Chapter 59

I could hear voices, as though they were coming from a great distance, as I lay there, feeling completely paralysed. At least somebody found me from the sounds of it, but was it in time?

“What happened?” That was Langdon’s voice and he sounded panicked, as well as slightly angry.

“I don’t know, I woke up and she was lying there like this” growled another voice. That sounds like Kai. I guess being near him healed him quicker, especially if he’s woken up. At least he seems to be okay. I was worried about him.

“Get her to the hospital” Kai orders and then I feel like someone’s picked my up, my body floating and my head lightheaded. My eyes refuse to open, no matter how hard I try. I feel absolutely exhausted.

Drained.

Then the sound of someone else’s voice. “Describe how you found her, did you see anything unusual, what are her symptoms.”

“She was lying unconscious on the floor, froth at her mouth and she’s not been responsible to any stimuli” came Kai’s voice. He sounds pissed. “She has to have been poisoned somehow. I’m going to kill whoever’s done this to her” he growled. Wow, he sounds like he really cares about me. It’s a nice feeling.

I feel myself being placed down onto what I think must be a bed, hands touching my body and carefully examining it. I hear the doctor take a huge sniff and I wonder what he’s smelling.

“Wolfsbane” he mutters.

“Are you sure?” Kai growls and Langdon makes a choking sound in the background.

“Son of a b***h” growls Kai “someone’s deliberately poisoned my mate. I’ll f*****g kill them” he roars and my heart almost sings with joy, despite my current situation. He sounds so protective of me.

Wait a minute. Hold on. I try extra hard and finally manage to open my eyes, blinking against the white light that’s blaring into my eyes. Kai’s shadowy figure moves closer and then I feel his hand grip mine, his gorgeous eyes looking directly at me.

“Winter” he says quietly, giving me a gentle squeeze “just hold on okay. The doctor will make you better, promise.”

“I’m going to go and check the room, see where she might have managed to ingest the wolfsbane”

Langdon says urgently and I stare at him as he hesitates by the doorway. I need to tell him somehow.

He stops to look at me, realising I’m trying to tell him in my own way.

My limbs are tingling now and I manage to raise a hand to my mouth and mime drinking. Langdon’s eyes widen. “You drank it?”

I nod. He looks at Kai.

“I had food and drink brought to the room. I noticed there was a teapot on the dresser. I’ll have it analyzed” he says, before giving me a cheeky grin and a wink “get better soon” he says, sailing out the door, shooting me an apologetic glance on the way.

The doctor inserts a needle into my arm and i flinch. “Sorry” mutters Dr James “this will help neautralise the wolfsbane you’ve drunken. All we can do is wait now, for you to fully recover. It’s lucky that Langdon came to check on I can’t help remembering what happened the last time I was in the hospital and my body begins to tremble at the thought. If Kai leaves me alone, what’s to prevent someone from trying to kill me again?

Kai sees my body’s reaction and frowns, silently putting a blanket over me. I’m not cold but it’s a nice gesture, none the less.

“I won’t leave your side” he tells me gruffly and Dr James nods.

“Nobody but you is to tend to Winter” Kai tells him and he readily agrees.

“I was going to make that suggestion myself” Dr James says cheerfully enough “I’ll even ensure I’m the one preparing any food or drink that enters this hospital room.”

Kai looks relieved and I relax slightly, feeling nauseas. Whatever drug the Dr gave me, is making me feel extremely ill. I’m fighting the urge to vomit, bile rising in my throat.

Dr James grabs a wastebasket and passes it to Kai who looks startled. Without warning, I turn my head and vomit into it as Kai grimaces. My throat feels like it’s on fire. It hurts.

“Sorry” Dr James apologies “but I need you to vomit up whatever you haven’t had enter your bloodstream yet. I had to give you something to make you purge it up.”

You could have warned me, I think a tad grumpily while Kai looks like he’s about to be sick himself. I hope he’s not a sympathetic puker, that’s the last thing we need, is both of us being sick at the same time.

Another wave of sickness comes over me and I vomit again as Kai swears in the background.

“How long will this take?” he demands irritably and Dr James looks at him thoughtfully.

“It could take a few minutes, or up to an hour before she stops being sick. It depends on how much she’s ingested of the wolfsbane.”

Damn. I’m hoping it’s a few minutes. Something tells me that Kai is going to toss his cookies if I continue to vomit much longer. He’s handling it like a pro so far, clutching the wastebasket and leaving it in reach in case I need to be sick again. I wrinkle my nose at the smell. The puke smells sickly sweet and I assume its due to the wolfsbane herb.

“I will be back momentarily” Dr James informed us and Kai nods, shooing him away with one hand.

I struggle on the bed and Kai immediately leaps up and helps me to sit pright. Thankfully my limbs are working enough now, that I’m able to take the waste basket off his hands and hold it for myself. I swear I’ve never seen a man look so relieved in my life. His eyes glaze over. Someone must be mind-linking him. Whatever they are saying, has Kai riled up, I can see how agitated he’s getting by the conversation. He cuts it off and looks at me angrily.

“Langdon found wolfsbane in your tea. The herbs that were in it, helped to disguise the smell and the taste somewhat. Had you had more than the one cup, you would be dead by now” he said quietly, looking away and staring out the window, deep in his thoughts. His eyes are pitch black now, which means his wolf is dangerously close to the surface, something that only occurs when your angry. I can’t sense Sabriel at the moment and hope it’s because of the wolfsbane. I could have used her to cheer me up a little bit.

Who is this desperate to get rid of me? I haven’t made any enemies that I know of but then a slight suspicion takes hold. What if this was Candice’s doing? A small voice reminds me that she didn’t know about me while I was in the hospital and I slump. Damn. That left her out as a suspect. In which case, it could be anyone. Kai seems to be thinking along the same thoughts.

“When we get back home” he says, turning back to me, his arms folded across his chest. Damn, he looks smoking hot. My mouth absolutely goes dry at the sight of him. “you’re not drinking or eating anything that’s brought to you. I don’t want you to leave my side if you can help it.”

Inod slowly. I’m not about to argue with that. I really don’t want to die. I wish I could speak to Sabriel, just hearing her voice would make me feel instantly better. I would just have to be patient until I could talk to my wolf again. . I miss her voice more that I thought I would. I know for a fact she’d be making inappropriate remarks about our mate if she could.

Dr James comes back in. “Has she been sick in the last few minutes?” he asks Kai, who shakes his head firmly.

Kai looks extremely relieved at that.

I haven’t been, I slowly realise. Does this mean that the drug has done it’s work? That maybe I hadn’t ingested a large amount? I can feel my whole body covered in sweat and I feel disgusting, not that Kai seems to care at the moment.

“That’s a good sign. It means we got there early. She can be discharged tomorrow but you’re going to need to stay overnight, or I will, if you require me to Alpha Kai. It’s entirely up to you.” he adds hastily.

Kai shakes his head and sits down on a chair, his arms folded and a resolute look in his eyes. “I’m not going anywhere and no one is getting near my mate” he growls. The doctor nods and leaves without another word as I lie back down and close my eyes. I need sleep and before too long, I’m completely out of it, surrounded by darkness and smelling the familiar and comforting scent of Kai still nearby and by my side.