Suddenly, Jacque stood up, causing Jen to nearly fall in the floor. “What the crap, Jacque?” Jen spat. Then she looked at Jacque’s face and could see something was very wrong.

  “I’m going to be sick.” Jacque’s voice was desperate and pained.

  Jen put her hands on Jacque’s shoulders and began guiding her toward the bathroom, all the while shouting orders at Sally. “Go get Fane. Then get some towels and cold washcloths, then get Dr. Steele.” Sally ran toward the door, but it flew open, thankfully before she was close enough to be struck by it. Fane came in with a storm of power. He walked past Sally, following the painful sounds of sickness coming from his mate. Decebel came in behind Fane and stopped beside Sally.

  “What’s going on?” Decebel asked, his voice as authoritative as ever.

  “We were just sitting, talking about …,” Sally paused, “nothing important, and then Jacque stood up and said she was going to be sick. Jen took her into the bathroom.” Decebel nodded in response. Sally realized then she was supposed to get towels and a washcloth. She headed out the door of the room and then paused to look back at Decebel. “Can you get in touch with Dr. Steele somehow?”

  “Yes.”

  “A ‘man of few words’ would be an understatement in describing that wolf,” Sally muttered as she continued her quest for towels.

  * * *

  “What happened?” Fane growled at Jen as he maneuvered himself into the spot she had just occupied. He took over the task of holding back Jacquelyn’s hair as his mate violently ejected anything and everything inhabiting her stomach.

  “I don’t know what happened. We were just talking, and everyone was fine, and then bam Jacque was getting sick.” Jen slapped her hands together in emphasis.

  “Luna, can you tell me what’s wrong?” Fane asked her through the bond, his voice full of the anguish he was feeling at seeing her so sick.

  “It feels like my insides are trying to crawl out of my mouth. How’s that for descriptive?” Jacque sent her thoughts and moaned out loud at the same time as another spasm gripped her stomach. She began to dry heave, now devoid of any actual substance to expel.

  Fane placed his hand on her forehead as she shivered. “You’re burning up, Jacquelyn.” Fane knew nothing about fever, but he was sure her temperature was high enough to be dangerous.

  “Here, I have washcloths.” Sally came into the bathroom and turned on the cold water, pushing the washcloths under the flow before squeezing out the excess and handing one to Fane.

  “Put it on her neck,” Jen instructed. She took a towel from Sally and folded it, placing it on the floor and pushing it underneath Jacque so her knees wouldn’t be on the hard, cold floor.

  “Decebel got in touch with Dr. Steele, she is on her way here,” Sally informed them.

  Jacque finally slumped back against Fane, exhausted. Her face was flushed from the fever and her breathing was shallow. Fane picked her up and carried her to her bed. As he gently laid her down, he spoke to Decebel. “Get my father.”

  “Done, my prince. I’ve already called him. He, your mother, and Lilly were down in the cafeteria. They are on their way up now.”

  Fane nodded. “Thank you.”

  Without warning, Jacque screamed out, “FANE!” Jen and Sally jumped.

  Fane rubbed Jacquelyn’s forehead. “I’m here, love. What can I do?” Fane ground his teeth, frustration and fear coursing through his body.

  “Make it stop,” Jacquelyn whispered to him. “Please, make it stop.”

  OceanofPDF.com

  Chapter 11

  Cynthia examined the blood sample under the microscope. Her hands shook as she turned the dial to bring the slide into focus. She couldn’t believe what she saw, but there it was in living color. Despite what she’d said earlier, she already had all the blood from Jacquelyn she needed. And Jennifer’s blood matched it. The only difference being the number of cells that carried the gene. Since Jacque was half wolf, her blood was rife with them. Jennifer, however, had just enough to be recognizable by a person who knew what to look for.

  Cynthia exhaled and picked up her phone, dialing Logan’s number.

  “Tell me you have good news, Dr. Steele,” he said after picking up on the first ring.

  “Yes, I can get her alone. I just received a call from Vasile’s beta. Jacque is sick. I’m going now to see her and will have her transferred to the ICU, where visitors of any kind are not allowed after 9:00 p.m. I have a pair of scrubs for you here in my office. The door will be left unlocked. Wait in my office for my call.” She hung up without waiting for a response.

  Cynthia changed the slides in the microscope, putting Jennifer’s away and sliding in Jacque’s sample. Unfortunately for Jacque, she’d received a blood transfusion before Dr. Steele had been able to stop it. Now, as the doctor looked into the eyepiece, she could clearly see the girl’s werewolf cells being attacked by those of the human. Cynthia had thought something like this could happen, but watching it actually unfold was fascinating. The human blood recognized the wolf cells as a virus and attacked accordingly. She knew of only one cure, one way to stop the human cells from killing the wolf cells, which would, inevitably, kill the person housing the wolf. Jacque needed more Canis lupus blood.

  The doctor put the slide away before grabbing her lab coat and hustling out of the room. She kept telling herself that it would be okay, that Logan could heal her, that she wasn’t putting Jacque in any actual harm. And before her conscience could talk her out of it, Cynthia was standing in front of Jacque’s door. She’d been able to hear the girl’s cries from down the hall, and the doctor could only imagine how painful it was for Jacque’s body to turn on itself. There, see? I will help her by giving her the morphine to keep her under, and then she won’t feel the pain until Logan can heal her. Guilt momentarily assuaged, Cynthia turned the doorknob and walked into a room full of worried people, an emotionally out-of-control alpha wolf, and the cries of a very sick girl. Thankfully, at the sight of a sick person, the doctor within Cynthia took over, and she focused on that role, on doing something to help.

  Every face in the room was draped in worry and fear for Jacquelyn. Fane heard the door open. He turned to see Dr. Steele walk in, and before anyone could ask her a question, she held her hands up and moved to Jacquelyn’s bed. The only sounds were the whimpering and cries of Fane’s mate.

  “Please, do something for her.” Fane pleaded with Dr. Steele, desperate for something, anything, to help his Jacquelyn.

  Dr. Steele listened to Jacquelyn’s heart, and then she shined a light into each eye. She moved Jacquelyn’s hands away from her stomach and began pushing down on it, which caused a cry to emit from its owner. Fane growled, but Dr. Steele was not intimidated. “Save it, wolf. I can’t help her if you expect there to be no pain.” She reached into her pocket and pulled out something Fane didn’t recognize. He watched her run it across Jacquelyn’s forehead and then look at a small screen on the side.

  “It’s a thermal scanner to take her temperature. She’s at 105.2, which means if we don’t get her temp down, she will either have a seizure, go into a coma, or both.” Dr. Steele looked over to Vasile. “I’m going to have to take her to the ICU. No one is allowed in there. The patients are all too sick to be exposed to the germs people would innocently bring in. You understand what this means?”

  Vasile nodded. “I will take care of it.”

  The doctor pushed a button that caused an alarm to sound, then they all heard footsteps moving fast toward the room. The next thing Fane knew, he was being jostled out of the way. Decebel and his father grabbed him before he could lunge at the hospital staff. They transferred Jacquelyn onto a gurney. He couldn’t focus on what Dr. Steele was saying, only on his mate being taken from him to a place where he could not go … again. When Jacquelyn was out of sight, he finally looked at the doctor.

  “What is wrong with her?” he growled.

  “I don’t know yet, Fane. You will have to be patient and let me do my job. Growling and throwing massive alpha fits will not help Jacque get better.”

  The doctor’s boldness took Fane aback, but he found that he respected her for it.

  “Just make her well again, please.”

  Dr. Steele put her hand on Fane’s shoulder. “Jacque will be fine.” She stepped back then so she could look at the entire group crowded into the little room. “I will let you know as soon as I know something.” And then she turned and walked out.

  The room was quiet, no one daring to break the silence, for then they would have to acknowledge the fear that was threatening to consume them one by one. Finally, a string of loud curses erupted from Jen. Everyone turned to look at her and watched as she wrestled with the tape that held her IV in place. She didn’t appear to notice the eyes upon her and began to mutter under her breath.

  “Hey, check out this IV said Moron-Nurse #1, do you think I used enough tape? Absolutely not, replied Moron-Nurse #2, You have to wrap an entire roll around her arm so that nothing short of a miracle will get it off.”

  With a grunt, a ripping sound, and a squeal, the tape came free. “Finally!” she announced triumphantly before yanking the IV from her arm and thrusting her hand in the air. Blood trickled down her forearm. She looked up and noticed everyone watching her.

  “What?” Her eyes got bigger when Decebel moved toward her. He came so close that she had to strain her neck back to look up at his face.

  “Why did you take that out?” His face was hard, unreadable.

  “Because if I’m going to have to have a pole attached to me, I would prefer it be one that I could get some use out of, maybe one that will make me a few bucks. But this particular pole wasn’t doing it for me.” Jen batted her eyes at him. “Besides, what the hell does it matter? My best friend has just been rushed off to the ICU. I couldn’t care less about this stupid IV?”

  “Put it back.” His eyes glowed gold as he took hold of her arm.

  “Oh, yeah, sure thing. I’ll get right on that,” she said sarcastically before prying his hand from around her arm. She stepped around him, paying the large man little more attention than if he were a gnat.

  “What’s the plan, Vasile?” she asked the alpha. Before he could respond, she heard the sound of ripping fabric from behind her. She turned and watched as Decebel finished tearing a strip of cloth from a sheet on the bed. He brought it over to her and then took her arm, gently this time, and wrapped the material around the bleeding puncture wound made by the IV needle. Without a word, he turned and walked back across the room while Jen watched his retreating back.

  Vasile answered as if nothing out of the ordinary had just happened. “For now, you and Sally will stay here, and I will put a guard on the door. Fane and Decebel will stay in the ICU waiting area. Fane,” Vasile looked directly at his son, “you will not attempt to defy what Dr. Steele has said. Are we clear?”

  “As you say, so shall it be.” Fane gave the formal response, neck bared in submission.

  “Good,” he continued. “Alina and Lilly will go home and rest.” Lilly started to interrupt, but Alina stopped her with a hand on her arm and gave a sharp nod of her head. Lilly swallowed the words she was about to say.

  “Lilly, I understand that you want to be here for your daughter, but you need to rest, and you won’t get it here. Trust me, okay?” Vasile waited for her response before continuing.

  “Okay,” she answered, her voice resolute.

  Vasile glanced at his watch--9:30 p.m. “I think it’s time to call it a night. As soon as Dr. Steele has information, she will contact me, and you will all know immediately.” Vasile turned to leave, and Alina followed him. Lilly went to Jen and hugged her and then did the same with Sally.

  “Don’t worry, Ms. P,” Jen told her, “Jacque’s the most stubborn person I know. She will be fine.” Lilly nodded, and with eyes full of unshed tears, she left as well.

  Fane gave them each hugs, too, and told them to call him if they needed anything, to which Jen threw out, “I think Jacque would kick my butt if I called you for what I need.” Decebel growled, but at least it got a small smile from Fane, which was what Jen had been aiming for. She turned to Decebel and stuck her tongue out at him like a petulant child.

  As he and Fane left, Decebel turned back one more time. “You two. Don’t act upon any bright ideas that might pop into those little heads of yours. I’m quite certain the rest of us will consider anything you come up with as ridiculous and stupid.” He shut the door as Jen grabbed the closest thing she could reach and flung it at him, which happened to be a box of tampons absentmindedly left out by Sally. The box exploded against the door and disposable menstrual products of the super absorbent variety flew everywhere.

  “Arrrrrgh, I’m so going to skin him the next time I see him as a wolf. I’ll make him into a nice furry rug to lie in front of the fireplace,” Jen spat.

  “Um, Jen, you don’t have a fireplace,” Sally pointed out.

  “My hypothetical fireplace, Sally. Come on, keep up, will you?”

  “Oh, my bad. I forgot that I’m supposed to be taking notes on your hypothetical life so when you refer to it, I will know exactly what the freaking-hell you are talking about.”

  “Well, at least you can admit when you are wrong. That’s a step in the right direction.” Jen patted her friend, then jumped back just before Sally’s fist could connect with her shoulder. “Man, it’s nice not to have that stupid pole stuck to me.”

  Sally sat down on the bed and looked at Jen, her face no longer playful. “What’s the plan, Jen? I know you’re cooking one up because that’s what you do best. So, what are we going to do?”

  “Sneak into the ICU, of course,” Jen said, matter-of-fact like.

  “Of course.” Sally smiled conspiratorially and then listened intently as Jen laid out the details.

  “Start her on IV Vancomycin and Fentanyl twenty-five micrograms bolus, f/b continuous infusion of three micrograms per hour. Then cover her with cooling blankets. Let’s try to get her temperature down. If she starts shivering, replace them with regular blankets.” Dr. Steele issued orders as she continued to monitor Jacque’s condition. She had no problem deciding to sedate the girl given the amount of pain she was in. The fact that it would make Jacque easier to move later was just a bonus.

  While the nurses carried out her orders, Cynthia stepped into an empty room and called Logan. He picked up on the first ring.

  “I had to bring her to the ICU. I need to get her stable, and then I will get the nurses out of the way so you can come up and take her,” Cynthia explained.

  “What do you mean, get her stable? What’s wrong with her?” Logan’s voice was low, and Cynthia couldn’t tell if she heard worry or something else.

  “The human blood she was given through a transfusion is attacking her body.”

  “Can you fix her?”

  “Yes, but I’ll need your help. I will tell you how once you are on your way to Denver.”

  Logan heard the line cut off as Dr. Steele hung up. He couldn’t believe something was seriously wrong with Jacque. Was it his fault? No, he told himself. You didn’t make them give her the transfusion. That was just something that happened, one of those unfortunate, unforeseen consequences. Besides, Dr. Steele said she could fix it, that’s all that mattered. Jacque would be fine, and she would be his. He sat down in a chair as he waited in her office for the text that would bring him one step closer to his goal.

  “Are you sure this is going to work?” Sally whispered to Jen as they walked down the hall. They’d had a lucky break when Skender, the wolf Vasile put on the door, had stepped away to go to the bathroom.

  “Of course, it’s going to work. It’s my idea,” Jen’s voice brimmed with confidence.

  “Right, like that summer you decided it would be a good idea to sneak out and go camping?”

  “Hey, everything turned out fine. It was just a little fire.”

  “A little fire, Jen? Really? You burned three acres. The fire department had to get one of those freaking crop duster planes to dump water over it, and you say that turned out fine?” Sally’s whisper was now more of a whispered shout.

  “Okay, so it got a little out of control. This is nothing like that. It’s a simple in-and-out op.”

  “Did you just say in-and-out op?” Sally asked sarcastically.

  “Yeah, you know, op like operation. We get in and we get out undetected.”

  “Oh, well, when you put it like that, I don’t know why I was ever worried.” Sally rolled her eyes, clearly not comforted by Jen’s words.

  As if she knew exactly where she was going, Jen took off a brisk walk. Sally hurried to catch her. They walked for several minutes and passed hallway after hallway. Finally, Sally realized Jen didn’t have a clue where she was going.

  “Do you even know where the ICU is?” Sally asked.

  “No, but I figured they would have signs with arrows that said ‘you are here’, and then pointed you the way you needed to go. You know, like in the mall.”

  “Says the genius who planned our in-and-out op.” Sally took a deep breath and let it out slowly.

  As Jen rounded a corner, she saw a guy in scrubs coming toward them. She turned and pushed Sally backward. “Go,” she whispered.

  “What?” Sally gasped.

  “Go! There is a nurse or doctor or something coming this way. I will distract him. You go on like we planned.” Sally hesitated. “Are you going to let Jacque down, Sally? Leave her all alone, scared, in that unfamiliar room?” Jen knew the guilt trip would do the trick.

  “Sometimes, I want to punch you in the face, Jennifer Adams,” Sally ground out as she turned and hurried in the opposite direction.

  “I love you, too,” Jen whispered, then quickly added, “It’s 11:00 p.m. Meet back in the room in an hour and a half.” Sally lifted her hand in acknowledgment but kept walking.