Let Me Live

Chapter 17 Titan's POV

Titan’s POV

I stare at her tiny body in the bed as she sleeps, which is mostly what she’s been doing since we got here 3 days ago. The trip really took it out of her. The monitors are beeping like usual. I was surprised to find myself here. After leaving the cells, my mind went blank and the next thing I knew I was here. I have been here most of the time since we got back. I guess my wolf knew better than I what we needed. I slept off and on through the night. Then I woke up when the nurses came in to change her bandages a while ago. They let me know my uncle would be in a little later. My mom had come in a little earlier to fuss over her. Like most everyone, she had been shocked by the state Ariah was in and went right into mom mode. She’s been coming three to four times a day since we got back, to check in and give me pep talks about how everything will be fine.

My uncle is the top surgeon in the region as well as the best doctor we have in our hospital. He treats humans and alternate beings. I look at her and realize that while she’s still severely underweight and bandaged, her skin color looks better and her heart is sounding a little stronger. My uncle has been working with Dr. Marshall and they’re both trying to be positive, but I know my uncle well enough to know when he’s worried. I am too. Her body and her mind have literally only known a life of torture and even if we can bring her back physically, mentally it’s going to be a minefield of what will and won’t trigger her! I close my eyes and try to get myself to calm down. I’m getting ahead of myself and just need to focus on getting her better. Hell, we have to get her walking before we can even consider anything else. Just as I’m starting to spiral out with that anxiety, my uncle enters the room along with Dr. Marshall.

“Morning Tie.” He greets, Dr. Marshall’s mouth drops open at the doc’s casual greeting of me.

“He’s my nephew. I drop the formalities when we’re not on display. It’s a little strange to call someone you used to wipe the ass of and clean the boogers from, ‘your Highness.’” He explains with a grin. Dr. Marshall still seems taken aback.

“Your Highness.” He nods toward me.

“Morning. How are your girls, Dr. Marshall?” I asked him. They had been out and about quite a bit since getting here and on excursions into the city.

“They’re having the time of their lives. Even Lilian is smiling more than she has in a long time.” Dr. Marshall answered, his eyes growing sad at the mention of his wife, who had yet to fully recover from their ordeal. I gave him the number of one of our therapists here and let him know there would be no charge.

“If I could just keep Lacy’s attention on something besides the Prince, things would be great.” He mumbled. I was wondering if he had noticed that as well. His oldest daughter, who was 15 and a beautiful girl, seemed to only have one thing on her mind: Ryker! They had met on the plane and she had been drooling over him since. Ryker was used to having women throw themselves at him but this was an underage girl and it was making him uncomfortable as hell. It was actually kind of amusing to see. He had been avoiding her like the plague.

“I can assure you, Prince Ryker is keeping his distance.” I commented with a chuckle. I turned my attention to my uncle’s face as he was looking through her charts and checking her vitals.

“So what’s the plan here, Doc?” I asked him, stepping up to the foot of her bed.

“I’m actually glad you're here so we can discuss that. I’m going to tell you straight Titan, like I always do, it’s a miracle she’s alive. I’ve been a doctor for 23 years and I have never seen a worse case of emaciation. The malnutrition combined with the multiple traumas to her body is most likely the cause of her stunted growth. She has had multiple fractures and broken bones that went untreated and the bones are now too brittle to withstand much weight. Not to mention, the years spent underground without exposure to sunlight means her body doesn’t have the vitamin D it needs to absorb the calcium so her bones can harden. Also, because of this, her eyesight is severely compromised. The lacerations and burns are actually the least of our worries. With proper nutrition, most of the more recent wounds will heal, but I'm afraid many of the older scars will be permanent. Dr. Marshall’s hunch about the infection in her bones was right. The surgery can fix that but her body simply isn’t strong enough to survive it right now. However, the longer we wait, the worse the infection may get and this is just the tip of the iceberg, I’m afraid.” He finally finished.

“Are you going to be hitting me with any good news, Unc? Or just further explanation of what I already know; my mate is a whole damn trauma unit!” I snapped at him! Dr. Marshall apparently sees this as his exit moment.

“Dr. Gibson, if we're finished here, I’ll be going. I promised my family a trip to the aquarium in the city. I’ll have my cell on should you need me and will check back this evening. Your Highness.” He bows and nearly runs from the room. I still don’t think he’s very comfortable around me when I’m angry.

“I’m just making sure you understand the severity of her condition, Titan. The next week or so is going to be very touch and go. That is where the good news is coming in. She seems to already be responding well to treatment. Dr. Marshall told me of her cardiac episodes and about you transferring energy to her and how her vitals would improve with your presence. The rest and medical treatment she has been receiving, in combination with an already strong mate bond, seems to be working well for her. As her body heals and becomes healthier and once you two have performed the marking and solidified your bond, I could very well see her making a full physical recovery.” He said gently. As if it were going to be that simple.

“I can’t perform the marking ceremony with her!” I said to him and he looked at me like I was the one being absurd!

“Titan, you have to. If you don’t, the mate bond will begin to wither and may be interpreted as a rejection by your wolf spirits. She most definitely won’t survive that and, with as strong as your connection is already, there’s a chance you may not either. She needs the strength from the completed bond to be able to heal.” He stated so matter of factly like I didn’t already know those things.

“Not only is she nowhere near mentally able to understand that act, but I can’t… I won’t be able to fit inside her.” I finally said it out loud. The fact that I won’t be able to have s*x with my mate. I’m not being arrogant. Ryker and I were both born more than blessed in that area and have both had to be careful over the years. We have both injured normal-sized women when we’ve gotten carried away. My uncle looked at me for a moment.

“Titan, as much as I hate to say this and I can’t imagine how horrible of an experience it is going to be for the both of you, we both know there have been a few mates who were not completely willing during the ceremony.” He says it gently, but I still glare at him. He knows better than to bring that up or to even hint at it.

“As for the physics of it, that is not as concerning. She is a woman and women's bodies were made to stretch and accommodate.” He says it so casually. ‘Stretch and accommodate’ he says. I look up at her to make sure she’s still sleeping. It’s hard to tell with the gauze over her eyes, but her breathing is steady and her pulse is slow and rhythmic. I close my eyes and inhale that enticing scent that has been driving me up the wall since I found her. Warm vanilla and cinnamon. I imagine her with the healthy curves of a woman and lying naked under me until I feel my engorged member pressing against my pants. I walk up to the side of her bed and position myself over her, I pull the sheet back and align my hips with hers!

“What are you doing?!” My uncle asks, as if now he wants to be delicate. I pull my near fully erect c**k from my pants and lay it on top of her abdomen, where it would be if I was to enter her! It extends from her pubic bone to just past the bottom of her rib cage! The tip damn near touching her sternum!! It’s also half the same damn width as her and I’m not even fully hard!

“Now I’m no doctor, Unc but I want you to tell me the last time you saw a woman with a v****a up to her f*****g lungs!” I hiss at him because I can’t risk yelling and waking her up. He glares at me.

“You don’t have to be so damn dramatic! Get off her before you mess up the casts and bandages!” He spats back. I rise off the bed and tuck myself away, kicking myself for giving me the visual reference as much as my uncle because I feel even worse now having seen the actual comparison.

“I’m not saying her size isn’t at all concerning and no, you’ll probably never be able to fully enter her but if you take it slow and pay attention, you’ll be able to tell when you should stop. She needs the full strength of the bond. If it will make you feel any better, I’ll be your witness and I’ll check on her once it’s done just to make sure she’s ok.” He offers and I still can’t wrap my head around having to do that to her. I bow my head in defeat.

“I’ll break her. She’s too small.” I say as a few tears slip out before I can stop them. My uncle pulls her sheet further back.

“Titan, look at Ariah.” He says sternly. I have looked at her and I don’t want to right now.

“Look at her.” He says again. I finally pull my eyes to the scared, wounded, broken, form of my mate. More tears slip.

“This is not the body of some fragile porcelain doll! This girl has already lived through a thousand things that should have killed her! She may be small and broken, but she is far from being made of glass. She has a strength inside that, I would wager, could match yours. That may be why your bond is so strong already. Don’t look at her and get stuck on the scars and cracks on the outside, look past that and see the fire burning inside.” For once, I don’t argue with my uncle.