Chapter 141 - Ripples

[Gideon].

The look of sadness and terror on her face after I told her about her creation and her father's intentions for her made me wish I had kept my mouth shut and never said anything. And if she asked, if she simply had to know, I could have crafted a pretty lie to tell her, one that didn't make her feel like a monster. If I had only taken a few more moments to consider my words and the ripples they would create maybe we wouldn’t be taking turns standing around her hospital bed, waiting for her to wake up.

The doctors said it was a “miracle” that she neither died nor miscarried from the impact of her fall. Our babies are still growing, still healthy. Because of her wolf DNA, she started healing as soon as she hit. Because of her Fae DNA, our babies, which now resemble a human embryo of 8 weeks instead of the life that started only days ago, have an extra layer of protection within her womb, an evolutionary advantage.

But how did she survive that fall at all? Even a werewolf, no matter how strong, couldn’t survive falling from a height of 14 stories.

“Please come back to us,” I pray as I hold her cold, limp hand. The beeping of the monitors is steady and constant, a small reminder that she still lives, that she might come back to us.

None of us are quite sure when she might wake up, if at all. Just as much as the doctors aren’t sure how it is that she is still alive, the nature of her sleep is also a mystery. She isn’t quite in a coma, but she also isn’t waking up. It is something strangely in between. They assure us that as long as her body continues to heal, her chance of survival increases. But they also admit that the longer she stays asleep, the more likely a coma might set in.

We’ve tried a few magical solutions as well. Short of bringing in the Oracle themselves, which is just this side of impossible since they live in a dimension outside our own, we have tried every magical remedy we know as well. Her aura looks strange, not quite gone but also very thin, almost faint, as if whatever makes Rosie who she is has been washed away, leaving an echo or a stain. We tried feeding her some of our aura through the connections that we shared with her. Specifically, my ability to connect with my coven auratically. Even though our coven has been weakened with the loss of Marigold, it should still have been possible for me to connect with her just like I could any other coven member. But even though she is my match and coven anchor, I was not able to connect with her, possibly because her aura is almost non-existent.

Evander has gone off in search of the Oracle. It is a last-ditch effort. She is slipping away from us a little bit at a time and we all feel helpless to stop it. We are hoping that the oracle might point us in the right direction or at least steer us away from the very wrong ones.

Axel is in a terrible state. He is already starting to mourn. This was supposed to be his wedding trip. His plans to complete his bond with her have been thwarted again.

But at least Slone is dead. We think. Her body disappeared shortly after Evander left her in a pool of her own blood for trying to kill her best friend. I feel responsible for how Slone deteriorated so rapidly, how quickly she fell from grace. I should never have played around with her heart. I didn't consider how much it hurt her to never be invited all the way into the coven's embrace. She must have been so lonely. And I only made it worse by giving her affection that wasn't meaningful. I never loved her, was never in love with her, but I knew that she idolized me. I should have called things off between us when I first realized how deep her affection went. Instead, I led her on and for that, I will never forgive myself.

And now Slone is dead like so many others that I cared for, so many others who needed love and understanding: Esther, Marigold, Slone, and now Rosalynd. It sometimes feels like it might be my fate to love and lose because anyone I bring in too tight, that I try to care for, ends up dead.

"Please come back to us Rosie. Please," I keep praying. "You are loved. You are wanted. I should have told you that. I should have told you that instead."

I lay my forehead on our joined hands and take a deep breath in and out. "I love you, Rosalynd Reid. I know I shouldn't for a thousand reasons, but my heart recognizes yours. Evander loves you with his whole soul and Axel cannot live without you. None of us can."

Rosalynd doesn't respond. She never does. It has been a week since her fall and nothing has changed. So while we sit here like this, I tell her about all the adventures we will have when she wakes up. I tell her about Rafe and some of the things we have learned since Rosalynd went to sleep, about how his mother stood up and fought to protect him from Slone but failed, almost dying in the attempt. I tell her all about how we are trying to find a way to wake her up, that we haven't given up hope on her, that we are doing everything we can to bring her home.

Time passes quickly as I talk to her, filling the room with the sound of my voice. Axel will be here to take his shift in about 10 minutes and then it will be my turn to sleep. As much as I am looking forward to closing my eyes and resting, knowing she is still here the same as she was before makes me lonely for her. The room is silent except for the buzzing and beeping of the machines monitoring her heart and other vitals and I feel my eyes start to close.

There is a blink as the overhead light in her room begins to flicker. Strange. Maybe the bulb is about to die. I look up again just as the light flickers once more before it dies completely.

Everything is deathly quiet.

"Maybe the power is out," I muse. No, that can't be it, I realize. There is still light in the hallway and the machines are still beeping.

"The bulb just needs to be replaced," I try to reassure Rosie and myself, although I know that Rosie probably isn't listening. "I just need to tell the nurse. I'll be right..."

The words fall from my lips as I feel a familiar aura enter the room. I don't need to turn around to know who is standing there.

"Hello, Gideon."