“You’re awake,” Trent said. He dropped his feet from the foot of my bed and stood in a single, graceful movement.
“Yeah.” My throat was like sandpaper. I needed something cold to drink.
“She’s awake,” Trent called over his shoulder, not very loudly because in a house full of vampires with enhanced senses, he really didn’t need to. “Get the doctor.”
“Doctor?” I cleared my throat and winced. “Ow.”
“What’s wrong?” He had his hand on my shoulder in an instant, concern dripping from him.
“I need some water,” I croaked.
Trent left my bedside for only a fraction of a second before he returned with a glass of ice water. I took the glass and drank a small sip, then another, and another. The icy liquid slid easily down my throat, soothing the raw ache.
“Thanks,” I said.
He eased down onto the bed and caressed my cheek. God, I’d missed his touch. “How do you feel?” he asked.
“Confused.” I took another drink of water. “What happened?”
Before he could answer, a line of people filed into the room—Jax, Sean, Whitney, Wyatt, and a woman I didn’t know.
Whitney rushed over to me, her eyes wide. “I am so glad you’re awake. I was gonna be really mad if I lost my only friend.”
“Whitney,” Trent snapped.
I placed my hand over his. “It’s okay. But will someone please tell me what’s going on?”
The woman stepped forward. “Hello, Chloe. I’m Doctor Mattias, and I’ve been caring for you.” She smiled, flashing unusually bright white teeth. Was she a vampire, too?
“No,” Whitney answered my silent question. “But she does know.”
I glared at her. “Out of my head.”
“Sorry.” She grinned sheepishly and held up her hands in a show of surrender. “Won’t happen again.”
“No what?” Trent asked, looking back and forth between me and Whitney. “Who knows what?”
“I was wondering if Doctor Mattias was a vampire, too,” I said.
Doctor Mattias flung her head back and laughed a little too hard. “Oh, no. I’m just as much a human as you are.”
She gave me a friendly smile, and laugh lines crinkled around her brown eyes. Her hair was short, barely touching her shoulders, and styled with tight curls. I liked her immediately.
“I’m the person people like Trent call when they need help,” she explained. “You could say I’m somewhat of a specialist.”
“Do vampires need medical attention often?” I asked.
Jax laughed, and I looked at him for the first time since he’d entered the room. His words from before floated through my mind. Don’t you dare die on me. Had he really said that, or had I been dreaming? If he did say it, had he meant it?
Wouldn’t my death make everything easier? If I had died, the coven wouldn’t be coming after me any longer, and I wouldn’t have to worry about the curse or if I wanted to break it.
“All right, everyone out.” Doctor Mattias clapped and then started shooing people from the room. “I need a few moments with my patient.”
Trent pressed a kiss to my forehead, and I sighed. I had no idea what happened to me or how long I’d been out of it, but it felt like an eternity, like I’d spent years away from Trent, deprived of his touch and his kisses. Longing for him was soul deep.
“I’ll be right outside if you need me, okay?” he said, brushing my hair back, his thumb caressing my forehead in the spot he’d just kissed.
I nodded. “I love you,” I whispered.
“I love you, too,” he said, but it lacked his normal emotion. Then, he left the room, too, leaving me alone with Doctor Mattias.
She closed the door, then approached. “So, how are you feeling?”
“Confused. I have no idea what happened.” I sat up a little straighter and winced at the way my muscles tensed involuntarily.
“Your appendix ruptured.” She crossed the room and retrieved a medical bag, which she then set atop the nightstand. Pulling out a stethoscope, she draped it around her neck. “I wanted to move you to a real hospital, but Trent and Jax were adamant that you not leave this cabin. So, they moved the hospital here.” She gestured with her hand.
It was only then I noticed that my room had been converted into a private hospital room, minus the sterile white walls, ugly décor, and constant stench of lemon cleaner.
“So, my appendix… is that why I was having so much stomach pain?” I asked.
Doctor Mattias nodded. “Yes. Thanks to Trent’s fast thinking, he was able to get me here quickly. I gave you a heavy dose of pain medication, and then Jax and Whitney gathered everything I needed so I could operate. I had to remove your appendix.”
“Oh.” I set the glass of water on the nightstand, my body stiff and my movements awkward.
“It was a totally routine surgery in terms of getting your appendix out.” She patted my shoulder, and her expression turned serious. “I was stitching you up when your fever spiked to over 105, and your body started convulsing. We call this malignant hyperthermia, and it’s extremely dangerous. I couldn’t get you to wake up from the anesthesia, so we packed you in ice to get your fever down.”
I swallowed hard. “I’ve never had any type of surgery before. I had no idea I’d react like that.” I really had been on my deathbed.
She gave me a sympathetic smile. “With a fever that high, I was worried about damage to your brain, so I put you into a medically induced coma.”
I gasped. “How long was I out?”
“Four days. When you stabilized and showed no signs of a fever, I stopped the medication, and then you woke up two days later.”
My head spun. I’d been in a freaking coma! I could have died, just like my mother. Was that my destiny?
“I know this is a lot, but you’re okay now, Chloe. Focus on that.” She took a thermometer from her bag and held it out. “Open up.”
I was silent as she conducted her exam.
