Page 138 of The Orc Outcast's Miracle

He pressed her hand to his wet cheek, the sight of her blurry as his eyes burned and dripped. He rocked, willing her to move.

But she didn’t. She wouldn’t.

But she also wasn’t dead.

“Govek, what will Miranda say when she wakes up?”

Govek took a shaky breath, looked around the destroyed room. Almost everything was broken. His clothes, the furniture. He’d clutched the bed frame so hard the wood had cracked.

“She’s going to be furious with you for not eating or drinking properly. And how will you care for her in this condition?” Karthoc continued, unyielding.

Fuck, his cousin was right. With a shaky hand, Govek reached up and gripped the cup on the nightstand, downing the water in a single gulp.

His mind grew clearer.

“Here.”

Karthoc forced a strip of dried meat into his hand and Govek’s mouth watered. It could water now that he’d had something to drink. He gobbled it down and Karthoc replaced it with another.

After a few moments, Govek was able to take the bowl from Karthoc, eating rapidly. Not tasting it, not even seeing it. Just shoveling food into his mouth.

His shaky limbs stilled. His mind cleared.

Fuck, he was a mess.

“You should bathe too.” Karthoc took the empty plate. “You smell as sour as a carcass on a hot day. Worse than one of Savili’s fish monstrosities.”

Govek was torn between leaving Miranda’s side and being clean for her.

Would she wake up?

Fades help him. She had to wake up.

“Go.” Karthoc shoved Govek toward the bathroom. “I’ll stay with her.”

“Don’t touch her.”

“I won’t.”

Govek swallowed again and loped on shaky limbs to the tub, kept the door open as he washed as quickly as he could. Karthoc fetched him a change of clean clothes, and by the time Govek was dressed, his mind was clear. He downed another cup of water without hesitation, and gobbled up another bowl of mystery food.

“She has to wake,” he said, finally having the energy to talk. “I don’t know how to wake her.”

“It just takes time, Govek. Evythiken said it would. Do you want me to bring him in?”

“No,” Govek seethed.

“Fine. I won’t. But you’re going to have to be patient then.” Karthoc gestured around the room. “And fuck, clean up this mess. Do you want your mate to awaken and be distraught?”

Govek instantly began to clean, fixing and mending, folding things and putting them away. Karthoc aided him.

“Why didn’t he fucking tell her?” Govek’s question slipped out before his mind had even caught up with him.

“What are you on about?” Karthoc shut the lid of the trunk by the bathroom door. It sat askew from a broken hinge.

“Evythiken,” Govek said, hardly able to get the name out without rage tainting it. “He should have fucking warned her about what she would see. He said he’d felt death. He had to know it was hers he felt.”

“Would you have let her do it if he had?”

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