Wolfsbane In The ER
987 Words
The call came in just after midnight.
“Multiple patients incoming—unknown toxin exposure. Severe agitation, hallucinations, respiratory distress. Possible mass incident.”
Remington Hayes was already moving before the dispatcher finished speaking.
“Wolfsbane,” she said sharply, grabbing her coat.
The charge nurse frowned. “You haven’t even seen—”
“I don’t need to,” Remi cut in. “I’ve seen it before.”
And she had.
Once.
Years ago.
In Chicago, when a rogue underground group had tried to weaponize plant alkaloids against a hybrid population.
But this—this felt different.
More concentrated.
More deliberate.
Aspen stayed behind at the hospital entrance with security, pacing hard enough that the guards looked nervous.
He didn’t like the energy in the building.
Neither did she.
⸻
The ER doors slammed open as the first ambulance rolled in.
Chaos followed.
A man was strapped to the gurney, thrashing violently despite restraints. His skin was flushed, eyes blown wide, veins raised beneath the surface like something was crawling under him.
“Sedation isn’t holding!” a paramedic shouted.
Remi was already beside him.
“Vitals?”
“Erratic. Heart rate’s spiking past two-forty.”
That was impossible.
Unless—
“Wolfsbane alkaloid poisoning,” she said immediately.
A nurse blinked. “That’s not common here.”
“No,” Remi said, snapping on gloves. “But it’s intentional.”
She leaned over the patient.
“Stay with me,” she ordered.
The man screamed—then convulsed so violently the stretcher shook.
Remi didn’t flinch.
“Push phenobarbital. Now.”
The nurse hesitated.
“Doctor—”
“Now!”
The medication went in.
Nothing changed.
The patient’s breathing worsened.
His body fought against itself.
“His system is overreacting,” Remi muttered, eyes scanning fast. “It’s like the dose was calibrated to trigger wolf physiology…”
She stopped herself.
The room went still for half a second.
A few staff exchanged glances.
Remi didn’t correct it.
Didn’t explain.
There wasn’t time.
“Get me activated charcoal, saline flush, and atropine ready,” she snapped. “And prep for airway collapse.”
A second ambulance arrived.
Then a third.
The ER filled with chaos.
⸻
William Carter arrived in silence.
No announcement.
No fanfare.
Just presence.
And suddenly, every person in the room felt it.
Alpha.
He stepped through the ER doors and stopped immediately.
Because there she was.
Remington Hayes.
In full control of a collapsing emergency department.
Blood on her gloves.
Eyes sharp as a blade.
She didn’t notice him at first.
Because she was too busy saving someone’s life.
“Push the airway—don’t wait for full sedation!” she ordered.
A nurse hesitated again.
Remi didn’t look up.
“If you wait, he dies.”
The tube went in.
Air stabilized.
Just barely.
A beat of silence.
Then—
It worked.
The patient’s convulsions eased slightly.
Not gone.
But controlled.
Remi exhaled once.
“Next.”
And she moved.
No hesitation.
No fear.
Just precision.
Will watched from the doorway.
Something in his chest tightened.
He had seen violence.
He had seen death.
But this—
This was different.
This was control under pressure that most wolves couldn’t even maintain.
And she was human.
Still human.
And still outpacing everyone in the room.
A second patient went into cardiac arrest.
Remi was already there.
“Charge to 200.”
“Doctor, we’re—”
“200!”
Shock delivered.
Silence.
Then a weak pulse.
She didn’t celebrate.
Just kept moving.
Will stepped further inside.
No one stopped him.
No one dared.
He watched her as she moved through chaos like it was ordered.
Like it was predictable.
Like she belonged here more than anyone else.
And for the first time—
He saw it.
Not the girl he left behind.
Not the memory he buried.
But the surgeon she had become.
Unshakable.
Unbreakable.
And entirely his equal.
Something inside him cracked.
Not weakness.
Recognition.
⸻
Hours later, the crisis stabilized.
Patients were isolated.
Toxicology confirmed it.
Wolfsbane derivative.
Enhanced.
Concentrated.
Weaponized.
Remi stood at the sink, washing blood from her hands when she finally noticed him.
Will.
Leaning against the wall.
Watching her.
She didn’t jump.
Didn’t react.
Just sighed.
“Do you always lurk in emergency departments, or is this a special occasion?”
A pause.
Then—
“You didn’t hesitate,” he said.
She glanced at him through the mirror.
“I don’t have the luxury of hesitation.”
“That wasn’t what I meant.”
She turned off the water.
Silence stretched.
Then she said quietly, “I know what wolfsbane does.”
His jaw tightened slightly.
“You shouldn’t.”
“And yet I do.”
That landed.
Harder than expected.
He stepped closer.
“You saved them.”
“I did my job.”
His eyes narrowed slightly.
“That’s not all you did.”
She finally faced him fully.
For the first time since the ER started collapsing around them.
“You’re not the only one who knows how to lead under pressure, Will.”
Something flickered in his expression.
Respect.
Unspoken.
Dangerous.
The air between them shifted again.
But softer this time.
Less defensive.
More aware.
For a moment, neither of them moved.
Then—
The ER doors slammed open again.
A nurse burst in, panicked.
“Doctor Hayes—we’ve got another incident—outside security perimeter—”
Remi turned instantly.
“What kind of incident?”
The nurse hesitated.
“Pack-related. Armed. They’re asking for you specifically.”
Will straightened immediately.
The softness vanished.
Alpha returned.
Cold.
Controlled.
Dangerous.
Remi exhaled slowly.
“Of course they are.”
And as she stepped toward the doors—
neither of them noticed how closely Will followed.
Because whatever was coming next—
wasn’t medical.
It was political.
And it had just escalated into something far more dangerous than wolfsbane.
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