29. Jayne

The velvety soft warmth of Spider against my face was infinitely better than the concrete beneath me, although thanks to Sin's jacket, my head was well-cushioned.

Spider was snuggled into my neck and shoulder, making biscuits in my hair and purring. As much as I wanted to pet him, I couldn't move my arm. My body wouldn't respond, no matter how I tried. And while the drug was working its way out of my system, the sugar Sin had given me had only provided a temporary rush of energy.

As the sugar wore off, tiredness took over again. This time, however, I wasn't afraid to go to sleep. Sin was here. Everything was going to be all right.

When I woke up again, I opened my eyes to bright light and the sound of voices talking about me. There was cushioning under my head and someone had put a jacket over me. I blinked, trying to make sense of what I was seeing. One of the big garage doors I'd seen was now open, letting in morning sunlight. Standing around me were Sin, Matt, and Commissioner Tyson. Matt was talking to a uniformed officer, Darryl was on his phone, and Sin was nodding at someone.

His attention quickly returned to me. He spotted that I'd woken up. He kneeled down next to me. "Hey, there you are. How are you feeling? Can you talk?"

I had no idea. "I don't know." Apparently, I could talk. I attempted a smile, but that didn't feel as successful. My face felt rubbery. Like I'd just come from a Novocain-happy dentist. "I guess I'm verbal again. Did you get Isla?"

"We got her," Sin said.

Jack Jr. moved, giving me another reason to attempt a smile.

Commissioner Tyson chimed in. "She's in the back of a patrol car right now. And thanks to Mr. Galloway's recording on his cell phone, we've got her confession concerning Charlie. I don't like that you people put yourselves in danger, but getting criminals off the street is always a good thing."

Sin took my hand. It was warm and comforting until a rush of panic came over me like a cold snap. There was no purring in my ear, no soft fur against my cheek. "Where's Spider? Did he run off? Is he okay?"

"He's fine." Sin squeezed my hand. "He's in Matt's car, which is where Tony was, but he's now in the back of a different police car."

Two new people in white uniforms peered down at me. Darryl glanced at them, then back at me. "We've got some paramedics who are going to take a look at you. Can't take any chances. Not with a woman of your, um, status. The last thing New Orleans needs is an unexplained blizzard."

He stepped away, and Sin acted like he was about to do the same thing. If I could have grabbed his hand, I would have. "Don't go," I whispered. I was in no way ready to lose contact with him.

"I'll be right here, but I've got to give them room to work. You need to be checked out. You and Jack Jr. Okay? It's just to be sure you're both all right."

I nodded. I knew he was right, but these paramedics were going to get all kinds of weird readings if they took my blood or checked my vitals. They weren't going to understand winter elf physiology. Especially not the pregnant variety.

One of the paramedics, a young woman with dark hair in braids, took Sin's place. She smiled at me, and a strange light twinkled in her eyes. "Hi, Jayne. I'm Tara, and if you have any questions, I'm gonna do my best to give you answers, all right?"

She was some kind of shifter; I was sure of it. That light in the eyes never lied. "Okay, Tara. Thanks."

She listened to my heart, listened to Jack Jr.'s heart, took my blood pressure and temperature, and wrote a bunch of stuff down.

"All I need," I said, "is some sugar."

She ripped open an alcohol swab and started cleaning the back of my hand. "Sweetheart, what you need is some monitoring. GBL is a serious drug. We need to get an IV going and make sure it is completely flushed out of your system." She had something else in her hands now. "You're gonna feel a little pinch."

I closed my eyes. I really didn't want to go to the hospital, but for Jack Jr.'s sake, I would not be too stubborn about it. GBL sounded familiar. I'd read about it. It was used as an industrial solvent, but it was more than that. A lot more. "GBL … that turns to GHB in the blood, doesn't it?"

"Yes, it does. Smart cookie."

"I wish I had a cookie."

She laughed. "There you go, all done. IV's in. We've got a saline drip going, and I'll get some dextrose going, too. Once we get you to the hospital, they'll probably want to do an ultrasound. See how Baby is doing, all right?"

I nodded, feeling very much like I was going to cry. The thought that something might be wrong with our son was too much to think about. Not while I was still reeling from the effects of the drugs.

"Hey, now," Tara said, getting my attention. "Your baby is gonna be just fine, all right? But they're going to want to have a better look at him or her."

"Him," I whispered. "Jack Jr."

Tara smiled big. "How 'bout that? Jack's my daddy's name."

"Mine, too. Jack Fro—" I stopped myself. She might think it was the drugs talking if I told her my dad's name was Jack Frost.

Tara leaned in. "I know who your daddy is." She gave me a wink. "You hang in there, Princess. My partner and I are going to get you on the stretcher and wheel you into the bus, but I'll be back there with you the whole way, all right?"

I nodded again, breathing easier. I had already begun to feel better. If she knew who I was, she knew what I was. "And my husband?"

"He'll be following right behind us, I'm sure."

They loaded me up. I got to talk to Sin while I was on the stretcher. He assured me that Matt was going to drive him to the hospital so he could stay with me, then Matt would take Spider back and put him in the RV with Sugar.

I drifted off in the back of the ambulance. Staying awake wasn't easy. It was almost like the effects of the drug were coming in waves. I'd be just fine for a few minutes, then unable to stay awake the next.

Once I was in the hospital and admitted, a flood of doctors and nurses flowed through my room. I was hooked up to a monitor, given an ultrasound and some other tests. Jack Jr. was confirmed to be doing fine.

Sin and I were both relieved, obviously.

When the nurse finally left me to rest, Sin slipped out to a vending machine and came back with a Three Musketeers bar, some Reese's Peanut Butter Cups, and a bag of jelly beans. I ate every last bite, thrilled that I was able to move again. I fell asleep not long after, feeling infinitely better than when Spider had first found me, bless his little furry heart.

This time when I woke up, Sin was asleep in his hospital chair, but the familiar blue-haired woman in the chair next to him was wide awake.

She made a nearly silent gasp when she saw me looking at her. "Princess!" She mouthed the word as she set her knitting aside and came to see me.

"Hi, Birdie," I whispered. "What are you doing here?"

"I had to come see you. Sin called and told me all about what happened." Her eyes brimmed with unshed tears. "I'm so glad you and Jack Jr. are okay."

I nodded, about to cry myself. "Me, too. I can't believe you're here. Thank you for coming."

"Well, I had to."

"You did?"

She nodded, wiping at her eyes. "I had to get some more of those pralines. Oh! Speaking of, I brought you something."

She went back to her chair and dug a box out of her big, quilted tote bag and returned to the side of the bed with it. "A little something from home." She shrugged. "I know Nocturne Falls isn't technically your home, but…"

I nodded. "But it's filled with people I love, and that makes it one of my homes."

"And they love you back." She handed me the box.

Already smiling because of the Delaney's Delectables logo on the lid, I opened it. "Sweet fancy Christmas, what is all this? Fudge?" But I already knew it was. The sweet, sugary aroma was everything that was right in the world.

The square box held four squares, each nestled into large paper cups to keep them divided.

Birdie pointed at them as she explained the flavors. "This one is a limited-edition springtime fudge. White chocolate base with roasted pistachios and freeze-dried raspberries." She pointed to the blue one next to it. "This is blueberry pie. Blueberry fudge, dried blueberries, and bits of graham cracker. Next to that is double chocolate, which probably doesn't need an explanation, and the last one is a new flavor she's thinking about launching for summer: Pi?a colada. Coconut fudge with shredded coconut, dried pineapple chunks, and a rum swirl."

I didn't know where to start. Birdie helped by cutting all the big squares into smaller ones with the little plastic knife in the box. The chocolate was always going to be a winner, but I enjoyed them all. The pistachio was nutty, with the sour-sweet tang of the raspberry, the blueberry genuinely tasted like pie (whatever kind of witchcraft that was), and the pi?a colada gave me the warm, tropical feeling of summer.

"Which one did you like best?" Birdie asked.

"I love them all. And you for coming here." I grinned at her. She was just the best. "That was above and beyond, Birdie."

Beaming with happiness, she sniffed. "I love you, too. And there's nothing I wouldn't do for you or my soon-to-be godchild."

I yawned, still a little tired despite the sleep and the sugar. If it took another day to get back to being myself, I was fine with that. But I hoped I could do the rest of my recovering back at the RV. Hospitals were no one's favorite place.

I heard a noise and looked past her at Sin. He'd woken up. I whispered to Birdie, "If you want to do something for me, get him to go back to the RV and get some real sleep. Then see what you can do to get me out of here."

She nodded. "Leave it to me."

In under two hours, which was fast for a hospital but not that fast for Birdie, she'd managed to get me discharged, ordered a Ryde, and gotten the three of us into it.

Matt came down from his front porch to greet us as the driver dropped us off. "How are you doing?"

I nodded. "Better. A lot better. Matt, this is the infamous Birdie Caruthers, in case you haven't met already."

"We did," he said. "At the hospital."

"You were at the hospital?" I didn't recall him being there, but obviously, I'd been pretty out of it.

"I came to see how you were and to check if Sin needed anything."

"That was nice of you." I hung on to Sin's arm. I was sure I'd be fine without the support, but I liked having him close. "Birdie, are you staying with us? I'm sure we can find room."

She shook her head and smiled at Matt. "I've been generously offered one of Mr. Galloway's guest rooms."

Sin nodded. "Thanks, Matt."

Smiling, he stuck his hands in his pockets and shrugged. "Seemed like the least I could do for someone who did so much for me."

"Happy to do it," Birdie said.

"Well," Sin said. "Jayne needs to rest."

"I do," I said. "But I could also use some peanut butter Oreo pancakes."

That got them all laughing. I glanced at Sin. "I'm serious. I'm hungry."

He kissed me. "Now I know you're feeling better." He took my hand. "Come on. Let's get you fed."