Vicki herself was curious about what was on the news. She was almost afraid to turn on the TV, in case the news wasn’t good. The dragon shifters had warned her that there might still be a lot of deaths. The cure would need to be broken down by Torch Lake scientists so that they could figure out the formula, and then more of it would need to be manufactured. This could all take time—time during which the virus might claim many more lives.
But Vicki couldn’t hold back her curiosity enough to avoid the news completely, and she finally gave up sweeping for a minute to go find her remote. After she flicked on the TV, she continued to sweep, even slower now as she watched the newscast out of one eye.
The news anchor was repeating information Vicki already knew, telling viewers that a dragon shifter had singlehandedly chased down the Dark Warriors and stolen the cure. The cure was being given to the very sickest citizens, while some was being held back for scientists to use as a blueprint to manufacture more of it.
Vicki sighed as she finished her sweeping and went to get a mop. The floor of the shop looked like a crime scene, with blood and mud everywhere. She hoped no customers decided to come by right now, but she wasn’t too worried. Everyone would definitely still be hiding if the cure was in short supply.
When Vicki came back into the front room with the mop and a bucket of warm, sudsy water, however, she was surprised to see that the news had cut to a breaking news announcement by Councilor Morgan, the Head Councilor of Torch Lake’s High Council. It looked like the announcement had just begun, and it looked like Councilor Morgan was close to tears.
“My fellow citizens,” he said, his voice breaking with emotion. “It is with great joy I come before you to let you know that the cure our dragon shifters recovered has been proven effective. Not only that, but our scientists have already figured out how to remanufacture it. Using specially trained wizard chemists, they should be able to have a virtually unlimited supply within a matter of hours. We will of course be passing this out to all of Torch Lake, and then we will be sending out teams to take it to other shifter and wizard clans. It appears that the threat to our very survival has been eliminated.”
Normally, there would have been cheers as Councilor Morgan spoke from his podium at the front of the High Council building. Today, though, the steps and surrounding street were empty. No one had wanted to venture out in the middle of such a deadly epidemic. In the solitude of her flower shop, Vicki let out a whoop, accidentally knocking over the whole bucket of water as she did. She didn’t care, though. This news was too good not to celebrate. Mitch had saved so many lives today, not just hers.
She just hoped that he really would recover quickly, as the other dragon shifters had promised. She hoped he was not going to lose his life on a day when he had saved so many others.
Feeling somewhat more somber, Vicki cleaned up the spilled water, washing the floor to sparkling clean in the process. She taped a plastic sheet where the missing front door had left a gaping hole, and then stared around at the flowers she had been planning to deliver to the hospital today. She’d worked so hard on the arrangements that she had finished that it seemed a shame to waste them. But she had already cancelled all the credit card transactions she’d done for the day, and put a message on the store’s voicemail box that the store was closed and orders were being cancelled due to the virus. Hugh had told her that, even if she wanted to deliver the flowers, the hospital was being extremely strict on visitors right now. They weren’t letting anyone inside, and any deliveries had to be made by a nurse or staff member. Needless to say, the staff at the hospital didn’t exactly have time to deliver so many bouquets to so many different rooms.
Vicki smiled, then, as an idea came to her. She grabbed the bouquets at the front of the store and carried them to the back room. There, she worked for a half hour combining and rearranging all of the flower arrangements she had already made today. When she’d finished, she stepped back and admired her work.
She was pretty sure she could convince a staff member to deliver these giant arrangements to one room in particular. After all, that room contained the man who had just saved her, Torch Lake, and the world. And what better way to show Mitch that she’d had a change of heart about relationships than to send him flowers, the quintessential symbol of a relationship.
With a smile on her lips, Vicki went to her desk to begin writing Mitch a note to go with the flowers. She felt nervous as she wrote, but excited. Today had been life-changing in many ways. She hoped that, with the message she sent with these flowers, there would be one more good change in her life.
A change that involved Mitch Reeds.
Chapter Thirteen
The first thing Mitch saw when he blinked his eyes open was the stark white ceiling. The next thing he saw, when he sat up on his elbows, was a virtual forest of flowers.
“What in the world?” he asked the empty room, which of course did not answer him. The only noise was a soft, almost rhythmic beeping. He looked around for the source of the beeping, and realized it was coming from some sort of machine monitoring some sort of vital sign. He was in the hospital.
In the next instant, everything came rushing back to him, and he remembered his desperate attempt to save Vicki. He must have passed out before the cure could start working, because he couldn’t remember anything after lying next to her on the cold floor of her flower shop.
Flowers! Were these from her shop? Was she alive? Was Torch Lake on the mend, saved from the virus? Someone must have found him, since he was now in the hospital. And if they’d found him, they must have found the cases of cure. But what about Vicki? Had she made it?
Impatient with all of the cords tethering his body to various machines, Mitch started ripping them off. When he did, alarms started going off, and Mitch groaned.
“Incoming hospital staff in three…two…” before he could even get to one, the door to his room flung open and a nurse ran in with wide, frightened eyes. When she saw that he was sitting up and alert, looking slightly guilty with an assortment of cords in his hands, she sighed.
“I see. One of those, huh? Most of the dragon shifters are.”
“Are what?” he asked.
“A ripper of cords,” she said, giving her voice a dramatic edge as she went over to the machines and turned off the alarms. A young doctor came running into the room just then and she waved him away. “No, no. It’s all good. His heart didn’t stop. He just ripped the cords right out of the monitor.”
“Oh,” the doctor said. “One of those.”
Mitch felt a tiny bit guilty for causing trouble. But only a tiny bit. Now that he had a nurse here, he might get some answers.
“Sorry about the machines. But I had to know whether the cure was found. Is it working? Are they getting someone to figure out how to manufacture more?”
The nurse smiled at him. “Yes it was found. Yes it’s working. And yes, they’ve already figured out how to manufacture more. You, Mr. Reeds, are a hero. Torch Lake is forever indebted to you. As is the entire rest of the shifter-wizard world, really.”
Mitch breathed a sigh of relief. “I don’t care so much about being a hero. I just care about the entire population of shifters and wizards not being wiped out. And I care about…well…there was a girl…”
Mitch glanced at the flowers before continuing. “She owns a flower shop and she was sick and I tried to get the medicine to her and—”
“Vicki?” the nurse interrupted with an amused smile as she started shining a light in Mitch’s eyes and ears. She held a thermometer up. “Say ‘ahhhh.’”
“Yes. Vicki. You know her? Is she alright? Did she recover?” Mitch felt his heart pounding, but he relaxed somewhat when the nurse’s smile deepened. He opened his mouth and she shoved the thermometer in.
“Yes, I know Vicki. She’s been calling about a thousand times an hour to see how you are, and to ask whether we’re allowing visitors yet.”
“She has?”
The thermometer bee
ped, and the nurse smiled down at it. “Very good. Now your blood pressure.” Mitch offered his arm for the blood pressure cuff. “Yes, she’s been calling a lot. I take it you haven’t looked at the cards on all of these flowers yet?”
“No, I haven’t. I’d only gotten as far as ripping all the cords out of the machines.”
“Ah,” the nurse said. “Well, then, I’d recommend you take a look at the cards. They’re all from her.”
Mitch nearly choked. “They’re all from her?”
“Yup. Every single one of them.”
“But…she doesn’t send flowers.”
The nurse gave Mitch a funny look. “I thought she owned a flower shop?”
“Yes, well. It’s complicated.”
“Hmm. That does sound complicated. What’s not complicated is your health. You’re looking worlds better. I’m going to send the doctor in to give you an official check, but I have a feeling he’ll be happy to release you to go home.”
“That would be wonderful,” Mitch said with a slight groan. “I can’t think of much I want more right now than my own bed.”
The nurse smiled. “You deserve a chance to relax, that’s for sure. I’ll tell the doctor to come check on you. Oh, and, if Vicki calls again, which she probably will, what should I tell her?”
“Tell her?” Mitch was confused for a moment. Did he need to give Vicki some sort of message? He supposed they needed to talk, but he wasn’t about to have a serious conversation with a nurse as a middleman, no matter how nice that nurse was.
“Yes, what should I tell her when she asks if she can visit?”
“Oh!” Mitch felt a bit sheepish. Perhaps his mind was still a little more fogged up than he thought from the effects of his long ordeal with the virus and the Dark Warriors. “She can visit. Of course she can visit.”
The nurse smiled again, nodded, and then left. But Mitch felt like he could have jumped up and started doing a happy dance. Vicki wanted to visit him? And she had sent him flowers? That all sounded really promising.
Mitch swung his legs over the side of the bed and stood, tentatively at first to make sure that he was truly ready to handle getting up. He felt completely fine once he was standing, though. He took a few steps just to make sure, and then walked across the room to one of the smaller bouquets of flowers. Just as the nurse had said, the card indicated that they were from Vicki Newson. Mitch grinned and looked at another card, then another, then another. Every single one said that the flowers were from Vicki.
He wasn’t sure what had come over her to make her want to send him flowers, but he knew it had to be good. Was this just her way of thanking him for saving her life? Or was she finally ready to give him a chance at something more?
Mitch was considering whether he should try to call her himself when he suddenly saw that there was an actual full sized envelope on the largest bouquet of flowers. He walked over and pulled it down, his heart pounding as he saw his name written on the envelope in Vicki’s elegant cursive script. He sat in one of the guest chairs in the hospital room and opened the letter to find a long letter written in the same gorgeous script.
Dear Mitch,
I’m not sure where to start this letter, so I’m just going to start it and do my best not to ramble. In case you haven’t noticed, I’ve never been a big fan of “cheesy” romantic gestures, and sending a dozen large flower arrangements along with a heartfelt letter used to be my very definition of cheesy. I suppose you could say I’m redefining cheesy. I think, perhaps, I finally understand why so many people come into my shop begging for just the right flowers for an occasion. I used to think it was a copout to try to use flowers to say what you found too difficult to say. But now I know that sometimes, there are simply no words good enough. Where are the words to say thank you when someone risks his own life to save yours? Because that’s what you did for me when you went after the Dark Warriors to get the cure. And where are the words to say sorry when you’ve pushed away someone who is the love of your life? Because I’m afraid that’s the mistake I’ve made. These flowers are meant to represent the fact that I’ve had a change of heart. I’ve realized that there is a place for romance in my life, because there is a place for you. You have fought selflessly for all of Torch Lake, and for me. You’ve shown your character over the last twenty-four hours, and I’ve realized I would be a fool to let you go. I hope you still believe I’m your lifemate, because not only have you made me believe in lifemates—you’ve also made me realize that you’re mine.
All my love, Vicki.
Mitch read the letter three times over, almost not daring to believe that what it said was true. Vicki thought he was her lifemate! And she had signed the letter “All my love,” which wasn’t exactly the same thing as actually saying “I love you,” but close enough. The point was, Vicki was interested in a relationship with him. Mitch had been prepared to wait as long as necessary for this day, but he had to admit he was thrilled that things were coming together so quickly. The thought of spending years, months, or even weeks apart from Vicki had been pure torture.
Mitch decided then that he needed to call Vicki instead of waiting for her to call again. He would tell her to come to his house tonight. There was no reason for them to wait to get started on spending the rest of their lives together. Out of habit, Mitch reached for his pocket to get his cell phone. That’s when he realized that not only was he wearing a hospital gown instead of pants, but he also did not have his cell phone. Dimly, he remembered tossing it in the bushes outside of Vicki’s flower shop.
“Damn it!” He walked back to the bed and sat down, reaching for the hospital’s landline phone. He would have to call the operator to get Vicki’s number, since he hadn’t memorized it. Just as he was about to hit the “O” button, though, there was a sharp knock at the door. Mitch’s heart leapt. Maybe it was Vicki!
“Come in,” he called. But it wasn’t Vicki who stepped into the room. It was one of the hospital’s older doctors, smiling broadly at the sight of Mitch sitting up.
“Well, hello, Mr. Reeds. I see you’re feeling a lot better.”
“I’m ready to get out of here.”
The doctor laughed. “I’m sure you are. The nurse tells me you can’t sit still. I’m going to do an exam to clear you, but I’m afraid we’re still going to ask you to spend the night for observation. We’re asking it of all the virus victims. We want to make sure that the cure is working properly before we send you all away.”
“It’s working just fine. I want to go home.”
The doctor smiled and put his stethoscope up to Mitch’s heart. “I know. And you deserve to go home. You’re quite a hero, I’d say. But we would really like to make sure this medicine is working for the safety of the whole town. If it makes you feel better, you have a visitor waiting to see you, and she’s been asking to spend the night.”
The doctor winked at him before motioning for him to turn around so he could put the stethoscope on his back and listen to his breathing.
“A visitor? Is it Vicki?” Mitch was losing patience with the doctors and nurses and exams. He was fine. He didn’t need any more checkups, and he didn’t need to stay overnight in the hospital. What he did need was to see Vicki, and now.
The doctor chuckled. “Yes, it’s Vicki. Seems like a nice girl. I can tell you’re just as anxious to see her as she is to see you. I’ll be done with the exam here in a minute and then I can send her in.”
Mitch wanted to argue for the doctor to send her in right this second and stop this silly exam, but he figured it would be faster to just let the doctor do his thing. And he was right. After another minute of poking and prodding, the doctor was done.
“Alright, Mr. Reeds, all done. I’m giving you a clean bill of health, but like I said we’d like you to stay overnight just to keep an eye on things.”
“Whatever. Just send Vicki in.” Mitch had no intentions of staying overnight, but he would argue about that when he was actually ready to leave. Right now, he
just wanted to see Vicki. The doctor nodded and left. A few moments later, the door creaked open and Vicki stepped into the room.
She was a sight to behold. Her hair hung in loose waves around her shoulders, and she wore a soft green tunic over a pair of skintight jeans. Her every curve beckoned to him, and Mitch felt himself stiffening between his legs.
Best of all, though, was the glow of health in her face. There was no trace of the virus, or of any type of sickness. She looked hearty and strong, and Mitch breathed out the breath he hadn’t realized he’d been holding. Even though the nurse had told him that Vicki was doing well, it was good to see it with his own eyes. It made everything he’d been through worth it.
“Hey,” she said softly. She glanced at the flowers and her cheeks turned a little pink with embarrassment. Mitch wanted to laugh. She must be wondering if she’d gone a bit overboard. But she hadn’t. He loved that she’d sent him so many flowers. He loved that she thought he was worthy of being a romantic partner. Still, he couldn’t resist just a little bit of teasing.
“Hey,” he replied, a smile spreading across his face. “Look at all these cheesy bouquets someone sent me.”
Her face turned even pinker. “I, just…it’s only that, I…” she stammered.
Mitch laughed. “Come here, you,” he said, patting the bed beside him. She seemed to realize then that he was teasing her. She smiled and came to sit beside him.
Mitch closed his eyes for just a moment. He’d done a lot in his three decades on earth—a lot that he could be proud of. But as Vicki sat beside him, he got the sense that only now was life truly beginning.
Chapter Fourteen
Vicki chewed her lower lip nervously as Mitch closed his eyes for a moment, then looked over at her and smiled. He seemed perfectly relaxed, but she was feeling uncertain.
Dragon Battling (Torch Lake Shifters Book 10) Page 9