Chapter 20
dialed Logan's number as she continued to examine the blood sample she had under the microscope. Her hands shook as she turned the dial to bring the slide into focus. She couldn't believe what she was seeing, but there it was in living color. Jennifer's blood matched Jacque's blood. The only difference being the amount of cells that carried the gene. Since Jacque was half wolf her blood was full of them. Jennifer, however, had just enough to be recognizable by a person who knew what to look for. Logan finally answered. "Tell me you have good news, Dr. Steele."
"Well, if you mean can I get Jacque by herself, then yes I have good news. I just received a call from Vasile's Beta. Jacque is sick. I'm going now to see her and will have her transferred to the ICU, where visitors of any kind are not allowed after 9:00 p.m. I have a pair of scrubs for you here in my office. I will leave it unlocked so you can get in. Wait in my office for my call." Cynthia was changing the slides in the microscope, putting Jennifer's up and sliding Jacque's sample under the scope. As she looked into the eyepiece she ceased hearing anything Logan said. She'd thought that this could happen, but thinking and reality are very different.
"Okay, Logan, I will call you when I'm ready. Bye." And without listening for his response she hung up. She continued to examine the blood as she watched the human cells attack the werewolf cells. Jacque had received a blood transfusion before she had been able to stop it. That was what she was watching on the slide in front of her. The human cells from the blood that did not belong to Jacque were attacking her cells. She had heard that this could happen when a wolf received human blood because human blood recognized the wolf cells as a virus and attacked accordingly. She knew of only one cure, one way to stop the human cells from killing the wolf cells and inevitably killing the werewolf.
As she stood up and put her lab coat on, she took one last look at the slide then turned to go to Jacque's room. She kept telling herself that it would be okay, that Logan would be able to heal her, that she wasn't putting Jacque in any real harm. Before her conscience could talk her out of it she was standing in front of Jacque's door. She'd been able to hear her cries from down the hall and she could only imagine how painful it was for your body to turn on itself. There, see? I will be helping her by giving her the morphine to keep her under, and then she won't feel the pain until Logan can heal her. Assuaging her guilt, she turned the doorknob and walked into a room full of worried people, an emotionally out of control Alpha, and the cries of a very sick girl. Thankfully, at the sight of a sick person the doctor in her kicked in and she focused on that role, on doing something to help.
By the time Dr. Steele walked into the room everyone was there, lining the wall of the room. Every face was draped in worry and fear for Jacquelyn. Fane heard the door open. He turned to see Dr. Steele walk into the room, and before anyone could ask her a question she held her hand up and headed for Jacquelyn's bed. The only sound was the whimpering and cries of his mate.
"Please do something for her." Fane found himself pleading with Dr. Steele desperate for something, anything to help Jacquelyn.
Dr. Steele listened to Jacquelyn's heart, and then she shined a light into each eye. She moved Jacquelyn's hands away from her stomach and began pushing on it in various locations, causing a cry to erupt. Fane growled but Dr. Steele was not intimidated. "Save it, wolf. I can't help her if you expect there to be no pain." She reached into her pocket and pulled out something Fane didn't recognize. He watched her run it across Jacquelyn's forehead and then look at a small screen on the side.
"It's a thermal scanner to take her temperature. She's at 105.2, which means if we don't get her temp down she will either have a seizure, go into a coma, or both." Dr. Steele looked over to Vasile. "I'm going to have to take her to the ICU. No one is allowed in there, the patients are all too sick to be exposed to the germs people would innocently bring in. You understand what this means?"
Vasile nodded. "I will take care of it."
They watched as she pushed a button that caused an alarm to sound, then they all heard footsteps moving fast towards the room. The next thing Fane knew he was being pushed out of the way. Decebel and his father grabbed him before he could lunge at the hospital staff as they transferred Jacquelyn onto a gurney. He couldn't focus on what Dr. Steele was saying as he watched his mate being taken from him to where he could not go…again. Once Jacquelyn was out of sight he finally looked at the doctor.
"What is wrong with her?" he growled.
"I don't know yet, Fane. You will have to be patient and let me do my job. You growling and throwing massive Alpha fits will not help Jacque get better."
Fane was taken aback by the doctors' boldness, but found that he respected her for it.
"Just make her well again. Please."
Dr. Steele put her hand on Fane's shoulder. "She will be fine." She stepped back then so she could look at the whole group crowded into the little room. "I will let you know as soon as I know something." And then she turned and walked out.
The room was quiet, no one daring to break the silence, for then they would have to acknowledge the fear that was threatening to consume them one by one. The silence was broken by a cursing Jen. Everyone turned to look at her and watched as she wrestled with the tape that held her IV in place. She wasn't paying attention to the fact that everyone was focused on her. "Hey, moron nurse number one said, look at this IV I just put in this chick, do you think I used enough tape? Absolutely not, said moron nurse number two, you have to wrap an entire roll around her arm so that nothing short of a miracle will get it off." Jen muttered the dialogue under her breath as she finally got the tape off of the IV in her arm. "Finally!" she announced triumphantly as she pulled the IV from her arm, blood trickled down towards her hand. She looked up and noticed everyone watching her.
"What?" she asked. Her eyes got bigger as Decebel began to walk towards her. He got so close that she had to strain her neck back to look up at his face.
"Why did you take that out?" His face was hard, unreadable.
"Because if I'm going to have to have a pole attached to me I would prefer it be one that I could get some use out of. But as it was this particular pole as my constant companion, it just wasn't doing it for me." Jen batted her eyes at him. "Besides, what the hell does it matter? My best friend has just been rushed off to the ICU and you're worried about my stupid IV?"
"Put it back," His eyes glowing gold as he took hold of her arm.
"Oh, yeah, sure thing. I'll get right on that," she said sarcastically as she pried his hand from around her arm. Paying him little more attention than if he were a gnat, she stepped around him so she could see the others.
"So what's the plan, Vasile?" She heard material ripping and as she turned towards the noise she watched as Decebel tore a piece of the sheet from the bed off and brought it over to her. He took her arm, gently this time, and wrapped the material around the spot that was still bleeding from where she had ripped her IV out. Without a word, he went back to the spot he had previously been standing while Jen watched his retreating back.
Vasile answered as if the peculiar scene had not taken place. "For now you and Sally will stay here and I will put a guard on the door. Fane and Decebel will stay in the waiting area for the ICU. Fane," Vasile looked directly at his son, "you will not attempt to defy what Dr. Steele has said. Are we clear?"
"As you say, so shall it be," Fane gave the formal response, neck bared in submission.
"Good," he continued, "Alina and Lilly will go home and rest." Lilly started to interrupt but Alina stopped her with a hand on her arm and gave a sharp nod of her head. Lilly swallowed the words she was about to say.
"Lilly, I understand that you want to be here for your daughter, but you need to rest and you won't get it here. Trust me, okay?" Vasile waited for her response before continuing.
"Okay," she answered, her voice resolute.
Vasile looked at his watch, it read 9:30 p.m. "I think it's time to call it a night. As soon Dr. Steele has information she will contact me and you will all know within minutes." Vasile turned to leave and Alina followed him. Lilly came up to Jen and hugged her and then did the same with Sally.
"Don't worry Ms. P," Jen told her, "Jacque's the most stubborn person I know. She will be fine." Lilly nodded and with eyes full of unshed tears, she left as well.
Fane gave them each hugs as well and told them to call him if they needed anything, to which Jen threw out, "I think Jacque would kick my butt if I called you for what I need." Decebel growled, but at least it got a small smile from Fane. That was what Jen had been aiming for. Jen turned to Decebel and stuck her tongue out at him like a petulant child.
As he and Fane left, Decebel turned back one more time. "You two. Don't do anything that you consider brilliant. The rest of us will consider it stupid." He shut the door just as Jen threw the nearest thing she could get her hands on, which happened to be the box of tampons that Sally had absently set out, so naturally tampons went flying everywhere.
"Arrrrrgh, I'm so going to skin him the first time I see him as a wolf and make him a nice rug to lay on in front of the fire place," Jen growled.
"Um, Jen, you don't have a fire place," Sally pointed out.
"My hypothetical fire place, Sally. Come on, keep up will you?"
"Oh, my bad. I forgot that I'm supposed to be taking notes on your hypothetical life so that when you make references to it I will know exactly what the freaking A you are talking about."
"Well, at least you are able to admit when you are wrong. That's a step in the right direction." Jen patted her friend, then jumped back just before Sally's fist could connect with her shoulder. "Man, it's nice not to have that stupid pole stuck to me."
Sally sat down on the bed and looked at Jen, her face no longer playful. "What's the plan, Jen? I know you're cooking one up because that's what you do best, so what are we going to do?"
"Sneak into the ICU of course," Jen said, matter of fact like.
"Nice." Sally smiled conspiratorially and then listened intently as Jen laid out her plan.