by Erin R Flynn
“Because I thought I was going to die, and all I cared about was I couldn’t see the people I loved or say goodbye.”
He let out a shaky breath and kissed me again. “You have suffered too much for one so young.” His lips brushed mine before his tongue slid over my lips in a seductive way that reminded me I was a woman, not just a person in pain, which was why he did it. “But you have done so much good for someone so young too. You will survive this and flourish again. It’s what you do.”
I nodded, hearing him in my heart and praying he was right. I kissed him and gave myself a moment to get lost in it, in him and the strength he had to support me.
The doc showed up with Noah and the boys. I smiled at them, only having talked to Tommy quickly and only seen Noah for a short bit at the hospital, and he hadn’t even spoken then.
“How did the food go down?” the doc asked as he took Dain’s seat and checked my vitals.
“Good. My stomach’s tender and talking, but I wanted to eat,” I answered. “I feel wonky, but I knew I wanted to eat.”
“Good, that’s a really good sign,” he muttered as he checked my blood pressure. “We’re going to get your system ramped up and then kicking on all cylinders so you can build back the muscle you lost not moving for so long and while having toxins pumped into you. A few days of naps and lots of small, easy meals, and we should be able to take the next step. Just hydrate when you’re awake, and I’ll get the IV in for night.”
“Thanks for repeating and focusing the plan,” I mumbled, knowing what he was doing so I had something to grasp and hold onto.
“I like to have the basics repeated for me too,” he said gently as he took off the cuff and took my temperature with an ear thermometer. “I need those first two steps without feeling like the mountain before me is too hard or someone doesn’t have a clue what to do beyond that, so it’s some balancing.” He checked the readout and smiled. “Your temp is coming back up to where it should be as a shifter. Another good sign.”
“How long should I keep bruising?”
“I’d say no more, but it will take longer to heal. You’ll be healing human slow and recovering like an elderly human for a while.” He let out a long breath as he stuck me to set up the IV. “Honestly, that’s a bit of an educated guess. I’ve never seen someone survive what you did, so I’m winging it somewhat until you recover a bit more. Note if you see new bruises and I’ll check them.”
I snorted, apologizing immediately. “I’m one huge bruise. I was thinking how I could note a new one when I’m all black and blue.”
“Just do your best,” he comforted. He hooked me up and then left after I thanked him again.
I smiled at the boys. “I can take gentle hugs and kisses.”
Each one opted for a cheek kiss, but Ben plopped down next to me and pulled up YouTube on the TV. “I made a playlist of all the best songs and videos you missed.”
I smiled at him as I leaned in and bumped his shoulder. “Of course you did. That’s awesome. I’m sorry I missed your birthday.” I glanced at Tommy and Leo. “Yours too. We’ll do something fun when I’m better. Like paintball with the pack and ancients. We were talking about doing that in the summer, and it’s summer.”
“Whatever you want, Sera,” Tommy whispered, coming and sitting by my feet and trying to hide when he wiped his eyes. I reached over and ruffled his hair.
Ben was into music like me and loved to dance too, so it was totally our thing to share when we found a new song or cool video. I saw him relax as we all watched, as if things got back a bit more to normal as he shared what he’d been storing up for me. I got making the playlist was a coping mechanism and a way to keep hope I would come back, but me getting to actually watch it with him was probably the balm on the wound he needed.
I dozed off after several though, and Dain woke me for one more bowl of food before I headed to bed. I asked Hagan to stop at the bathroom since he was carrying me. He got a bit squirmy as he set me on my feet.
“The doc said we had to let him know if you poop, so maybe you just want to text him that on your own,” he muttered before darting out of the bathroom and closing the door behind him.
“If I poop?” I chuckled, shaking my head. Oh boy. Glad I wasn’t the only one who felt like a fish out of water. Sure, they’d helped me when I’d been hurt before, but this was a whole new level. I used the bathroom and washed my hands, smiling at him in the mirror when he came in. “Everyone poops, it’s okay.”
He burst out laughing, looking lighter and younger even after the stress of this. “I didn’t want to embarrass you, but I forgot to mention it earlier.”
“Well, I didn’t poop yet, so I’ll text the doc when I do.” I made myself burp when he came to pick me up, and he laughed all over again.
“Brat. You are a total brat,” he muttered as he nuzzled my neck. “We missed that.”
“I am a one of a kind pain in the ass.” I waited until I was snuggled between the twins with the boys and Noah was crashing in the spare rooms or the living room. “You got those foundations poured for the new greenhouses, right? That was before I was taken. Did you get the greenhouses up?”
“Yeah, and they’re doing great,” Reagan promised. “We needed to hire some more people, and the orders coming in are insane.”
“Then you didn’t fail. You guys have never failed the pack or as Betas.” I kissed each of them and snuggled down to sleep, knowing there was more to get caught up on but wanting to make sure to pace myself so I didn’t break under the weight of it all.
I had a feeling that was probably going to happen with work, so it was better to do what I could to keep myself sane. If that was possible.
Which it probably wasn’t.
4
The next two days all I did was eat, sleep, and heal while getting slowly caught up. All the greenhouses were built and flourishing. We were hiring paranormals from other areas to pick up out of state loads like to Vegas, flower shops we now sold to, or huge orders for weddings. At first I was confused why we were hiring like that, but then Hagan told me that every paranormal in Chicago now had a job. If they wanted one, they had one.
I burst out crying, to their shock. That had been such a massive burden to me as everyone kept looking to me to help since I had fought to make things safe and the system work as it should. But it had all worked out, and now we were flourishing like the greenhouses, which was amazing.
I also learned some of the bad. I had known that Sioux Falls had invaded, but a wandering pack had tried as well, and a few of the wolves had gotten hurt when they’d refused to lead them to pack lands during the full moon. They were fine, and everyone made sure to take care of them. Eugene had been acting as Alpha then and had decimated the wandering invaders as a very loud message to not even try to fuck with Chicago.
Apparently it worked as no one had so much as looked at us funny since then.
Virgil had had to go back before Easter, as that was a huge income source for his pack with the chocolate factory that was now booming. I almost broke down crying again when Brian admitted they had bought me a shit ton of Easter candy of all kinds that I could enjoy when I got home, as that was my favorite candy.
Each time someone came to check on me they brought flowers and pretty. I asked about it and found a lot was from others sending well wishes and they were just bringing it up, but Simone also told me the guys had talked about spoiling me like Valentine’s Day the whole time I was gone, planning and plotting what I’d like best or how to make me smile when I got home.
It healed a lot of the hurt and pain. It helped me keep going. They had missed me so, so much, and as an abandoned girl who’d had no friends, it was so touching and wonderful.
A week after I’d been rescued, I finally looked in the mirror for real because Dain promised it was okay and time. I wasn’t bald anymore or really a buzz cut like when Apollo had come for me. They had taken clippers and just buzzed me, but a week later and with even an injured shifter metabolism
I had more a Michelle Williams type super short pixie cut.
It wasn’t bad, but it wasn’t a choice I had made so still tears filled my eyes. The hair was thin and fragile, not my normal thick hair, but the doctor promised that would change as I got better. The bruising was better too, no real new ones, and now I was that ugly green of healing bruises but still wearing splints.
Dain brought me out to the living room after helping me shower, and I had a surprise visitor. I hadn’t even gotten a chance to see Section Chief Chad Monroe who was my boss, but with him was Deputy Director Galvin. Dain sat me down and brought over some food for me. I was being upgraded to normal food like cereal and whatnot but nothing too much yet like acidic juice.
Besides, I liked the bunny apples Jared kept making for me. Seriously, they were the cutest fucking things, and I fully understood why they made kids giggle.
“How bad?” I asked them before they could even ask how I was or normal greetings.
“We need to know what happened,” Galvin told me gently. “People need to hear it from you and on the record now that you’re recovering.”
I nodded, letting them set up the Skype call, hating that I was going to video conference with the president and whoever from Germany with my super short hair while swimming in my normal clothes because I had next to no muscle mass and was nothing but skin and bones. Even a week after being rescued I looked like one of those poor anorexic women who starve themselves until it looks like movie CGI thin.
Right as the call started, Alok and Tasar arrived and seemed to be arguing with Dain on something. It hit me why he was the one there.
“No, I’m not showing you,” I told Dain firmly, cutting through whatever else was being said.
“Why do you not want to show the fairy if you tell the truth?” the German ambassador asked in a thick accent. He was not a person I would ever be friends with, and was adamantly fighting that the whole thing was a misunderstanding and my trauma made me misread the situation and we owed them because we killed their people.
“He is my lover,” I snapped. “I am not showing him how bad everything was.” I ignored his response and looked at Dain. “No, I won’t show you. Dain, please, I don’t want you to see that. I want you to see me as getting better, not the worst. I’m already mortified it was Apollo who saw me completely break. Please, not you too.” Tears filled my eyes, not caring Apollo or Alena were seeing this as well since they were on the call along with Haton.
“Okay, okay, my love,” he whispered, coming over and giving me a gentle kiss. “Whatever you need. Whatever helps.”
“Thank you.” I kissed him again and sighed in relief when he left the apartment even, glancing at Alok and Tasar. “Thank you. I didn’t know that was part of this.”
“You tend to just skip to getting it down,” Monroe muttered in defense.
That was fair. I wanted this part over.
Except there was more to this. They wanted Galvin to see what I went through as he was human and then this wasn’t some paranormal ploy and attack. I nodded, knowing I’d seen too much into his personal crap so it wasn’t like we hadn’t crossed lines before.
Alok had tears in his eyes after I showed him. He leaned in and kissed my hair. “You will be okay, child, I promise. We will help you heal.”
“You just keep taking care of the others because I know you and Tasar had your hands full when they fell apart.”
“Yes, we did,” Tasar admitted, not one to lie even if most would want them to. He knew I wasn’t like that, and neither was he. We preferred—needed—the truth even if it wasn’t what we wanted to hear.
“There is no mix up,” Galvin whispered after Tasar showed him, looking horrified. “She heard very clearly someone speak of ‘harvesting’ her. That wasn’t a medical facility open to paranormals, and yet they had metal, bolted down restraints.”
“We found six pints of her blood they took,” Apollo added. “That’s over half what a normal body has, and given her size, I would say that was not something they expected her to recover from after what they ‘saved’ her from. I don’t know what kind of hospitals you run, but tell me when they do bone marrow tests first off? We saw it. Spinal fluid.”
“They took all my fucking hair,” I cut in, not wanting to hash this all out. “Were my teeth next? I mean, what’s the list for harvesting someone alive?”
Alok sat next to me and moved his arm around me gently, comforting me. But also telling me to chill a bit.
“Look, you guys want to say you didn’t authorize this, it was going on but you didn’t know, hey, I can get that. As long as you denounce it and any paranormals being treated this way, I’m not looking for a war with you guys. But you have to denounce it. You’re a major player on the world stage, and some are thinking it’s like a good idea they’ve overlooked. No, enough. You weren’t backing this, then help make sure no one else does it next.”
“I agree,” the president said firmly. “We’re not blaming Germany that one of our citizens, a valued and decorated woman who works for our government, was there being tortured and almost killed. That was a private citizen. What took place after never should have happened, and people need to be held accountable and take responsibility.”
“And she is also a member of our family, and the president of Greece is in agreement with us on this matter,” Alena said firmly. “She has protection with the shifter council, the vampire council, and the queen of the fairies. You leave this matter as something brushed aside as a misunderstanding, which we all know it wasn’t, and the ripples of that decision will not benefit Germany.”
Arguments broke out, and I started to shake, annoyed with myself for reacting that way but also feeling the guilt compile when the ambassador shot back it was my fault for being so stupid and not better guarded if I was so fucking important. He wasn’t wrong, but it was never the victim’s fault, and if people weren’t such assholes, none of it would be a problem.
“Did you even wonder why I know German?” I cut in, focused on the ambassador.
“You are a spy, we know this,” he snapped. “Your CIA director being involved confirms this. He was your director.”
“No, he wasn’t,” I argued. “I have translated and helped in a few CIA situations when I was with the Navy. The director hated me because I refused to spy. I wouldn’t do it. I knew German because I helped your police as FBI and learned it to go undercover. You asked for help, and they sent me. Does none of that matter now because I’m no longer human? Am I just a fucking animal that you forget I saved some of your people, took a bullet for them?”
“I don’t know about this,” the president admitted.
“It was a classified op,” Galvin muttered, giving me a worried look that I was cracking. “I can read you in later, sir, but the ambassador should see if the chancellor will tell him. It was a huge case that saved several children of prominent German officials. She was injured in the line of duty to save them and went through a hellish, deep cover assignment to make it happen.”
Recognition flashed in the ambassador’s eyes. He knew what we were speaking of. “That was you?”
“That was me,” I promised. “I still go in and save people. That was what I did in New York. I’ve done it in Japan. Mexico. Several other countries that have asked for our help. I am not some dog that who cares if someone was going to experiment on or take my eggs for some super soldier idea or whatever. I am a person who has helped Germany and her people when they needed it. When I needed it, you handed me over to the monsters.
“We were helping German SWAT before I went to New York. Should we not do that anymore? Were they spies to get information on us so you can dissect more of us? Here I think we were working well together on getting better to protect all people, but you only mean humans, and they could have just dissected me there. So consider that invitation to join us and other elite groups rescinded.”
I stood when there was a knock at the door, unable to take the conversation anymore. It was
the doc coming to check on me before his shift at the hospital. I sighed, realizing as much as I wanted the approval to start moving again before I got stir crazy, him showing up would now mean he got pulled in.
Sure enough, Galvin and the president had questions for him. The look on his face that I was just video conferencing the president was priceless.
“Wait, is she still on hourly meals, as it’s been an hour?” Monroe cut in.
“Yes, and I want you to start doubling what you’re drinking and with protein shakes,” the doc told me. “The premade kind are fine. We’ve flushed you, and your grandmother is landing today to get another round of that since she was delayed, but now that we’ve worked on getting good sugars in you, we need to start with the protein, which means you also need to start moving.”
“Easy stuff? Walking?”
“Yes, only walking, and I’m going to speak with someone on some exercises you need to be doing in your pool. Low impact. Nothing more. Just for the next few days and we’ll reassess.”
“I’ll be good,” I promised, thrilled at the idea of the next step and moving forward. “Is work stress okay? Cooper and Harris put together a timeline to start getting me caught up.” I held up my hands in surrender when he gave me a suspicious look. “Just want to read up on the treadmill or sitting on my ass by the pool. I swear. I’ll be good. I knew I was dying both times. You performed the miracle of saving me, and I’ll listen.”
He gave a slow nod. “Pace yourself. Stress is stress on your body. I get not knowing is stressful too, but you’ve come back from assignments and acclimated, that’s different than being the boss who left everyone to handle what she should and being abducted.”
“I’ll be good,” I repeated, knowing what he was saying as it was much, much harder.
Which was why I needed to make progress no matter how slow it was.
I texted who I wanted to go with me while hurrying to eat what was next while they talked to the doc about way more than I was comfortable with and I heard Monroe cut in several times that the ambassador sounded like he was pumping him for more info on paranormals. There was no need for them to know such specifics, and I agreed. I went to change, and they were still on it when I came back out, and I lost my patience.