Night Unbound(68)

Zach remained motionless, Lisette still cradled in his arms, as Bastien filled the syringe with the antidote and turned to his wife.
Taking one of her arms, Bastien pushed up her sleeve and positioned the needle at the bend of her elbow. “Say when,” he said softly, his eyes locked on hers.
She nodded.
Pushing the needle into her flesh, he began to slowly inject the liquid.
“When,” she said.
Withdrawing the needle, Bastien tossed it into a nearby step-on medical waste bin and cupped her face in his hands. “Okay?”
She straightened with a smile. “I’m okay.”
He pressed a gentle kiss to her lips, then released her and stepped aside so she could see to her patient.
Zach stiffened as she walked toward him and motioned to one of the surgical/exam tables.
“Would you please place Lisette on the table?” she asked, her voice and demeanor so gentle she almost made Zach forget he wished to kill the eldest member of their party.
Everything inside him balked at the idea of relinquishing his hold on Lisette.
“It’s okay,” Bastien said, stepping up behind his wife and meeting Zach’s gaze. “Melanie will take good care of her. And you can still touch her and hold her hand if you need to.”
Zach decided that, aside from Lisette, Bastien was his favorite of all the Immortal Guardians. With monumental reluctance, he lowered Lisette onto the exam table.
Bastien zipped across the room, grabbed a metal stool on wheels, and rolled it across to Zach. “Here. You can sit on this.”
“Thank you.” Zach parked his butt on the stool and leaned his elbows on the table. Fearing his wings would get in the way in the enclosed space, he retracted them. Then, taking one of Lisette’s hands in his own, he brought it to his lips for a kiss and clung tightly to it as Melanie renewed her inspection.
“Are you telepathic, Zach?” Melanie asked. “I’m sorry. May I call you Zach?”
“Yes to both questions.”
“See if you can reach her telepathically.”
“I’ve tried,” he told her, despondent. “I’ve been trying. Over and over again. There’s nothing there. No response. No thought. No dreams. Just silence.”
She looked to Seth. “Seth, can you reach her?”
Seth stared at Lisette for a full minute. “No. It’s as he said.”
“I’ve never seen one of you slip into stasis before,” she murmured. “Does it look like this? Could that be what this is?”
Zach had forgotten about that, the eerie state of hibernation immortals would slip into if they lost too much blood. They wouldn’t die like vampires. Rather both their breath and their pulse would slow to the point that even an immortal couldn’t discern them. Zach had never seen an immortal in such a state, but thought hours could pass between heartbeats.
“Her pulse would not be detectable as it is now if it were stasis,” Seth responded. “And blood alone would bring her out of it.”
“You’re sure she was hit with the same drug the mercenaries used?” Melanie asked.
“Yes.”
“Bastien, honey, would you please get me a double dose of the antidote?”
Bastien retrieved two auto-injectors from another drawer and handed them to his wife.
Melanie injected Lisette with the first.
No response. No increase in pulse. No increase in breath. No sudden burst of thought in her subconscious.#p#分页标题#e#
She injected Lisette with the second.
All held their breath.
When Krysta had received a double dose of the antidote, she had reacted instantly. Leaping up, she had happily jumped back into battle, heart racing, breath short, judgment a tad hampered.
Lisette’s pulse picked up and began to race. Her chest rose and fell with short, choppy breaths. But her eyes remained closed. Her limbs didn’t move. Her delicate fingers didn’t squeeze Zach’s. And he heard nothing in her mind.
Melanie looked at each of them. “I can’t risk giving her another dose.”
Zach’s heart sank. A lump rose in his throat.
“I can give her blood—”
“Give her mine,” David said and looked to Seth.
Seth nodded. “Do it.”
Melanie nodded. “I’ll set up an IV for her. Bastien, would you draw some of David’s blood for me?”
“Of course.”
“I could infuse her with my fangs,” David suggested.
Melanie shook her head. “I don’t want you exposed to the drug. Why don’t all of you head into the next room and do it there. Send Tracy in when you do, and we’ll clean Lisette up and make her more comfortable.”
Bastien grabbed everything he needed and headed into the next room, David right behind him. Tracy entered and stood back, face uncertain.