Page 84 of Flare
Bearpaw Ridge Medical Center
Thursday, May 21 (The next day)
Ward swam up to consciousness through layers of darkness. Each breath brought the sharp antiseptic scent of medical-grade disinfectant to his nostrils. Pain radiated from his abdomen in dull, throbbing waves. His eyelids felt impossibly heavy, but he forced them open, blinking against the harsh fluorescent lighting of a hospital room.
Someone was holding his hand, and it was the only source of warmth in a cold sea of weakness and utter exhaustion.
With a supreme effort, he turned his head. And saw Emily sitting by his bedside. She was dozing, her head bent and her chin touching her chest.
Relief crashed through him, and he almost cried.
“Emily,” he whispered. The inside of his throat felt like it’d been scraped raw with sixty-grit sandpaper.
Her head jerked up at his words. She clutched his hand tighter, her grip warm and real and alive.
“Ward,” she breathed, leaning forward.“You’re finally awake.” Tears spilled from her reddened eyes, but her smile was incandescent.
She looked utterly wrung out. She’d changed out of her blood-soaked clothes at some point, and wore fresh jeans and a clean t-shirt. New bandages mummified her right hand and lower arm to the elbow. And she was still wearing the bear pendant.
“You’re okay?” he managed, the relief making him light-headed.
“I’m fine.” Emily’s face crumpled, fresh tears tracking down her cheeks.“I thought I was going to lose you,” she whispered.“There was so much blood, Ward. So much blood.”
Ward tried to reach for her face, to wipe away her tears, but the movement sent a lance of white-hot pain tearing through his midsection. He gasped and instinctively curled inward.
“Don’t move,” Emily said quickly, rising halfway out of her chair.“I’ll get Dr. Nika.”
“Wait,” Ward breathed, the pain subsiding to a dull throb.“Just… give me a minute with you first.”
She settled back, her thumb tracing gentle circles on the back of his hand.
“Andrew?” he asked, needing to know.
“Alive,” Emily said, her expression complicated.“Barely.”
Before Ward could ask more, the door opened. His aunt Nika Medved-Swanson strode in, her black hair coiled in a severe bun. Sophie, wearing a white coat with“Dr. Markidis” embroidered over the breast pocket, followed in her wake.
“Well, look who decided to rejoin the land of the living,” Aunt Nika said, smiling down at him. She moved to the monitors beside Ward’s bed, checking his vitals with practiced efficiency.“How’s your pain on a scale of one to ten?”
“Four,” Ward lied.
Aunt Nika shot him a look that said she wasn’t fooled.“Edward,” she said sternly.
Ward sighed. Nika only called him Edward when he tried to bullshit her.“Okay. It’s a seven,” he admitted.“Maybe eight.”
She adjusted something on his IV.“That should help. You gave us quite a scare, you know. You were in surgery for five hours yesterday. We had to put you in a healing coma overnight.”
“How bad was it?” Ward asked, though part of him didn’t want to know.
Sophie stepped forward, tablet in hand.“Three deep lacerations across your abdomen, two of which penetrated the peritoneal cavity. Your liver sustained a grade II laceration, and we had to remove your spleen. You also had a significant tear in your diaphragm and a punctured lung.”
Oof.Ward blinked, taking this in. No wonder he felt like he’d been hit by a truck.
“If Brunborn’s claws had gone just a little deeper,” Aunt Nika added grimly,“you might have bled out before we got you into surgery. As it was, you received six units of blood, all of it donated by your family members. Our lobby was packed with Swansons yesterday, all of them arguing over who would get to give blood.” Her expression softened.“Your family loves you, Eddie. Me included. I’m so glad you’re still with us.”
“Will he…?” Emily’s voice trailed off. Her expression was hesitant.
“Make a full recovery?” Aunt Nika smiled.“Yes. Bear shifters are remarkably resilient, and Ward is young and strong.” She turned back to him.“I predict you’ll be back at work in a couple of weeks, though I recommend you take it easy for at least a month.”
