Chapter 39

Alpha Gabe

I get a call around seven that night. True to his word, Alpha Chris has called me back. His investigation leads to the dart being shot by Jacob. He had not been informed of the truth regarding Bonnie and he was under the impression that Dawson was the one to claw her and that he was also trying to take Bonnie from him. He expressed that he felt Dawson had been warned when he painted the red X in his bathroom. Alpha Chris gave me the amount of wolfsbane that the dart contained, along with another bit of information that would explain why Dawson was taking so long to wake up, in spite of being given a reversal agent. I had a feeling the doctors were not going to like this. But I was hoping that they had a solution.

I stood from my chair in my office. I was still in my pajamas from my long nap, and my hair was definitely in need of a comb. I headed up to my room to shower and change. I was going to have to drive into town to find the doctors so we could discuss how we were going get Dawson's body to heal. If I'm being honest, I was worried. I needed to make sure I handled this before Ashlynn found out. If Dawson doesn't come out of this, my niece will have to suffer another great tragedy in her life. I can't stand for that to happen. This has to be something he can come back from.

***

Ashlynn

I got back to the ranch late in the evening. I immediately went to the stables and one by one, I inspected the three mares, reviewed their heat cycles and logged them into our books for breeding. Since I had gone over most of the paperwork early in the morning, it didn't take me very long. I sent out emails to the ranches that had sent the mares to let them know they checked out and none would need to be sent back. As I was getting up from my desk in the clinic, Cody walked in.

"Hey Ash, everything good with the mares?" he asked.

"Yes, everything checks out. How many are coming in tomorrow?" I stifled a yawn with my hand. I was in need of some sleep for sure.

"We've got seven coming tomorrow. Four are from the same ranch, driving up from Arizona. That load will arrive in the evening, so it's just a matter of unloading them and putting them in the stalls. I wouldn't worry about those till the next morning. The driver will stay in town to make sure the mares are good, before he drives back."

"Ok, I will look at the paperwork in the morning. I'm so tired right now, I just want to shower and go to bed," I admitted.

Cody shifted his weight back and forth, staring at the floor for a minute. He heaved a deep sigh before asking, "How's Dawson? Any word?"

"He's alive, he's stable. That's all I can say. He hasn't woken up and they don't know when he will," it hurt to say those words. "He may not wake up at all, or so the doctor said. But I don't want to give up hope." I felt a tear escape my eye and I quickly wiped it away.

"He's strong Ashlynn. Your Uncle spoke with Alpha Chris today and got information on the dart, although it took all day to get it. Seems Chris knew nothing of the incident." I was glad to hear that we had some information to give the doctor now.

"It's good to hear that, when is my Uncle going to talk to the doctor?" I asked.

"First thing in the morning. He called but they said Dr Cortez wouldn't be back till seven in the morning. He plans to meet him there at seven," Dawson looked at me with a small smile. "I'm heading to bed myself, you should get some sleep." He walked out.

***

Alpha Gabe

I was standing at the nurses station of the hospitals critical care ward at seven sharp. I had important information for Dr. Cortez and I wanted to know what kind of prognosis this meant for Dawson. It was odd that he would be out so long. Although his vitals were stable, it was a concern that he hadn't woken up, not even so much as a twitch.

"Alpha, so good to see you," Dr. Cortez held out his hand for a shake as he walked up.

I shook his hand and gave him a look, he then turned and barred his neck to me. I walked past him towards Dawson's room and he followed. I could see through the window that nothing had changed. He lay there exactly as he had been the morning prior. Dr. Cortez stood next to me, looking in at Dawson as well. "Alpha, were you able to get any further information that may assist me?" he asked.

I reached into my pocket and pulled out the piece of paper I had made my notes on and handed it to the doctor. He unfolded it and read the information. I heard him gasp and turned to look at him. "Is it as bad as I think it is?" I asked.

Dr. Cortez looked at me, then took a deep breath. "Well the wolfsbane is a little more than I expected, considering the size of the dart. It seems they used a pretty pure concentration." He waived his hand as if to say that isn't such a big deal. "We can adjust his medication with this information. My concern though," he raised an eyebrow at me. "Liquid silver?"

I nodded my head, "I was thinking the same."

"The mixture of the two can be lethal. It explains why he hasn't woken yet. With silver in his blood stream, it poses a problem. His wolf is weakened. It may even be why he hasn't awoke, his wolf is forcing him to stay asleep so they both can try to fight it. " Dr. Cortez ran his hand through his hair with an exasperated sigh.

"What can we do doctor?" I needed him to tell me there was a solution.

"I can filter his blood, run it through a human dialysis machine, see if the filter will collect the silver before I return the blood to him. That may be his only hope. I'm going to need consent for that, it's invasive." He looked at me before continuing. "It's gotta come from a parent, unless he's mated. I know he found his fated mate, but they did not solidify the bond, so she cannot consent."

I really didn't want to have to call his mother, she already hated that he chose to stay here, rather than return to her home pack and become the Beta. I nodded, "I will call her first to inform her of the situation, then I will give you the number to get the consent. Give me a few minutes, I'm going to go call her now in private." The doctor nodded and I walked down the hall to the waiting room. No one was around, so I closed the door and took a seat to collect myself before calling Dawson's mother. This was going to be a tough conversation, but I'd certainly had to inform relatives of far worse. I knew I needed to do this as quickly as possible.

The phone rang a couple of times before I heard Mrs. Campbell pick up the line, "Alpha Gabe, to what do I owe the pleasure of your call so early in the morning?"

"I've got some news. There's been an incident......"