Page 32 of Bite for Sore Eyes

Lana managed a small smile in return, and Torren felt some of the tension ease from her frame. Emry gathered her supplies and headed toward the door, her voice carrying professional confidence.

"I'll go arrange everything and be right back."

The moment the door closed, leaving the three of them alone in the sterile treatment room, Torren felt the weight of unspoken concerns settle between them.

"I hope you don't think we're breaking our promise to you," Torren said, his deep voice rough with emotion he couldn't quite hide.

Lana's response came immediately, her brown eyes warm with understanding. "No, of course not. I know you were just protecting me and worried about my head injury. You two did nothing wrong."

She paused, her gaze dropping to their joined hands before meeting his eyes again with painful honesty.

"I'm the one who was being foolish back there at the security center. I should have told you I was about to have another episode, and then I wouldn't have fallen in the bathroom. But I chose to run off and isolate myself because that's what I've been doing for the past year—trying to be less of a burden on others and handle everything on my own."

The admission hit Torren like a gut punch. His bear roared in protest at the idea of their brilliant, incredible mate viewing herself as a burden to anyone, let alone to them.

He squeezed her hand firmly, his voice carrying absolute conviction. "Lana, you are not alone anymore. We are here to support you and help you in any way we can."

Rath's grip on her other hand tightened as he leaned closer. "Yes, Lana. You could never be a burden to us. We're in this together, no matter what challenges come our way."

She squeezed both their hands in return, her smile genuine for the first time since the accident. "Thank you."

The treatment room door opened, and Kelly appeared with her characteristic calm competence. "Are you ready to go get the head scan and bloodwork done?"

Lana nodded, sliding off the examination bed with careful movements that made Torren's protective instincts flare. Kelly's attention shifted to the two Alphas hovering protectively beside their mate.

"You two stay here. I promise I'll bring her back soon."

Torren watched Lana walk toward the door with Kelly, every fiber of his being wanting to follow and ensure her safety.

The moment they were alone, Rath's composure cracked, his voice tight with barely controlled desperation. "We need to figure out how to understand this. Find a way to save her without breaking our promise because I can't lose her."

Torren felt the same desperate urgency clawing at him, his bear pacing with restless agitation. "I agree. We can't go back on our promise, but we can't just watch her illness progressively get worse and sit back without doing anything about it."

Rath nodded grimly, his hands clenching into fists at his sides. "How do you suggest we go about this without losing her trust?"

Torren considered the question, weighing their options against the impossible situation they found themselves in. "Well, maybe we just wait to see what the bloodwork and head scan show first. We might not have to dig too deep if they can find something from that, right?"

"Right," Rath agreed, though his voice carried the same desperate hope Torren felt. "Maybe they can see something that no Earth doctor could."

Torren wanted to believe it was possible, but he forced himself not to get his hopes too high. Still, he couldn't bear the thought of Lana's illness destroying everything they were building together, everything they were imagining for their future. Whatever was happening inside Lana existed beyond his strength, beyond his training, beyond everything he'd ever relied on to protect the people he loved. His bear snarled with helpless fury at the invisible threat he couldn't combat, couldn't intimidate, couldn't solve through sheer force of will.

All he could do was trust that Kelly and Emry would help them understand it—and pray that Nova Aurora's advanced medicine could accomplish what Earth's physicians couldn't.

THIRTEEN

LANA

The scanning machine's hum filled Lana's ears as the table slowly slid her deeper into the cylindrical chamber, the familiar sound triggering a cascade of memories she'd fought to suppress. The rhythmic clicking and whirring transported her back to countless other medical facilities—the sterile examination rooms in Baltimore, the experimental treatment center in Boston, the cutting-edge neurological institute in Switzerland where she'd spent three weeks convinced they'd finally found her salvation.

Another scan. Another chance for hope to shatter.

The machine's magnetic field pulsed around her skull, and Lana closed her eyes against the claustrophobic sensation of being enclosed in medical equipment once again. Two years of this. Two years of lying perfectly still while machines probed her malfunctioning brain, searching for answers that never materialized. Two years of specialists with kind faces delivering devastating news with clinical detachment.

Dr. Brenstein in Baltimore: "The progression is unlike anything we've documented."

Dr. Martinez in Boston: "We're reaching the limits of current treatment protocols."

Dr. Hoffer in Switzerland: "I'm afraid the experimental therapy isn't showing the results we'd hoped for."