Page 51 of A Luna's Revenge

Chapter 28 – Hospital Stay

*****Trigger Warning***** Infant Loss

Charlie

I am still lying here weak in my hospital bed; the door opens, and a female wearing scrubs and a white coat walks in.

"Hey, I am Amaris, one of the healers here." She sticks out her hand to shake mine. "Dr. Frances asked me to check on you today."

"Amaris?" I ask, enclosing her hand in mine. "What are you doing here? I thought you lived in the Still Waters Pack with your mate. We brought you to that mate meet & greet three years ago." Even though I learned in my vision about what happened to Amaris, seeing her here in my weakened state shocks me.

"Luna Charlie?" Amaris startles. "What are you doing here?"

"It's a long story, Amaris." I sigh. "I need you to do me a favor. Don't let anyone know I am the Luna of a pack, nor where I come from. Okay?"

"Okay." she looks at me quizzically, then turns to stare at the hologram screen containing my file. "Why are you in the hospital?"

"That's part of the long story, but I—I rejected Jenson and cut out my mate mark a couple of days ago. And I woke up here."

She gasps as I lie back in the bed, exhausted. "It nearly killed me. I haven't spoken to Alpha Blake yet. I understand he has been busy. I plan to seek anonymous asylum here."

"This is a wonderful place to live, Charlie. Your secret is safe with me." Amaris states as she looks at my chart. "It appears some of your tests have just come in; let's go over the results. Your blood toxicology report shows some traces of wolfsbane. Do you know how that got there?"

"No," I say, baffled.

"Yes. It’s trace amounts." She reiterates, "We’ll just increase your fluid consumption, and it should not cause you or the pup any problems."

"P—up?" I stutter.

Amaris meets my eyes. "You didn't know you were expecting?"

"No." I choke out, tears begin trailing down my cheeks. I don't know if I am happy because I finally conceived or sad because I finally conceived, but my life has disintegrated. "How far along am I?"

"Oh, honey." Amaris embraces me. "It looks like you are about five weeks. I'll order an ultrasound." She begins tapping on the screen. "How are you feeling?"

"I am so tired and weak."

"Those symptoms are probably due to a combination of the breaking of the mate bond, your pregnancy, and the wolfsbane poisoning." She divulges. "I'm not surprised you are in the hospital." She begins tapping again and continues.

"I am prescribing prenatal vitamins, plus I am going to up your IV fluids, so the wolfsbane should be out of your system in 24 hours. Those two things will help with the symptoms." Amaris examines my IV bag. "Lastly, I have a supplement I developed for rejected mates. I know you did the rejecting, but it eases mate separation. It’s safe for the pup. I took it myself during pregnancy."

"Thanks, Amaris."

"You're welcome, Charlie. I will be out of town for a few weeks, but I’ll leave extensive notes for Dr. Frances so she can follow up on the wolfsbane poisoning. Do you know how you came to have wolfsbane poisoning?"

"I have no clue."

"Just rest, Charlie. You should be right as rain soon." She smiles down at me, pats my hand, and walks out the door. She was leaving me with so many questions and no answers. I curl to my side and fall into a troubled sleep.

A few hours later, there is a tap on the door. “Come in,” I call out. In walks a gorgeous male. He is tall and muscular with chestnut brown hair and sea-green eyes. As I said before, humans are attracted to shifters for a reason, and here is just another example.

“Hey, I am Alpha Blake Collins. I understand you wanted to meet with me?”

“Y–yes!” I stutter. “Nice to meet you, Alpha.” My mouth has gone dry, and my tongue refuses to work. This male just exudes masculinity.

“Okay.” He blushes and grins slightly, obviously enjoying my stare. “Well, you have me at a disadvantage. I don’t know your name.”

I shake my head to clear it. “Sorry, Alpha.” I sit back and sigh. “Let me tell you a story.” He pulls up a chair close to my bed, and I share my story for the next thirty minutes.

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