CHAPTER SIXTEEN
Vallis
Heartville
The world outside my head was loud. Monitors beeped, bopped, and squeaked.
People talked. All rushing around with their shoes squeaking across the floor.
Someone had stolen my pants and my shoes.
The whole place smelled like a woodsy fruit salad more than it smelled like shifters or elves.
I breathed in again. The world inside me was quieter.
My bear slumbered inside his inner sanctum and Lero kept whispering that he was almost here.
I didn’t want to open my eyes again because when I did the dream would end and I’d be back inside the coffin.
The beeping fruit salad was preferable to that.
“Vallis?” some strange voice called my name.
Who had Pami recruited to work with her now?
“Vallis? Can you hear me?” the man asked again. “Vallis? If you can hear me, I need you to give me a sign.”
I flipped them off, half falling asleep with my hand still in that position. Then the guy laughed.
“That’s one way to say hello,” the man said.
“What did she give you?” I asked, not opening my eyes.
“Who give me?” he asked.
“Pami.”
“Friend, I never met her which is probably the best thing for her. I don’t think my mates would’ve liked her.”
I blinked my eyes open against the bright overhead lights. The healer in the long white coat, asked someone to turn off the lights and the room fell into darkness except for the blinking pulses on the monitors.
“Better?” he asked.
“Are you Bane? My father--- grandfather-in-law told them to take me to Bane,” it took me two tries to say the word father because my throat was so dry.
“Bane is with Mori. He’s had a bit of a shock. So, you’re stuck with me. I’m Dara. I like to think I’m just as good at shifter medicine as he is.”
“Okay,” I nodded and looked around the room. No Mori in here. No Colton either. Colton’s wolf husband slept in a chair in the corner. That was right. The world went crazy and the shebear killed Pami. Then a dragoness killed her. She might’ve killed the dragoness too. I wasn’t sure.
“Lero?” I asked, not in the mood to talk.
“Is on his way. They had a bit of drama at the Nightshade Bears when Preston found out that Mori ran off without telling him. He waffled about whether or not he could come and in the end he stayed home as he should with newborns. It slowed them down a bit, though.”
“How long?”
“Until they get here? A few more hours, I think,” the healer glanced at his watch.
“How long--- here?” I asked.
“Three days. Though, from what I understand the time you spent on your home world compared to here…” his voice trailed off.
“How long?” I asked again, trying to push myself upright.
“Hey, hey, now. Let’s keep you resting until Lero gets here,” he said, his voice gentle for a dragon. “It was five days here. Not too, too long, but long enough. You’ve been out cold for three. Just about a week.”
His pheromone blocker spray had nearly worn off.
“Mori? He’s still in shock?” I asked.
“Shock and grief are twins,” the healer said, dragging over another chair to sit by my bed.
“Am I dying?” I asked.
“Quite the opposite. You’re recovering nicely. I’d like you to meet with physical therapy before Lero steals you back to the bears in a few days. Our biggest concern will be getting your strength back up. Two years is a long time to be stuck in a box.”
“Stupid fucking box,” I muttered and shut my eyes again. “Wake me up when Lero gets here.”
“How about we get you something to drink? And maybe try you on some chicken broth?” he offered and inside my inner sanctum my bear lifted his big, furry head.
I considered letting him out but knew if I didn’t move soon, I might never move properly again.
I nodded and the healer pushed a button that half-sat up the bed, taking me with it.
I was clad in a light blue shirt thing that was nearly as long as a dress and tied in the back.
Some fashion choices Earthside made. I chewed on some ice while the healer played around on his phone.
A few minutes later a lady with a high ponytail came in with a tray.
On it was a bottle of water and a cup of broth.
I sniffed it and considered waiting until Lero was here before drinking it.
With no way to contact Mori I wasn’t sure who to trust.
Across the room, Lero’s dad opened one eye and arched a sleepy brow at me.
“His name is Ivan,” my bear reminded me.
“You think loud. I know you’re a bear’s bear,” he yawned.
“Huh?” I blinked at him.
“You’re on the family link now. Well, half-assed. You can drink that. Dara knows better than to poison someone Barry sent here. He doesn’t want his ass scales to be Barry’s new codpiece.”
“That I do not, but believe it or not, I’ve never poisoned a single patient, regardless of where they come from,” the healer chuckled and I took a sip of the broth.
It was warm and salty and tasted slightly of poultry.
The cord stuck into my wrist with the world’s smallest knife got in the way a bit but a glance around my chair-bed told me that this was the way they administered some medication or another.
“It’s an IV,” Ivan said. “They’re balancing your water and electrolytes out. Fattening you up.”
“Gonna eat me,” I grumbled and my bear laughed inside his inner sanctum.
“Not until you’re fat,” the healer chuckled.
Ivan dug around inside his bag and pulled something out.
“What is that?” the healer asked before I had the chance to.
“Something,” Ivan said. “Don’t worry, Dara. I’m not going to kill him either. If you don’t know, I showed up at Barry’s house not much better off than he is right now. It’s the little things that matter.”
“What little thing is that?” the healer asked.
“A bit of sugar, nosey,” Ivan said, stretching and standing up.
“He’s on a liqui---” the healer started but Ivan held up a weird little tube of golden liquid.
“Honey,” I said, my mouth already watering.
“Exactly.”
“If he gets sick…”
“Then you’ll deal with it,” Ivan said, biting off the end of the tube and crossing the room.
He held it out and it took a few seconds for my fingers to remember how to hold something small and squishy without smushing out all the good stuff. It tasted like heaven compared to the salty chicken water the healer had given me.
“See,” Ivan said to the healer.
“I’m not a cruel dragon, Ivan,” the healer said.
“I know. You haven’t left the clinic since we showed up,” the wolf nodded. “It’s different for me. I want him to feel better because he’s pack. I want him to have some color in his face before Lero shows up.”
“How is Mori?” I asked Ivan since Dara hadn’t given me a straight answer.
“Sad. He keeps leaving his body and we’re not sure if it’s on purpose or not. Barry thinks it is. Starry – he’s a local witch, thinks it is too. No one’s sure and Mori isn’t talking to anyone.”
“Oh--- because---” I stopped myself. If the healer hadn’t been in there I might’ve told Ivan what the shebear said about Mori’s true-mate. Maybe it was a lie. Maybe it was the truth. I didn’t know about her or the situation to make that call. Someone needed to be told, though.
“Hang on. I’ll get Barry,” Ivan said and left the room.
“You can ask for privacy,” the healer said.
“Unless he’s going to try to sneak you something you can’t eat yet, I’m okay with it.
I think by tonight we’ll be able to try you on something more solid.
The good thing is that you’re a bear and I’ve consulted with some bear healers who think you’ll fair better than some other shifter types because your body is primed for hibernation.
Though, two years is abnormally long for a bear to hibernate.
We’re not sure how the food you ate in astral form will factor into your recovery. ”
I nodded at him. My bear would speak up when he wanted something and then no healer would stand between me and food. This dragon seemed nice enough so I kept quiet instead of ruffling his scales. Maybe our timelines would line up in a way where I wouldn’t have to hurt his feelings.
“Ivan said you knew something about what might’ve upset Mori?” Barry stood in the doorway.
“I’ll leave you to it,” the healer nodded at me. “Just press that red button or holler if you need anything.”
I opened my mouth to say that Barry was a healer too but stopped short. I didn’t think hurting his feelings after he spent so much time bringing me back to the waking world was called for.
Barry took up the chair that the healer had vacated and waited for me to be ready to speak. I took a drink of the water, wishing my stomach would accept more, but things were slow going. Slowly, I told him about what the shebear said. He swore under his breath.
“This isn’t the first time someone messed with Mori about his true-mate.
The dead wolf tried to trick fate so that Mori could meet him ahead of time.
I’m not sure if I believe his mate is her son.
I don’t know. Hell, if she’s right the guy might not even know.
What I do know is that I don’t believe for a second Mori won’t meet his true-mate.
Between you and me, Xenos has seen them together.
Not the guy’s face but enough to know what was going on.
Don’t tell Mori. He gets so in his head about his true-mate. ”
“Mori wants his dog,” I said, unsure where the information came from.
“Uh… They’re bringing Snowy,” Barry nodded after thinking for a few seconds. “Is he talking to you?”
“I don’t know how I know. Maybe Lero is thinking about it,” I said. “Do you have any of that honey? Ivan gave me some and…”
Barry nodded and left the room. It wasn’t Barry who came back but Ivan who sat on the edge of my bed this time while I ate the honey.
“Are you a coffee elf or a tea elf?” Ivan asked.
“Uh.. I’m a whatever is there elf,” I shrugged.
“Yeah, that’s a bear trait,” Ivan laughed and dug around inside his bag again.
He pulled out a glass bottle with a colorful label that read ‘Bad Wolf Cakes’ and twisted the lid off of it for me.
I smelled it, not because I thought Ivan would poison me on purpose, but because my stomach was tender from being empty for so long.
Ivan held up a finger and dug around in his bag again.
This time he pulled out some of those little orange candy bears that were used for morning sickness over here.
I ate one and then another. I might’ve gone back for a third if he hadn’t already put the bottle away. Those little fuckers were good.
Ivan nodded to the coffee and I took a sip. Chocolate, sugar, coffee, and milk flooded my brain.
“Thank you,” I said between sips.
“You’re out kid now too. Yeah, I know. You might be older than some of us,” he chuckled. “But that’s just how it works.”
“If the job comes with coffee and honey, I’ll take,” I managed a laugh.
“Definitely a bear,” Ivan grinned.
Slowly, over the next few hours, I ate part of a protein bar, some deer jerky, half a burger, and some fries that Ivan had smuggled in.
The dragon healer wasn’t thrilled when he found out but since I kept the food down and my vitals remained stable, he didn’t give Ivan too much grief.
Besides, I had to do something to kill time until Lero was back in my arms.