Chapter 17

March 14th

They say out of the darkness comes the light. Yeah, not the type of darkness or light I wanted.

"There's someone under here!"

The strange sounding voice sounded like a scuba diver speaking while underwater. Similarly, it sounded as if she were a mile below the sea as well as everything in Paige's head swam.

There were more shouts in the distance and then slowly some of the weight lifted off of her. Then a minute later, the rest of the weight lifted off of her. Paige wanted to speak, but her head was pounding so hard she couldn't open her eyes. When she finally forced herself to pry her eyes open, all she saw were bright lights and masked faces before the world became too dizzy and she had to shut her eyes again.

Paige didn't know how long she'd had her eyes closed until she felt her mask being pulled off and something strapped to her face. "Paige? Oh, shit, Paige. I got you."

Why did that voice sound familiar? Paige's eyes fluttered open, but all she saw were more scuba divers. Although, the one lifting her up into his arms had the nicest brown eyes she'd ever seen. They reminded her of someone, but she was too tired to think of it right now. She was having a weird dream of being in the middle of an animal sandwich and she was digging it. Why Roman looked like that hot cop, Max, didn't bother her. As long as she got to finish her dream, she didn't care.

"Why isn't she waking up?" that deep voice said again, but finally it no longer sounded as if it were underwater.

"Her vitals are strong. The oxygen will help clear her system of the carbon monoxide and then she'll wake up," a female voice answered.

Paige felt a hand take her paw and squeeze. "Paige. Paige, can you open your eyes for me?"

Paige wanted to open her eyes. She heard him talking to her and begging her to wake up. She was awake, but at the same time she wasn't. The idea of opening her eyes hurt. Her head pounded. It sounded as if sirens were going off in her ears. Bright lights kept her eyes closed. Was she hungover from her first orgy? Paige shifted her legs. Hmm, she didn't feel sore down there. But she'd finally lost her virginity, right? Paige thought back to the sensation of Griz playing with her breasts and the way Foxy Moxie's hands ran down her sides as they danced against each other. The massive erection Griz had pressed against her back and the one Roman was sporting as he rubbed on Moxie. Surely, she'd known if one of those had been inside her.

The French called orgasm la petite mort, or in English, the little death. Based on how Paige was feeling, she definitely had an orgasm unlike any she'd ever had before because she felt like death. She'd heard of orgasms so powerful a woman passes out from them. Actually, she'd read about it several times in various shifter romances. Wow, these furries were on the right track. Just let your animal out and bask in the afterglow. Although, this afterglow felt more like actual death than celestial floating.

Suddenly Paige was being moved, but she wasn't walking. She was floating. Maybe this was celestial. "What have we got?" a new female voice asked.

"Another of those furries taken out by carbon monoxide. Vitals are stable, but she may need a chest X-ray. The detective found her under a pile of animals. One was a very large wolf and the other was a really hot fox."

The words were floating around Paige's head as she tried to make sense of them.

"Wow. I thought they were nerdy mascots, but from what I've been seeing of them coming in here, I might need to go to one of these parties." There was a pause and then Paige heard the new voice talk again. "I got it from here, detective."

"I'm a friend of hers. I'm not leaving until I know she's going to be all right." Detective? Male? Friend? Paige didn't have...

Paige's eyes flew open. She was no longer at the furry orgy, but back in a very familiar room with some very familiar people.

"Did you wake up just to see me?" the doctor asked with a wink.

Paige gulped. Max and Fraser danced in front of her eyes. "Do you both have twins?" Paige asked before she slammed her eyes closed again.

She heard Dr. Fraser Robertson chuckle and was pretty sure Max growled like a wolf. "What happened?" Paige got out while keeping her eyes shut. She couldn't look at them right now. They were twirling around too much and it hurt her head.

"You have carbon monoxide poisoning," Dr. Robertson told her. "Let's move her to the hyperbaric oxygen therapy room with the others. Give her a good dose of pure oxygen at higher air pressure and it'll speed up the replacement of carbon monoxide in her system. I'll check on you when you're out of the therapy room and will probably send you home with some oxygen, depending on how your levels look."

"Wait, I have carbon monoxide poisoning? What happened?"

Max cut off Fraser before he could speak to answer her. "The house had an old furnace and the temperature was cranked up for the party. Plus, they brought in some "fire pits" in the form of kerosene heaters. Between the old furnace and the heaters, the house was overcome with carbon monoxide. Someone called 9-1-1, thinking they'd been slipped a date rape drug. When fire and police responded, half the occupants of the house were passed out. All emergency personnel who could respond came to help clear the house. I was upstairs helping carry people down when someone found you buried under two men and a woman. I didn't know it was you until EMTs took off your mask. I picked you up and rushed you to the ambulance."

Tears pricked at the back of Paige's eyes. She'd almost died in a furry orgy. Could her life get any worse? Well, yes it could. Now both Max and Fraser knew she'd been at a furry orgy. "You saved my life. Again." It was then she realized Max was still holding her hand and she squeezed it in thanks. "Thank you."

"Anytime. Do you want me to call your friends, Paige?" Max asked as they began moving her to portable oxygen and got her ready to transport to the therapy room.

"Yes, please. I don't know where my phone is, though."

"I have my resources. Don't worry, Paige. I'll take care of everything. You just get better."

"And she will with my care." Dr. Robertson glared at Max, but then turned a big smile on her. "Let's get you to therapy. There are several others from the party there. Should be a fun room."

Paige was wheeled out of the curtained room as Fraser talked to her about the party and how he'd learned so much about it tonight. Instead of telling him about the party, she looked over her shoulder and saw Max on the phone, watching her as she was wheeled off down the hall.

Paige shook her head. Max was just a friend. A friend with a girlfriend. A friend she should not be thinking sexy thoughts about. On the other hand, Fraser was here and obviously interested and those sexy thoughts were catching fire.

"I was hoping you'd call me," Fraser said, after sending the nurse away as they approached a big room with windows. There were ten hospital reclining chairs in the room. Eight of them were in use and she recognized Griz, Roman, and Moxie in three of them.

"You were?" That caught Paige's attention.

"I was. Maybe after saving your life twice with my exceptional medical care, you'll ask me out to dinner to thank me." Fraser winked at her and smiled.

"Maybe. Let's see how well you take care of me first." Paige couldn't believe she was here flirting with a hot doctor as the three people she almost had sex with were staring at her with big wide eyes and knowing smirks.

"Challenge accepted," Fraser whispered before reading off his orders for the different techs running the therapy room.

Paige was taken into the room and set in one of the empty chairs. Her new furry friends started talking the second the tech left the room. They were all okay, thank goodness. Moxie had woken up outside long enough to see Max racing out of the house with Paige in his arms issuing orders like the high-ranking detective he was. She thought it was alphalicious.

"He has a girlfriend," Paige told them.

The guys looked skeptical as Moxie frowned.

"What?" Paige asked them.

"I saw some of it, too," Roman admitted. "That man is an alpha and alpha always gets what he wants."

"And what he wants is you," Griz added for clarification when Paige looked dubious.

Too bad she couldn't always get what she wanted.