Chapter 48

Aria’s POV

Once again, I was caught off-guard by how good of a man Lucian was. Not for the first time, he had come to Dr. A’s rescue. If only he had done the same for me when I was Aria, but he could not see my qualities as Aria as easily as he could Dr. A’s.

It made me proud and gave me heartache in equal measures. Had I nothing else to focus on, I might have retreated back to my office to deal with the pain.

But there was no time for that now. With so many reputations on the line, and so many people believing in me, I couldn’t hide away no matter how much I might have wanted to.

I needed to press onwards and bring Caleb back to the waking world.

“Shall we?” Lucian said, gesturing toward the door.

Together, Silas, Lucian, the old healers, and I walked to the elevator. Then, boarding it, rode it up to Caleb’s floor.

Outside of Caleb’s door, his family waited.

“Two of you may enter,” Lucian said. “The rest must wait out here. We cannot overcrowd the room.”

Matt pushed forward from the rest, and entered Caleb’s room without waiting for permission.

“That leaves one,” Lucian said.

The family all looked at each other. None of them seemed particularly enthused to volunteer.

“It falls to me,” Montgomery said at last. “As oldest, I will see this done.”

“Very good,” Lucian said, and gestured for him to move inside.

With Silas, Lucian, Matt, Montgomery, and the old healers all crowded in the room, it was a tight squeeze. Fortunately, Silas and Lucian kept the rest as far from Caleb’s bedside as possible, giving me room to work.

As I’d already uncovered the source of this coma, I worked to prepare a solution that would fight against the silver poisoning, as well as stimulate Caleb’s wolf. With the wolf on alert, it should work alongside the antidote to fight the poison.

The dosage needed was uncertain. Caleb was in a weakened state. Too much might kill him. I was playing a delicate game, and unwilling to risk Caleb’s life, even to finally have his answer.

With some calculations, I landed on an amount that should be enough to rouse his wolf without seriously hurting Caleb. Then I rechecked the calculations to be sure.

Silas glanced over my shoulder at my notes. He didn’t say a word against them. If I was about to kill a man, I was certain he would have intervened.

I prepared the formula under the watchful eyes of the old healers. They couldn’t say a word. I didn’t do a thing wrong.

Then, carefully, I prepared the needle, raised it to Caleb’s IV, and injected the formula into the line. Slowly, it dripped down into his bloodstream.

“How long will it take?” Montgomery asked.

“If it works,” Carl added snidely.

Truthfully, I had no idea. “A few moments,” I said, guessing.

We waited, everyone in the room watching Caleb’s face. The tension in the room was palpable, making it somewhat hard to breathe.

I focused on my confidence, pushing down the stress. I was a good doctor. I had done the calculations twice. This was going to work. It had to.

A minute passed, and then two. After ten minutes ticked by, the old healers began to whisper to one another.

“Did it fail?” Montgomery asked.

Maybe, was the unfortunate answer. No one had really ever attempted anything like this in the past. Stimulating the wolf to fight back against the poison was a newer science. Any other healer would have written Caleb off for terminal long ago.

“Wait a minute more,” I said, trying to buy some time.

Caleb’s wolf had to be as tattered and tired as Caleb himself was. They’d fought in the same wars, carried the same scars. They’d both lost their mate.

When a werewolf neared the end, the wolf went quiet, disappearing as swiftly as it had arrived in the werewolf’s youth.

Maybe it was already too late. Maybe Caleb’s wolf was already gone.

“This is pointless,” Carl muttered.

“Does he need more --?” Montgomery started.

“Stop,” Matt snapped. “Look.”

Immediately all of our gazes snapped back to Caleb, where, amazingly, his eyes were blinking open.

I moved at once, removing the breathing apparatus from his mouth so that he could breathe and talk on his own.

“Stop bickering, the lot of you,” Caleb grumbled, his voice dry and rough.

I turned to look for the water pitcher that was always left in the room. Matt was already there, pouring a cup. He placed a straw in it.

As Matt came closer with the drink, I lifted the back of Caleb’s bed, readjusting his pillow, so that he could drink and look at everyone around him.

“Alpha King,” Caleb said, spotting him first. “Silas. What’s going on?”

“You are in the hospital old friend,” Silas said. “The healer Dr. A helped bring you back to yourself.”

“Matt,” Caleb said. Then Matt helped him drink the water, holding the cup for him. “Thank you.”

“I’m here too, Dad,” Montgomery said, stepping closer.

“Hello, Monte.”

Montgomery smiled.

Finished drinking, Caleb slouched back on the pillows. “Gods, I’m exhausted.”

“You have silver poisoning,” I told him. “Old shrapnel has gotten into your liver.”

“So you woke my wolf? Smart,” Caleb said. He laughed once, but it quickly became a sigh. “Though he’s tired too. I think it’s past time we found some rest.”

“You don’t have to, father,” Montgomery said. “There’s medicine you can take.”

“Monte, you aren’t listening –”

“It will extend your life. You can have so many more years left, if only you’d take it.”

“What are you talking about?” Caleb said, confused.

Lucian stepped forward. “Dr. A has developed a medicine that will extend the life of a werewolf. It could add years to your life, but…”

“It will not improve your condition,” I said. “Any pain you feel will persist. We can continue to treat the silver poisoning, but we will need the help of your wolf…” I took a moment to catch my breath. “I won’t lie to you, even with your wolf, it will be an arduous process, but if you are willing, we can try.”

Caleb looked at me for a long moment, holding my gaze with his own cutting one. I could see in his eyes the will and strength of a war hero.

“Please, father,” Montgomery said. “Tell all these people you will take the life-extending medicine and let’s move forward at once. We’ve already been in debate over this for far too long.”

Caleb continued to look at me as if testing me. With nothing to hide, I returned his gaze.

Finally, with a sigh, he looked away. “Thank you, Dr. A, for your efforts to save my life, but I think we both know it’s futile.”

“There is a chance,” I said.

“I don’t want to take it,” Caleb said. “I’ve been waiting for this moment for years. Finally, I can return to the battlefield where I left my soldiers. And perhaps, too, I may see my mate again.”

Matt lowered his head.

“Father, you can’t mean –” Montgomery started to say.

“Dr. A,” Caleb said, “While I appreciate your offer, I refuse to accept your medicine.”