Chapter Fifteen – Nevis

“Good morning.” Nevis kissed her on the cheek lightly, until she opened her eyes, and then he kissed her again, on the lips, with passion, and longing. He broke away from her with a sigh. “It’s late, I need to go down and find my folks, and I’m sure Harlan will be wondering where you are.”

She turned over and faced him, her hand on his cheek. “I’m sure Harlan and your parents know exactly where we are.” Chrysi sat up. “But you are right, we need to go down and eat, and check in on everyone. I hope Harlan has some news on his mate. It’s going to drive him insane if he can’t find her.” She turned back to look at Nevis. “And I hope your dad is feeling better after a good night’s sleep. Now that he knows you are here, he might be less stressed and things might seem not so bad.”

“He’s going to be stressed until I say yes to working for him.” Nevis shook his head and raked his hands through his hair. “But he’ll end up being more stressed if I do. It’s not me.”

“You might surprise yourself,” Chrysi said.

“I’ve given it so much thought. I was on the mountain for a couple of weeks before I met you. I went over it in my head, looked at it from all sides, and it never comes out with me sitting down at a desk.”

“Maybe when your sister gets here, you can convince him together. Harlan can tell him that women know how to run things just as well as men. If not better.”

“That’s a good idea, I’ll put you forward as a candidate,” Nevis suggested.

“No way, your sister would hate me. Anyway, I plan to raise babies until the day Harlan calls me and tells me to take over.” She sighed and lay back down next to him. “There is something to be said for a carefree, wild life.”

“Hey, you sound like my dad. I do work.” He looked at his watch. “Speaking of work, since I’m back in town, I guess I’d better go to the office later and let them know I’m back. I’ll pass the photos over to Theo, he is going to do a write-up about the mountain. And once he’s chosen the photos he wants to use, I’m going to sell the rest.”

“You have your own business, really. You and your camera.”

“Yes. I suppose I do.” He rolled over, propping himself up on one elbow. “I am sought after, you know.”

“I know. I saw the way Denise sought after you yesterday.” Chrysi giggled and ducked out of bed when he moved to grab her. “Get dressed, I’m starving.”

He retrieved his clothes, and Chrysi’s, placing hers on the bed neatly, and then got dressed. His mate came out of the bathroom and dressed quickly. “I am in need of clean clothes.”

“You can bring your laundry over to my place later, and wash them.”

“Thanks.” She pulled her sweater on. “Although at some point, I am going to have to go home.”

“I doubt Brad will want you going too far until he’s dealt with Bart and Ross,” Nevis said as they left the room.

“Urghh. I forgot about that. I’ll have to go over and make a statement today.” She turned to face Nevis, while they waited for the elevator. “What about you?”

“I’ll speak to him. Give an explanation and go from there. Brad has been sheriff for a long time, he knows how to handle shifters as witnesses.” They rode the elevator downstairs.

“My statement, along with Harlan’s, might be enough. Apart from the tame bear. That is going to take some careful explaining,” Chrysi said.

“Maybe we can blame the cold. They were both hallucinating,” Nevis suggested.

“That might work.” Chrysi stopped in the doorway of the restaurant. “There’s Harlan. He’s with your mom and dad.” She tilted her head. “Your mom looks as if she’s upset.”

Nevis pushed the door open and went in. Chrysi was right, his mom looked as if she was holding back tears, a whole river of them. “Hi, Mom. Morning, Dad.”

“You’re back from Everest, son. I wasn’t expecting you back for a week or more,” his dad said.

“We talked about this last night,” Nevis said.

“I don’t remember you calling,” Lex replied.

“I didn’t, we met here. You remember Harlan and Chrysi?” Nevis asked, knowing the answer before his father said the words.

“No, I was just telling Harlan we have never met,” Lex stated firmly, giving Harlan a hard stare. “I would have remembered.”

Daphne let out a sob, and Chrysi put her arm around Daphne and helped her sit down at the table. “Have you eaten?”

“No, we have only just arrived. Lex went for a walk. In his slippers,” Daphne said. “He was frozen.”

“Shall we order, and then go to the hospital?” Chrysi suggested. “It might be a long day, and another half an hour won’t make much difference.” She cringed. “Sorry, that came out wrong.”

“It’s OK, you are right,” Nevis said. He went to round up some breakfast for them all, which they ate in relative silence.

“What are you going to do today?” Chrysi asked Harlan. “I’m going to stick with Nevis… If that’s OK with you all?”

“Yes. That would be great,” Nevis said. He looked at his watch. “Kate will be here in an hour.”

“Then let’s go over to the hospital,” Daphne said. She looked a lot brighter, the color had returned to her cheeks, although she still looked drawn, as if she had aged overnight.

“We’ll be with you every step of the way,” Nevis assured her. “I’m sorry I wasn’t there before.”

“Don’t blame yourself. You have to live your own life. I should have insisted your dad saw a doctor before. But he wasn’t this bad…” She took a deep, shuddering breath.

Nevis took charge. “Come on, Dad. We’re going to find a doctor to see you.”

“I don’t need a doctor,” Lex insisted.

“Yes, you do.” Nevis put his arm around his dad’s shoulders. The man who had always been so strong, always on top of everything, seemed to diminish before his eyes.

“What if there is something wrong with me?” he blurted out in panic.

“That’s what we need to find out. Then the doctors can treat you.” Nevis guided them out of the hotel. “The nearest hospital is in Bear Bluff. I suggest we drive over there.”

“I can drive you all,” Harlan said. “I need to widen my search.”

“Dad,” Chrysi said with a frown.

“What?” Harlan asked.

“You sound like a hunter after its prey.” Chrysi tilted her head. “I hope you find her soon.”

“So do I,” Harlan said and unlocked his car.

They all climbed in. Lex sat between Daphne and Nevis in the back, while Chrysi rode shotgun with Harlan. The journey was quick; the two towns were only separated by a few miles. Harlan pulled up at a drop-off point outside the hospital and they all got out, heading toward the entrance, while Chrysi spoke briefly to Harlan.

Running to catch up, she pushed the door open and followed them inside. Just as they reached the hospital reception, Nevis’s phone rang. “It’s Kate.”

He moved away from the desk as his mom started to explain the problem. “Hi, Kate. Change of plans, we’re in Bear Bluff, at the hospital.”

“The hospital!” Her voice shocked. “Who is hurt?”

“No one. At least not hurt in any physical way. Not as far as we know.” He took a deep breath. “Dad isn’t good. Whatever has been causing his strange behavior seems to have escalated. His short-term memory seems to be incomplete.”

“Crap,” Kate said.

“Where are you?” Nevis asked.

“I pulled into a gas station about twenty miles out of Bear Creek. I’ll come to the hospital instead.”

“OK, I’ll see you soon. And Kate, drive carefully.”

“I will,” she assured him and hung up.

Nevis crossed back to the reception desk, where his dad was being directed to take a seat. “They said the doctor will see him soon. He’s just finishing up with another patient,” Daphne said. “We’re lucky we’re in a shifter town, I’ve never seen an ER so empty.”

“There is something to be said for bear blood in your veins,” Nevis agreed, taking hold of Chrysi’s hand.

“There are bears here?” Lex asked.

“Oh, honey, what is going on in that head of yours?” Daphne asked.

Two hours later, they had the answer.

“A brain tumor,” Daphne repeated the doctor's words back at him incredulously.

“It’s OK, Mom,” Kate said. She’d arrived just as the doctor was taking Lex to be examined. “What is the prognosis?”

“Good.” The doctor took them through to an exam room, where he pulled up the results of the scan they had just performed on Lex. “See here? It’s pushing on the part of the brain that stores short- to medium-term memory. The loss of these memories is what has left Lex disorientated and confused. If you imagine parts of your memory, conversations, that kind of thing, being effectively erased, it would feel as if you are going mad. Unfortunately, talking to Lex, he tried to ignore it.”

“But he’s going to be OK?” Nevis asked, his arm around Daphne’s shoulder as she stood with her head resting on his chest, her body shaking as tears streamed down her cheeks.

“Yes. There may be some memories he won’t recover, but I am confident we can remove the tumor. Once we do, and we run some biopsies, then we will know if he needs further treatment.”

“You mean you’ll know if it’s cancer?” Daphne asked, her voice strangled in her throat.

“Yes. But I’m optimistic.”

“Thank you, Doctor,” Nevis said. “When can you operate?”

“We’ll be taking him in as an emergency. It should be in the next twenty-four hours. We want to relieve the pressure as quickly as possible.”

“Mom, it’s going to be OK,” Nevis told Daphne as she sobbed in his arms.

“What if it’s not?” Daphne could hardly breathe. “He’s my mate. He’s my world.”

“Mom. Don’t. You need to be strong, and you need to believe he will pull through,” Kate said.

“I know. I know,” Daphne replied, forcing a teary smile on her face.

“Why don’t you come and see him?” the doctor suggested. “He’s been asking for you.”

“Yes please,” Daphne said. “Kate, do you want to come too?”

“Is that OK, Doctor?” Kate asked.

“Yes. Just the two of you,” the doctor said.

“We’ll go and get some fresh air,” Nevis said as the others left the room.

Chrysi let out a breath. “I’m so sorry.”

Nevis opened his arms and she went to him, holding him close. He stroked her hair, needing to feel her close, to smell her scent, and hear her voice. “I’m sure he’ll pull through.”

“He will, he’s strong. He has to be to have a son like you,” Chrysi told him.

“Let’s go grab a coffee and get some fresh air. I never did like the smell of hospitals.”

“Me neither. It reminds me of when I lost my parents,” Chrysi confided.

“I’m so sorry, I’d never have asked you to come,” Nevis said, his gut wrenching at the thought of Chrysi being in pain.

“You didn’t. I offered.” She held his hand tightly as they walked down to the coffee machine. “I don’t remember much. But the smell, it always brings it all back. The sense of things happening around me that I didn’t understand.” She took her coffee from Nevis. “Thanks.”

“Let’s get out of here,” Nevis said.

“I used to think fate was cruel to take both of my parents. But seeing your mom and dad, and Harlan chasing all over town for his mate… Maybe it was good they died together. I know they weren’t shifters, that they didn’t have the same bond…” She turned to look at Nevis. “But I know what I feel in my heart. I know how strong my love for you is. I know that even after such a short time, it would tear my heart out to lose you.”

“You never will lose me, Chrysi. Ever. We’re in this life together. And together, we can weather any storm.”

“With a little help from your bear,” she said and chuckled as they left the hospital building, and inhaled the icy mountain air. “I will remember Ross’s face as your bear roared at him for the rest of my life.”

His bear looked smug as he heard her words.

“He’s so pleased to have been there for you,” Nevis said.

“When the weather clears, and your dad is better, will you take me back up the mountain and show me Cloud Valley?” Chrysi asked, looking into the distance at the snow-covered mountain.

“I will,” Nevis said. “In the spring, when the mountain wakes from its winter sleep, and everything looks fresh and new.”

“Spring, a time for rebirth. We will get through this,” Chrysi said. “And maybe by then, Harlan will have tracked down his mysterious mate.”

“Maybe he will. Hey, if he does, we could have a double wedding,” Nevis suggested.

“Wow, I would have a stepmother.” Chrysi frowned.

“At least if she’s wicked, I get to be your Prince Charming,” Nevis said.

“Hey, this girl can rescue herself. Remember?”

“How could I forget?” And he kissed her as a flurry of snowflakes fell around them. He hoped, as their lips met, and a fire within him burned, that when spring came and they ventured into the mountains, everyone would have their happy endings.

“Come on. Let’s go check on your mom and sister,” Chrysi said.

Together, they walked into the hospital. The snow began to fall heavier, covering the ground with a thick layer, as the family sat and waited for Lex to come out of the operating room. When the doctor told them the news, they cried tears of joy, and Nevis looked forward to a time when he could share his world with his dad, in the hope that it would make him see why he lived the life he did.

But that was for later. When the storms passed and the snow cleared.