Chapter Ten
Sky
"But did he know whatkindof changes?" a voice hissed in the distance.
"There wasn't time, Rafael," a more familiar voice hissed back.
Waking up to strangers whispering around me was beginning to seem normal and that, when I thought about it later, probably should have been a red flag.
I didn't hurt nearly as much as I remembered before I fell asleep and even my tongue seemed to have shrunk down to something resembling normal size. Keeping my eyes closed, I tried to focus on the whispers around me.
The first voice was Colt. I'd know it anywhere at that point. The second one was completely unfamiliar. Not only that, but it sounded crabby as hell.
"Colt?" I managed to rasp out, my throat searing.
"Sky? Baby, you're awake!" The relief in Colt's voice was damn near tangible. "Thank the Gods!" There was a slight pause. "Rafe, can you grab Doc?"
Doc? What the hell? I force my eyes open, cringing when they were assaulted with a sea of brilliant white.
A hospital.
He'd brought me to a fucking hospital after all.
"You promised," I said accusingly after swallowing a sip of water from the glass he held to my lips.
"I did," Colt agreed, obviously understanding what I meant. "But I didn't have a choice, Sky. You were dying. You're nowhere near Salem, though," he said, attempting to comfort me. "You're in Wolfsrudel and the doctor caring for you has taken care of me since I was a pu..baby." A pleading note crept into his voice. "Please don't freak out. I promise that you couldn't be any safer."
I accepted another sip of water from the glass in his hand, sighing when the cool liquid started to extinguish the flame in my parched throat. Then came a knock at the door.
"Sky! Terrific to see you awake," an older man with kind eyes and a gentle smile greeted me as he walked in. "You can call me Doc. I already have a pretty good idea how you feel," he said. "So, I think we can skip that question. Do you know where you are?"
"Not exactly," I responded slowly. "What happened to me?"
Doc threw a pointed look at the door and Colt shuffled his feet.
"Sky, I'll be out in the waiting room, okay?"
"No!" I gasped, sitting up and wincing when a pain tore through my abdomen. "You can't leave me here! You promised."
"Shh," Colt said softly, laying his hand on the nape of my neck in an oddly comforting touch. "It's okay, I promise."
"Sky? I need to discuss your injuries and treatment," Doc said softly. "Colt can stay if you don't mind him hearing it. I was only asking him to leave to protect your privacy. Do you want him here?"
I nodded and Colt drew his hand off my neck. The slide of his calloused fingers against my skin made me shiver.
"Are you cold?" Colt sounded concerned. "You want another blanket?"
I shook my head. "Can you sit with me?"
Colt nodded, but waited for me to lean back down against the pillows behind me before sitting on the edge of the bed. Once Colt was settled, Doc dragged the small straight-back chair from the corner and sat next to the bed where I could see his face easily.
"When you arrived here," Doc started, "you were suffering from sepsis and exhibiting the early stages of septic shock." When he paused to let that sink in, Colt reached for my hand. "Colt told me that you didn't want to be admitted to a hospital, Sky, but he saved your life by bringing you here. Even with the other things that he and Sebastian did for you, you were too weak to have fought the blood infection off on your own."
I nodded my understanding and Doc continued.
"The cause of the sepsis appears to have been a recent surgery. Do you know what was done?"
I nodded and forced myself to breathe normally.
