Page 18 of Owen

At first, I thought I was dead.

That was the only reason why an angel would hover over me.

When I blinked a few times more, my vision cleared and I understood who I was looking at.

I reached for her, touching her smooth cheek. “Molly?”

“Who else? Do you spend a lot of time with women in caves?”

“Do you want an honest answer to that question?”

I tried to work my way into a seated position, but a pair of hands pushed against my shoulders. She couldn’t possibly have held me back if I was determined to get up, but it wasn’t worth fighting.

“You have to take it easy after what just happened. I thought I lost you there.” She sighed. “Do me a favor.”

“What?”

“Don’t do that to me again.”

“I’ll try,” I replied, rolling my eyes. “I would rather not do it again for my own sake, frankly.”

“How’s your head feeling?”

I hesitated. There was no way to explain why the wound had already fully healed without admitting who I truly was. “It’s sore,” I lied, touching gentle fingers to it. “What’s this?”

“Oh. I put a gauze pad over it,” she shrugged.

“Did you wash it?”

She nodded. “With alcohol wipes.”

I stared at her in wonder. “Thank you.”

“What, did you think I wouldn’t? That’s what First Aid kits are for.”

“I know, but…” I had no way of explaining how rare it was for a human to care for one of us. Unheard of, in fact. Those of us with human mates, such as the ones in the cave at that very moment, were the exception. “It was good of you to make an effort.”

“No worries. I’m just glad you woke up.” She chewed her lip, frowning. “Can I ask what happened? Are you prone to seizures?”

“Seizures? Is that what it looked like was happening?”

“Yeah. Your eyes rolled back, and you dropped like a rock. It was so sudden.”

“It must have frightened you, lass. My apologies. I wouldn’t frighten you for anything.” Yet in spite of that fear, she’d taken care of me. I’d never so wished I could reach out and hold someone.

And that would be only the beginning if I had my way.

“So? Was it a seizure? Did you feel anything? Hear anything?”

“I touched something in your bag and it…” I shook my head. “I wish I could explain it.”

“Something in my bag? What in the world? There’s nothing in there that could hurt you.”

I tried my best to recall what had happened. “I was reaching in for water, wasn’t I?”

She held the bottle before me. “Yeah. Here you go. You never did get any.”

“Thank you.” I gulped some of it and tried again to get my thoughts together. “I don’t remember anything after reaching into the bag. A burning sensation? I seem to recall that, but it was brief.”

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