She nodded at Birdie. “We definitely need the doctor.”
“I’ll get him.” Birdie ran out the door.
Jenna bent and kissed his forehead, then pressed her cheek to his. “It’s going to be okay. You’re going to get through this. You have to. I need you.”
He put his hand on the back of her neck and turned to kiss her cheek. “I need you, too, Jenna. Thank you for being here with me. I know you don’t have a choice, but…”
She pulled back a little so he could see her face. “There’s nowhere in the world I’d rather be than with you. Although there are other locations I’d prefer.”
“Me too.” He smiled up at his beautiful valkyrie.
Birdie returned with Dr. Navarro. “Chief Merrow, how are you feeling?”
“A little nauseous. And warm.”
Dr. Navarro scanned Titus’s forehead with the infrared thermometer. He checked the readout and nodded. “One-oh-three. I’ll have a nurse give you something for the nausea. The best prescription I can give you right now is rest. Sleep will make this easier.”
“I can sleep at home. I’d like to be discharged.” But he already knew the answer.
Dr. Navarro shook his head. “I’m not discharging you until your fever’s gone.”
Titus sighed. “Understood.”
With a nod, Dr. Navarro left.
Titus growled softly. “I hate this.”
“I know, honey.” Birdie patted his leg. “We’ll just set up a command center here.”
“Doesn’t Hank need you at the department?”
“Yes, and that’s where I’ll be. But not until I bring Jenna a laptop she can work on.”
“Thank you,” Jenna said.
Birdie nodded. “What else do you need?”
“Laptop and charger. Pen and paper. Phone charger wouldn’t hurt either.” She tapped her fingers on the bed. “I’m sure I’m forgetting something.”
“Breakfast, anyone?” Bridget walked in, carrying a shopping bag from Mummy’s Diner in one hand and a drink tray in the other.
“Doesn’t that smell good?” A nurse came in behind her with a syringe.
“No,” Titus groused. Not only was he burning up, but feeling like he might barf at any moment was making him grouchy.
The nurse went right to Titus’s IV line and injected the solution into the port. “This should help with the nausea.”
“Oh, sorry,” Bridget said. “Are you sick to your stomach, Titus?”
“A little.”
Bridget’s brows went up. “Just a little? Because you sound ready to snap. You want me to take this food out?”
He took a breath and tried to exhale some of his bad mood. “No, Jenna needs to eat. And I’ll feel better in a minute, right?” He looked at the nurse.
She nodded. “You should, yes. Need anything else?”
“No, thanks.”
“Call if you do.” She left.
Bridget didn’t come any closer with the food. Thankfully. She looked at Jenna. “I’m sorry about the way I reacted in the woods, Jenna. I was mad that Titus got hurt, but that wasn’t your fault. I shouldn’t have taken it out on you.”
“What did I miss?” Titus asked.
“Just your sister being worried about you.” Jenna smiled at him before looking at Bridget. “Thank you, Bridget. I really appreciate that.”
“So we’re friends again?”
Jenna nodded. “We are if there’s a cinnamon roll in that bag.”
Bridget laughed. “Is there any other reason to go to Mummy’s?”
Jenna winked at Titus.
He winked back, the pull of sleep almost too much to ignore.
“Hey,” Jenna said softly. “Why don’t we take this down to the visiting room? I think I can make it that far without the binding spell kicking in. Titus needs to sleep.”
Birdie nodded. “And I need to go get your things. I’ll walk with you.”
“Okay,” Bridget said. “See you later, bro.”
“Bye, honey,” Birdie said.
“Back soon,” Jenna added.
“Later,” he whispered, eyes already closed. He drifted off, unable to do anything else.
The visiting room had a small dining area with three round tables. Jenna and Bridget set up at one of those, but Birdie didn’t sit.
“You girls enjoy your breakfast. I should run and get that stuff for Jenna.”
Jenna pushed a chair out with her foot. “You can stay for a little bit. Twenty minutes isn’t going to change anything. Come on, eat with us. Besides, we need to make a plan.”
“Yeah,” Bridget said. “Plus, I got a ton of food.”
She had too. Pancakes in three varieties—peach, chocolate chip, and plain. A side each of bacon and sausage links. Two cinnamon rolls, which might have been overkill, considering they were the size of dinner plates. Two breakfast platters of scrambled eggs, bacon, hash browns, and biscuits. And a yogurt parfait with fruit and granola.
She also had a tray of coffees and two bottles of orange juice.
Birdie hesitated. Then sat. “All right, but just for a few minutes.”
Jenna nodded. “We have a lot of work to do, I know that. But fueling up will help. All right, let’s figure out what needs to be done.”
Bridget dumped the packets of utensils in the middle of the table, and they dug in. Jenna went for the peach pancakes and a couple of strips of bacon, plus a coffee. Birdie and Bridget took the breakfast platters and the OJ.
“Okay,” Bridget said. “Where do we start?”
“With Alice,” Jenna answered. “I need to talk to her. She said if she knew who built the spell, it would make it easier for her to undo it. I will tell her everything I know about Sola. It isn’t much, but at the very least, Alice will know the origin of the magic used against us. That has to be worth something.”
“Okay,” Birdie said. “That’s a phone call. And one you should make in about an hour. I don’t think Alice is an early riser, and it’s still plenty early. You could try her now, but I’m pretty sure it’d just go to voicemail.”
“Voicemail is fine. At least she’ll know I’m trying to reach her.” Jenna took her phone out and tapped Alice’s name on her contacts list. The phone rang four times before going to voicemail. She nodded at Birdie and pointed at her phone, mouthing the word voicemail while she listened to Alice’s brief message. Then
