Chapter 58

Chapter 58
Chapter 58 - Dex pov.

It started as we had expected. Lilly lost consciousness when she could no longer bear the pain.
I have survived battles, defeated rivals, and witnessed terrible things on the battlefield, but seeing Lilly suffer is the worst thing I have ever had to go through. Seeing her body fight against the poison inside her, the poison I gave her so that she would become just like me.
Although it started as we had expected, she is deteriorating more and more.
Her body is not accepting the change, even though she was convinced that the mating bond would help her. Her heart rate is slowing down, her breathing becoming lighter.

"Please, Lilly, you can't leave me," I whisper, her wrist pressed against my lips. "Don't give up," I murmur as the doctor checks her pulse for the umpteenth time. He opens her eyes one by one, but she doesn't react to the light. As if no one is home.
Another tear rolls down my cheeks. "She is stronger than this. I know she is." I have to believe it, otherwise I'll go crazy.
The doctor lays a hand on my shoulder. "The change, it is..."
I know he has the best intentions, but I cut him off. "I know what it is," I snap at him, and slap the hand off my shoulder. I stand up, pacing restlessly through the room. Angry at myself for agreeing. I should have known better. When I hear her heartbeat beating irregularly, I lose my self-control.
"DO SOMETHING!" I yell at the doctor as I throw one of the chairs across the room. He doesn't seem impressed, but he does take a step closer to Lilly. He seems to want to say something, but the machine she is connected to starts beeping loudly. I rush to the other side of the bed. "Lilly!" It comes out whimpering.
"DON'T STAND THERE LIKE THAT! DO SOMETHING! ANYTHING!" I yell at the doctor. He fixes his eyes on the ground. "I wish I could..." he answers dejectedly. "What?! There must be something you can do. I'm not giving up on her!" I don't want to hear his excuses. "This is something she has to do herself, Alpha,"
I growl. "I am NOT giving up on her! Do something, that is an order!" I refuse to believe that there is nothing we can do. I refuse to stand here and watch my mate slowly die because of me.
For a moment, it seems as if her heartbeat is returning to normal, but then that damned machine starts beeping again. Louder this time, as if to say that it's serious.

"We are losing her." Drake whimpers in my head.
"NO!" I growl back.

I grip her hand tightly, as if I am anchoring her by touching her.
I hold her fingers against my forehead. "Please, Lilly. I know you can handle this. Think of Claire." I mumble, as if Claire's name could give her just that extra push. I feel stupid; I don't even know if she can hear me.
The machine starts beeping faster, more alarmingly. My head shoots up. The doctor looks from the machine to Lilly with frightened eyes. I am overwhelmed by rage. Angry that he isn't doing anything; he is the goddamn best doctor in the pack, and he is doing nothing.
I walk around the bed with long strides and grab his arm. "Do. Something. NOW." I growl and push him towards Lilly. "Alpha. I." He stammers, startled. Somewhere, I know he is right, but that alarming beeping, the sign that Lilly's body is giving up, prevents me from thinking rationally. "If she dies," I growl. "If she dies, you die!" I don't care that I'm being unreasonable; he needs to fix this. Panic is visible in his eyes, but I don't care.
He swallows and proceeds with trembling hands. He squirts something into the bag, the contents of which are administered to Lilly via an IV. I don't know what it is, and I don't care. As long as it works. I press my forehead against hers. "Please, Lilly. Stay with me," I whisper.
The beeping of the machine subsides slightly; it is present, but no longer so alarming. I don't dare to be hopeful yet, afraid that things will turn again.
I sigh and fall back into the chair wearily. The door opens slowly. Beth. She smiles cautiously at me. "May I come in?" I nod. She has a bag in her hand, which she holds up. "I have some food and drink for you."
"That is sweet of you, but I'm not hungry." I don't think I can get anything down my throat as long as Lilly is still on the brink of death. She walks to the side table and begins to unpack the bag. "You need to take good care of yourself. Lilly will need you soon." She encourages me. I sigh; she is right about that. And just in time, my stomach starts rumbling. I try to remember when it was the last time I ate or drank anything, but I have no idea. I don't even know how long we have been in the hospital.
Silently, I accept a sandwich from her. As soon as I start eating, I realize how hungry I actually am. Fortunately, Beth thought of this too and brought more than enough food.
"How is she?" she asks when my worst hunger has been satisfied. "I don't know," I admit. She squeezes my arm. "She will get through this. We have to keep believing that. She will fight. For Claire. For you." She sounds confident. "I hope you're right."

Time ticks by slowly. Minutes seem to last for hours. With every small improvement, I fear it will turn around again later. I do not dare leave her side, afraid she will slip away again in my absence. Only when her heart rate and breathing become and remain increasingly stable do I dare to hope. To believe that the worst is behind us. With that realization, I am overcome by exhaustion. I fight against it, but ultimately I lose the battle and doze off.

I wake up with a strange feeling. Startled, I look at Lilly. I breathe a sigh of relief when I hear her heart beating steadily. I look at the clock. Ten o'clock in the morning. Claire must be wondering where her mother is.
I can't shake off the strange feeling that woke me up.

"She's there." Drake sounds strangely excited. "Do you mean...?" I ask cautiously. "Are you sure?"
"Yes, yes. I’m sure. I can't reach her yet, but I feel her."
I cannot hold back the tears of relief and joy. When Drake feels his mate, it is over. At least, the most dangerous part. Lilly made it through. She survived. "Oh, thank the gods," I manage to say.
I stand up to kiss Lilly. I can't believe it. It worked. I kiss her again and press my head against hers while holding her face. "You survived," I whisper. "You survived." I wipe away the tears that have fallen on her cheeks with my thumb.

Lilly’s pov.

I feel groggy. It takes a while before I fully wake up.
First, there is the sound. Muffled, as if there is cotton in my ears. I groan as I feel the pain. Like I have muscle pain, only worse and all over my body. And my head, it feels like it is going to burst apart.
I cannot suppress a groan. "Lilly?" I hear someone whisper hopefully. Dex.
Although he is whispering, it sounds loud and clear.
"Dex?" I try to say, my voice cracking and my mouth feeling as dry as sandpaper. My tongue sticks to the roof of my mouth.
I slowly open my eyes, but the light is bright. Too bright; it hurts my eyes, and I squeeze them shut again. Then the sounds come in. The loud beeping that I can't place, the sounds from outside. Everything is loud, too loud. I cover my ears with my hands.
"Make it stop," I manage to say with a groan. "It's okay. You are okay," he says softly. "I'll turn off the light and call the doctor." He speaks in a hushed tone, for which I am grateful. Although the pain in my body is starting to ease slightly, I cannot say the same about my head.
"My head," I whimper. I have never had such a headache. He takes my hand, and I feel him sit down on the bed. Carefully, I open one of my eyes. Fortunately, the light is much less bright. I look at Dex. He looks terrible. As if he hasn't slept for days.
"Your body is still adjusting," Dex says. "The headache will soon pass. When your body is used to the second presence," he clarifies. "A... second presence?" I ask a little confused. "Your wolf," he says with a small smile. Oh, yeah, of course. How could I forget that?
Then everything comes back at once. The pain, my encounter with the moon goddess, the questions.
"The moon goddess," I mumble.
"What about her?" Dex asks, surprised. "I saw her," I say. Dex's eyebrows shoot up. "You... saw her?" he asks. "Yes, she appeared before me. She was terribly enigmatic. Really incredibly annoying," I grumble. Dex chuckles. "Yeah, sounds like her, if you believe the stories," he responds. "What did she say?" he asks curiously. "When I asked if I would survive, she just said that I was stronger than I thought. But she also said something about me being the answer. The bridge between human and wolf." Dex frowns, understanding it just as much as I do. Not at all. "And when I said I didn't understand what she meant by that, she just walked away!" I get a little irritated by the memory again. "Okay, well. If there's one thing I've learned about her, it's that it will become clear on its own." He says it lightly, as if it's no big deal.
How can he not question her answers? "Is it... normal to see her when someone gets their wolf?" I ask. He shakes his head. "No, not that. But on the other hand, it has been a very long time since a human became one of us."

A sharp, all-numbing pain shoots through my head. "AAH." I grab my head with both hands. But as fast as that pain came, it was gone just as fast. Along with the throbbing, pressing headache I had before.
A wave of relief goes through my body. Because the pain is finally gone, the tension also drains from my body somewhat.

"Phew, finally."
I get the shock of my life. "What? What is wrong?" Dex looks at me searchingly, scared. "I..." I wonder if I really heard the voice, or if I imagined it.
"Nope, I’m very real."