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“Hey, you will, and I’ll return the favor just as soon as you’re better! Don’t think for one second you’re getting out of it.”
He smiled, or tried to. A wave of pain swept him from his head to his feet, and he groaned. If any mating was going to happen, Noah had better hurry with that blood and they’d all better hope it worked.
No sooner had that thought entered his mind than the door opened. The sound of footsteps hurried in, and he finally cracked his eyes open to see the blurry form of the nurse rushing around, readying an IV bag full of crimson liquid. He hung it on a metal pole, then rolled the pole close to the bed. After attaching the tube to it, he prepared to insert the needle part into the port in Micah’s hand.
“Okay, Micah,” Noah began. “I’m going to start the IV with Jacee’s blood mixed in it, and the solution will feed into your body over the next few hours. You should start to feel better pretty fast, with all her fantastic shifter antibodies giving you that boost you need to heal.”
“Sounds great. Stop talking and do it.”
The nurse gave Micah a sympathetic pat on the arm and then got to work. Tilting his head down, Micah watched the needle push into the port. Then Noah fiddled with some sort of dial on the tubing, and the red liquid started down the line and into the port. It felt cold going into his vein, but nothing much different—
And then he gasped, heaving in a great gulp of air. His eyes went wide as every cell in his body came alive. It was as though each individual one had been lit by a beam of brilliant sunshine.
“Micah? Are you all right?” Noah asked. Quickly, the nurse began checking his vitals.
“Honey?” Jacee was peering at her mate worriedly, gripping his hand.
“Yes, it’s fine,” he managed. “It feels like I got pumped with pure adrenaline. Like I’m lit from the inside out.”
“Good.” Noah appeared pleased. “That’s what we’re going for. Don’t go running around the block, though, okay? I’ll be back in a bit.”
The nurse walked out, and Micah gazed up at his mate. Her face wasn’t so blurry anymore, and he could focus without his head feeling as though it was going to burst open.
He glanced at the IV. “That’s some good stuff.”
“There’s more where that came from.” Her stomach growled, and she blushed.
“When’s the last time you ate?” Her silence was answer enough. “You can’t take care of me if you let yourself get weak, too. Get over to the compound and have something to eat, please?”
She didn’t want to leave him, he could tell, but she hadn’t been away from his side much, and being famished got the best of her. “All right, but I won’t be gone long.”
Kissing him soundly, she headed out the door. He missed her presence immediately, but was comforted by knowing she’d be back soon. He just wished his new mate didn’t have to deal with the “sickness” part of “in sickness and in health” quite this early in their relationship.
Hopefully the treatment would work.
If it didn’t— No. He wouldn’t think like that. Already tired, he closed his eyes and gave in to sleep.
But this time he literally breathed a little easier than before.
* * *
Micah seemed better. Weren’t his eyes clearer? And he hadn’t seemed in as much pain as before.
Jacee was so lost in thought, she didn’t even see the man who’d rounded the corner in front of her until it was too late to avoid the collision. She hit his chest with a muffled oof and instantly stepped back, face flaming.
“I’m so sorry! I wasn’t watching where I was going.”
Looking up, she met the man’s smiling face, and her skin crawled. It wasn’t that he was ugly at all, but something about him seemed off. Like his clear eyes were looking through her instead of at her, and his smile appeared pasted on. Wooden.
He was tall, on the thin side, and although his face was that of a younger man, his hair was sparse and gray. Definitely odd. His teeth were a bit yellowed and his breath wasn’t very fresh. The rest of him didn’t smell very pleasant, either—sort of like milk that had gotten left out too long in the sun.
“It’s all right, Miss . . . ?” He let the question hang, expecting an introduction.
Cursing inwardly, she decided there wasn’t a way to get around it without things getting awkward, so she capitulated. To a point. “Jacee.” He wasn’t getting her last name.
“I’m Parker. Nice to run into you.” He laughed at his own lame joke. “Perhaps we’ll do it again some time.”
“Maybe so. Take care.” Giving him a fake smile, she moved around him and continued on her way without looking back.
