Page 144 of Callen's Captive
Callen couldn’t speak just yet as he tried to absorb what was happening. His Kate was alive but sick. He laid her down on the cot. Soft brown eyes fluttered open and looked up at him, full of joy despite whatever was attacking her body.
“The virus,” Callen bit out, terror shooting through him. She’d caught the damned shifter virus.
“Thank goodness, no,” Mila said as she shoved Hayden aside and opened a bag with medical equipment. She replaced the empty IV bag hanging from a hook behind the bed with a new one.
“Damn it, Kate,” she scolded. “Did you have to rip out the line? You could have carried the bag with you.” She reinserted the IV line into Kate’s left arm and then inserted the other end into the new IV bag.
“I heard you scream,” Kate said as she closed her eyes for a minute. She looked paler than Callen was used to seeing her, but nothing else had changed. Her spirit, her charge-forward attitude to save a friend. . . This was definitely his Kate.
“Beefcake over there slammed me against a wall. I wasn’t expecting that.”
“You tried to knee me in the—” Hayden stopped himself, watching his language. If Callen weren’t so focused on Kate, he’d find it almost comical. “It was more reflex than anything else. I didn’t mean to hurt you.”
“Did I say I was hurt?” she cut back.
“Why isn’t her wolf healing her?” Callen asked, not liking how Kate’s eyes were closing despite how hard she was fighting to stay awake. “Go ahead, Princess. Sleep. I’ll be here when you wake.” He kissed her forehead and pulled a chair over to sit beside her.
“Her wolf’s recovering,” Mila said. “She did all the hard work, healing the damage to Kate’s right kidney. Sepsis set in, which overwhelmed her. She did what she could, kept Kate alive until I reached her, but the sepsis left them both drained. She finished up with antibiotics a few days ago. She’s past the worst now, but she still needs to rest. I’m giving fluids to ensure she stays hydrated. She’s been sleeping a lot.”
“So, you’re Dr. Evans,” Hayden said as he moved to Kate’s other side.
She nodded. “I prefer to play to people’s assumptions. Makes it easier to slip by those who are looking for a man, not a woman.”
“Smart.” Hayden looked down at Kate, his eyes soulful. Callen realized for the first time Hayden had been hurting, too. This was his only living family, at least the only family who didn’t want to kill him.
“Will she be okay?” Hayden asked, wrapping his hand around Kate’s.
Mila’s smile lit up the room. “She’ll be fine, in time. We’re past the worst of it now. Kate’s the reason I sent the message to your alpha. She said to ask for your pack’s enforcer, but she didn’t give me much else. She’s been sleeping, mostly.”
“The message about your research was a ruse?” Callen asked as he caressed Kate’s arm, careful to avoid the line in her arm.
“No, that’s very real. My contacts said to go south, that one of the packs there created the original vaccine. The vaccine’s not effective, but even so, I thought pooling resources and knowledge might help.”
“Your contact was correct, and we’d be happy to have your help,” Callen said as he glanced over at Hayden who hadn’t said much at all. Hayden looked rather reserved at the moment, which was surprising considering he was the talker, not Callen.
“How. . . when did you find Kate?” Callen asked as he ran his hands over her cheeks and neck. He still couldn’t believe she was alive.
“Kate contacted me, actually. She said she’d been stabbed, and the bleeding was slowing, but not stopping. She needed my help. I didn’t realize she was shifter until I met her. We’d only communicated through email before.”
Callen chuckled. He’d once thought Kate’s contacts were a bunch of meaningless people taking advantage of the money she gave away. Anna should have been proof enough for him that his Kate chose people wisely.
He stroked Kate’s cheek. “She’s been here the whole time?”
“About two-and-a-half weeks. She arrived before me. Sorry about the smell. I couldn’t get the blood out of the mattress.” Mila tucked the blanket around Kate. “I didn’t know the full extent of what she was up against until I arrived here. I treated her. Before she passed out, she told me to contact her pack.”
“Her pack?” Callen asked, surprised.
“Damien Black’s pack, west of Boulder. That’s how she phrased it. No other info exactly, except to trust no one, only the enforcer from her pack.”
“Her pack?” Callen repeated.
Hayden slapped him on his back. “Sounds like Kate’s ready to come home. I take it you’ll be staying with us, after all, Callen.”
He merely growled at Hayden. “Go check the front.”
“Hi,” Kate said, her eyes opening again. “Did I pass out?”
“You took a short nap,” Mila said as she patted Kate’s arm. “I’ll be in the front with Mr. Beefcake. Stay in bed. And you, Mr. Enforcer,” she poked Callen square in the chest. “I don’t care if you are her mate, stay out of her bed, if you get my drift. She needs to rest.”
