Chapter 81 ~The Reflection~
(Fiona's POV)
“Stay with me. Come on, Fiona.” A familiar voice called out.
My mind was in a fog.
The sounds of someone screaming my name.
Sand scraping my cheek.
Hands pressed between my legs.
I tried to fight for consciousness, but I was growing weaker. I was on the thin line between consciousness and unconsciousness.
“I… I said I'm fine.” I forced these words, but I wasn't sure whether they made it out or were trapped in my throat.
Somehow I could hear Xander's wolf was howling in the distance, but yet again, I wasn't sure if it was my imagination playing tricks on me.
I was being lifted above the ground over someone's shoulders… It felt like flying. I smiled weakly. I really was flying.
“Get the things into the trunk! We're leaving now.”
_________________
I woke up with an intense migraine that threatened to split my cranium. I could hear the soft thrum that was an IV drip in my forearm.
Where am I? I looked around. The room looked unfamiliar.
My eyes spotted the Silvereign Pack logo at the top of the door. So, we were in the packhouse, but in a room that looked like a hospital.
But most importantly, “How is the baby?”
Dr. Mel turned to look at me. Her eyebrows were creased with worry. “Fiona, you're awake.”
“Yes, I am,” I was impatient. “How's my baby?”
There was a fleeting moment of silence.
“Alive.” She smiled finally, but it didn't reach her eyes.
“Oh.”
I felt overcome by an intense and crippling guilt. And I knew why.
Had I somehow wished evil for my child? Did I wish they wouldn't come into this world? Was it because of the circumstances that surrounded the pregnancy?
Somehow, maybe subconsciously, I'd blamed it all on the unborn baby. It was bad timing, really, but I didn't hate my baby. I could never.
“Thank the gods.” I muttered under my breath.
Dr Mel adjusted the IV and monitored my pulse.
She brought out my records, holding them gingerly. “The baby still has a heartbeat. But you need strict bed rest.”
So, it was only a scare…
The door to the room opened and Xander walked in, clutching some paper bags.
He dropped them on the floor immediately after he saw me, spilling the takeout and fruits to the ground.
“You're awake.” He looked relieved. I could tell that he was trying hard to control his emotions.
For once he didn't look like the Alpha of Silvereign pack, the golden boy of Ashridge… he looked maskless… vulnerable.
He pulled me into an unexpected hug, but soon enough, I relaxed into his arms.
“You know,” he whispered into my ear, still holding me. “We're gonna have to watch you slipping out of consciousness anytime you're not around me. Especially now that we have a +1 on the way.”
I hugged him back. Tightly. “Oh well,” I smiled tiredly. “We will.”
Dr Mel coughed lightly, and we both turned to look at her. “Um, this might not seem like the right time, but I noticed something unusual.”
My breathing hitched at the word, ‘Unusual.’
“What’s that?” Xander and I asked in sync.
“Your hormone levels are haywire.”
She handed me one of the files that contained complicated words and images.
“It shows here that sometime today, perhaps as soon as you woke up, you must have undergone some sort of trauma. But I could be wrong.”
She wasn't wrong.
I knew exactly what had happened.
The dream.
Maybe I'd been so triggered by the dream that my body was somehow projecting that on the child.
I'd been thinking about it. And none of it made sense…
“Whatever it was, it must have spiked your hormones.”
I forced the words out of my throat. “What am I supposed to do?”
“Is the baby okay?” Xander asked.
“Yes.” She nodded.
“Is the baby going to be okay?” he emphasized on ‘going.’
Her gaze became unfocused. She actually couldn't meet either of our eyes.
Instantly, I knew something was wrong. And she was hiding it.
“Answer me.” Xander croaked.
She nodded, but it wasn't firm. “With adequate rest and en-”
“Fuck this shit and answer the damn question.” Xander was losing his patience.
“Just prepare for whatever happens. Good or bad.” She exhaled. “It's a high-risk pregnancy. One wrong move and both mother and child could…” she trailed off, not wanting to complete the sentence.
“...Die.” I laughed bitterly, assisting her.
“I should leave you both to it.” She gave me one last apologetic look and walked out of the room.
Xander buried his head in his palms.
The thrumming on the IV drip was even louder now in the pin-drop silent room.
I looked right at the window. The atmosphere was serene, like that of waves crashing onto the seashore. Like raindrops on a hot afternoon… but it was all an illusion.
An image appeared through the hospital windows at the same time.
It was faint… but I swear I saw her.
The silver-haired woman from my dream appeared in the reflection of the room’s window.
The glass fogs where she stood and the IV monitor's spiked at the same moment.
I sucked in a ragged breath as goosebumps spread over my arms.
Xander finally looked up and his eyes were red-rimmed, his jaws, clenched. He looked at me and I knew I had to tell him about the dreams I'd been having lately.
My voice was a hoarse whisper. “I saw her.”
“Who?”
“My mother.”