Chapter 167

Cara’s POV

Fortunately, the room that I had been taken too wasn’t very far away from Mia’s, just down the hallway, so I didn’t have long to walk to return to her side.

Entering Mia’s room, I was filled with relief to find Alaric standing at Mia’s bedside. His arms crossed, he stood there a protective statue, his face hard and expressionless.

He was staring at a pair of men on the other side of the room. Richard was there, holding Mia’s chart. Another man, older, was beside him, holding one of Mia’s x-rays up to the light. That had to be Grayson.

As Ruby and I entered the room, all of the men looked at us.

Alaric’s perfect façade cracked ever so slightly to show a hint of relief.

“Cara,” he said, as I moved to his side. “How are you feeling?”

“I’m fine,” I said, lying in part. I did not feel very well at all, honestly, but Mia needed to remain the top concern, especially for Alaric. He already seemed so stressed about his daughter, I didn’t want him to have to add on even more stress to worry about me as well.

I would hide my condition from him as best I could.

He narrowed his eyes slightly as if he didn’t believe me, but thankfully he didn’t argue. I could tell there would be a discussion later, but he likely didn’t want to have it in front of Richard and Grayson.

Both of whom were looking at me.

Richard’s stare I expected, though, as if he knew I’d be dissatisfied to see him, he soon looked away, focusing on his work once more.

The other man, Grayson, looked at me longer, as if I was some type of puzzle he was trying to finish. When Richard asked him something softly, Grayson looked away, returning to his work.

Ruby pushed one of the chairs closer to the bedside for me to sit down. When I did, she walked over to Richard and Grayson and joined them in their medical discussion. I could hear most of what they were saying but didn’t understand most of it. A lot of medical jargon and hypotheticals.

With Alaric still as a statue beside me, and Mia resting in the bed, I looked at Alaric and asked, “How long has it been like this?”

“You passed out two hours and twenty six minutes ago,” Alaric said, surprising me with his exactness. When I gave him a curious look, he closed his eyes and huffed a soft breath. “Sorry. It was not a good moment for me. I could see the clock when I carried you into the hallway. It’s burned in my memory now.”

A pain touched my chest, realizing the fear he must have endured in that moment. “I’m sorry…”

“Don’t apologize,” Alaric said. “You certainly couldn’t help it. I only ask that you take care not to overexert yourself for a while, alright? Mia, Ethan, and I all need you here.”

“I’ll do my best,” I promised him, and hoped that promise would be enough.

As tired as I was, I knew something was going on with me. Yet, whatever it was could wait until Mia was cured.

“What was her blood pressure when she first arrived?” Grayson asked. Richard told him. “And now…?” Richard replied again, reading from the chart. Grayson’s face grew somewhat pensive. He curled his finger and thumb around his chin. “I think some of our research might have been off base.”

“What do you mean?” Ruby asked.

“Don’t misunderstand. The research was valuable and will help a great many children,” Grayson said. “But from the explanation of the symptoms to actually seeing them myself, I don’t know that this was the same type of genetic issue that we had initially suspected. In fact, I’ve seen this type of thing before…”

I had been willing to let them discuss their medical hypotheses on their own before now, but hearing him say that triggered something inside of me, and I spoke up.

“Do you know what’s wrong with Mia, Grayson?”

He looked at me. “Yes, I believe I do.” His attention turned to Mia then. “It’s such a rarity, and an old disease. I had not seen it since my own days of training, back before I had become a Healer myself. It has been gone for so long that I had thought it forgotten to time. I might have even forgotten it myself.”

“What is it?” Ruby asked.

“Colloquially, it was known as the Lost Pup Sickness. When the ties between child and wolf are uncertain, at times the wolf can seem too close. At others, like these, it is too far away, leaving the child in a state of limbo. Did I hear correctly that the child has already shifted?”

“Yes,” I said.

“And she stayed in that form for some time?”

“Yes.”

Grayson nodded. “I cannot fault the Healers for not seeing this. I doubt they even teach about this in the textbooks anymore. It used to be much more prevalent in the days of uncertainty.” Grayson’s expression saddened somewhat. “The children were premature, is that correct?”

“Yes,” I said.

“And your life was threatened as well, I’d heard.”

“That’s right.”

Richard paled slightly.

“Yes, that uncertain state, that danger, triggered an early awakening of your daughter’s wolf, and the two – that is, your daughter and her wolf – have since been struggling to coexist in the same body,” Grayson said.

Richard ran a hand down his face. “We simply have to stabilize the connection.”

“Yes,” Grayson said.

Ruby seemed perplexed as well. “Could it truly be that simple?”

“Yes,” Grayson said. “I believe so.”

“I’ll speak with the nurse,” Richard said. Turning the file over to Ruby, he rushed from the room.

Looking back at me, Grayson continued, “There is a tonic that helps ease the pairing of wolf and man. It is made for young adults, when wolves typically awaken, but for your daughter, a smaller dose should suffice.”

“And it’s… simple?” I asked, glancing at Alaric, who shared the same concerned expression as I did.

“It is a treatment that will require regular injections until the relationship between her and her wolf has solidified,” Grayson said. “But otherwise, yes. It is that simple. And you should start to see results right away.”

Richard returned with a vial of medicine. After affixing a needle, he started toward Mia. Alaric and I both jumped at once.

“Wait!”

Richard paused.

“Not you,” Alaric said firmly.

“Ruby,” I said. “Would you please do the injection?”

Richard looked stricken for a moment, but quickly relented without a word. He passed the needle over to Ruby who stepped closer, and after inspecting the vial, injected its contents into Mia’s IV.

I held my breath, looking at my little girl in her bed.

Almost instantly, some color began to return to her cheeks. Soon, she even blinked her eyes open. She seemed dazed a moment, looking around in confusion.

She must have been wondering how she had gotten from her bed to the hospital. Although, brave as she was, she didn’t say a word. It hurt me to consider that she must have been used to this kind of shift by now, with how often she was sick.

But perhaps this new treatment was the answer.

Hope filled my heart.

“Mom?” she asked, seeing me.

“How do you feel, honey?” I asked her.

She started to smile, and my hope soared to new heights.