“You felt different.” His forehead furrowed, not buying my lies. “Ifeltyou.” He tapped his chest. “In here. I felt a rush of coldness and—”
“You’re imagining things,” I cut in, fear sliding down my back. “We—”
“I’m not imagining anything.” Lowering his voice so the doctors couldn’t hear, he breathed, “Your presence has always been able to ease my discomfort, but this time, I actually feel...better.” He sat up. “The fire is gone. You took away all my pain.How?”
I scrambled for answers I didn’t have.
I panicked for explanations that would make sense but...
Whisper officially reached the end of his patience.
And pounced.
Chapter Thirteen
COLD.
Overwhelming cold continued to flow through me, fading from the mind-breaking intensity of Rook hugging me. Her presence had always been calming and cool, but this time...it’d felt like I’d sunk into a snowdrift. Silent and heavy—a blanket of ice snuffing the flames inside me.
And when she’d collapsed on top of me...I’dfelther.
Her pain.
Her chill—
Whisper launched himself at me.
“Oof,” I grunted as he landed on me with the grace of a collapsing building. His weight pinned me as he huffed and chuffed and proceeded to headbutt me as if I’d just returned from the dead.
“Hey.” I tried to fight him off which only made him purr as loud as a malfunctioning engine. “You’re going to kill me.” His affection turned lethal as he rubbed his entire snout into my face. “I’m not a fucking scratching post!”
“Can someonepleaseget that germ-filled animal off my patient!” A man’s voice cut through Whisper’s emotional attack.“He has stitches for crying out loud. Animal dander—especiallyfeline saliva—can cause a fatal infection!”
“Eh, Whisper?” Rook’s voice came from somewhere by the side of the bed. “Come here, tiny kitty. Lucien’s alive but he might not stay that way if you keep mauling him.”
“Listen to her.” I coughed as the panther whimpered and dragged his sandpaper tongue over my hairline. “Ugh, you dumb beast, stop that.”
He ignored me completely, his claws kneaded the bedding, his out-of-control purr rattling straight through my bandaging and bones.
My eyes met Rook’s over the panther’s bulk.
She stiffened, looking just as confused as I was about what was happening between us. The level of connection that was building.
I knew next to nothing about her but...
It washer.
The girl who’d gotten me out.
The girl who’d stood by my side when no one else ever had.
Whisper grumbled, pissed off I wasn’t appreciating his affection even though he did his best to kill me with it.
Rolling my eyes, I grabbed his whiskered cheeks, and smacked a kiss right on his cold, wet nose. “You crazy creature. I’m alive. I’m fine.Nowwill you get off me?”
I swore he grinned, his whiskers flaring as he gave me another lick before vaulting off. The heavy thud of his paws landed just before he threw a warning growl at the two doctors.
I had no idea how I was here, where here was, or why they’d agreed to help me but...that was irrelevant.
