Chapter 63 Sixty-Three
Gasping Danica shot up, her eyes flying open. Looking around, she found that she was still in the hospital. Mason, who sat beside her, looked completely lost as he took her in.
Before Danica had any chance to ask what happened, he jumped up, wrapping his arms around her tightly.
"DOCTOR!" He bellowed as he hugged Danica tighter. "GET YOUR ASS IN HERE!"
"Mas..." Danica tried only for Mason to pull away and look at her, his eyes sparkling with tears.
"How?" He asked as a sob overtook him, and he pulled her to him once more. "Fuck how; thank the goddess."
Danica couldn't keep up with what was going on as Dr. Williams and a nurse ran into the room, their eyes growing wide when they spotted Danica.
"How is this possible?" Dr. Williams muttered, rushing forward and grabbing Danica's wrist to take a pulse. "Steady..."
"What's going on?" Danica finally managed to get out as she fixed her gaze on Dr. William's.
"Do you remember anything?" Dr. Williams asked instead as he placed his stethoscope on Danica's chest, listening to her heart. "Everything sounds good."
Mason, who had finally managed to get himself together, pulled back to look at Danica once more. His face was filled with wonder as he took her in. Letting out a bubbly laugh, he beamed.
"Doctor?" he asked, turning to Dr. Williams. "How is this possible?"
"Could someone please tell me what the big fuss is for?" Danica demanded, getting fed up with having her questions ignored. "You're all acting as if you've seen a miracle."
"That's because we have." Dr. Williams said matte-of-factly, still examining her. "Are you aware of the fact that you died?"
You died...
The room temperature around Danica seemed to drop as the words hit her. How could it be possible that she died? She was only out for a few minutes at most. Looking from Dr. Williams to Mason, she waited for an explanation.
"Luna, you were dead for a good hour." Dr. Williams spoke, still looking incredulous. "How you're suddenly alive and have no recollection of dying is medically impossible."
"Who cares if it isn't medically possible?" Mason snapped, pulling Danica into another suffocating hug. "What matters is that she is alive."
"She won't be much longer if you don't stop strangling her." The nurse, who had remained quiet the entire time, pointed out.
Gasping, Mason immediately released Danica, looking concerned. "Are you okay? Did I hurt you? Why didn't you say something?"
Shaking her head, Danica just smiled and said, "I'm okay."
She was more than okay; she felt amazing. How it was possible to feel so alive after being dead was beyond her, but who was she to question it?
"Are you sure? At least let Dr. Williams do a thorough examination on you." Mason insisted motioning for the doctor to do his job.
Nodding, Dr. Williams moved forward once more, taking Danica's vitals and then listening to her heart. Once he was finished, he had his nurse draw some of her blood to examine and make sure that looked fine too before insisting that Danica do a CT scan just to be sure that all her organs were okay after going so long without oxygen.
It was only when they placed Danica into the large circular machine that Danica began to feel that something was off.
Everyone had exited the room, and she had been instructed to remain completely still while the slab beneath her began to move forward.
As her body moved within the machine more, it began to burn—the further, the more intense—until she suddenly felt that her skin was on fire.
Biting her lip, she tried to endure as the machine groaned and shook before exploding, sending Danica flying into the wall behind her.
"BABY!" Mason's voice yelled as a door slamming hard against the wall sounded. "ARE YOU OKAY?"
Still dazed Danica nodded slowly. The burning sensation could still be felt on her skin, but it wasn't as intense as it had been before.
"I'm fine." Danica began looking up to Mason, only to find him staring at her wide-eyed mouth hanging open. "What's wrong?"
Looking down, Danica saw her arms for the first time. Her pale skin seemed to be glowing as translucent swirls danced lazily on it. The swirls seemed to flicker with each beat of her heart as they remained on her skin.
"What is this?" Danica asked, lifting her arms and staring at them in confusion. "Mason, what's wrong with me?"
Mason shook his head as he too continued to stare at Danica's skin.
"I have no idea." He responded quietly before reaching out and hesitantly placing a finger on her hand.
In one swift movement, the swirls that had been dancing on the area he touched moved away, as if scared of another's touch.
"I think it is about time I contacted Killian." Mason muttered, removing his finger from her hand only to place it on her cheek.
"Just him?" Danica asked warily, "We don't have to see the other elders, right?"
"No, I can have him come here." Mason explained. "For now, let me help you up so that Dr. Williams can make sure you're okay."
"You're looking at me right now." Danica pointed out, already finished with being poked and prodded by the doctor. "I'm fine."
Not listening, Mason scooped Danica up into his arms and made his way out of the room. Dr. Williams and two of his nurses stood in the hallway, looking out of sorts. Peeking around Mason, one nurse took in the now-destroyed CT machine as her face paled.
"How...." Dr. Williams began, only to stop when he saw Danica's skin. Eyes widening, he locked his gaze with her. "Let me have another look at her alpha."
Nodding, Mason followed Dr. Williams back into the hospital room that Danica had been occupying. Instead of letting her go, Mason sat on the bed, hugging her protectively against his chest.
"Alpha, I need you to..."
Dr. Williams snapped his mouth shut as a guttural growl escaped Mason, warning him to stop.
"Examine her and do your job." Mason ordered, his eyes flashing. "Figure out what is going on here."
"I'm a doctor, not a sorcerer." Dr. Williams grumbled. "Why not have that shaman of yours look at her instead?"
"That's not a bad idea." Mason considered becoming deep in thought.
While the doctor and Mason bickered back and forth, Danica never took her eyes off her skin. The glowing swirls fascinated her and made her feel something that she couldn't quite describe. It was almost as if these were something that had been missing from her all along, like a long-lost friend.
Sighing, she continued to zone out the two as their words became nothing but static noise as she found herself becoming more and more transfixed to her skin, allowing the world around her to disappear entirely.