Chapter 21 Cathy

Chapter 21 Cathy

I woke up and the side of the bed. Eric wasn’t there, but I felt the warmth of his body. I didn’t feel him wake up because I was submerged in a deep sleep and dream, one that I tried in vain to remember what it was about but I had the sensation that it was a desperate one. There was sweat on my skin and my heart was beating fast.

I got out of bed, stretched my limbs, and heard my joints creaking. I struggled to keep my eyes open, and despite having slept undisturbed, my body felt exhausted, as if I had been running all night nonstop. I forced myself to get up and, still sleepy, went to the bathroom to shower, and I rinsed my face with cold water to help me wake up once and for all.

I gently patted my cheeks to awaken my senses and looked at my reflection in the mirror, fogged up by the steam from the water. I focused my gaze and wiped away the excess moisture with my hand, and I could have sworn my reflection blinked.

Am I going crazy?

I stared at my reflection, but nothing happened, so I walked straight to my room to pack my few belongings.

The mansion was silent today, and the whole way, I didn’t run into any pack members or employees. Maybe it was part of the weight I felt in my heart because I didn’t want to leave. I wanted to stay forever with Eric, but I knew it wasn’t the right time. Besides, after the revelation that we were destined mates, I needed time to process it and come to terms with the idea that my life would be tied to his permanently.

My room was arranged, my bag on the bed with the clothes I had brought, folded and clean. Likewise, there were several of the dresses Eric bought me neatly folded and placed at the bottom of the bag under all my clothes.

"I had one of the maids pick up your clothes. I hope you don’t mind," Eric entered the room with a fresh and energetic expression. I could sense that he had awakened long before me.

I smiled faintly at him, walked over to him with a calming breath, and gave him a peck. "Thank you, sweetheart," I replied, almost on tiptoe to reach him. "Why didn’t you wake me up?"

"Because you were sound asleep," he replied.

Eric, since he came in, hasn’t stopped playing with his shirt sleeve as if he were buttoning it over and over again. He might just be just as anxious as I was about my departure, but it was something I could no longer put off.

"Are you ready?" he asked me, now settling the collar of his shirt.

He was dressed formally in a long-sleeved salmon-colored shirt, white pants of a thin fabric, and brown shoes, the same shade as his belt. He looked handsome, and that shirt was a size smaller than the ones he usually wore and made his chest and biceps look larger.

"Almost," I replied, putting my cell phone back in my pocket.

"Leave that there," he asked just as I was about to load my bag. "I’ll have Lucas put it in the car. I want you to do something first."

I raised an eyebrow and stood in front of him. "What do you want me to do?" I asked in a neutral tone.

He grabbed my hand and laced his fingers with mine, and gently tightened his grip. "I want you to see the doctor," he said.

"I won’t stay another day. I can’t do that," I replied, drawing a thin line with my lips.

Eric brought his face close to mine, and his lips brushed mine but without actually kissing. I felt his warmth and gaze, the scent of the perfume he was wearing since it was exactly the one he had made with me in the lab. My pulse quickened, and the defenses I had put up just a moment ago collapsed.

"It won’t be long, I promise," he said, brushing our lips with each word and using his deep, seductive tone of voice that drives me crazy. "The doctor is already here at the mansion."

"We had an agreement," I replied, holding back my urge to melt my lips with his. "I promised you that I will see the doctor. You didn’t have to do this today."

Eric fixed his eyes on mine and changed his expression to a more serious one, with his eyebrows slightly frowned.

"You promised to see the doctor later because you didn’t want to stay any longer. That’s why I had him come today, so you can leave after he checks you," his tone was a mixture of stern but concerned. "I won’t take a ‘no’ for an answer."

From the seriousness with which he said it, I knew I could not persuade him. He wanted to help me understand what had filled me with doubts all my life. And in a way, that was my greatest insecurity. I questioned whether I was really a shape-shifter or not. Or if I was so weak that my wolf had rejected me. Now that I had the chance to learn the truth behind it, I was terrified that the answer would be so hard that I couldn’t bear it.

"Okay… I’ll go," I replied. "Only because I promised."

I didn’t want to come off as an easy woman to bend, at least not in front of him and not at that moment.

Eric kissed my cheek and smiled in my ear. "It’s going to be okay, I promise."

He guided me through the mansion to a white-walled room large enough to hold four stretchers and sophisticated medical equipment. It was sort of like a nurses’ station but on a very high budget, even better than some hospitals.

"You must be Cathy." A middle-aged man with gray hair and disparate eyes, one green and the other blue, with a few wrinkles, a pointy nose like a pin, and extremely white teeth greeted me. "I’m Doctor Dawn."

The doctor shook my hand and helped me sit on one of the stretchers as Eric stayed by my side, holding my hand and supporting me. I felt like I could throw up at any moment and had to make a huge effort to stop my hands from shaking.

"Tell me, Cathy. Have you ever heard a voice in your head? Or a feeling that something bad is going to happen, and it ends up happening?" he asked, unhooking the stethoscope from his neck and placing it on my chest. "Take a deep breath... very good. Now exhale."

I looked at Eric for help, and he nodded. "It’s ok, darling, you can answer his questions," he encouraged me.

"Just a gut feeling thing, like it’s a sixth sense," I replied with my voice cracking.

"Alright," he shined a small flashlight into my eyes, leaving me momentarily dazzled. "Are you having any healing issues? Are your senses momentarily enhanced and then back to normal?"

I squeezed my eyelids tightly and opened my eyes again so I could focus on the doctor. "Yes, my healing is slow like a human’s, and regarding my senses, just what you mentioned happens."

The doctor kept a neutral expression but looked at me steadily, and at my destined partner, the expression on his face changed to a more serious and calculating one. I knew they were communicating by telepathy that they were probably discussing me.

"What’s wrong?" I asked with my pulse racing and breathing slowing to the point that I was choking from lack of air.

The doctor looked at me, drawing a line on his lips. "I can’t give you the accurate diagnosis yet, but I have my suspicions," he exclaimed.

"Answer me one more thing, how frequently do you have nightmares?"

I looked back at Eric, and he seemed to be so lost in his thoughts that he didn’t notice me looking at him before I answered.

"Almost every day, sometimes I wake up tired or scared but unable to remember anything from my dream."

He nodded and shook his head ever so slightly.

"Would you allow me to test your blood?" he asked me.

I was short of breath and squeezed Eric’s hand, maybe just too hard, without noticing.

"Of course," I said, trying not to show any insecurities.

Dr. Dawn pulled out of a black briefcase a lancet and a test tube with a thick clear liquid. Then he took the only hand he had free, massaged my index finger, pricked the tip with the lancet, and squeezed it so that a few drops of blood fell into the test tube. We all had our eyes on it as he shook it until the drops of blood dissolved and disappeared completely.

"What does that mean?" I asked.

"Wait a minute, let it just..." before the doctor finished the sentence, the liquid turned lilac. The doctor’s eyes widened like saucers, and looked at Eric, nodding.

"Aconite," Eric then said.

Aconite was a plant known to be capable of poisoning werewolves, so lethal that few had lived to tell the tale because once it reached the heart, there was no turning back.

"It’s not possible," I said. "I’d be already dead then."

"Not necessarily. This was done by a professional. You were given a very low dose from birth, so small that it wasn’t lethal but enough to poison your blood and block your abilities. That was a technique used in wartime and had been banned by the council after the peace treaty."

I was speechless. All my life, I was told I was a freak, weak, and the disgrace of the Sith family. My own father made me feel despised. But it was all a vile lie. The fault was never mine, and there was nothing wrong with me. They had hurt me from the moment I gave my first breath.

"What can be done?" Eric asked.

"There is an antidote that purifies the blood, but the side effects can be a headache, spasms, dizziness, mood swings, and loss of appetite," he added.

I snapped out of my trance and got off the stretcher. I can’t leave my life and son behind because it turns out nothing has been wrong with me. "I can’t stay that long," I said decisively without contemplating the consequences. “I have to leave.” I stood up and started walking, leaving the doctor astonished.

"Cathy, wait!" Eric said, grabbing my hand. "Please, let the doctor speak first. Listen to what he has to say, and then please think things through before making up your mind." He squeezed my hand gently and looked at me, almost begging. “Please.”

Dr. Dawn looked at me with regained composure. He seemed like one of those people who didn’t express their emotions easily. I didn’t know if it was because of his profession or just his personality. "It won’t take me ten minutes to prepare the medicine for you. I could make you enough for the whole treatment,” the doctor said with confidence.

"See?" Eric said to me. "Just ten more minutes, that’s it." He seemed to know what my answer would be because I noticed some relief in his expression.

"Ten minutes, no more," I said.

Eric led me out of the office. We left the doctor digging through his stuff and pulling out different kinds of herbs.

"Do you have any idea who might have done that to you?" Eric asked, concerned.

I felt a lump in my throat at the prospect of thinking about who could’ve sabotaged my life in such a way. "Lissandra, the Luna of Sith, or even my own father," I replied as my stomach burned. "Either case, it’s my father’s doing. He never loved me."

Eric wrapped his arms around me and kissed the crown of my forehead repeatedly. "We’ll get through this together."

I let myself get wrapped into Eric’s arms, full of mixed emotions. I knew the answer, and I had the solution, but it would be something entirely new to me. Something that would be dangerous, and I was afraid I’d hurt someone in the process.

The minutes flew by in Eric’s arms as he stayed by my side, holding me close and giving me heartfelt kisses. With him by my side, I knew everything was going to be okay.

The doctor came out with two small orange containers filled with gel-coated pills and placed them in my hands. "One every night for two months. After that, come in for me to test the levels of aconite in your blood."

I took them very carefully and squeezed them tightly. "Thank you so much for everything," I said with a nervous smile.

"It’s my job to help you anytime you need," he replied gracefully with a little bow.

"Thanks a lot, Doc," Eric said goodbye, and we watched the doctor leave for the exit carrying his briefcase and taking long strides.

Eric walked with me to the parking lot, and his car was on with Lucas waiting to open the door for me.

"What does this mean?" I asked, puzzled.

"That I’m coming with you," Eric replied.

I felt my heart beat harder and get rid of the nostalgia I had built up for my departure and not seeing him again. "What? What about your responsibilities with the pack?" I asked, puzzled.

"My pack won’t perish if I’m gone for a few days, plus my dad is here to take care of them," he exclaimed.

"What about my car and belongings?"

"Lucas will take your car home, don’t worry about that," he said.

I got in the car, and Eric started the engine.

He placed his hand on my leg and drove to the road. Once we left the property, I felt deep in my heart that sooner than I thought I would be back and that time I’d stay, but now I just wanted to enjoy my trip with Eric, my destined partner, and my true and only love.