“Of course. Da and I will take care of that. We will put them with all of our family journals.” Edan spoke up and I shot my gaze sideways to see him.
“Thank you.”
Small conversations started up as everyone settled in for the night and Hugh managed to get a small bonfire started so we had some light and warmth and Ian stayed in the grass with me, neither of us saying anything. He watched the light reflect dully off my scales and was grateful that Hugh had set the fire far enough away that it wouldn’t aggravate my burns at all.
“Lass,” Ian said softly to me eventually, bending closer to my ear and I twitched it, indicating I was listening. “A few days ago, on our picnic, you asked me where I saw myself in ten years. You remember?”
“You said you saw yourself likely married with a few kids and still living here on the estate.” A few conversations faded away as my voice entered their minds, but they did their best to give us some privacy.
“I’ve been thinking about what I said, and if it’s okay with you, I’d like to change my answer.”
“To what?” my green-eyed gaze went up to his face and he smiled faintly, cupping my head in his hands and running his thumbs along my jaw under my tusks.
“I would follow you to the ends of the earth, every single day if you’d let me.” His choked whisper was almost drowned out by a bunch of watches that beeped, indicating the changing of the hour and as Ian’s watch beeped too, he knew what that meant.
It was midnight.
Chapter 18
Complete silence fell on the group as midnight struck and a gust of wind suddenly blew up the escarpment and terrorized the fire and candles, putting them out and leaving everyone sitting there in the dark.
“Kailani, no.” Ian whispered brokenly, bending over completely in pain, resting his head on mine as he cradled my muzzle in his arms. A few others started to cry somewhere in the darkness and murmurs of comfort were heard but nothing mattered to Ian. He cried quietly in his hunched position and didn’t bother to move when he felt a strong hand on his shoulder.
“I’m so sorry, Ian.” Edan said quietly, his voice thick with emotion. I had saved not only his land, the same land that his family had called home for generations, but his family too with no discernible regard for my own safety and there was no way he could have shown just how grateful he was, nor how much I had come to mean to his family.
“Ian?” Ciara called out, her voice questioning and somewhat alarmed and Ian finally raised his head to look in the direction of her voice but he didn’t get far. Everyone’s gaze was glued to me and the faint light that was emitting from me.
“What in the blazes…?” Will muttered, eyes wide but before anyone could respond, a flash of light exploded in the clearing, making everyone cry out and cover their eyes. Ian heard me scream in pain as my body transformed and shrunk from dragon back to human, and any injuries that I’d suffered with as a dragon re-manifested as my body changed and his eyes widened in disbelief. If I had screamed in pain, that meant…
“She’s alive!” He lunged for me even as the light was fading and he was fumbling in his jeans pocket for his penlight. Finding my face in the sudden, overwhelming darkness right after the light disappeared, he clicked his light on and lifted one of my eyelids. A grey-green iris looked back at him and the round, black pupil contracted in the bright light he held and his heart felt like it was going to explode in his chest.
“Someone get me an ambulance! She’s alive!” He shouted to the others and pandemonium broke out as voices started talking all at once. Hugh had his cell phone out first and he was calling for an ambulance while Stephanie and Edan both dropped to either side of me.
“But her eyes! What are we going to tell them about her eyes?” Stephanie asked in a panic and Ian looked at her, his expression wild with emotion and amazement.
“She’s human. Her eyes are normal.” He suddenly bent over me and ran his thumbs across my cheeks where my tusks had been not long ago. “Hang in there, lass. We’ll get you help.”
After Hugh was done his phone call he rejoined the group and confirmed that medics were on their way.
“You’ll have to travel with the ambulance Ian. You have the medical background needed to lie for her. Make up any excuse or story you have to until she’s inside and we’ll go along with whatever you tell them.” Edan told his friend urgently and Ian nodded rapidly as he got to his feet and looked around.
“Well, we might not want it to look like we just held a vigil.” He started to say and Hugh caught on immediately.
“Everyone! Let’s get these candles and things out of sight! Move people, we don’t have much time!” He clapped his hands together and everyone sprang into action. The embers of the fire were completely doused and shuffled to make sure they were out, candles, food and blankets disappeared so fast you’d wonder if they’d even been there and Jamie and Stephanie hastily grabbed the bales they’d brought from the barn and redeposited them inside the big barn doors just as flashing lights were seen outside the gates. Jamie was the closest to the gate, and after jogging with me every morning he was now one of the faster ones, so he broke into a run to let the paramedics in and Ian looked at Edan urgently.
“She fell down the path earlier today, we didn’t know where she was until a little while ago and we carried her up here and called for help. I’ll work with that story for the time being until we learn the full extent of her injuries and we’ll go from there.”
“You’re the doctor.” Edan nodded as the flashing lights in the lane-way penetrated the darkness through the trees and they heard voices calling out, leading the paramedics and their stretcher out to where my body lay.
Ian exchanged hasty greetings with the man and woman whom he knew from his time at the hospital and the three of them crouched over my body and started talking in hushed tones. Edan stood back out of the way with his father, wife and sleeping babies and they watched silently as I was tended to.
“On three. One - two - three.” The male paramedic counted and then I was rolled onto my side, a stretcher was slipped under me, and I was lowered back down onto it. They wasted no time getting me loaded into the back of the ambulance and the flashing lights raced back down the lane-way and beyond the walls, leaving everyone once again in the dark and staring at each other with a mixture of amazement, wonder and hope.
As Ian traveled in the back of the ambulance, he gave the female paramedic a brief rundown of what he “knew” of my injuries, which wasn’t much. He told her that I had mentioned in the early afternoon that I had wanted to explore the cliffs and see if I could find the old caves that legend stated were filled with treasure. No one had thought twice about my plans, even after that weird storm had moved in. They had all figured I’d made it back to my cottage before the wind and lightning had really started in earnest. It wasn’t until dark that anyone realized they hadn’t seen me in awhile and they went looking for me.
They found me at the base of the cliff, barely conscious and when they tried to move me, I screamed in pain. He figured, without x rays, that I had possibly a fractured knee, maybe some cracked ribs and a concussion.
“Did she fall over the edge of the cliff?” the woman’s name was Helen and she looked absolutely appalled at the idea.
“Hard to say. From what we saw in our flashlights, there were some large boulders on the beach that hadn’t been there before the storm. My guess is lightning hit the path she was on and she fell with the rocks.” At his words, Helen felt suddenly sick and she gasped as her hand went to her heart.
“Poor thing. What about the burns on the front of her body?” Helen ventured and Ian shrugged helplessly.
“Lightning maybe? Maybe she was so close to the strike that it burned her.” His gaze dropped down to my unconscious form and his stomach flip-flopped, making him queasy. Now that he could see me in the dim lighting inside the ambulance, it was no wonder my scales had looked so lackluster. My face and arms were scraped, cut, bruised and
burned. I had what looked like a wicked sunburn over the entire front of me, my long, beautiful brown hair was singed about half-way down. He gently picked up my hand and looked at my fingers and saw dirt packed under and around my broken nails and he wondered what injuries; cuts, scrapes, burns or bruises my clothes hid from view. It was hard for him to remember the fight with the Fae and the injuries I’d sustained during it and try to figure out where those wounds would present themselves on my human body. He knew my tail had been hit with a bolt of lightning but I clearly didn’t have a tail at the moment, so where was that wound? The possibly broken bones from the falling rocks were easy to find; my legs, hips, lower back, they would have taken the brunt of that, making it a wonder that I could move at all. Damn, just thinking about that made him sick and he closed his eyes and tipped his head back against the wall behind him.
“Just hang in there Kailani, please. We’re going to do everything we can for you.” He prayed. They arrived at the hospital a few minutes later and I was rushed into the emergency room, but when Ian tried to follow the doctors, Helen put a hand on his chest and shook her head.
“Not tonight Doctor. You stay out here. If they need you, they’ll come get you.” She told him gently but firmly and he sighed and nodded once, his heart in his throat as he watched my stretcher disappear around a corner, undoubtedly heading for x rays before surgery.
Ian found an empty chair in the waiting area, and as he sat down he went to pull out his cell phone, and realized he didn’t have it and didn’t really care, and instead of trying to find a phone to call Edan and the others, he just sat and stared at the swinging doors I’d disappeared through.
♦♦♦
Edan walked into the ER waiting area three or four hours later and found Ian still slumped in his chair, dozing fitfully and instead of waking his friend, he sank down on a chair beside him and looked around himself. As he did, the swinging doors opened and a pretty nurse that Edan recognized as being the girl Ian had dated a few years ago came out and walked straight towards them.
“Edan, hello. It’s good to see you.” She said softly, he thought he remembered her name was Emma, and he nodded and rose to his feet. The motion and sudden talking woke Ian up and he shot to his feet, suddenly wide awake.
“Emma.” He said with a touch of surprise and she smiled thinly and nodded at him.
“Hi Ian. I just wanted to let you both know that Miss Williams is out of recovery and is in a room now. She suffered a lot of broken or fractured bones but given enough time, she’ll heal just fine.” She watched Ian relax as her words sunk in and she squashed the tinge of jealousy she felt. They had dated for awhile it was true, and she’d really liked him. But they were both responsible for the end of the relationship and she couldn’t fault him now for having found someone new.
“What were her injuries?” Ian asked and Emma shook her head slightly.
“Dr. Michaels will be able to answer your questions. I will be part of her post-op team so if you need anything, just let me know.” She squeezed Ian’s arm once and then disappeared back through the swinging doors and Edan turned to him, his broad shoulders relaxing at the news that I was okay.
“She’s alive and will be okay.” He said in relief and Ian nodded silently, not completely believing it. Edan walked to the nurse’s station to find out what room I was in and if he could get me moved to a private room - yes, at his expense. He was a touch surprised to learn I had out-of-country medical coverage but figured I must have extended it when it became clear that my trip was going to last longer than originally planned. Once he had my room number, he and Ian walked down the hall and they had to double-check the room number to make sure they had the right one, because the young woman laying in the bed didn’t look like me at first.
I was covered in a thick layer of white cream, likely for the burns, and my body was covered with a sheet but my right leg was elevated and covered in a white cast. But what was hardest for both men to see was the breathing tube down my throat and the IV attached to my arm.
“Kailani? Lass, can you hear us?” Edan spoke in a loud whisper and I tried to move my head to look at them, only to realize I had no control over my body.
“Edan? Ian?” I tried to speak to them using my thoughts, like I did when in dragon-form but nothing happened, my voice just echoed hollowly inside my own head.
“She can’t hear you. At least I don’t think she can.” Both men turned to the doctor that had joined them and the two physicians nodded at each other in greeting. “Hello Dr. Andarsan.”
“Dr. Michaels.” Ian returned the greeting and Dr. Michaels approached my bed and stood opposite the Laird and Ian, a clipboard in his hand.
“Why don’t you think she can hear us? Is she still under the general anesthesia?” Edan asked in confusion and Dr. Michaels shook his head, even while I was protesting indignantly in my mind.
“Yes, I can! I can hear you! Guys, I’m right here!” I tried to call out again but no one heard me because I didn’t make a sound, so instead, I channeled my frustration and mild panic into listening.
“No, we believe that wore off an hour or so ago. No, she’s in a comatose and unresponsive state.”
“A coma?!” Ian burst out despite his best effort and I heard the disbelief and heart-break in the exclamation and I stopped listening for a moment as I re-evaluated my situation. I could hear the men talking at the foot of my bed and I could feel the cool stiffness of the sheet under my fingertips but I couldn’t move anything. Was I paralyzed, I thought in a panic? No, I couldn’t be paralyzed, if I was, would I be able to feel someone – probably Ian – rest his hand on my shin? I wasn’t sure. What I was sure of was I felt like I was trapped deep underwater, unable to really move because I was a human weighed down by my massive dragon wings and tail. All I could do, was listen.
“I can’t tell you why. Her injuries, although pretty extensive, wouldn’t cause a comatose state but that seems to be what we’re dealing with.”
“Bloody hell.” Edan muttered tiredly, rubbing a hand across his face and Dr. Michaels looked between the two agitated men quietly for a moment until Ian got himself pulled together again.
“So what were her injuries?”
“You were right in that she had a broken hip, femur and knee so we’ve reset the femur and replaced her hip and knee joints. She has some fractured ribs and second degree burns to the entire front of her body that we’ve put an antibiotic cream on. I saw no real signs of a concussion but the coma makes me wonder if she did sustain a serious brain injury. What happened out there?”
“We don’t know. She went exploring by herself and we think she fell off the path down the escarpment when lightning hit it. We found her body after dark, got her brought back up to higher ground and called for an ambulance.” Ian’s voice was dead of all emotion and Edan looked at him critically. He watched his childhood friend pull up a chair beside my bed and sink down on it, taking my battered fingers in his and resting his chin on the mattress near our hands. I felt his gentle touch and wanted nothing more than to curl my fingers around his and when I couldn’t do even that, my imaginary image stomped her foot in frustration.
“Ian, why don’t you come home for a few hours? Get some rest, mate? Lani’s in good hands here.” He tried but Ian just shook his head.
“I’m not leaving her.”
“Dr. Andarsan, really there’s nothing you can do - “ Dr. Michael’s started but Ian glared at them both.
“I am not leaving her. Period.”
⧫⧫⧫
And he didn’t. For two days Ian sat beside my bed, desperately waiting for me to open my eyes. He took charge of applying the antibiotic cream to my burn, he gave me gentle sponge baths, he brushed my hair the best he could. He ignored any talk of him leaving, even for a few hours of rest back at the estate.
What he, and everyone else didn’t realize, was that I could hear every reassurance Ian murmured to me, felt every time he squeezed my hand, caressed my fac
e, brushed my hair or applied the antibiotic burn cream. And I slipped further and further in love with him with every passing touch or caress.
On day two of my hospital stay, Ciara walked in, minus her babies, and found Ian sitting beside my bed, his fingers twined with mine while he gazed at my sleeping form blankly.
“How are you doing, Ian?” Ciara asked gently, and he met her gaze steadily, his face grim.
“As good as I can be, Ciara. She’s stable, her injuries are healing but she’s not responding to anything the doctors or I am trying. According to the latest MRI scans, she should be awake.” His voice was flat and lifeless and Ciara swallowed hard as her eyes burned with sudden tears at his despondent tone.
“She’s not completely human, Ian. Don’t forget that. Just because her eyes went back to what you and I consider normal, she still isn’t like us. Who knows what she’s going through.” Ciara dropped her voice to a whisper as she shot a quick look around herself and Ian nodded.
“Aye, I know and believe me I keep telling myself that. I just can’t bear to see her like this.” He squeezed my hand tightly and brought it to his lips and Ciara wiped her tears from her eyes as she watched him.
“Do you talk to her? I know you say she isn’t responding but that doesn’t mean she can’t hear you.”
“Yes! Yes, I can hear you! Oh, Ian I’m right here!” I cried futilely and Ian squeezed my fingers, not because he sensed I was awake but more as a reflex, reassuring himself that my hand was still warm and solid in his.
“Endlessly. I’ve been telling her what her view is out the window, what the weather is like. What’s going on in the hallways. I tell her who comes to see her.” He was quick to answer and before she could tell him that’s not quite what she meant, he continued. “I tell her that I’m right here beside her and that I won’t leave until she opens her eyes. I tell her how much she has inspired me to be a better person and to live outside my shell a little more.”
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