Chapter 1 #2
The broken, fucked-up chromius who can’t function and just brings drama in her wake.
“Hi, Maeve,” the doctor says, and his voice is very different to what I imagined. As a very tall, broad man, I expected a deep, even demanding kind of tone. Instead, it’s soft like butter, and dripping with honey.
It’s not put on, though, truly authentic.
I like it.
“I’m Dr Rush. This is Nurse—”
“Caitlin,” she says, cutting him off with a fond eye roll. She grins at me. “Nate’s my mate, and has a fondness for letting every single person know that we share a surname now.”
I laugh, although can’t help the wary look that I shoot the man.
“Yes, yes, nobody cares,” Lucifer says. “Let’s talk about Maeve instead of you.”
My laugh cuts off, and I glower at Lucifer. I do not want to talk about me. Not in the slightest. I just want discharged so I can go home and die of embarrassment.
I suppose I should probably try to figure out who or what my stalker is and how he managed to kill my stepdad before dying, but, you know, at this point, I’ll take anything.
“When you were brought in, you were asleep, and we could clearly tell that you had a panic attack,” Dr Rush says calmly. I like that he doesn’t react to Lucifer’s bark. Then again, I’d be intrigued to know if he would.
“Gee, I wonder how you could tell that,” I mutter. I do try not to glower at the good doctor, but, honestly, I can’t help myself. As nice as he seems, it’s very fucking obvious that I’m a mess.
“It was hard, trust me,” Dr Rush says with a smile. “Now we want to talk about a few different things that we have noticed in your bloods.”
I frown, crossing my arms in front of my chest before immediately shaking them out. The natural instinct to hide and protect myself is still there, but I can’t do anything about it.
“What do you mean in my bloods? When did you do a blood test?” I demand, eyeing up the cannula with distrust.
The mated pair share a hesitant look, and, this time, it’s Caitlin who speaks.
“We were very, very careful to make sure that we didn’t touch you any more than necessary, and, unfortunately, we figured for you and your struggles that that would be the best time to do it.
“We did check with Atticus, and, obviously, Lucifer gave—” she trails off as my bodyguard snarls at her.
“Don’t fucking blame this on me,” he snaps, one hand immediately falling to his hip. It’s not in an attitude way, more as if he’s instinctively reaching to grab something. I wonder what weapon of choice the psychotic imp usually selects.
A knife? A gun?
A shuriken?
“I said don’t fucking dare take her blood until she’s awake and can consent herself,” Lucifer adds. He turns to me and sighs. “Annoyingly, this fucker here”—he gestures to Hadrian—“convinced me that it was needed.”
Lucifer gives Hadrian such a look of disdain that I lowkey hope he’s going to snap and murder his cousin. I wonder how the pegasus managed to convince him. What’s so important that Lucifer would change his tune like that?
“And it was,” Hadrian says clearly. “They’ve clearly found something that they need to tell us about.”
I sneer at him. “It’s none of your fucking business what’s going on with me.”
“And we’re more than happy to wait outside whilst you get your results, princess,” Luc says cheerfully. “Well, these two are. I should stay. You know, for bodyguard reasons. For all we know, Doctor and Mrs Healers here could actually be murderers in disguise.”
I shiver, glancing down at my hands, unable to focus past the trepidation building inside of me.
“I can promise you I’ve never killed anybody,” Caitlin says with a nervous chuckle.
She glances over at her husband, who shrugs his shoulders.
“I have, not on purpose, but people have died in my care,” he admits.
Draven growls low under his breath, and my gaze darts over to my boss, wondering what has him feeling so angry. His eyes are darker than usual, and I know that he’s fighting with his bear for control.
With the way he’s staring down the good doctor, I have a feeling it’s the insinuation that I could not be safe with him.
It’s kind of cute knowing that he’s coming to my defence, even though it’s absolutely not needed. And besides, Dr Rush here is going to be miles better than the doctors at the compound.
They hid their fear around me.
He does not.
“Well, I’m all for standing around and discussing who died and how,” I say with absolutely no tact whatsoever, “but I’d much rather get into what is wrong with me and what we’re gonna do to fix it.”
The two health care professionals exchange a wary look, and I hope they’re not talking silently with their mate bond. I glance at Lucifer, who is frowning deeply, and I know it’s not just me who is frustrated right now.
“We found some alarming results in your bloods,” Dr Rush says calmly. “When were you last treated on the compound? And what were you treated for?”
“Shouldn’t that be in her medical notes?” Hadrian snarls, crossing his arms in front of his chest. Draven nods firmly, stepping an inch closer to the pegasus.
“It should,” Caitlin says.
“But it’s not,” I offer, and they both nod.
“We have reason to believe some information is missing,” Caitlin continues with her soft, almost melodic, voice. I have no doubt it’s meant to put me at ease.
Such a shame that I’m too mentally fucked to accept the comfort that’s being offered.
“The last treatment I received was after my heat. I was dehydrated and probably a little bit malnourished, but we didn’t do much for that.
I needed some IV fluids to combat the dehydration, and I relied heavily on the anti-sickness meds for the first few days while we got food back into my system.
I think I had more severe problems with my kidneys this time, though, so needed to stay longer than I would’ve liked. ”
I ignore the flashes of anger and discomfort from the three men in the room and instead focus on the medical staff. Caitlin keeps her expression calm and at ease, so she’s the easiest to look at.
“I was warned that my reproductive system is shutting down because of the way my heats are handled at the moment, and the longer I handle them alone, the higher the risk of infertility,” I continue, and the moment her eyes flash with pity, I break eye contact.
I look down at my hands as the truth about poor, broken Maeve comes to light.
I don’t want my boss hearing this. I don’t want Hadrian being able to use it against me.
But, more than anything, I don’t want things to change between Luc and I. I don’t want him to think I’m weak—that I’m pathetic.
He treats me like… well, like an equal.
I don’t want to lose that.
I think it might actually be the thing that breaks me.
Dr Rush says quietly, “That lines up with some of your notes, I suppose.”
“You suppose?” Draven hisses, and hearing the anger in his voice has me startling back. His presence seems to grow darker, and if I was anyone else, I’d probably be scared for my life. An angry ursarix is not a villain I’d ever like to go up against.
“Everyone is clearly getting very annoyed with things. How about you just tell us what the problem is with my bloods?”
Dr Rush’s brows pinch together as he scans the report again. There’s a pained look that flashes across his face before being replaced with the professional mask.
No more empathy—just distance.
“Your hormonal panel doesn’t make sense,” the doctor admits. “It looks like your system’s been… chemically regulated. As if you’re on something designed to stabilise your cycle—only it’s stronger than anything I’ve ever seen before. Too strong.”
Caitlin leans forward, voice still gentle. “It’s stronger than anything we’d use, even in the most severe of cases, Maeve.”
“I don’t understand,” I say calmly. My head is fuzzy, and I think my entire system has gone into shock because I’m not panicking the way I should be.
What the fuck is going on?
What have they done to me?
“Your oestrogen and luteinising hormone are abnormally high, while your progesterone is dropping in unpredictable spikes,” Dr Rush says. “It’s not natural.”
“Okay, Doc, speak to us as if we’re five,” Lucifer says.
“Well, maybe more like we’re adults with functioning brains,” Hadrian mutters, but I tune them both out. I don’t care for their shit, not when the medical team are telling me someone’s been treating me like some fucking lab rat.
“Whoever has been in charge of your medical care has been administering extreme levels of hormones that have been forcing your body to stay fertile for longer,” Dr Rush says. The words are stilted, his hands trembling.
With rage, maybe, or unease.
I freeze, fingers curling tight in my lap. Forced. I already know what that means. I know who did it. I just don’t understand why or how.
It all makes sense now, though.
This is what Adrian and Dr Jones have been up to. This is why they’ve been monitoring me all this time, why they’ve been so determined to get me into the hospital after each heat.
I can’t gather the strength to be as angry as this warrants. It’s just another time added to the list of where my body was abused without my permission.
“Your kidneys are showing the strain of metabolising something they shouldn’t,” Dr Rush adds. “And your immune markers are extremely low. You’re fighting this off the best you can, but I do know one thing for certain—whatever this is, it’s making every heat harder to survive.”
There’s a low growl, but when I look to Draven, he’s completely shut down. His face is impassive, his eyes hard. He doesn’t react to my gaze, and I look to his left where Hadrian’s face is contorted into a snarl.
“Are you telling me that they’ve been drugging her against her fucking will?” Lucifer snaps.
“This is what she meant,” I whisper, fear thudding at my heart. “She told me… she said that I’d only survive another six heats or so. That in eighteen months, I’d be dead.”
Ever since then, the clock has been ticking quietly in the back of my mind, reminding me of her countdown.
I thought I was broken, destined to die for my weaknesses. Turns out, I’ve been engineered to fail.