Wild at Heart

“Call the doctor now!” I told Daniel.

“Emma—” Nick leaned his head into my chest.

“It’s okay, I got you.” I brushed his hair with my fingers. I could smell the wolfsbane, but I didn’t know why. “Daniel—”

“She’s on her way.” I nodded. I knew getting Nick to the hospital would take longer than getting Dr. Morris to him, and when it came to wolfsbane, time was of the essence.

“Talk to me, Nick.” I told him. I needed to hear his voice, I needed to keep him awake.

“I’m not feeling too hot, little wolf.” He said with a small chuckle before he groaned in pain.

“You’re going to be fine.” I assured him. “Dr. Morris is on her way; she’s going to stitch you up and you’ll be fine.”

“This feels like more than a little scratch.”

“It’s wolfsbane.” Everyone’s eyes turned to Natalie, who was now crouched over Chase’s dead body.

“How do you know that?” Daniel questioned.

“He dipped his claws in it before he came here.” She wiped her face with her arm. I was glad she was offering up information now, but I sure as hell would have been happier if she did it sooner. Nick’s eyes were starting to close.

“Nick, you have to stay awake.” I shook him gently and he looked up at me.

“I’m going to be fine, Emma.”

“Damn straight you are.” I kissed his forehead and turned to Daniel. “Get her out of here, we need to question her later.” He nodded to me and instantly pulled her off of Chase.

“No,” she struggled with him. “I need to stay with him. I need to stay with him!” Daniel and Alex dragged her away from us and finally the woods were quiet.

“Emma?” My eyes lit up to see Dr. Morris was finally here. I backed up to let her work and she instantly began rummaging through her bag to get supplies.

“Natalie said he used wolfsbane on his claws.” I told her. “You have to drain the poison.” If she could get the wolfsbane out of his system before it made its way to his heart, he wouldn’t get anywhere near as bad as I did. Dr. Morris looked up at me and I stared at her in confusion. We had to move quickly, why was she just staring at me?

“Emma—” She continued to stare at me.

“What are you doing?” I asked. “You have to help him.”

“You can help him.” She responded.

“Me?” I questioned. “I can’t, you’re the doctor, you have to do something.” At this point it was just Alan and I standing in the woods with Nick and Dr. Morris. She turned slightly to Alan and then back to me.

“Emma, do you remember what we talked about?” She asked me. I looked at Nick, who was barely keeping his eyes open.

“The wolfsbane doesn’t affect my blood.” I whispered. She nodded and I bit my lip gently. “What do I have to do?” I questioned.

“I don’t know that it’ll work.” She said with a saddened expression.

“Will it hurt?” I asked.

“No.”

“Then tell me what I have to do.”

“My theory is that your blood cells will attack the wolfsbane in his blood system before it reaches anywhere near his heart. I haven’t been able to test it on a live wolf, but I don’t have the resources to give him a full blood transfusion in the middle of the woods. I need to get him to the hospital, but by the time we get there—” She trailed off and I didn’t need her to finish to know what would happen. Wolfsbane worked fast and by the time we got Nick to the hospital the poison would be so close to his heart he would be intubated and in a coma like I was. And I didn’t have the herbs that Derek used to save me to test on Nick.

“What do I do?” I asked. She looked through her bag and pulled out a syringe.

“I need your blood.” She said. Without hesitation, I handed her my arm and closed my eyes as the needle slid into my vein. It wasn’t long before I could feel it sliding out just as easily as it went in. I pulled Nick onto my lap.

“Nick?” I prayed he could still hear me. He didn’t respond with words, but the soft mumble that came from his lips gave me hope. “Dr. Morris is going to help you.” He muttered again and I gave her the okay to do it. He didn’t so much as flinch when she injected him.

“Alan, help us move him.” Dr. Morris immediately put the syringe away and began placing her hands around his ankles to get a grip on him.

“Wait—” I put my hand out and stopped Alan dead in his tracks. “What are we doing? Why are we moving him?” I asked her.

“I’m praying to the Moon Goddess that this works, Emma, but I don’t know if it will. I need a Plan B and my Plan B is to get him to the hospital and give him the best treatment he can get whether this works or not.” I nodded and didn’t question her further. Alan and I lifted Nick with her help, and we carried him the best we could to the vehicles outside of the tree line. We laid him in the backseat, and I rested his head on my lap. Dr. Morris took the passenger seat and Alan jumped in the driver side. “We’re on our way with the Alpha, I need every nurse you can find.” Dr. Morris was on the phone with someone, a nurse no doubt. “Go get a room set up and a gurney outside. We’ll need help transporting him. I need everything ready for when I get there. We’re going to need a blood transfusion; I need to clean his wounds and we’ll need a suture kit. Have Dr. Stephanie take over all of my other patients, the Alpha needs my full attention.” I pet Nick’s hair and stared at him, looking for any sign of life. I could hear his heart beating, I could see his chest collapsing with every gentle inhale, but his face was blank. Was this what I put him through when I was shot in the chest? Was this payback from the Moon Goddess to even the playing field? I swear I would give my life for his.

Before I knew it, the car door swung open and Daniel was pulling Nick out. Alex was there to help hold him up, Alan jumped out of the car to help lay him on the gurney that waited for him. Dr. Morris was in full doctor mode as she took over the gurney with the help of her nursing staff. I tried to follow her, but Daniel’s hand gripped my wrist to hold me back.

“Let me go.” I told him sternly.

“Let them work, Emma. He’s in good hands. You’ll just be in the way.” If he were wounded by normal claws of an opponent, I would be more inclined to believe the fact that I wouldn’t be of any use in the hospital with my mate. But Daniel knew nothing of my special blood Dr. Morris had been testing for the past year. I pulled my wrist from his grip and pushed him back with the force of my forearm.

“You’re the only one in the way.” I hissed back at him. I knew I would regret the nasty words later, but right now I just wanted to be with Nick. I turned from him and jogged to catch up with the good doctor.

I wasn’t stupid, I knew Daniel was partially right. I stood in the back of the room, so the nurses had room to work. I wanted to be close in case Dr. Morris needed more of my blood, but until then I would be a shadow in the room.

“Emma?” Nick’s voice was weak, and his eyes fluttered open just slightly.

“I’m right here, Nick.” I had to muster every bit of strength I had in me to hold my wolf back from going to him.

“Nick?” Dr. Morris lifted his eyelid and shined a tiny flashlight in his eye, he instantly swatted her hand away, knocking the flashlight to the ground. “It’s okay Nick, we’re just trying to help.” She tried to soothe him, but he became uneasy. He pushed her away and she fell back into a tray of instruments.

“Nick, calm down.” I stood still, trying to let them do what they needed to do. A nurse reached across him and tried to hold his arm down while another laid her body across his legs. He flung the poor wolves to the ground with a nasty growl and I pushed myself off the wall. “Nick!” I cupped his face with my hands and locked eyes with him. “Nick, calm down.”

“Emma?”

“I’m right here.” I could feel his body ease under me. “I’m not going anywhere, love, I just need you to let them help you.”

“What’s wrong with me?” He asked, his voice breaking in a panic.

“You were hurt, but we’re going to fix you.” I brushed my thumbs on his cheeks to ease his anxiety. “You’re going to be fine. Couple of stitches and you’ll be home in no time.”

“I can feel it.”

“Feel what?”

“Wolfsbane.” He whispered.

“I know.” The burning sensation he was feeling throughout his bloodstream was not a foreign feeling to me. “I’m going to fix it.” I lifted his hand and placed it on my chest, right overtop of the scar his uncle gave me. “I promise, I’ll fix it.” He nodded gently and laid his body back onto the bed.

“Sedative please.” Dr. Morris said as she composed herself. Nick allowed the needle to go into his arm, but he kept eye contact with me the entire time until the affects of the drugs took over and he fell into a medical sleep. “We’re going to fix his wounds now; I’ll take some blood and test it to see if there’s still wolfsbane in it.” I nodded. “I’ll come get you when we know more.” I nodded again and stepped out of the room. I prayed to the Moon Goddess that this would work. I leaned against the wall outside of Nick’s room and took a deep breath. When I looked up, I saw Daniel and Alex coming towards me.

“Daniel—” I started.

“Don’t.” He tried to stop me.

“I’m sorry, Daniel.” I continued anyway.

“You have nothing to be sorry for, Emma, I would have done the same if it were Alex. It was stupid of me to try and stop you.” He put a hand on my shoulder. The red lining under his eyes told me I wasn’t the only one feeling shitty that Nick was in the room next to me.

“Where’s Natalie?” I questioned.

“In the cell.” Alex answered. We had cells lined in the basement of the packhouse for moments like this. I felt badly that one of my closest friends was now locked away as she mourned the death of a loved one, but how badly could I feel knowing she was partially responsible for Nick’s condition?

“Emma?” I turned to Dr. Morris, who was peaking out of the room. “It’s working, Emma.” She had a huge grin on her face that I found to be contagious. “The wolfsbane is almost completely gone. I want to do one more dose just in case.” I nodded in agreement.

“What worked?” Daniel questioned.

“I’ll tell you later.” I said with a small smile before disappearing into the room with the doctor. Would I tell him later? Could I tell him the truth? Daniel has been a trusted member of the pack; he’s been Nick’s right-hand-man since he became Alpha so many years ago. But could I trust him with this?

Nick was laying in the bed with IV’s in his hand, but he was breathing on his own, yet not awake. He was still under sedation, but I would rather him be sedated than hurt himself or someone else while trying to escape in a confused stupor. I allowed the doctor to take my blood and I watched as she administered it to Nick. I was glad it was working, but I wasn’t going to stay. I would let Nick rest, he needed it. I had a friend I needed to question.