It was time to force myself up before my potential boy toy and my eldest brother tried to kill each other. I wasn’t going to be allowed to languish in the so not comfy bed. I pulled out the IV in my arm and sat up. I don’t like IVs.
“Tell me I’m not in a hospital. Tell me this is some back-alley clinic that will take payment in sexual favors.” I couldn’t afford a hospital. The world still seemed a little gauzy as Gray was at my side before I could form another sentence. “Why am I in a coma?”
“Call the doctor,” Gray ordered as he framed my cheeks with his hands. His handsome face gave me something to focus on and I wondered briefly if I’d finally managed to get to a state of alcohol poisoning. My mouth was so dry, and I couldn’t remember a damn thing. How had I gotten to a hospital?
“Where am I?” I forced the words out of my mouth.
Gray ran a hand soothingly across my forehead and then his fingers massaged my scalp. I sighed because it felt so nice. “You’re in Parkland, sweetheart. We’re in the ER, but they’re moving you up to a private room soon. God, Kelsey, I thought you were going to die. The doctor said you might never wake up. You took three doses of Ketamine, one almost in your freaking heart. If I ever find that fucking piece of shit witch, I’m gonna take him apart limb from limb.”
“Why would someone shoot me with horse tranquilizer?” I asked after searching my addled brain for what Ketamine was. “Get my neck.” It was so sore. My whole body ached and it felt like I’d been hit by a truck.
Gray’s hands moved obediently down to my neck and started rubbing the muscles there. I sighed and felt him relax as well as his strong fingers worked from my neck to my bunched up shoulders. “I don’t know exactly what was going on. You don’t remember? You don’t remember the wolves and the man in black with the gun? You chased him and he shot you so he could get away. I would have followed him, but I couldn’t leave you. God, I couldn’t leave you there.”
I was so tired, but I could feel my strength starting to come back. I had the feeling back in my extremities and my mind was starting to get sharp again. “Tell me what happened. Maybe it’ll jog my memory.”
“What’s the last thing you remember clearly, Kels?” Jamie asked, looking at me over Gray’s shoulder.
“I remember the restaurant.” I let my mind wander over the evening. Thankfully it was coming back into focus. “I ordered too small a steak because I didn’t want Gray to think I was a big old pig, but then he told me that you had already told him I was one so I went ahead and I ate a lobster.”
“Two lobsters, honey,” Gray said, chuckling. “You ate mine, too.”
Jamie was not amused with our banter. “After the restaurant. What do you remember after that?”
I sat up and Gray moved in behind me. I should have been annoyed. The man was invading my space, but it was nice to lean against him. It was nice to feel his strong chest against my back and I wondered how I’d gone so damn long without the feeling of warmth surrounding me. It made it easier to concentrate.
Wolves. I’d been surrounded by wolves and there had been a voice in my head that wasn’t my own.
“I killed a bunch of werewolves.” I could feel the staff in my hand, the weight welcome. I could kill them all with that little piece of metal, I remembered thinking. They’d been stupid to send in these wolves. These wolves weren’t even alphas. I shivered at the thoughts running through my head. Someone had been there watching me. He’d talked to me, his voice deep inside my brain. He wanted me to kill the wolves, but the wolves weren’t real.
“I remember the magician.” The word seemed to fit him. I could see him, though not clearly. He’d had dark eyes and long black hair. He’d worn leather and jeans and black motorcycle boots. He’d been standing at the back of the alley and everything I fought had come straight from his brain. “The magician ran and I chased him. He talked about his master.”
“Well, that’s the Ketamine talking, all right,” a middle-aged, briskly efficient-looking doctor said. Her hair was pulled back in a neat bun. I was reprimanded harshly for pulling out my IV, but then told it wasn’t completely unexpected as Ketamine could have hallucinatory effects. It often made people act irrationally. I didn’t mention I made it a habit to act irrationally all on my own. The doctor checked my eyes and frowned at Gray, who was on the bed with me, but he ignored her.
The doctor surveyed my chart like she needed to read it twice to believe it. “The surprise is that you’re awake at all. You should still be in a coma. If you had asked me, I would have bet against you. I would have said you wouldn’t wake up. You’re a lucky girl. According to the latest blood tests, you’ve metabolized the drugs completely. I can’t find a reason to keep you. I’d rather you stayed overnight for observation, but all your vitals are perfectly normal. Your eyes are clear. You’re breathing fine. I’m not sure, at this point, that we didn’t misdiagnose you. Perhaps our toxicology results were wrong. Otherwise, this is a flat out miracle. If you want to go home, I’ll let you, but you need someone with you tonight in case there’s a delayed reaction.”