Chapter 2: A Boy in Distress
Dr. Anika Sorel stood by the trauma bay, watching as the team worked quickly to stabilize Evan. The boy’s body, still cold from the storm and drenched in water, lay on the gurney, hooked up to monitors that beeped steadily, though faintly. His skin was waxy, almost translucent, and his lips had a pale, bluish hue. The hospital staff moved in a coordinated blur, pushing warm saline into his veins, covering him with heated blankets, and giving him oxygen. But despite their best efforts, he remained eerily still.
“Vitals are weak, but stable,” Anika said, her voice steady but her mind racing. She glanced at the boy’s chart again—his name tag read Evan Rowe. “We need to warm him up more quickly. His core temperature’s still dangerously low.”
A nurse, her hands shaking slightly, added, “The tox screen came back positive for benzodiazepines. Sedatives.”
“Good catch,” Anika muttered. “Administered via food or drink, likely.”
The team continued to work, and Anika stood at the boy’s side, monitoring his pulse. She couldn’t shake the image of the bear, its massive form standing silently in the rain, guarding the child. Something about it felt intentional, like the bear had a role in this—had been waiting for someone. Had it found the boy? Or had it been sent?
She paused, focusing on the small details—the bruises along Evan’s wrists, the faint marks on his skin. “Measure and photo-document all the bruising,” Anika ordered. “We’ll need to rule out any other trauma, possible abduction, or anything that wasn’t just from the fall.”
“Possible abduction?” one of the nurses repeated, her brow furrowing.
Anika nodded. “Yes. The boy’s too cold for someone to have left him out in the storm without reason. And the sedatives… we need to know what’s going on here.”
As the team worked around her, Anika stepped back, staring through the inner window of Trauma One toward the ambulance bay. The bear still stood there beneath the canopy, unmoving but alert, watching the doors. The team had erected barriers and security had locked down the area, but the animal didn’t seem aggressive, just… aware.
She shook her head, trying to focus. “Get the bloodwork and tox panel sent to the lab. I want that report back in half an hour.”
Just then, one of the security officers approached, his voice low. “Dr. Sorel, Animal Control’s here.”
Anika looked up. Parker, the Animal Control officer, stood just inside the bay, wearing a heavy rain jacket and carrying a long pole with a noose collapsed at the end. “We’ve got a live one out there,” she said, glancing toward the bear through the glass. “What do we know about it?”
“It’s not acting like a wild animal,” Anika replied, her gaze still on the bear. “It’s trained.”
Parker nodded. “We’ll need to contain it, but I’m betting it’s not going anywhere. It’s attached to the boy.”
Anika’s thoughts raced as she looked back at Evan, the boy still unconscious, his pulse steady but faint. What was going on here? Why had the bear brought him to the hospital? And why had it stayed?
As Parker began to move outside with Animal Control, Anika glanced at Evan one last time, her fingers hovering over his IV.
Something wasn’t right. And she could feel it in her gut.
To be continued…