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Maybe everything would actually be okay for once.
Minutes later, my bladder begged for me to run to the bathroom. I raced upstairs and went to the one in the hall near my bedroom, thinking about the teddy bear that Andres had been holding when I caught him in my room. Halfway through washing my hands, I considered gifting him the teddy bear. He seemed to like it.
But on my way to my room, I lost the urge. Today was hard enough. If I showed up at his office looking the way I did with a tattered teddy bear, he would probably laugh at me. I was in the midst of repairing things with my mother. I needed to take it easy.
In my room, I walked right up to the bear and lifted it. When I started to set it back down, I got extremely dizzy, vision blurring and head spinning like I was losing consciousness. I braced myself against the dresser while gasping for air.
Alright, what the hell was that? Did my hangover want to go for a round two?
Searing pain exploded on the back of my neck. While my mark throbbed and my head split open, I cradled the base of my skull, trying to keep myself from falling over. Everything got blurry again, and then I felt my heart break. I could have sworn I smelled spiced rum and black pepper.
Scents usually didn’t stick around that long. There was no way Andres had been back in my bedroom recently enough to make it smell like him suddenly. The luncheon had been weeks ago. No, it had been days ago. No, it had been hours.
Ouch, my head. I couldn’t think straight. I could barely keep myself steady. I clutched the bear while waiting for the fit to pass, hoping to every deity in my memory bank that I wouldn’t fall and hit my head. Goddess, it felt like I had been bludgeoned by a hard object.
My phone vibrated. I struggled through the terrifying pain to get my phone out of my pocket, squinting through the haze of my headache to read the screen.Unknown number. I answered it—even though I didn’t know if I could talk or whether I would know the caller.
“Hello?” I croaked. “Hello? Who’s this?”
“Sadie, it’s Etta.”
I frowned. “Etta…?”
“The witch from the medical center. I need you to get down here immediately.”
“What? Why?”
Thoughts raced through my mind about Bella. Wasn’t she going to the gym today?
I gasped. “What happened?”
“There’s been an accident,” she replied calmly. “Andres is hurt and you’re his emergency contact. We need your help.”
She didn’t have to tell me twice. Headache and all, I rushed from the house and sprinted to the medical center. And I didn’t stop until I got there.
Chapter 22 - Sadie
The last time I was in the medical center was for my yearly physical. Etta hadn’t been on duty that day. It was just one of the other nurses, a woman named Deanna who was a mouse shifter and old enough to be my grandmother. Her hands had been cold—and I kept thinking about those frigid fingers as I lifted Andres’s hand to my lips.
Cold. Too cold, I repeated mentally.Why is he so cold?
Etta stood next to me with a clipboard. A tall, lanky man with green hair, piercings, and teal scrubs walked into the room. He chewed a piece of gum quietly while checking the monitors and managing the supplies on the counter near the sink. So many instruments sat out.
I pointed to the tin tray next to the bed. “Does he need surgery? Is he in a coma? Etta, is that a scalpel?”
Heat drained from my face, and then I felt as dizzy as I had in my bedroom.
Etta tucked her clipboard under her arm and rested her hand on my shoulder. “I need you to take a deep breath, okay?”
Mr. Piercings lifted a tiny vial of pink liquid and brought it over to me while popping off the cork. “Here, it’s just a tonic for nausea.”
“What is it?” But I didn’t bother waiting for a response as I downed the liquid. The tart aftertaste made me think of that pink stuff my mother used to give me when I had a tummy ache. “Ugh, chalk.”
“Yeah, it’s like that. But super charged.”
Etta collected the vial when I was done. “Thanks, Dee. You can take your break now.”
Dee saluted us before leaving the room.
