As always, thank you to everyone who reads my stories. I hope you continue to enjoy them, comment on them, and vote!
Formatting is still an issue, so please accept my apologies on the { } to denote italicized text. I am not technologically adept and haven't been able to figure out how to get word on my computer. I just can't seem to get it to download.
And I will never forget my Knight in Shining Armor, the best editor I could ever have, Archangel_M. I'm so grateful he found me when he did.
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Nevada - Present Day
Carla sat next to the bed, her head laying on the pillow next to her son's. She could feel the warmth radiating from his body. She even imagined it was his breath, but knew he was breathing through a tube, so that was impossible. She stroked his fur, so soft, just like the day he'd first come to them. He was so scared; he'd shifted and hidden under the bed, a small black ball of fur. Carla had shifted and laid just a few feet away, patiently waiting. When he'd seen she was a wolf, he'd tentatively crawled to her, and ended up curling himself between her front legs. She had gently groomed him, licking his soft fur. They'd laid there for hours, and when Silvano returned home from the lab, he had found them both sound asleep, the cub curled up comfortably between his mate's legs, her head resting on his back. Their bond had formed that day!
She could hear the voices behind her but blocked them out. She'd let Silvano talk with the Doctors. She'd heard the most important thing; Drago might not live. Anything else didn't interest her at all. She did her best to tune out the beeping noises from the many different monitors hooked up to her wounded cub. Her hand held his closest paw, feeling the tufts of fur between the pads on the bottom of his foot. She smiled when she remembered how she could make her little cub howl like a banshee by tickling his pads. But that only lasted a few years. By the time he was twelve years old, he would shift, roll his eyes, and run out of the house to find his friends. And then he was taken away from her at fourteen. She had missed watching him grow into the adult he had become, so strong and brave, able to protect his mate from the Betas sent to take her back.
Carla panicked when the alarm went off on a small monitor to Drago's left. "Doctor, what's wrong? Help him!" She could see the display that previously had flashed numbers and now only dashes. Silvano quickly pulled her away to let the Doctor tend to his patient.
Logan went directly to the probe from the monitor and found it dangling from the bed. "It's alright, Carla. You knocked the Pulse Oximeter probe off his tongue." He gently replaced the probe and stared at the monitor as the injured wolf's oxygen level steadily rose, finally stopping at 94%. He expertly checked the other monitors, being sure nothing else had been dislodged. He certainly couldn't get mad at her. She might not have much longer with him. He wouldn't begrudge her anything right now.
He moved away from the bed and let Carla take her place at her son's side. He returned to the wall and waited for Silvano to join him. "So, as I was saying, we were able to replace his blood volume with transfusions from the Bertrand/Kardos pack. I'll be honest with you, Silvano. If this had been a month ago, before they joined us here, Drago would have died no matter what we did. There isn't a pack within five hundred miles of here that has AB type blood on hand. It just isn't typical of western and northern European weres, and most in the United States are from the British Isles and Scandinavia."
Silvano shook his head. "Lucky, we were very lucky." Now if only their luck would hold up. "Do you think he has a chance?" Silvano met the Doctor's eyes.
"There's always a chance, Silvano. I'm amazed he lived through the fight; I'm amazed that he lived long enough for us to get the blood into him; I'm amazed he made it through surgery when we repaired all the damage done to his internal organs. If he doesn't get any infections and we can keep him quiet, then yes, I think he has a chance." He laid a hand on the older male's arm and gave it a gentle squeeze. "And he has the two of you and Kelly on his side. That can only be a positive."
Silvano smiled gratefully at him and moved to his mate's side. He wrapped an arm around her shoulder as she leaned into his waist, her hand still petting their cherished son's head.
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Kelly awoke in a panic, bolting up, looking around, wide-eyed, frightened. "Drago? Drago, where are you?" She screamed as loudly as she could. Were they in a motel again? How much of it had been a dream? The wolves? The car chase to the abandoned mine? The plane to America? "Drago!" When she saw the woman coming towards her, she knew none of it was a dream. That was the nurse who'd given her a sedative when they'd first brought her to this hospital. She'd freaked out when they'd told her she couldn't see Drago, and they had given her a shot of something. She wasn't going to let that happen again.
Kelly jumped out of the bed, trying to escape the fast approaching nurse. She wasn't going to let her near her again! She eyed the syringe in the woman's hands. "Don't you dare poke me with that needle!" She was ready for a fight. She'd claw her eyes out if she had to. She didn't care that the blond was at least a foot taller than her.
"Kelly, remember me? I'm Trina. You were exhausted when you got here. You needed the rest. There wasn't anything you could do for Drago, and the Doctors felt it was better for you to recover your strength. Drago's going to need you to be strong for him. You won't be able to if you're sick." Trina watched the woman's face soften.
"Drago's alive?" She was stunned. She'd been so sure it was all a dream. She'd hoped and prayed it had been a dream. And when she'd woken up, she'd thought sure they were keeping her drugged to keep her from finding out he had died. But he was alive. "I want to see him, now." She saw the sad look on the nurse's face as she shook her head.
"I'm sorry, Kelly. That just isn't possible right now. He's hurt too badly." Luckily, her werewolf reflexes helped her duck out of the way of the flying metal tray. It just barely missed her head. The human had good aim. She'd keep that in mind for the future.
"I want to speak with Drago's Doctor right now!" Kelly gritted her teeth as she watched the nurse nod and quickly retreat from the room. She ran to the door and tried the knob. Locked! "What the fuck?" Now she was pissed. They'd drugged her, kept her from Drago, and now they were keeping her locked in this room! Well the Doctor and Drago's parents had some explaining to do, and fast!
~~~~ a few minutes later ~~~~
"Why can't I see him? What are you hiding?" Kelly couldn't sit; she had too much pent-up energy. Something inside was telling her she had to be near Drago. She stared at the doctor they called Logan. His girlfriend, or wife, or whatever, stood nearby with a nervous look on her face. Kelly walked up to within a foot of the Doctor and stared up into the tall man's face. "You tell me what's going on, and right now!" She put her hands on her hips and didn't look away for a second. She wasn't about to back down!
