Chapter 72 Carson inquiry
Carson stopped by to visit and check on Logan while Serena was discharging him from the hospital. “How are you holding up?” Carson asked Logan while h e signed the discharge papers. Serena sat behind the front desk, waiting for Logan to pass her the papers back. “I‘m much better,” he said. Serena gave him a one over. He was breathing easier, and the bandages were off his neck and throat. Even though he was dressed, she knew that his chest was still bandaged underneath. His breathing was smooth and even, and his voice wasn‘t as raspy anymore, bu t he wasn‘t fully healed yet. “You still have to take it easy,” Serena reminded him. Logan nodded at her. “I will” he said. She wasn‘t convinced by his casual tone. “Logan, I‘m serious,” she said. “You were very badly injured. Just because you can walk and can leave here, doesn‘t mean you are out of the woods.” “I‘ll be careful,” he assured. Carson winked at Serena. “I will look after him,” the Beta said. “Good, he n eeds it,” Serena said firmly. She was still being cold to Logan, but as his doctor, she had to make sure t hat he was going to take care of himself and be okay. “I don‘t need to be babysat,” Logan said. “I‘m just going to go home and get some rest.” Logan departed, but Carson remained behind. Serena watched Logan nervously to see if he would react to Carson remaining with her and talking to her. “This is risky,” Serena said, smiling at him. “Why you think Logan will get mad again?” Carson asked. “I‘m sure he lea rned his lesson.” Serena shrugged, collecting the paperwork and bringing it to the nurse‘s station to file. Carson followed her. She felt his eyes on her. It was clear that he had something more he wanted to s ay or talk about. “Something else on your mind?” she asked, sitting at the nurse‘s station and opening u p some files on her computer.
“I was just wondering about what happened the night Logan was attacked,” Carson said.
“You saw him, you saw what happened” Serena said absently. She had some lab results to look up on her computer and match to the files of some other patients, part of her daily work “That‘s not what I me
ant,” he said. Serena looked up and raised an eyebrow at him.
“What do you mean than?”she asked “When I came to your house, you were already awake,” he said. “When I t old you something had happened, you didn‘t seem particularly surprised.” Serena sighed. She hadn‘t w anted to talk to Carson about that, or anyone. The reality was, based on his strong scent when she‘d e ncountered Logan in his wolf form – while she was hiding – and the reaction she had to him being injured, she was starting to consider the possibility that Logan w as her mate.
All the pieces fit, but she didn‘t want to say anything or make a big deal out of it when she didn‘t know f or sure. She also didn‘t know if she wanted to know. Not with the complicated place their relationship w as in, and not with the fact that he was going to have a baby with another female.
She hadn‘t really let herself think about it, but now that Carson was asking questions, she thought may be others were starting to notice it too. “I couldn‘t sleep,” she said. “The twins had a long day.”
“Really?” Carson asked. Serena nodded. “You just seemed like you were waiting for bad news, or som ething.” Serena closed her eyes and sighed. “Sometimes, as a doctor, I wake up in the middle of the ni ght worrying,” she said keeping things as vague as possible. “It is an occupational hazard. Especially with Moonshine attacks becoming more frequent.” “That seem s awfully convenient,” Carson said, resting his elbow on the nurse‘s station and giving Serena a suspici ous look. “Carson, I have a lot of work to do,” she said. “I don‘t know what you are fishing for.” “I just want to know if someth ing is going on between you and Logan,” he said. Groaning, Serena shut the computer off and faced C arson. “Is this some more jealous male crap?” she asked. Carson chuckled and shook his head.
“No, no,” he said, holding up his hands in surrender. “I‘m not asking out of jealousy. I‘m asking out of curiosity.” Serena shook her head, but she smiled at Carson.
“Logan has been a very involved Alpha,” she said. “For whatever reason, he has taken a liking to my kids and has taken an interest in m y well–being, even when it is hard on his own relationship.” “That is strange,” Carson muttered.
“If you say so,” Serena said with a casual shrug. She didn‘t want to make a big deal out of nothing. She also didn‘t want anyone else to make a big deal out of it.
“You don‘t think it is unusual?” Carson pressed. Serena shrugged.
“I don‘t have a good frame of reference,” she said. “I haven‘t seen him interact with anyone else transferring in. Although, he is having a baby with someone w ho is from another pack, so it seems like he enjoys being there for new transfers.” Carson chuckled, leaning on the nurse‘s station again. His smile was warm, but Ser ena had a feeling it was meant to be more suggestive. With how busy she had been, and stressed abo ut the situation with Logan, she wasn‘t entirely receptive to his flirting. “You make a good point,” he said with a nod. “Yes, I do,” Serena said, giving him a playful smile to keep the mood from getting too serious.
“Still, I think it is weird that you‘d wake up worried about your job the same night that Logan was vicious ly attacked. Between that and his reaction to thinking we were involved…” Carson trailed off when Sere na glared at him. “I don‘t pretend to understand what the Alpha‘s moods are about,” she said. “I‘ve alwa ys known he has a short temper, and that means whatever sets him off isn‘t usually the core of his anger.” “I suppose that is true too,” Carson said, sighing. Serena didn‘t like how Carson was prying. She ha d deflected everything, and told Carson she had work to do, but he kept pushing for answers.
“I think you‘re looking for answers that aren‘t there,” she said, grinning at him. Carson grinned back and gave a one shouldered shrug. “I don‘t know,” he said. “Logan did tell me about running into a wolf he‘d never smelled before, and how it was totally breathtaking.”
“Logan has never run into me in my wolf form,” Serena argued. It was a lie, but Logan didn‘t know it was
“Don‘t you think that if I smelled Logan in his wolf form and had the same reaction he had to his mystery before Holly got pregnant?” she asked, raising an eyebrow. Carson laughed, rolling his eyes at Serena. was ready, or his anger was out of control, there was no way she could admit to whatever connections they had. “There‘s a lot that n said. “You‘re either deflecting efficiently, or you are blissfully ignorant.” He chuckled again. “Maybe you s said. Carson nodded and headed out of the hospital. Serena didn‘t like how curious he was about her relationship, or lack of relationship with Logan. She knew she couldn‘t hide it forever, but things were still too c things, if that was possible, she had to hold her tongue.
Carson‘s curiosity was just another reason that Serena thought she should get away for a bit. The kids could benefit from spending time with their grandparents and Santino. She wanted to see her family too.
A break from Logan, Holly, and Carson would also help. She turned the computer back on and submitted a formal ‘time off‘ request in the employee portal. Going back to Starseeker would prevent Carson from digging deeper. It would hopefully fade from his mind by the time she returned.
Serena picked up her clipboard and stethoscope to finish her rounds for the day. She‘d been in the hosp Moonshine attacks, she felt like she spent more time there than with her kids sometimes. She loved her job, she loved helping others, but she needed t.