“I’m a sheriff’s deputy. Range time is mandatory.”
“I know.” Tessa stopped at the parking lot exit, looked both ways, then pulled out.
Pain immediately shot through Jenna’s gut. She clutched at her stomach, bending over at the sudden onslaught. “Owww. Holy Loki, that hurts.”
Tessa pulled over. “What’s wrong?”
The pain intensified, leaving Jenna almost unable to get the words out. “I…don’t…know. Bad pain. Bad.”
Tessa whipped the SUV around. “I’m taking you back.”
“No…okay.” Jenna groaned, still bent double by the stabbing, searing whatever-that-was happening in her middle. It felt like someone was trying to tear her insides out with a claw hammer.
For a librarian, Tessa suddenly had the driving skills of a Formula One racer. She screeched to a stop in front of the hospital doors they’d just come through, jumped out of the car, and ran around to Jenna’s side. “Come on, let’s get you inside.”
But Jenna’s pain was gone. She straightened. “I think I’m okay now. Maybe, um, it was just…gas?”
Tessa’s look said no explanation was going to stop her from getting Jenna back into the hospital. “Out of the car, then, and you can walk in under your own power.”
“I’m good. Really.”
“Do not make me carry you. You know I can.”
She could. Valkyries were incredibly strong. “You can’t leave the car here. What if there’s an actual emergency?”
“This isn’t the emergency entrance.” Tessa hooked her thumb over her shoulder. “Inside.”
With a sigh, Jenna undid her seat belt and got out of the car. “Fine. I’ll wait for you while you park.” No way was she letting Tessa leave her here. Jenna wanted to be home. Whatever pain she’d felt in the car had to be some residual thing. After all, it had gone away almost as quickly as it had shown up.
She walked through the sliding doors to wait on Tessa.
Just then, an orderly came through the lobby. “Is there a Jenna Blythe here? Jenna Blythe?”
She lifted her hand. “I’m Jenna Blythe. What’s going on? Did I forget something?”
“No. Dr. Navarro would like to speak to you again.”
She made a face. “He could have called.”
“He tried. Please, if you could just come upstairs with me.” The orderly held his hand out toward the elevators.
“As soon as my sis—”
“I’m here,” Tessa announced.
Jenna turned to see her. “Apparently I have to go see Dr. Navarro again. Also, do you have my phone?”
“Because of the pain you had? They’re really taking this seriously.” Tessa dug in her purse. “And yes, I have your phone. I meant to give it to you.”
The orderly’s brows rose. “Ms. Blythe, did you say you had pain? Was it in your abdomen?”
Jenna took her phone from Tessa, nodding as she looked at the orderly. “Not long after I got in the car to go home.”
The orderly seemed pretty interested in that. “We need to get you up to Dr. Navarro immediately.”
“Lead the way,” Tessa said, looping her arm through Jenna’s.
Jenna frowned at her sister. “You seem pretty eager to get me examined again.”
“I just want you well, sister dear.”
They went with the orderly, who introduced himself as Chuck, back to the floor Jenna had just been on. At the nurses’ station, Chuck had Dr. Navarro paged.
The doctor arrived a few minutes later with a worried smile on his face. “I’m very glad to see we got you back. There appears to be a complication we were unaware of.”
That caused a slight moment of panic in Jenna. She didn’t like complications. “What’s that?”
“Severe abdominal pain.”
Tessa gasped. “She just had that. Just as I pulled out of the parking lot. She was doubled over.”
Dr. Navarro nodded. “Chief Merrow experienced the same thing. Probably right around the same time. We don’t know what’s causing this, so we’d like to run a few more tests.”
Jenna’s jaw muscles tightened up. “What you’re saying is you want to readmit me?”
“Yes. At least until we can get the results of these new tests.”
She got angry, and she wasn’t sure why. It was all very logical. If there were complications, what other choice did they have but to try to figure them out? And yet, something was ticking her off in a way that made the sword lying against her spine tingle with the desire to taste blood.
And when Helgrind wasn’t happy, neither was Jenna.
Then it came to her like a swift kick to the backside. “I need to see Titus.”
The day Titus had been in the car accident that had nearly killed him, he’d been pretty banged up and plenty bruised. But shifters healed fast and had a high tolerance for pain, so he’d gotten through it.
Whatever had happened to him up in that attic was nothing compared to that day. And yet, he was grumpy and irritable, and the pain he’d experienced a few moments ago had felt like someone was trying to cut him in half.
Maybe that’s what was making him so mad. Pain, with no real reason or explanation, seemed unfair. But then, life was unfair. Proof of that was him in this hospital bed when he should have been at the station, taking care of—
Three quick raps on his door interrupted his line of thought. “Come in.”
He expected Dr. Navarro.
Instead, Jenna walked in.
It was like the clouds had parted to allow the sun through. And what a lovely sun it was. He smiled. “Hey. How are you doing?”
She smiled back. “I was just about to ask you the same thing.”
Her hair was pulled back in a ponytail, she was wearing yoga pants and a sweatshirt, and she looked beautiful. But then, she was beautiful, so her outfit made no difference. He took a breath, much happier than he’d been a moment ago. “I had some pain earlier, but I feel all right now.”
“Yeah,” she said. “Me too. Apparently, we had it at about the same time. I was discharged, but the pain is why I came back. Dr. Navarro wants
