“Again,” she whispers through teeth that chatter.
I’m dragged forward into the water and forcefully submerged for two seconds.
I burst out of the water, gasping, looking for Juniper, but I can’t find her. Where is she?
Torin and Archer burst out of their pools, gasping, coughing, also searching for Juniper.
She emerges from the water, her skin so pale it’s almost translucent.
“I have to do it one more time,” the woman tells her apologetically. “Three times for three mates.”
“D-do it,” Juniper stutters.
The woman dunks her.
I watch, and I watch, but Juniper doesn’t emerge.
“Juniper!” I scream, flailing in the water, trying to get to her.
Feet away, and I can’t smell her or even see her.
And then I see it.
A hint of white fabric.
A strand of long, curly blonde hair.
Juniper floats to the top, upside down.
“NO!!!”
Chapter 15
June
My soul feels empty.
My throat is dry, my arms are trapped by my sides, and the light is too bright when I blink my eyes open.
Panicking, I struggle to get up, but I can’t move.
“Don’t try to move yet, Juniper,” an unfamiliar woman’s voice comes from close beside me when I struggle. It’s gentle but firm, a tone I want to trust.
My vision clears, and a dark-haired woman with brown eyes, who appears to be in her late thirties, dressed in dark blue scrubs, helps me sit up. Moving is a slow and painful affair with a body that fights me every step of the way. My all-white surroundings suggest a hospital, and the black stethoscope hanging around the woman’s shoulders indicates that she’s my doctor.
I feel so weak; sitting up is already exhausting me, and my head keeps wanting to flop to the side. With the pillow propping the back of my neck, I no longer feel like a top-heavy domino about to tip over.
“Here, take a couple of sips before trying to speak; you’ve been unconscious for a while now,” the woman says, lifting a plastic cup with a white straw to my mouth.
I sip cool, fresh water until my throat no longer burns. “Thanks.”
She sets the plastic cup on the side table and perches on the edge of my bed. “I’m Dr. Whelan.”
“How long have I been unconscious?” I ask her.
“Two weeks.”
My eyes pop, and my breath stops in my throat. “Two weeks!”
