So much for my efforts.The minute I crossed the threshold into Sam’s room, my heart fell to my feet. Sam’s mouth was open with spit dribbling out. “He’s not dead, is he?” He hadn’t been when I’d left.Please say no.
Harley kept her arm tethered to mine, and good thing, because my legs were trembling as hard as my hands.
Jo felt for a pulse but really didn’t need to with her acute sense of hearing… unless she couldn’t hear his heart beating.
Sweat dotted my forehead while Dr. Vieira waved a penlight in Sam’s lifeless eyes.
“He has a pulse, but Layla, take me through what happened,” Dr. Vieira said.
The breath I’d been holding rushed out of my lungs as flames scorched my cheeks.
Jo covered Sam with a blanket. “Did Sam give you any indication what was wrong before he passed out?”
I quivered, remembering the pain in his eyes. “He grabbed his head and winced, then he was out cold. It happened so fast. One minute he was fine, and the next, he was out.”
Dr. Vieira returned his penlight to his lab coat pocket. “Webb, can you carry him to the infirmary? Maybe I missed something in his blood work.”
Highly doubtful. Dr. Vieira was thorough and dedicated to his profession, which was what I liked about him.
My heart punched my ribs. “Do you think it was something in my blood?” My recent test results were clear, but I had to ask anyway.
Webb fished around in the dresser and pulled out a pair of gym shorts.
Doc angled his head at me. “I told you. Your results were clear.”
“Then maybe it’s his brain. We know Carly had messed with his head. He was wearing a metal device when I found him,” I added.
“Sam told me about that,” Dr. Vieira said. “I suspect Carly was taking snapshots of his brain and Dane’s to compare them to a human’s.”
“Maybe she was doing more than that,” Webb chimed in as he managed to put the shorts onto Sam.
“I’ll run more tests, and we might need to take him to the local hospital tonight for that MRI,” Doc said.
Once Webb had Sam over his shoulder, Jo threw a blanket on Sam. Harley and I scurried into the hall as Jo, Webb, and Dr. Vieira hurried out. I was about to go with them, but my bladder protested.
“I’m right behind you guys.” I shrugged out of Harley’s hold. “I need to use the bathroom first.”
She curled her strawberry-blonde hair behind her ear. “I’ll wait in the living room, then I’ll take you to the infirmary.”
“That’s great, because I don’t know how to get there from here.”
I closed myself in the black-and-white masculine-style bathroom across from Sam’s room. I relieved myself as fast as I could. I wanted to be there when Sam woke up. I was praying he would. Once I was done, I quickly washed my hands while glancing in the mirror.Holy shit!I looked as if I’d just come from the depths of hell. Dark circles ringed my blue eyes. My hair was a rat’s nest, and my skin was chalky. I seriously could be mistaken for a dead person—and I wasn’t referring to a vampire. The ones in the building had color and were handsome or pretty. I didn’t fit into that category.
Maybe this was my new look for the next nine months. My mom had a pregnant friend who had severe tooth decay. Presumably, hormonal changes were the cause. What scared the crap out of me was that I wasn’t having a human baby, so my unborn supernatural child would probably steal every ounce of my young life. Horror careened through me at the thought I might look ten years older after I gave birth. Although part of my current appearance was a result of wild monkey sex.
I splashed cold water on my face, then pinched my cheeks, hoping to infuse color into them. There was no doubt I needed to rest, stay healthy, stay alive, and stay sane. I couldn’t do any of that on the navy base. My family knew where I was. Sam’s enemies did as well. If Roman Brown could storm the naval base and take out guards, so could anyone.
Once Sam was awake, we would pack our bags and get out of Dodge. If he didn’t come out of whatever was happening to him, I would murder the arrogant vampire with my bare hands. I was not having this baby without him. No fucking way.
I pressed my fingers into my chest and inhaled, trying to relieve the terror stealing the air from my lungs.
Knuckles rapped on the door. “Layla, are you okay?” Harley asked.
I shut the water off. “Yeah. I’ll be right out.” I snagged the brush off the marble counter and dragged it through my hair several times. “Mm,” I said to myself in the mirror. At least my hair looked better. Now for a bra and a top that fit. Maybe then I wouldn’t resemble a corpse.
Pivoting on my heel, I spotted the mound of clothes near the wicker basket by the shower. In particular, my bra was poking out from beneath Sam’s charred cargo pants. It was the only undergarment I had at Sam’s. What little clothing I owned was at Harley’s, come to think of it. Jordyn and I had crashed at Harley’s while she’d been visiting her mother.
I snagged the black lacy garment, but it caught on the cargo pants. As I untangled the two articles of clothing, a piece of paper fell out of one of the pockets.
