

Jimmy? She didn't think that was right but watched closely as to what was going on. The man only glared at Harman but didn't engage. She did notice that he was puffing out his chest like he was some damned bird or something stepping back when Katie did, she put her hands on her shoulders to let her know that she was there for her.

"What the hell? Are you letting him touch you now, Katie?" The slap startled both men and herself when Katie reddened the cheek of the other man. "What have I told you about hitting me, bitch?"

"Excuse me." Before either of them, Katie or herself could figure out what was going on, Harman had Jimmy in a chokehold and down on the floor just as security came into the vast room. In as little as a few seconds, honestly, Jimmy was being carted off, and Katie and she were left standing there like nothing had happened. Looking around for Harman, he was sitting at his table, looking at the pie that he was forking into his mouth, and didn't turn to look at them. Not even when she said his name. Christ, not only was he good-looking, but he was also a knight in shining armor when someone needed him.