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“Yes and yes.”
“Good. I’ve seen it happen before where a patient has a high fever and then wakes up fine. I’m hoping that’s the case.”
Me too.
I opened my bedroom door. Lincoln had rolled the wet towels off him and set them in a pile by his feet. The sheets only went to his waist, allowing us to see his torso. Bruises and cuts marred the skin, painting it a disgusting blackish blue.
Mom let out a long breath. “Thank goodness you are awake and moving.”
My mom hurried over to the side of the bed where all the equipment was and checked the monitors and his vitals before turning to him. “I’m going to ask you a few questions. I need you to answer them to the best of your ability.”
Lincoln pushed up so he was sitting even taller. “Okay.”
My mom crossed her arms over her chest as she addressed Lincoln. “Can you tell me your name?”
“Lincoln.”
Mom inclined her head. “Good. Can you tell me the last thing that you remember?”
Lincoln looked at me before scrubbing a hand over his face. “Sloane and I were in a house. I think it belonged to your family.”
He frowned and held my gaze. I nodded, and he licked his lips.
“My brother showed up, and there was a fight. I remember falling, but the rest is kind of foggy after that. And in between.”
My mom reached out and put the back of her hand against Lincoln’s forehead. “You had a lot of trauma. A little fuzziness isn’t anything to be too worried about. Given what happened, the entire fight may never fully come back to you.”
She moved her hand to his cheek and then the other one. “The fever seems to have broken. It could just be temporary because of the high dose of medicine I gave you. We will want to monitor it for the next twenty-four hours. I might keep you on some meds anyway, to be safe.”
Lincoln grimaced as he shifted on the bed again. “I do still feel like I’ve been thrown out a window.”
My mom gave me a look and then turned back to Lincoln. “That’s not completely unreasonable. I’m told you did in fact fall from a second-story window. I do think that if you are feeling up to it, you should go outside right now and shift.”
I skimmed my foot over the carpet. “Are you sure that’s a good idea? What if he’s too weak?”
I didn’t like questioning my mom, but typically, she had those who had been severely injured wait until they were more stable. Shifting put a lot of stress on the body. Lincoln was still in rough shape and weak.
My mom pursed her lips. “We don’t know the true extent of his injuries. If this is just a lull in the fever, I’d feel better having him shift to heal some of the internal and external wounds now so at least we know we’re not combating that.”
She hesitated, putting her hand to her mouth as she frowned. “Do you think you can handle shifting?”
Lincoln held his hands up and looked at them. “I think so.”
I sat on the edge of the bed, scooting closer to Lincoln. “I can help you outside.”
Mom reached out and pressed the back of her hand against Lincoln’s forehead and cheeks one last time. “I’d like you to shift, and then I’d like to have another look at you. You should also get something to eat if you think your stomach can handle it. Start small.”
Mom turned to me. “Let me go get one of your brothers to help. I’m not sure he’ll be able to walk down the stairs safely by himself.”
When she left, I moved closer to Lincoln so I could rest my head on his shoulder. “I hope shifting makes you feel a lot better.”
Lincoln put his head on top of mine. “Me too.”
The door creaked open again, and my mom came in first, followed by Mark.
My mom pointed at Lincoln as she gave my brother a nudge. “I don’t want you going too far. He’s going to be weak, and shifting will take a lot out of him. He just can’t do it in the house. We all know how horribly that’s gone in the past.”
Mark and I both snorted. I covered my mouth, trying to contain my laugh, but it didn’t work.
