Untamed

Hospital was a silent one. It was, of course, an obnoxiously sunny day. So, even though we all had on sunglasses and the Lexus had heavily tinted windows, it was uncomfortable for us. (Well, us being Darius and me—Aphrodite looked like she was having a hard time not hanging out the window and basking in the sun.) Darius dropped us off in the ER drive-through and said he'd park the car and meet us in intensive care.
    Even though I hadn't spent much time inside a hospital, the smell seemed to be an innate memory, and one that wasn't positive. I really hated the antiseptic-covering-disease sense of it. Aphrodite and I stopped at the information desk, and a nice old lady in a salmon-colored smock pointed us to intensive care.
    Okay, it was really scary in intensive care. We hesitated, not sure whether we could actually go through the swinging double doors that had INTENSIVE CARE emblazoned in red across them. Then I remembered that they had my grandma in there, and I marched resolutely through the intimidating doors into Scaryville.
    "Don't look," Aphrodite whispered as I started to stumble because my eyes were automatically being drawn to the glass windows of the patient rooms. Seriously. The walls of the rooms weren't walls at all. They were windows—so that everyone could gawk at the dying old people using potty pans and such. "Just keep walking to the nurses' station. They'll tell you about your grandma."
    "How do you know so much about this stuff?" I whispered back.
    "My dad's OD'ed twice and ended up here."
    I gave her a shocked look. "Really?"
    She shrugged. "Wouldn't you OD if you were married to my mom?"
    I suppose I would, but I thought it best not to say so. Plus, we'd come to the nurses' station.
    "How may I help you?" said a blonde who was built like a brick.
    "I'm here to see my grandma, Sylvia Redbird."
    "And you are?"
    "Zoey Redbird," I said.
    The nurse checked a chart, and then she smiled at me. "You're listed here as her next of kin. Just a moment. The doctor is with her now. If you wait in the family room just down the hall there, I'll let him know you're here."
    "Can't I see her?"
    "Of course you can, but the doctor needs to finish with her first."
    "Okay. I'll be waiting." After I'd taken just a few steps, I stopped. "She's not left alone, is she?"
    "No, that's why all the rooms have windows for walls. None of the patients in intensive care are ever left alone."
    Well, peeking through a window wasn't going to be good enough for what was going on with Grandma. "Just be sure the doctor gets me right away, okay?"
    "Of course."
    Aphrodite and I went to the family room, which was almost as sterile and scary as the rest of intensive care.
    "I don't like it." I couldn't sit, so I paced back and forth in front of a really ugly blue-flowered love seat.
    "She needs more protection than nurses looking through a window every once in a while," Aphrodite said.
    "Even before what's happened recently, Raven Mockers had the ability to mess with old people who were on the verge of death. Grandma's old, and now she's—she's . . ." I stumbled over my words, not able to speak the frightening truth.
    "She's been hurt," Aphrodite said firmly. "That's all. She's just been hurt. But you're right. She's vulnerable right now."
    "Do you think they'll let me call in a Medicine Man for her?"
    "Do you know one?"
    "Well, kinda. There's this old guy, John Whitehorse, who's been a friend of Grandma's for a long time. She's told me he's an Elder. His number is probably in Grandma's cell. I'm sure he'd know a Medicine Man."
    "Might not hurt to try to get one here," Aphrodite said.
    "How is she?" Darius asked as he strode into the family room.
    "We don't know yet. We're waiting for the doctor. We were just talking about maybe needing to call one of Grandma Redbird's friends to get a Medicine Man in here to sit with her."
    "Wouldn't it be easier just to ask Neferet to come? She's our High Priestess and also a Healer."
    "No!" Aphrodite and I said at the same time.
    Darius frowned, but the doctor's entrance saved us from having to explain further to the warrior.
    "Zoey Redbird?"
    I turned to the tall thin man and held out my hand. "I'm Zoey."
    He took it and shook hands with me solemnly. His grip was firm, and his hands were strong and smooth. "I'm Dr. Ruffing. I've been taking care of your grandmother."
    "How is she?" I was surprised I sounded so normal, because my throat felt like it was completely clogged with fear.
    "Let's have a