Live Alaska

6. Taking Action

Leeson

It was painful watching her suffer so much. He’d been here for days, unwilling to leave. Jenna had checked in on her every morning before she had to go to work, but Xyla didn’t seem to be getting better, despite the medicine she was drinking and the herbal remedies his mother had given him to work with. He’d even made a few healing poultices for her chest.

He could feel her heart straining when the oxygen just seemed to be getting less and less in her system. She woke briefly to eat some of the nourishing stew and drink some of the warm tea he kept ready for her, even his presence and touch wasn’t helping to heal her well at all.

He had spent sleepless nights watching over her, only dozing off a little at a time, because he was scared of losing her. Then on the third morning, since he had come to her place and cooked for her, she opened her eyes blearily, staring at him for long moments from behind the oxygen mask. “I’m not ready to die when you look at me like that.” She huffed out breathlessly. I will marry you if I survive this.” She managed in between gasps.

He felt his heart leap with joy. Instantly he bit his finger when she did a slow blink and smeared the tiniest bit of his blood on the tip of the straw and gave her the straw with the tea to take a few sips. It wouldn’t be enough to turn her in the state she was in right now, but it would hopefully keep her alive until he could get her to his mother to help with her turning. With her current health, he didn’t feel safe turning her without having his mother present.

When she blacked out, he phoned Raymond to come as soon as he could so they could start the journey home. Thankfully, his mother had ensured that they all knew at least the very basic first aid, but he had for a time thought about following in her footsteps. Which meant he knew more than his other siblings. But he had stopped training when he considered his mate’s discomfort if he touched anyone other than her.

Now, it would help him to keep his mate alive, hopefully, otherwise he would have to start the turn and hope she didn’t need his mother’s assistance. But for now, he had to get her ready to go.

He packed her a bag with a few sets of clothes and her important papers and cell phone with its charger, filled a thermos with the warm tea and another with some stew, so he could keep her hydrated and give her food for energy. For some reason, he also took the little signed promise he had found stuck to her fridge door.

Then he changed the poultice on her chest to a new one. She already sounded like she was breathing just a little bit easier than she had before his drop of blood. He had just wrapped her up in a warm blanket and set her things ready, when Raymond knocked on the door.

“You called for a taxi?” He called and then stopped when he came into view with a bundled-up Xyla. “Man, she looks like the corpse bride.”

Leeson growled at his words.

“I don’t mean she’s dead, but she’s pale, and her lips are blue…and I’ll shut up and carry her things before you kill me.” He ended and grabbed the things he had set by the door to be ready. “I parked in the alley so we wouldn’t have too many eyes seeing us carry an unconscious woman into a white van.”

“You picked a white van?” he asked with annoyance. His friend picked the creepy kidnapper-colored van?

“Hey, you asked for a hospital on wheels; I got what you wanted, hospitals are white, right?”

“So are kidnapping vans,” he retorted.

“Well, next time be more specific about your color choices, because hot pink is not exactly non-descript.” Raymond answered, rolling his eyes while they took the back stairs, knowing that the majority of people took the lifts. Besides, they would move faster down the stairs than having to wait for the lift.

He might have chuckled at his friend’s answer if he hadn’t been so worried about his mate surviving.

Soon they stepped out into the cool spring air and Raymond opened the back door for him to step inside. Raymond had come through with everything they’d need to keep her alive; oxygen, syringes, adrenaline, even the defibrillator and heart monitor.

He laid her down on the gurney even before Raymond had closed the sliding door and connected her to the monitor that would keep an eye on her oxygen levels, heartbeat and blood pressure. Her oxygen was not good, so he added the oxygen mask and opened the cannister so she would have a little more help breathing.

By then, Raymond had jumped into the driver's seat and started the engine. “Welcome on the Aurora Sleuth long distance ambulance service, please keep yourself settled, since we’ll be pushing the miles and racing the GPS arrival time. I will beat that clock one day if it’s the last thing I do,” he answered as he drove casually out of the alley and headed for the highway, where he settled on a speed just above the speed limit but not enough to draw attention from police.

Leeson rolled his eyes. Since they had started driving, Raymond had been obsessed with arriving at a destination before the GPS’s calculated arrival time. They all knew it was calculated according to your speed, but Raymond was convinced he would beat the calculations one day.

Honestly, he didn’t mind this time. He would be happy if they could get back to the sleuth in time for his mother to save his mate. He didn’t want to attempt turning her without his mother and her skills. He would never forgive himself if something happened during her turn, and he lost her.

He felt his phone continuously vibrating in his pocket and he took it out to throw it towards Raymond, who tended to be all over the place while driving anyway, but he needed his attention on his mate. He was aware of Raymond talking to someone on the phone, but he was too focused on keeping his mate alive to pay any attention.

Raymond kept him updated with every town they passed, while he kept his focus on his mate, giving her some warm tea with a drop of his blood whenever she was lucid enough to swallow, adding an IV with fluids and antibiotics to help her body while they raced to save her life. He was not ready to lose her.

But his heart sank when he noticed her vitals dropping dangerously when they came near sleuth territory. Raymond had just dialed his mother when they came close, when the alarm went off on the monitor. Her heart rate was dropping and so were her oxygen levels.

He heard his mother answer just as he silenced the alarm. “Mom, I have to start the turn, now.” He spoke over whatever Raymond had been about to say and bit into his wrist.

Xyla’s eyes were opening, but she didn’t seem to be able to focus. “Come on, my Daisy, I need you to drink as much of this as you can.” He cooed gently, while he held his bleeding wrist to her lips. He hoped he wasn’t too late, as Raymond sped up to get them to the clinic.

He prayed that his mate would survive this; he was not ready to lose her. He had just found her; he couldn’t lose her now. He would go feral if he did.