23. Lucy

"Where am I?" Lucy asked.

She tried to open her eyes, but her head hurt so bad. Her entire body ached.

"You're in the hospital," Micah said.

"Hospital?" she asked, confused.

"Yes. You were kidnapped and hurt."

"Babies?"

"We don't know yet. Right now, we just need to focus on getting you healed," Micah said, soothingly.

"I'm so sorry," she cried.

"It wasn't your fault," Micah said. "You did nothing wrong. Did they say anything to you?"

Lucy's mouth moved, but she struggled to form the words. She could picture the events clearly, but it was so hard to form a cohesive thought.

"It's okay," Micah said. "That really isn't important right now. All that matters is that you focus on getting better."

Just then, the doctor walked in. "I doubt if you remember me. I'm the doctor for the Nightshade Wolf Shifter Pack."

"No," Lucy whispered.

"I'm Doctor Xavier Garner. I took care of you when you first came in," he said, gently.

"Babies?"

"Right now, they are still alive. You and they are in grave danger, though. The attack tore a lot of your muscles. You have a couple chunks of flesh torn out, and your right kidney was damaged," Doctor Garner said. "The fact that you are still alive is a testament to your mental strength and your good physical health."

Lucy rubbed her belly. Her heart lurched and her stomach twisted into a knot. There was no movement.

"You probably won't feel anything right now. Their health depends on yours, so right now they are feeling the same stress, tiredness, and weakness that you are," the doctor said, squeezing Lucy's hand. "But you keep fighting, and all of you will be okay. One of the biggest risks is infection. We're using some herbs to help prevent that and an antibiotic that won't hurt the babies."

"Thank you," Lucy said.

"Get some rest. I'll see you later."

Nodding, Lucy closed her eyes and faded back into a deep sleep. When she opened her eyes again, Micah's head was on the bed and he was snoring. She smiled and squeezed his hand.

He woke up immediately and said, "You're awake."

She nodded and looked around the room.

"You're in the hospital," he said. "The doctor said that you're doing better."

"Babies?"

"Doing okay for now," he assured her. "None of you guys are out of the water yet, but it's a great sign that you've held on this long."

"I'm hungry," she said.

"I'll call the nurse," Micah said, and he stepped out of the room.

He was followed by a nurse, wreathed in smiles. "You're awake and you're hungry. All great signs. Doctor Garner said that you have to start off with a liquid diet. Some broth and gelatin. You can have a popsicle, too."

"I'll take it all," Lucy said, rubbing her belly.

She tried to sit up but pain ripped through her body. Lucy bit her lip, trying not to scream. She couldn't stop the tears from rolling down her face.

"Let me help you," the nurse said. "Let's raise the head of the bed a little bit. That way you won't have to try to do it yourself and use those torn muscles."

Lucy hated feeling so weak and helpless. She had always been independent, even as a little kid, but now she couldn't even sit up on her own.

The nurse left her with some broth, black cherry gelatin, and some juice.

"If you can hold it down for an hour or so, we'll try some bread, crackers, and peanut butter. Peanut butter is very healthy for pregnant women," the nurse said.

Lucy hungrily consumed everything and then leaned back in the bed, completely exhausted. She rubbed her belly, hoping to feel the babies moving, but they were still.

"They are likely sleeping," Micah said. "I feel deep in my gut that they will be just fine, and so will you."

"I tried fighting them," Lucy said.

"I know, and you did a good job with just one of you and three of them. They are in the hospital, too. All three of them are in a lot worse shape, and no one is sure that they are going to survive. They haven't woken up yet," Micah said. "If I had my way, they wouldn't."

Lucy put her hand on Micah's arm. "You don't want that kind of violence on your conscience. You did what you had to do to save me and the babies, but right now, they can't even fight back."

"Lucky for them," Micah growled. "Do you remember what happened?"

"I had writer's block. I couldn't think of a single word. My mind was just fuzzy and buzzing with white noise, so I decided that I would take a walk. I stayed on the grounds. They jumped out of the bushes. One of them put a knife to my throat."

"We found the blood," Micah said.

Lucy described the ride up to the mountain and the knife.

"I have no idea why all three of them left me in the cave. I guess they were hoping that one of them would be able to get some sort of signal on their cell phones. The knife guy had taken a picture of me tied up."

Micah growled. "Proof for payment. They won't get to spend whatever they were promised."

Lucy coughed and then moaned. "I told them that you would pay them more than the person who hired them. They said that they were honorable men and had already had a contract with someone else. They were going to stay true to that."

"Did they say who hired them?"

"No," Lucy said.

An hour later, she pressed the nurse's call button. "I'm still hungry, and I kept the food down."

"So, you did," the nurse said with a huge smile. "Peanut butter bread or peanut butter crackers?"

"Bread, please," Lucy said.

Lucy devoured the food and then fell back asleep.

Throughout the next week, it seemed like everyone stopped by to visit. Flora, Jade, Vera, and Michelle were there almost constantly. They brought her books and magazines to read, but the doctor said she wasn't well enough to work on her book yet. Vera had talked the doctor into letting her bring in Lucy's favorite foods, as long as they weren't too spicy.

Either Micah, Sean, Ian, Ronnie, or Conner were close by, as though they were making sure no one tried to get into her room and finish the job that the three wolves had started. Lucy slept through most of it and appreciated the fact that she was never alone. Dr. Garner and Dr. Ratliff stopped by often. They both said that they were "cautiously optimistic" that she and the babies were going to be fine.

A week and a half after she was first brought into the hospital, Dr. Ratliff and Dr. Garner came in together. Both men wore beaming grins.

"Lucy, you are healing well. Although you still have a ways to go, I believe that you are out of the danger zone. That being said, I want to keep you here for at least another week," Dr. Garner said.

"But…" Lucy started to protest.

Dr. Ratliff held up his hand. "I second what he said. As far as I can tell the babies are fine. They were not physically hurt in any way during the attack. Your quick thinking of rolling into a ball saved them. However, they are still stressed. Plus, there are two babies, which puts an added burden on your body. For now, I recommend complete bed rest. I know you well enough to know that the best way to make sure that happens is to keep you here."

Lucy looked at both of the doctors, who had crossed their arms over their chests at the same time and stared at her. They weren't going to change their minds.

"Fine," Lucy said. "Can I have Michelle bring me my computer so I can work on my book?"

The doctors looked at each other and nodded in unison.

Lucy was so delighted the next morning when she felt the babies move that she cried. Micah was sitting next to her. She reached out for his hand and put it on her belly.

"They're going to be okay," she said. "Now I know."

"I knew it," Micah exclaimed.

He looked at her seriously for a minute and grinned. "We have a lot to talk about when you get out of the hospital."

Is he going to ask me to go through the mating ceremony with him? I think he loves me.

Lucy started to ask him but then didn't. She was too afraid of his answer.

"I have a meeting I have to get to," Micah said. "Zac needs to talk to everyone in the pack. I'll be back later."

"I love you," Lucy blurted out.

Micah grinned and brushed a kiss across her lips. "We'll talk about it when you get out of the hospital."

Tears sprang to Lucy's eyes as she watched him leave. Did I screw up?