Chapter 0086
Cara’s POV
I’m pushing the thoughts of Alaric far from my mind as I head to the hospital.
I need to focus. I’m here for Mia. She needs me,
Ruby greets me at the door, and I can see the stiffness in his shoulders immediately.
“We need to talk,” my best friend tells me as she guides me to a small table and chairs in the corner of the lobby.
“Is Mia okay?” I ask, my concerns growing at the sight of her. This can’t be good.
“Everything’s fine…” she assures me, “for now…
“What do you mean?” I ask. For now?
“I spoke with the team of doctors. They are certainly experts in allergies, and they all have very impressive resumes, but…” she trails off.
“But?” I can tell she’s trying not to worry me any more than necessary, but this isn’t the time for any confusion. “Please, just tell me.”
“Mia’s condition is complex. It’s more than just allergies… there’s something else going on, but we don’t have as much information as we should by now. The treatments are working for her symptoms, but they aren’t doing anything about the underlying cause.
Ruby’s lips come together in a tight line as she continues, “In other words, they aren’t any closer to a cure. And every day that passes… every idea that doesn’t work… I’m starting to worry…”
“I was afraid of that,” I say to her softly, reaching out to pat her shoulder. “What can we
do?”
“I’m going to do some more reading… there’s got to be something we can use… something that can spark an idea…” Ruby’s eyebrows knit together in deep concern.
She loves Mia nearly as much as I do. We’re both so worried about the little girl. The doctors have been trying so hard, dedicating so many resources to trying to save my daughter from becoming feral.
There’s got to be a cure. There just has to be.
“Dr. Ruby? Can we just confirm once more some of the things you mentioned from your notes?” One of Mia’s doctors pops their head out of a room, beckoning Ruby to follow.
“Yes, I’ll be right there,” Ruby calls, grabbing her notebook. “Take this as a good sign. We’re all trying to learn as much as we can,” Ruby says, giving me an optimistic stroke on
12
a Charter como
the arm before following the doctor.
I sit in a chair in the hallway, waiting for Ruby’s return and the end of Mia’s treatment for today when I see an older nurse eyeing me carefully.
She looks familiar, but I can’t quite place her face.
She keeps looking at me, then looking away when she sees me return her stare.
“Hello,” I call to her softly.
“Can I help you?”
The older woman smiles, almost to herself, before speaking, “It is you, then, Cara Wilson.”
“Yes. And you are…?” I ask.
“Nadya. I remember you from your accident a few years ago. I cared for you, if you remember,” the older woman, Nadya, approaches me cautiously.
I study the wrinkles around her eyes, her long silver braided hair. She’s got a scar across one of her eyebrows, and that does it.
“Nurse Nadya!” I cry, surprising myself with how quickly the memory returns to me.
When I was hospitalized after my car accident, Nadya was my bedside nurse until I was healthy enough to transfer to Pack BloodyMoon territory. She was very kind, always speaking in a soft and soothing way.
I walk closer to her, reaching for the older woman’s hand. “How are you? Not yet retired, I see?”
Nadya chuckles, and the raspy sound feels like it tickles my ears. “No, not yet. These old bones still have more to give.”
I smile at her, not at all surprised that her hardworking spirit endures, despite her body’s aging condition.
When I had returned to consciousness after my coma, Nadya sat and talked with me. She would tell me stories about her family, about her hobbies. I was so grateful to be able to think of anything besides the scary predicament that I was in, battling my injuries.
Nadya did me a great kindness just by offering simple conversation.
“They said you’re different now, but I can tell that they were wrong,” Nadya says to me with a wrinkled smile. “You seem exactly the same, just as sweet as always.”
I smile and feel a blush hit my cheeks.
Finally.
Finally, someone thinks I haven’t changed for the worse.
Someone sees that being a princess hasn’t ruined me.
+25 BONUS
Just then, my phone rings. “Excuse me I have to check that “I start.
“You go ahead, dear. I know you’re a busy woman….” Nadya says kindly.
I smile at her again very briefly before looking into my purse for my phone. The device is stuck at the bottom of the bag, and I have to move several papers around in my search for the buzzing phone.
One of the papers falls to the r
but I’ve just grasped the phone in my fingers. I pull the
device out and see Eamon’s name on the screen.
I’m about to press the button to answer the call when the paper I’ve dropped suddenly
appears in my field of view.
“Thank you, Nadya,” I say without looking up, assuming it’s the nurse helping me.
I hear the low sound of a man clearing his voice, and this makes me look up to see who’s handing me the paper.
It’s Alaric.
“Oh!” I gasp, shocked to see him.
“Cara?” Alaric furrowed his brows and looked at me.
There’s my signature on it!
“Please give it back to me!” I say quickly.
Alaric looks down at the paper in his hands, reading it slowly, “Aylon Auburn…?”
I stand on tiptoe, trying to grab the paper, and nervously say to him, “Give it back to me, this has nothing about you.”
“Nothing about me?” Alaric’s voice deepens.
I snatch the paper away and turn to leave, but suddenly, I feel a tight grip on my wrist.
The heat of that one’s body ignites the place where our skin touches.
Alaric pulls me toward him, locking eyes with mine. He presses his lips together, staring at me intently, looking a bit anxious. He says,
“Nothing about me… because he, Aylon Aurbun, is your new husband, isn’t he?!”
