Page 69 of Stripped

“That's a lot of ifs,” Axel said. “But it's not a bad idea. I'll talk to Doc and see what she can come up with.”

Axel and the others left. Julie told me to call her if I wanted to hang out or chat. I'd miss her almost as much as I'd miss Zane when I went back to Denver.

Zane sat on the edge of my bed and laced his fingers through mine. There were dark circles under his eyes and his handsome face was haggard. “How are you feeling?”

“I'm pretty tired,” I said, mostly lying. I figured if I told him the truth about how good I was feeling, he'd insist on cooking for me or showing me around the pack village or something that would mean he was awake with me when it was clear he needed to be sleeping. “Do you want to climb up here with me and find something to watch on T.V.?”

The television was tiny and so high up on the wall that it would be hard to make out the characters on the screen. I doubted Zane would be watching it very long before he passed out, anyway. He climbed onto the bed and arranged himself so that he was spooning me but he wasn't in the way of the tube running into my hand. It was a small bed, but we fit as long as we snuggled tightly together. “I was so worried about you. I can't lose you, Abby.”

My heart clenched. I grabbed the remote and clicked the power button. “What are you in the mood to watch?” I flicked through the channels, finally settling on reruns of a popular comedy series. Zane was out before the first commercial break. I watched the show with half my brain, and I soaked in the feel of him around me, his deep breathing, the scent of him, with the other half of my brain. I wanted to enjoy every moment and brand him on my memory so when I was alone in my new apartment in Denver, I could imagine he was there with me and maybe I wouldn't hurt so much.

The show had ended and another one had started when Doc walked into the room. She wasn't much older than me, with a kind face and the limitless energy you expect from the best doctors. I put a finger to my lips and slanted my eyes at Zane when she walked in.

She smiled and silently checked my vitals. “Looking good,” she whispered. “We can take the saline bag away if you're ready?”

“Sounds good to me,” I whispered back.

She unhooked me from the bag and stepped away. I slipped out of Zane's arms. He was out cold, not moving and completely dead the world. I followed Doc out of the room and into her office next door. “Thank you,” I said.

“Of course. I'm glad you're okay.” She handed me a bag with my clothes and purse. “How are you feeling?”

“A bit woozy. But good. I'm actually starving.”

“You should get something to eat,” she said. “Zane should still have some food at his house. I can keep an eye on him until you get back.”

“I wanted to ask you a quick question before I go.”

She sat on the edge of her desk and gave me her full attention. “Shoot.”

“Has Axel asked you about looking into the water source and what makes it so empowering to the vamps?”

She nodded. “It's a bit out of my wheelhouse, but I have a friend in medical research and I'm hoping he might be able to figure it out or know someone who can.”

“What about blood?” I asked. “There's something in me, maybe in my blood, that reacts badly with the vampire venom or saliva and, when I vomited, whatever that black stuff was that came out of me was fatally toxic to the vampire.”

Doc tapped her nails on her desk and shook her head. “It shouldn't work that way. I could understand if the combination of your blood and vamp saliva somehow combined to be toxic to vamps, but that shouldn't affect the contents of your stomach, not unless you'd ingested the vamp saliva.” She looked at me. “I could take your blood and compare it to wolf blood, but I won't understand its reaction to vamp venom unless we can get some to mix with your blood. We'll probably never understand what happens in your body without replicating a vamp attack and that would be way too risky for you.” She smiled. “And me, since Zane would kill me if I let you near another vamp.”

“I'd be happy to give you my blood. But I'm not interested in letting any vamps near me ever again. I thought if we could recreate whatever I vomited on Leopold we'd have a weapon against the vampires.”

Doc nodded, intrigued. “I'd kill for a sample of your vomit, but I'm sure the scene's been cleaned and cleared by now. I'd be interested in studying your blood, just for the sake of science, if you're okay with that?”

I was more than okay with that, so I let her tap a vein and take a good-sized sample of my blood. “Thanks,” she said. “Now, go get something to eat. I'll send Zane to his house when he wakes up.”

I thanked her and left.

Zane's front door was unlocked, so I let myself in and shut the door behind me. It was crazy how much Zane's house had come to feel like home to me, how just stepping through the door made me relax and smile. If I lived there, I'd put some art on the walls and maybe add some color, but I wouldn't change a thing about the overall layout or the basic, comfy furniture.

I walked into the kitchen to see Iris, head inside the fridge, bent over and rummaging. She stood as soon as I walked in, probably having heard my footsteps with her wolfy hearing. She shut the fridge and rushed me, nearly knocking me over as she wrapped her arms around me and squeezed me hard. “We were so worried about you, sweet girl. I thought Zane was going to kill Aron and Payne for letting you leave.”

“It wasn't their fault. I snuck out.”

“A human shouldn't be able to sneak past a werewolf, honey. No offense.”

“I think maybe I got past them because werewolves, in general, tend to underestimate humans.”

She beamed. “You might be right, dear. You might just be exactly right. Why don't you come in and sit, I was stocking Zane's fridge for him, I figured you both would be hungry. Will he be here soon?”

“He fell asleep at the clinic. Doc will send him here as soon as he wakes up.”

---