Blood Rites (19 page)

"I don't know yet, Fane. You will have to be
patient and let me do my job. You growling and throwing massive
Alpha fits will not help Jacque get better."

Fane was taken aback by the doctors'
boldness, but found that he respected her for it.

"Just make her well again. Please."

Dr. Steele put her hand on Fane's shoulder.
"She will be fine." She stepped back then so she could look at the
whole group crowded into the little room. "I will let you know as
soon as I know something." And then she turned and walked out.

The room was quiet, no one daring to break
the silence, for then they would have to acknowledge the fear that
was threatening to consume them one by one. The silence was broken
by a cursing Jen. Everyone turned to look at her and watched as she
wrestled with the tape that held her IV in place. She wasn't paying
attention to the fact that everyone was focused on her. "Hey, moron
nurse number one said, look at this IV I just put in this chick, do
you think I used enough tape? Absolutely not, said moron nurse
number two, you have to wrap an entire roll around her arm so that
nothing short of a miracle will get it off." Jen muttered the
dialogue under her breath as she finally got the tape off of the IV
in her arm. "Finally!" she announced triumphantly as she pulled the
IV from her arm, blood trickled down towards her hand. She looked
up and noticed everyone watching her.

"What?" she asked. Her eyes got bigger as
Decebel began to walk towards her. He got so close that she had to
strain her neck back to look up at his face.

"Why did you take that out?" His face was
hard, unreadable.

"Because if I'm going to have to have a pole
attached to me I would prefer it be one that I could get some use
out of. But as it was this particular pole as my constant
companion, it just wasn't doing it for me." Jen batted her eyes at
him. "Besides, what the hell does it matter? My best friend has
just been rushed off to the ICU and you're worried about my stupid
IV?"

"Put it back," His eyes glowing gold as he
took hold of her arm.

"Oh, yeah, sure thing. I'll get right on
that," she said sarcastically as she pried his hand from around her
arm. Paying him little more attention than if he were a gnat, she
stepped around him so she could see the others.

"So what's the plan, Vasile?" She heard
material ripping and as she turned towards the noise she watched as
Decebel tore a piece of the sheet from the bed off and brought it
over to her. He took her arm, gently this time, and wrapped the
material around the spot that was still bleeding from where she had
ripped her IV out. Without a word, he went back to the spot he had
previously been standing while Jen watched his retreating back.

Vasile answered as if the peculiar scene had
not taken place. "For now you and Sally will stay here and I will
put a guard on the door. Fane and Decebel will stay in the waiting
area for the ICU. Fane," Vasile looked directly at his son, "you
will not attempt to defy what Dr. Steele has said. Are we
clear?"

"As you say, so shall it be," Fane gave the
formal response, neck bared in submission.

"Good," he continued, "Alina and Lilly will
go home and rest." Lilly started to interrupt but Alina stopped her
with a hand on her arm and gave a sharp nod of her head. Lilly
swallowed the words she was about to say.

"Lilly, I understand that you want to be here
for your daughter, but you need to rest and you won't get it here.
Trust me, okay?" Vasile waited for her response before
continuing.

"Okay," she answered, her voice resolute.

Vasile looked at his watch, it read 9:30 p.m.
"I think it's time to call it a night. As soon Dr. Steele has
information she will contact me and you will all know within
minutes." Vasile turned to leave and Alina followed him. Lilly came
up to Jen and hugged her and then did the same with Sally.

"Don't worry Ms. P," Jen told her, "Jacque's
the most stubborn person I know. She will be fine." Lilly nodded
and with eyes full of unshed tears, she left as well.

Fane gave them each hugs as well and told
them to call him if they needed anything, to which Jen threw out,
"I think Jacque would kick my butt if I called you for what I
need." Decebel growled, but at least it got a small smile from
Fane. That was what Jen had been aiming for. Jen turned to Decebel
and stuck her tongue out at him like a petulant child.

As he and Fane left, Decebel turned back one
more time. "You two. Don't do anything that you consider brilliant.
The rest of us will consider it stupid." He shut the door just as
Jen threw the nearest thing she could get her hands on, which
happened to be the box of tampons that Sally had absently set out,
so naturally tampons went flying everywhere.

"Arrrrrgh, I'm so going to skin him the first
time I see him as a wolf and make him a nice rug to lay on in front
of the fire place," Jen growled.

"Um, Jen, you don't have a fire place," Sally
pointed out.

"My hypothetical fire place, Sally. Come on,
keep up will you?"

"Oh, my bad. I forgot that I'm supposed to be
taking notes on your hypothetical life so that when you make
references to it I will know exactly what the freaking A you are
talking about."

"Well, at least you are able to admit when
you are wrong. That's a step in the right direction." Jen patted
her friend, then jumped back just before Sally's fist could connect
with her shoulder. "Man, it's nice not to have that stupid pole
stuck to me."

Sally sat down on the bed and looked at Jen,
her face no longer playful. "What's the plan, Jen? I know you're
cooking one up because that's what you do best, so what are we
going to do?"

"Sneak into the ICU of course," Jen said,
matter of fact like.

"Nice." Sally smiled conspiratorially and
then listened intently as Jen laid out her plan.

Chapter 21

"Start
her on IV Vancomycin and Fentanyl
twenty five micrograms bolus, f/b continuous infusion of three
micrograms per hour
.
Then cover her with
cooling blankets. Let's try to get her temperature down. If she
starts shivering, replace them with regular blankets." Dr. Steele
was issuing orders as she continued to monitor Jacque's condition.
She had no problem deciding to sedate her given the amount of pain
she was in; the fact that it would make it easier to move her was
just a plus.

While the nurses followed out her orders, she
stepped into an empty room and called Logan. He picked up on the
first ring.

"I had to bring her to the ICU. I need to get
her stable and then I will get the nurses out of the way so you can
come up and move her," Cynthia explained.

"What do you mean get her stable? What's
wrong with her?" Logan's voice was low, and Cynthia couldn't tell
if it was worry in his voice or something else.

"The human blood she was given through a
transfusion is attacking her body."

"Can you fix her?"

"Yes, I will tell you how once you are on
your way to Denver. I'll text message you when I'm ready."

Logan heard the line cut off as Dr. Steele
hung up. He couldn't believe that something really was wrong with
Jacque. Was it his fault? No, he told himself, you didn't make them
give her the transfusion. That was just something that happened,
one of those no fault situations. Besides, Dr. Steele said she
could fix it, that's all that mattered. Jacque would be fine, and
she would be his. He sat down in a chair as he waited in her office
for the text that would bring him one step closer to his goal.

"Are you sure this is going to work?" Sally
whispered to Jen as they walked down the hall. They'd had a lucky
break when Skender, the wolf Vasile put on the door had stepped
away to go to the bathroom.

"Of course it's going to work, it's my idea,"
Jen said confidently.

"Right, like that summer you decided it would
be a good idea to sneak out and go camping?"

"Hey, everything turned out fine. It was just
a little fire," Jen said carelessly.

"A little fire, Jen? Really? You burned three
acres, the freaking fire department had to get one of those crop
duster planes to pour water over it, and you say
that
turned
out fine?" Sally's whisper was now more of a whispered shout.

"Okay, so it got a little out of control.
This is nothing like that. It's a simple in and out op."

"Did you just say in and out op?" Sally asked
sarcastically.

"Yeah, you know, op like operation. We get in
and we get out undetected."

"Oh, well once you put it like that, I don't
know why I was ever worried." Sally rolled her eyes, clearly not
comforted in the least by Jen's words.

They continued to walk down hall after hall.
All of them were beginning to look the same.

"Do you even know where the ICU is?" Sally
finally asked.

"No, but I figured they would have signs with
arrows that said 'you are here', and then pointed you the way you
needed to go. You know, like in the mall."

"Says the genius who planned our in and out
op." Sally took a deep breath and let it out slow.

As Jen rounded a corner, she saw a guy in
scrubs coming towards them. Before Sally could be seen she pushed
her back. "Go," she whispered.

"What?" Sally gasped.

"Go, there is a nurse or doctor coming this
way. I will distract him. You go on like we planned." Sally
hesitated. "Are you going to let Jacque down, Sally? Leave her all
alone, scared in that unfamiliar room?" Jen knew the guilt trip
would do the trick and sure enough...

"Sometimes I want to punch you in the face,
Jennifer Adams," she ground out as she turned and walked the
opposite direction.

"I love you too," Jen whispered, then quickly
added, "Its 11:00 p.m. Now, meet back in the room in an hour and a
half." Sally lifted her hand in acknowledgment but kept
walking.

Sally walked as quickly as she could down the
hall and, rounding the corner, nearly ran into two huge doors with
the letters ICU labeling them. Well, ask and you shall receive, she
thought as she gently pushed on the doors to see if they would
open. They didn't. Wishful thinking never did anyone any good but
it was worth a try. She looked along the walls on either side of
the door because she had noticed that a lot of the hospital doors
were automated with a button so that you didn't have to push them
open. As she examined the wall to the right of the doors, the hairs
on the back of Sally's neck began to rise. She felt like she was
being watched. She began to turn but before she could she felt
pressure on her neck, and then darkness and silence engulfed
her.

Chapter 22

Skender
was standing in front of the room
that Jacque's friends were staying in when he heard the elevator
ding to announce its arrival. He couldn't help his natural instinct
to take up a defensive posture when he was protecting something.
When no one immediately exited the elevator, his wolf perked up. He
sniffed the air and sharpened his hearing. He could smell a human
and hear breathing. There was someone on that elevator, someone not
conscious by the sound of their slow breathing. He moved quickly
before the doors could close and a steady stream of curses in his
native tongue began to flow from his mouth at the sight of one of
Jacques' friends in still form in the floor, the one called Sally.
He quickly scooped her into his arms and hurried towards her room.
He knocked before opening, hoping that he would hear the other one,
the mouthy one they called Jen, answer. The response was louder
than any words could have been. Skender had learned that sometimes
silence was the worst kind of noise. He opened the door slowly,
only to confirm his fears. The room was empty. He carried Sally in
and laid her on one of the beds, checked her pulse and watched her
for a few seconds to make sure her breathing was steady. Then, as
quietly as he entered, he left. All the while, the silence that
filled the room screamed at him. Once in the hall he debated over
and over in his mind whether to go search for Jen or call Vasile or
Decebel and let them know what was going on. He could only imagine
the wrath that Decebel would reign down on him. His actions towards
Jen may not be obvious to him, but everyone else saw it, and if he
found out she was missing he would tear Skender apart. Maybe I can
wait just awhile to see if she comes back, if not then I will
panic. In the back of his mind he knew he should call his Alpha,
but fear stayed his hand.

Jen turned toward the guy approaching her. As
he got closer, she realized that he was pretty cute and not much
older than herself. The mischief gods were smiling on her
tonight.

"You do realize you aren't supposed to be
going to the ICU this late, right?" he asked her, totally throwing
her for a loop.

"The ICU?" Jen said stupidly.

"Yeah, that's the only thing in the direction
your friend just went." When Jen didn't respond but stood there
looking back and forth between the direction Sally had gone and
back at the cute guy, he spoke again. "I better go get her to keep
her from getting in trouble. You need to head on back to whereever
it is you are supposed to be."

The part about him going and getting Sally
was what finally brought her out of her trance. Jen touched his arm
to get his full attention and when he looked at her, she smiled her
most seductively adoring smile. "Okay," she paused to look at his
name badge, "Matt. You caught me. I was out roaming the hospital
because I'm bored out of my mind. I was in a car accident and have
been stuck in bed and I'm finally allowed to be up and moving. So
here I am little 'ole pathetic me looking for a good time," she
paused and winked at him, bringing on a full blush, "in a hospital.
You wouldn't happen to know where I could find a good time that
maybe came with a few drinks?" Jen said in her most hopeful voice.
The guy named Matt looked at Jen, then at the hallway behind her,
clearly torn about doing the right thing and the fun thing. Lucky
for Jen, she was very good at convincing guys to do the fun
thing.