Somehow, that small amount of Jell-O managed to fill me up. I put down the spoon and asked Harper, "Shouldn't you be getting to work?"
"I've taken two days off to take care of you. You can't just be in the hospital alone."
Harper lay down on the empty hospital bed next to me. "Plus, I can take this opportunity to get some rest."
I smiled gently, knowing better than to argue. "Thank you, Harper," I said softly.
Harper waved her hand and yawned. "I'm going to take a nap. Yell if you need anything."
I nodded. "The nurses are here if I need anything. Don't worry, and go to sleep."
Only then did Harper close her eyes.
Harper worked in a nightclub. Usually, she was on the night shift. Since her hours were awful, and she had to cram her daytime chores and errands into a few hours after she woke up, she was always very busy and tired.
Had she been adopted into a pack, her life would have been completely unique. I'd always hoped for that for her. Once I didn't get my Wolf at puberty, I knew there was no hope for me. But Harper? She had her wolf, and she was so smart.
Without a pack and a family, she wasn't able to go to college, and without a bachelor's degree, there wasn't much else she could do apart from a service industry job.
After graduating from high school, she didn't find a good job, but she wanted to settle in Arcadia. So, the nightclub it was.
At first, she worked bottle service. It didn't take her long to be promoted to a management position, though, because she was dam n good at her job. She was great at everything she did, and I was super proud of her.
She was even able to buy a house and a car after a few years, which was a gigantic achievement for an orphaned she-wolf with no pack.
To top it all off, Harper had met the man she was going to spend the rest of her life with, and their mating ceremony was next month. After she mated, she'd finally belong to a pack and have the family she'd always dreamed of.
No more struggling for her. She'd finally have everything she wanted.
Unlike me. I'd never have the chance for that.
But I wouldn't have any regrets as long as I could live until Harper's wedding and see her get married.
After staying in the hospital for a night, my high fever had completely subsided. I was still weak, but I could go home.
As soon as we got home, Harper went straight to the kitchen. I wanted to help, but Harper refused.
"Go to bed and rest. You need it. I'll take care of this."
Harper waved her hand and drove me out of the room.
Sure, my fever had subsided-but my heart failure had worsened.
My chest felt tight, and I was in a lot of pain. Because my heart wasn't pumping enough blood throughout my body, which meant everything wasn't getting enough oxygen, I was weak and dizzy. I couldn't even stand without swaying.
Even though I want to help Harper, I couldn't. There wasn't another choice for me but to go lie down.
After getting in bed, I fell right to sleep.
Almost.
Until my phone dinged with a text message. Entertainment news.
I knew so little about Griffon's schedule even when I was staying with him, so I'd started paying attention to some "celebrity entertainment" accounts after seeing that they occasionally covered the Knight pack Alpha.
I opened the text and clicked on the link. The paparazzi had snapped a picture of Griffon carrying Tara into the emergency room. The content reported that their old relationship had rekindled.
I scrolled down to the comments, and they all praised Griffon and Tara, from their looks to their money to their powerful pack standings… They all said that they were a perfect match.
And even I had to admit…they were. Griffon was like a gorgeous statue in a museum…close enough to touch, but you'd get your hand slapped if you did. While Tara was elegant, beautiful, and kind. They were indeed a good match that balanced each other out.
I smiled bitterly and swiped the text message to delete it. When I went to turn off the phone, I saw a text message from an unknown number that I'd missed while in the hospital.
I clicked on it.
What did you go to the hospital for yesterday?
I was stunned for a moment. How did this person know that I had gone to the hospital?
I looked at the time. It was sent last night after I woke up in the hospital…
I read the message again and again, feeling disbelief.
The only person I had seen in the hospital last night was Griffon. Did he send it? But…he hadn't even looked at me. He'd been focused on Tara.
My hands trembled as I typed, Who is this?
I hadn't thought that the other person would reply so quickly, but in the next second, there was a new text.
Answer me, it said.
My heart was pounding. The cold tone was similar to Griffon's.
However, intuition told me that he'd never text me like this.
Frowning, I typed, Who the ll are you?
This time, silence. Until almost an hour later.
Roman, it read.
I took a deep breath, almost relieved it wasn't Griffon.
Though…this wasn't Roman's phone number…
Something seemed off.
I lay in bed thinking about it, but I couldn't figure it out. Why would Roman have a different number?
Screw it. I decided to call it.
It rang and rang with no answer. Instead, he texted: I'm in a meeting.
I rested my chin on my hand, pondering the situation and what to do.
Picking up my phone again, I called the Starke pack offices-where Roman worked for his family.
This time, he answered quickly. His voice was low and carried a hint of impatience. "I'm in a meeting. What's the matter?"
I hadn't actually expected him to be in a meeting, so I quickly replied, "Nothing," then hung up.
What a psycho! Texting me with a strange number during a meeting. Did he have nothing else to do? If he was so busy in his meeting, what the ll was he doing texting?
Then again, he'd changed his number before when I'd blocked him. Maybe he'd had to change it because he'd been harassing Some other woman who'd blocked him.
I put down the phone, planning to ignore him, but I didn't expect to see another text message.
He returned to the first question: Answer me. Why did you go to the hospital?
Goddess, he was crazy. He wouldn't speak when I called, but he'd just continue to ask the same question over text. What the ll?
I would rather not talk to him, but I was afraid that if I didn't reply, it would just irritate him. So I gritted my teeth and typed: I had a high fever and went to the hospital for IV fluids and antibiotics.
I was prepared for more questions, but he didn't text back. So I put down my phone and fell asleep.