Ethan started talking, to get my mind off the pain. “Gabby did this because she’s worried you’ll kick her ass in the European Championships,” he joked.
I groaned. “Don’t even talk to me about skating.” I missed the ice like crazy, and worse, the European Championships were quickly approaching. I was missing valuable ice time.
What was more of a nightmare— if I didn’t get my medication soon, I’d miss the championships altogether. If that happened, I’d crumble to bits. I’d worked so hard to get there. I couldn’t let it go now.
Ethan caressed a particularly sensitive part, and I hissed. He hurried to say something more. “You’ll be back on the ice in no time. I promise you it’ll work out.”
“It was a mistake to tell everyone,” I moaned. “I never should’ve let Vara publish that article about my illness.”
“No, Emma. It was strong.”
“But it led to this. Gabby and Eli took advantage of it,” I said.
“And we’ll beat them at it, as we always have.” Ethan didn’t say anything more about the subject, just kept working on my tender spots. Eventually, the tension in my muscles faded away, though the soreness remained.
“I need a shower,” I whimpered as I sat up. I hadn’t washed my hair in days, but I was too weak to do it on my own.
“I’ll help,” Ethan offered. I shuffled to the bathroom. He helped me remove my clothes, and I reached for the handle as he took off his own, turning the heat all the way up. I stepped into the shower, sighing in relief as the water rushed over my back.
“Emma, that’s too hot.” Ethan frowned as he tested the water with his hand. “You’re going to burn yourself.”
“It’s the only thing that helps.” I wanted to numb the pain. My skin turned red as the water scalded my skin, but it did its job, and the soreness in my muscles ebbed as I lost all feeling. Ethan turned the water down to a heat he could stand. Though it was still hot, I felt like shivering.
Ethan needed to use the shower chair in order to get in with me, so I couldn’t sit on it. I could tell he felt guilty as he placed it inside and scooted onto the seat after removing his prosthetic. I was just glad I had someone to help me if I collapsed.
Ethan washed my body. I put some shampoo in my hand and tried to work on my hair, but my arms instantly got tired. I pulled my hands away from my head.
But something came with it. I felt dazed as I saw a giant mass of red hair in my fingers.
Ethan stared. Tears immediately welled up in my eyes, and he rushed to say, “It’s all right. It— it’ll grow back.”
I didn’t know if it would. As I rinsed off, clumps of hair came off of my head and swirled down the drain. I was gettingbald patches.Ethan didn’t say anything, just continued to lavish love on me, talking about things that didn’t matter.
I barely heard him. It was tough to understand what he was saying. He was just trying to distract me, but all I could think about was the mess of hair twirling away at my feet.
Gabby and Elijah knew what they were doing. If they couldn’t best me on the battlefield, they would kill me another way.
They’d hit me right where it hurt, where they knew I was the most vulnerable. The worst part wasn’t the pain.
It was the fact that I was powerless. I was a victim to my body, and I couldn’t do a damn thing about it.
Chapter Seven
Ethan
Time passed, and with each tick of the clock, I got more and more worried. There didn’t seem to be a resolution for Emma’s plight, and as her shifter, it felt like I failed her at a time when she needed me the most.
Yet again, I was not proving to be a valiant Companion. I could feel the illness coursing through her body. Emma was dying, and not even the gods themselves could reverse the events set in motion now.
If my mate didn’t get her medicine, shewoulddie. And there would be no way I’d forgive myself for putting her in this situation.
I spent most of my days feeling barren and hopeless. If there was ever a time Emma needed me, it was now, and I couldn’t do a damn thing to help her.
Dropping out and getting a job that had insurance benefits had crossed my mind, but it was a foolhardy idea. I was shamed by the crown. No one wanted to hire a shifter whose last name wasHastek. A former vigilante, no less.
I thought of breaking into the pharmacy, and stealing the medicine, but it was a highly protected substance, and several missing vials of plasma would obviously trigger some sort of response from the police— so few people used it that suspicion would immediately fall on us, and we’d be fucked. Not to mention her medicine came with other supplies, needles and things. I wasn’t sure I could get my hands on all of it. If Emma didn’t have everything she needed to infuse, stealing the medicine would be a useless endeavor anyway— not to mention this was a medication she needed every week, not just once every now and then. The best option would be to get our hands on the product legally.
I worked to come up with plans that would get us out of this mess. Nothing miraculous came to mind.
