“Oh, God! You are waking up!” Tears began to drip down Dex’s cheeks and land on my chest. He leaned closer and pressed a light kiss to my cheek. “Everything might be okay after all.”
ChapterTwenty-One
Dex
After the doctor finished poking and prodding Otto, watching carefully for any reaction, he nodded at the nurse and the entire room exploded into a flurry of activity. I slipped back into the corner farthest from the bed as nurses hurried in and out of the room, administering something into the saline bag dripping into Otto’s arm, tracking his heart rate, and doing various other things that I struggled to track.
“He’s ready.” The nurse watching the monitor screen called out, never taking her eyes from the steady pattern of Otto’s heart.
“Perfect.” The nurses on either side of the bed leaned in and began unhooking things. “Otto, I’m going to need you to take a breath and cough for me.”
I couldn’t see him through the wall of people around the bed, but the muffled cough suggested that he’d been able to follow the instructions. Then, the long plastic tube was dropped on the wheeled cart parked next to the bed. “Keep breathing,” she instructed calmly. “Betty?”
“Saturation is steady at ninety-eight percent,” the nurse watching the monitor responded. “Twenty-one breaths per minute, though.”
“Anxiety,” the doctor chimed in from the other side of the bed. “Dexter, would you come over here?”
I slipped out of the corner to stand beside the doctor. He lifted my hand, placing it on Otto’s chest over the light blanket.
“Otto, breathe with your husband. In. Out. In. Out. Good, keep going.” After several minutes, Nurse Betty spoke up. “Down to fifteen and steady.”
“Excellent. Otto, can you speak?”
On the bed, Otto tried to clear his throat, grimacing when he gagged.
“Your throat is going to hurt for a bit,” the nurse opposite me said gently, lifting a small plastic cup and spoon off the cart and holding the spoon to Otto’s lips. “With your shifter genes, it should resolve fairly quickly. In the meantime, we can try some ice chips.”
Otto nodded his head and swallowed the ice, opening his mouth for a second spoonful before trying again.
“What happened?”
His voice was rough and stilted, and I could see his Adam’s apple shifting as he worked to get the words out.
“You’ve been unconscious since you were brought in with alcohol poisoning,” the doctor said directly. “Poison is one of the few medical crises that shifters do not heal from more quickly than humans, so it was touch and go for a while.”
Otto’s confused eyes turned to me. “How?”
I shrugged helplessly. “We, uh, we don’t really know.” I swallowed hard. “You were alone when we found you so there was nobody to tell us what happened.”
The doctor broke in. “It’s probably better to leave that conversation until you’re more alert.”
Otto’s brows knitted together. “Sorry. Baby okay?”
I felt my eyes widen but I nodded. “Yeah. Um, the baby is fine, I think.”
Otto sighed heavily and seemed to melt into the pillows. “Good.”
The nurses began to file out of the room, taking the rolling cart and various other supplies with them, leaving Otto and me alone with the doctor.
“You’re going to be pretty tired,” the doctor said. “You need to get as much rest as possible to help your body continue to clean out the ethanol.” He turned to me. “You’re a calming influence, so the more physical contact you can maintain for the next twenty-four to thirty-six hours, the better. Do you have anywhere to be? I can write a note to excuse you from work.”
“No. I can stay. Um, no one is expecting me anywhere. Can Otto have other visitors?” I had a hunch my dads were going to want to see him.
“For right now, I rather he didn’t,” the doctor said. “We don’t want to inadvertently tax his system or add stressors while he’s still at risk. Let’s see how he is tomorrow morning.”
“Okay.” I looked down at Otto who was watching me through mostly closed eyes. “Do you want me to stay?”
Otto reached out and weakly caught my arm with his right hand, patting the bed with his left. “Nap?”
