Two Minutes (Seven Series Book 6) (20 page)

“Had to leave the car, so…” William scratched his temple and glanced around. “It’ll take us another hour or more to get back to the house before we can head over.”

Denver approached William and gripped his arm. “What is it?”

William’s eyes were brimming with worry. “Maizy’s coming out of the coma.”

Without warning, Denver shifted and his wolf ran full speed up the road.

“Maizy, can you squeeze my hand?”

Through moments of lucidity, voices had been asking me to squeeze their hand and say something. They were loud and persistent. They also liked shining a bright light in my eyes. If I had the energy, I’d sock them in the face. Why couldn’t they just leave me alone? I was so tired… so confused.

“Everything’s looking good,” a man said. “Her blood pressure’s down and we’ve controlled the swelling. She’s responsive, so we’ll just keep a close eye on things.” There was a murmur of voices. “I didn’t see anything concerning on the scans, but we’re not out of the woods yet. We won’t know the extent of damage until she wakes up. She could have cognitive problems, memory loss—”

“Memory loss?” I heard my mother say.

“It’s not uncommon after a traumatic head injury,” he continued. “We’ll keep a close eye on her vitals and see where we are tomorrow. Sometimes once the patient wakes up, the recovery accelerates.”

“Can we talk to her?” I heard Lexi ask.

“A familiar voice is what she needs right now. Based on everything I see, it looks good. Real good. I take it she comes from a strong family of fighters.”

“You got that right,” Austin chimed in.

“So she’s off the ventilator for good?” my mom asked.

“They induced her to control the situation, but in cases of head trauma, I don’t advocate for this kind of treatment for long periods of time except in extreme instances. It’s done to decrease intracranial pressure, but only as a last-ditch effort. Lowering her body temperature helped, and we’ll carefully monitor her. She’s breathing on her own; she’s more responsive with every passing minute. If you want my honest opinion, I think she’s a very lucky woman. I’ll be back in this evening, and we’ll see how it’s looking.”

“Thank you, Doctor,” my mom said, and a door closed. “At least they moved her to a nicer room.”

What kind of dream was this? I tried peering through my lashes again, but everyone appeared blurry. My head hurt, my lip hurt, and…

“How is the little one?” a smooth voice inquired, one that belonged to Prince.

“I need to make some calls,” my mom said. “I’ll be back in about fifteen minutes.”

“May I sit with her privately?” Prince asked.

A throat cleared. “I’ll be paying you for the cost of the doctor,” Austin said. “That’s not negotiable. I won’t be in your debt for this one.”

“Where lies your concern, Cole?”

“I think we both know exactly where my concern lies.”

Just as soon as words were spoken, they were lost from my mind. Suddenly the idea of slipping into darkness frightened me because I realized this wasn’t a dream. I wasn’t sure what was going on, but I needed to collect my thoughts, as hazy as they were. Yet my ability to speak and move was impaired. I felt drugged, exhausted, confused, and God… my head
hurt
.

“Just for a minute,” Austin said. “Come on, Ladybug. Let’s get you something to eat.”

“Austin, I should stay with her. What if she wakes up and we’re not here?”

Austin chuckled. “Half the pack is up here. She won’t be alone. Naya called from the lobby and she’s on her way up.”

“Good,” Lexi said in a breath. “Maizy loves her Auntie Naya. Maybe hearing her voice will help.”

I wanted to smile when I heard Lexi say Auntie Naya. In my youth, I was formal in how I addressed everyone. Miss Ivy and Mister Wheeler—no one went by just their first name except for Denver. He was always my Denny for as long as I could remember.

“Maizy, can you hear me?” Prince asked.

A warm hand smoothed over my arm. My throat was dry and sore; all I could think about was how I wanted a sip of water.

“I’ve got the best doctors taking care of you, and the prognosis looks good. It could have gone another way, so I hope you consider my offer more seriously. I still want you as my mate, and it deeply concerns me that you’re still mortal.”

Some of this was beginning to make sense. I was remembering bits and pieces from different time periods. A memory flashed in my head of Lexi covering my mark when I was a little girl, another of wolves running across an open field, a glimpse of Denver’s smiling face, and then Prince’s warm, multicolored eyes gazing down at me. The same eyes from many years ago when I was a child—headlights drawing my attention to them as he knelt down.

“Are you lost, little girl?” he’d asked me.

Am I?
I’m so lost
, I thought to myself.

“I’m a generous man,” Prince continued. “You have nothing to fear by accepting my offer. No one could take better care of you.” His hand continued stroking my arm. “You’re far too lovely to die so soon, and there’s so much you could offer me in return. It’s a great honor to be a Shifter, and a part of me will always be in you.”

“Who gave you permission to come in here?” a stern voice growled from a distance.

Prince’s hand drew away. “Your Packmaster.”

I’d never heard Denver’s voice sound so dangerous. “Get out.”

Prince’s steps thudded across the floor, and his voice grew distant. “Careful how you speak to me, wolf. She’s alive because of my generosity.”

Alive?

I fought to open my eyes. The sounds, the smells, the sensations—I realized I was in a hospital. But why? Their words buzzed around me like busy bees, and a swarm of conversation rose and fell in volume and intensity. Now that I was becoming more lucid, I worked harder to pay attention.

Soon it was quiet again and the door closed.

A warm hand smoothed over my arm. This one felt different. Rougher. “Hey, Peanut. They told me you’re ready to Hula-Hoop on roller skates.”

That made me want to smile.

“You scared the hell out of me, you know that? Thank God you had the good sense to wear your seat belt.”

Seat belt. A nightmarish scene crept into my head, and the only way to escape was to open my eyes.

It was hard to keep them open, but then I saw Denver smiling down at me. Denver had a contagious smile, the kind that made you want to reciprocate. I’d always found a sense of humor in a man insanely attractive, but I’d never met anyone else who could make me smile just from giving me a look.

“Hey, beautiful. You’re awake. Think you can listen to me talk for a little while? Feel free to tell me to shut it. Hold on while I get a chair.”

Metal scraped on the floor, and as he turned around to scoot toward the bed, I wondered why he wasn’t wearing a shirt. He noticed the direction of my gaze.

“Yeah, I know. I was walking outside with William and shifted when I heard the good news. I actually got in my truck and drove naked to pick him up. Thank the fuck he didn’t throw my pants in a tree or you might be getting more than you bargained for. Ahhh, I see a smile.” He leaned in. “Man, they said you were looking good, but bow-chicka-wa-wa.”

This time I made a noise and felt myself laughing.

***

I drifted in and out of consciousness while Denver read me my favorite childhood books. I’m not sure where he got the idea from, but it was soothing and made me think of home. It helped me to remember and pull myself out of this nebulous state of mind I was trapped in. At one point, he suggested reading one of April’s steamy romance novels, but he kept on, and hearing those familiar books helped stitch together the fragments of my life. I still couldn’t remember how I wound up in the hospital.

A doctor and several nurses came in, continuously checking my vitals and asking me to do things. Mom couldn’t stop kissing my cheeks, and Naya painted my toenails, much to the dismay of Wheeler, who grumbled about how peculiar women were in times of crisis.

All the visits began to take their toll, and I must have slept off and on for hours.

When I awoke, the sky outside the windows was no longer painted blue, but an inky black. The lights within the room reflected on the glass. It was a modest room with a television in the cabinet straight ahead, a whiteboard on my right with the name of my nurse, and machines with tubes leading into my arms surrounding my bed.

Denver was asleep in a chair to my left, head back, mouth open, and his right arm hanging over the edge. Someone must have brought him a change of clothes, because he was wearing a pair of cargo shorts and a faded blue Pac-Man shirt. Except he’d written the letter
K
just after Pac. Same old Denny.

When I lifted my head to see what he was holding, I noticed the straw hat I’d given him balancing on the crook of his finger. I tried to push myself up.

Denver’s eyes flew open and he launched out of his chair, pinning my shoulders against the bed. “Don’t move around.”

“I need to sit up. I’m not comfortable.”

“Let me adjust the bed; it lifts.”

“No, I need to scoot up.”

“All right,” he whispered, curling his arms beneath me. “If it hurts, let me know.” Denver gently lifted me until I was repositioned.

“Better,” I breathed.

While he adjusted the bed, I reached behind my neck to fix my hair that was tugging in the back.

“Lean forward a little,” he said. Denver pulled all my loose hair away and brought it over my shoulder. “They took the bandage off and didn’t do a good job of fixing all that. Looks like a rat’s nest back there. We might have to call an exterminator.”

I smirked. “You could use a comb yourself.”

His brow arched. “That’s the longest sentence you’ve made yet. Want to watch some TV? They had
Crocodile Hunter
reruns on earlier.”

“No,” I grumbled. “My throat’s dry.”

Just as soon as the words left my mouth, Denver was on the move. He returned with a paper cup and held the back of my head while I took a drink.

“They’re keeping you watered like a flower with all these drips.” He set the cup on a table and pulled the railing down on the left side. “They said you’re a miracle, but I already knew that.”

I reached up and took his hand, curling my weak fingers around his. When his lip trembled, he looked away and pretended to study something on the wall behind me.

“How come you never mated?” I asked.

He smiled ruefully and let go of my hand. “Maybe I’ll save that fun story for another day.”

“That better be a promise,” I said hoarsely.

The door opened and Naya swooped in, holding an oversized purse… with a head poking out. I blinked and peered down at wide, yellow eyes.

“There’s someone here to see you,” she sang.

“You did
not
bring that furball up here,” Denver complained. “It’s probably carrying a disease.”

“He’s not diseased.” She shot him an icy glare. “Spartacus is part of the family, and he wanted to see Maizy. Animals are therapeutic.”

“You’re deranged.”

Naya looked at him impassively. “And you have more whiskers on your face than Spartacus has on his.”

Denver folded his arms and his nostrils flared. “To be continued.”

I smiled, looking between them. The banter settled me and made it easy to forget my surroundings.

Naya waved a hand and set the purse on the bed by my feet. “Humans have such silly rules. If you really want to follow the rule about no animals, then you better get the entire pack to leave.”

That time I let out a snort.

“Well, someone’s feeling better,” she said. “You look healthier every time I see you. Don’t you worry your pretty little head about a thing. We’re not going to let you consume the vile food they serve downstairs. Izzy went home to make dinner for the pack—something we won’t have to heat up. I think I heard her mention cold pasta salad, and there’s a fridge down the hall.”

Denver closed the drapes. “That probably has piss or blood in containers.”

Naya unzipped her purse and Spartacus poked a scrawny leg out, sniffing his surroundings. I wasn’t sure what the protocol was, but when you’re dealing with Shifters, anything goes.

“I thought he would cheer you up. I never liked how cold and drab hospitals are. Humans don’t seem to understand that medicine isn’t everything. Say hi to Maizy,” she said, stroking his back.

I had to admit, I got a little nervous when he walked toward me. Naya made sure the cat didn’t walk on me, and when he reached my face and completed his sniff test, he said, “
Meow?
”

“If the doctor walks in, he’s going to toss the cat in tomorrow’s meat loaf,” Denver remarked. “You’re a bag of nuts.”

After petting Sparty on the head, I lifted my gaze to Naya. “How do I look?”

Her face went catatonic and she looked at Denver.

He approached the edge of my bed and grinned. “Like a million bucks. Do you want me to ask the doctor if you can eat something now? Are you hungry? I can always run to a deli and grab some sandwiches. That’s healthy, right?”

The charade had to end. “I want a mirror.”

“No,” Naya said calmly. “Rest and a good meal is what you want.”

“Don’t make me scream, because I will.”

She pressed her lips into a thin line, and Spartacus escaped to the floor. Naya fished in her purse and pulled out a large silver compact. “Honey, it looks worse than it really is.”