Rodney: Marshall’s Shadow – Jaguar Shapeshifter Romance by Kathi Barton (i wanna iguana read aloud TXT) 📗

“Harris is looking for past renters. She said his wife isn’t cooperating at all, but she’s not worried about that. Since the post office is cooperating, they’ll find the names of those that used that place as an address.” Rodney kissed the back of Rebel’s hand. “I’ve fallen in love with you. I think I have been for some time now, but I feel it now like it’s all I have ever felt for you. Will you marry me?”

“Strange timing there, bucko, but yes, I’ll marry you. And I’ve finally given my heart to someone. I thought I’d been in love before. I had, just before meeting you, gotten out of something of a weird relationship. He wanted to control me and who I saw, and I wanted him to kiss his own ass. Neither of us got what we wanted.” Rodney burst out laughing. It was a strange proposal. “You laugh, but he seriously wanted me to check in with him whenever I left my job and tell him how many people I saw that day. I thought it was just males at first, but he wanted them all—even the doctors and nurses. By the way, I hated working there. Has Harris had any luck with them bullying other people?”

“As a matter of fact, she said she’d talk to you about it when you’re home. Do you get to go home today?” She said they were waiting on blood to come back. “For you or the copious amounts that you had on you?”

“Funny. No, mine. They said that since I passed out—I hadn’t any idea that I had—they needed to make sure I was all right. I think I need to get more fluids in me, that’s all.” Grandda came in with ten bottles of apple juice in a bag. He also had brought Rebel a large hunk of cake, pie, and some fresh veggies for her to eat. She started on the pie after drinking down two of the juices. “I do want to find someone that can tell me about whatever I have in the way of witchcraft. I have a feeling you might know someone, Grandda.”

“As a matter of fact, I know a couple of them.” The man was forever a surprise to Rodney. He had contacts and information that none of them ever dreamed he’d have. “I’ll see what I can dig up for you. The next time Lach talks to your brother, you might have her seeing if he had any of it. With magic as powerful as you have it, I’d say he might well have had a little too.”

He’d not thought of that. Thomas having magic. But if he did, Rodney did have to wonder if the kids had any as well. He made himself a note on his phone to talk to Sheila when he got home. Or to have Rebel do it. Things were starting to fall together, he thought. The simple fact that she loved him too made him feel like he could take on the world.

After an hour, not only had she eaten all that Grandda had brought her, but Rebel had also drank down all the juice, as well as three more that the nurse brought into her. When the doctor told her she could go home, they wasted no time in getting her gathered up and into the car. Grandda wanted to stay with them for a few days, and he was glad for it. Rodney was going to the school tomorrow to finish up the exams on the few children that had been out the day he’d been there.

~*~

Harris and Bella were in the conference room when the doctors started to show up. They’d been in there for just over an hour and had the seats organized as to who would sit where. This way, she could get a good accounting of all the people that had shown up. Also, they would both be able to call them by name when they had a question. Harris had plenty of them, as did Bella.

The staff they were talking to today were the ones in charge of different units of the hospital—emergency department head, surgical, as well as nurses—also, the head guy in charge of all the doctors and scheduling. Bella had a list of the names of parents to the children, hospital employees that had roughed up Aaron, and scared Angie as well. They weren’t a part of the meeting today, their parents, but they were going to have a long talk with them about how to treat a physician of good standing before she had them fired. No one, not kids or adults, was going to be tolerated in bullying anyone.

As soon as she stood up, Harris addressed the room. “I’m sure most of you know that I’m Harris Marshall. This is Bella Marshall. Mr. Marshall is going to join us shortly. We’re part of the board for this hospital. The others, the other four members, have opted not to come today for reasons I wasn’t made aware of. However, that won’t stop this meeting from being conducted. I would like to address the trouble we’ve had with one of your doctors. Doctor Rebel Walsh. She has been—”

“We all know who she is.” The physicians’ department head, James Whit, stood up when he spoke. “We’ve all heard how she’s been making the nurses cater to her every need. That she changes the schedule around to suit herself. We don’t need that kind of trouble here, so I’m glad she’s been terminated.” Bella handed the man a sheet of paper, outlining not only that she’d turned in her resignation but how she’d been complaining to the head of the hospital for several months on how she’d been bullied into quitting. “I don’t remember ever seeing this. She must have made this up so she’d look better.”

“Have you ever worked with Doctor Walsh?” He said he’d not. “I see. So all this information you have, it’s