Chapter 3
Calla watched the young woman breathe. It was hard to miss since she was on a machine to help her breathe in and out.
As soon as the monitor over her head beeped again, she had a feeling that the young woman was going to make it, and she’d have someone to talk to.
Picking up her cold hand, she put it to her cheek and spoke to her.
“I know your name is Kimber. I have a feeling that you go by something else. Like Kim and the big bad vampire likes your given name. Same with me. My mate loves calling me his Calla Lily. I’ve grown used to it.
” She put her hand down and covered it with the blankets.
“I know you’re going to have lots of questions.
I did too. I’ve read the book that Brew gave me, and it’s helped a great deal. ”
The machine beeped again. She had no idea what it was for, but every time it beeped she knew that Kimber had lived for another minute. Just looking at her face and arms made her feel like she was lucky that she’d lived as long as she had.
“Vampires are a very jealous type of person. Usually, they’re very nice, too, but Rance is set in his ways and doesn’t take into consideration the feelings of others when he goes spouting off things that he’d be better off leaving unsaid.
Like being mated to you has somehow ruined his life.
” The machine beeped twice this time, and she wasn’t sure what to think about that.
When no one came running into the room like they had before, when it was just a long beep, she went back to talking to the other woman.
“We have a lot cut out for us. Rance is particularly set in his ways, but Brew was like that as well when I first met him.”
Getting up, she went to the window and looked out over the parking lot. She could see a woman getting into a car with a car seat, and she put her hands over her still flat belly. To have Brew’s baby was the best thing that could have happened to her. To him as well.
“You’ll meet Tabby soon. She’s a lot of fun.
She and Sirous live not too far from us, and they have a lovely home.
I can’t wait for you to see all of our houses.
They’re huge and formal, but I love ours.
” She watched as the woman with the car seat struggled with the seat in the back and decided that she was going to have to get into the practice of putting one into the car.
She didn’t want to look foolish when she had to go places with the baby.
“I think that Tabby will be having a baby soon, too. I hope so. It’ll be fun to have babies together. ”
She thought of the damage that had been done to Kimber, and her heart broke for her.
The men who had beaten her for the check were going to pay as soon as Rance found them.
And he would. There was no doubt that since he had their scent, they’d get away with harming his mate for very long.
In addition to having a broken leg and arm, she’d had all her ribs broken as well. One of her hands had been crushed, too.
“You’ll make a full recovery thanks to Rance.
He said that you had asked him why he bothered, and I wish I knew the answer to that as well.
He seems pissed off all the time about you being his mate.
” The young woman below her finally got the seat in and walked back to the hospital.
She more than likely had to get the baby now, and she wondered why she didn’t have any help.
“He nearly healed you completely, but stopped just in time. You will heal faster, but not fast enough for me. I want you better so that we can talk.”
“Where am I?” She turned so quickly when Kimber spoke that she nearly knocked over the vase of roses she had brought her. “Where am I? What’s happened?”
“You’ve been hurt by three men. Do you remember anything?” She started grabbing for the bandage on her head, but she’d been tied down, so she wouldn’t do that. “You aren’t supposed to pull at those. They have you wrapped up so that you don’t hurt yourself. Just lie still, and I’ll talk to you.”
“Where am I?” She told her that she was in the hospital. “Rance was there. He…he didn’t hurt me, but he hates me.” Calla didn’t have anything to say about that, so she kept her mouth shut. “Where am I?”
“The hospital. They said that we should talk to you about what happened each time you woke. This is the third time you’ve asked where you were when you woke up.” Nodding Kimber settled down and seemed to have gone back to sleep. The pain meds were doing that for her so that she’d not wake in pain.
“Rance Smith. He told him some things about himself.” She agreed with her and said he was a vampire. “Yes. I didn’t know if you knew or not, so I didn’t want to get him into trouble. He’s very bossy.”
“He is.” Calla laughed. “He’s been in here until an hour ago. He had to go home and rest. You’ve been in the hospital for the past ten days. He’s not left your side.”
“Probably looking for a place to drain me. He said something about that when he found me.” She wasn’t sure why he’d drain her, so she didn’t say anything.
“He might well have said he was going to drain himself to make me better. Like he was pissed off that I was hurt and he was there to help me. Bits and pieces are coming back to me.”
“The doctor said that it might. I’m supposed to let Rance know when you’re awake again.
” Kimber didn’t say anything, so she thought she’d gone back to sleep.
Each time she woke, she would be awake a little more.
It was the first time she’d been awake enough to remember that Rance had been with her.
She reached out to Rance to let him know.
“She remembers you being in the room with her, but not much more. Something about draining yourself to make her live.”
“I did tell her that.” He seemed like he had more to say, so she waited for him to speak.
“Do you think she’s finally coming out of it?
I mean, it’s been almost two weeks. The doctor said that he’d keep her sedated so that she’d not hurt so much.
I would think that she’d be hurting even unconscious like she is.
” Calla told him that she tried to get out of the leather straps on her arms, but didn’t know how much pain she was in.
“I can ask her the next time she wakes up. She doesn’t seem to be in any pain when she’s talking to me.
Just wanting to know where she is and what’s happened.
This time she did mention you, but I don’t think she has any other time, has she?
” He said she was just being stubborn. “I doubt that she wants to be drugged up all the time, Rance. Give her a chance. She nearly died several times since she was found.”
“I know that, but there are things that I need to take care of for her. The landlord where she lives isn’t happy that her rent is due.
But he won’t tell me how much it is so that I can pay it.
He’s being stubborn, too. Telling me that if she really is my wife, then I should know these things about her.
I don’t know anything about her.” She could hear the frustration in his voice and felt sorry for him.
She also felt sorry for Kimber, but since she didn’t know either one of them all that well, she had to take them one at a time.
After closing the connection to Rance, thinking that he’d say something she’d have to bring him to task about, she sat down next to Kimber’s bed.
“Is he unhappy?” Startled by the question, Calla asked who she was talking about. “Rance. He seems to thrive on being in a bad mood. I can tell he’s being nasty by the way you were huffing. I guess the smut books get it right when they say you can talk to each other with some kind of connection.”
“That’s true. It’s tighter for mates. I would imagine that you can talk to him now as well.” She told her that she didn’t want to. “Not that I blame you, but you’ll have to talk to him sooner rather than later.”
“I only have one question for him. Why did he save me if he’s going to be pissy all the time?
I have enough going on in my life so that I don’t need him there, making it worse for me.
I didn’t want to be his mate.” She asked her about saving her life.
“Again, I didn’t ask him to help me. Or rather, I did, I think.
It’s all sort of fuzzy with the three men who beat me up.
They wanted the check I’d just gotten and were mad when I told them that I cashed it.
I don’t think they knew how much it was.
Just that someone told them to get it from me.
The only person that could be is the insurance adjuster.
He’s the only person I spoke to about it, and then Rance.
Oh, the banker too. I forgot about him.”
“Are you in pain? I can call the nurse for you if you are. She said you can have as much as you wanted until you heal a little more.” She said that she was fine for now, but so long as she didn’t move, she’d be all right.
“Good. Rance asked me if you were. I didn’t think you’d be as stubborn as he thinks you would about pain medication. ”
“I’m not stubborn at all. Just with him. He gets so pissy.” She didn’t move, and now she knew why. It was the pain of it keeping her quiet. “I think I could use something to take the edge off. Nothing that will put me to sleep if they can do that.”
“I’m sure that they can.” Pulling the nurse’s call button to her, she pressed the button for the nurse.
Telling her what Kimber wanted, they said they’d be right in.
In less time than it had taken her to tell her what Kimber wanted, she was in with a shot for her IV.
“Let it work for you, Kimber, and you’ll feel better in the long run. ”