Sari looked down at her rumpled clothes. “I should shower and change. I’ll do it fast and come back here.”
Bridget nodded. “I understand your need to be by his side, but it really isn’t necessary. We are a community, and each of us has her or his job to do. You have a keep to run. Steven and I can take care of David.”
“This part of me agrees with you.” Sari tapped her temple. “But this part doesn’t.” She put her hand over her heart. “I need to be here.”
28
Kian
It was early in the morning when Kian got a text from Bridget, informing him that she’d arrived and was going directly to David.
Syssi was still sleeping soundly, and he would have much rather stayed in bed with her, but he had to greet Bridget and check up on David and Sari.
His stubborn sister had spent the night in the clinic, sleeping on a cot in the waiting room. She was probably exhausted.
Kian could empathize. He hadn’t been any better when Syssi had been transitioning, but back then, none of them had experience with adult Dormants transitioning, and the uncertainty had made everything much more terrifying.
They had gained some knowledge since, but that didn’t make the process any less stressful for the mates of transitioning Dormants.
“Where are you going?” Syssi murmured sleepily as he got out of bed.
“Bridget is here.”
“So? She doesn’t need you. Come back to bed.” She pulled on his arm.
“I wish I could, but after she flew overnight to be here for David and Sari, I need to at least greet her.” Leaning, he kissed Syssi’s cheek. “Go back to sleep. You need your rest.”
“Okay.” Yawning, she turned to her other side. “I’m not going to argue about that.”
He kissed her other cheek because it was impossible for him not to do so. It was warm from sleep and so soft. “I love you.”
“Love you too. Say hi to Bridget for me.”
“I will.” He leaned lower and kissed her belly. “How is my daughter doing?”
“Sleeping.” Syssi waved him off. “Get the greeting thing over with and come back to bed.”
He smiled. His wife was the sweetest, most accommodating person in the world, but only after she had at least three cups of coffee in the morning. Otherwise, she was grumpy.
Regrettably, the modest room they had been given in the castle didn’t come equipped with a coffeemaker, and even if it had, Syssi would not have been happy with the quality.
If there was one thing his wife was snobbish about, it was that. She didn’t care for fancy clothes, or for jewelry, or any other status symbols, but she was very particular about her coffee.
He loved it that she had that small quirk. Otherwise, she would have been too perfect, which was imperfect.
On his way to the clinic, Kian stopped by the kitchen, poured himself a cup, and drank it on the way. The sooner he was done with Bridget, the sooner he could return to Syssi.
Expecting to see his sister sitting by David’s side, he was surprised to find only the two doctors in the clinic, and not in David’s room but in Steven’s office.
“Good morning.” He joined them. “Where is Sari?”
“She went to shower and change,” Bridget said. “I told her that she should get back to work, but she wouldn’t listen.”
“She’s worried.” He pulled out a chair and sat down. “How is your patient doing?”
“Not so great,” Bridget admitted. “If David’s temperature keeps rising, I will have to reduce it, and that will interfere with his transition. But our first priority is to keep him alive.”
Kian frowned. “Is it that bad?”
He’d thought that David was doing more or less the same as all the other transitioning Dormants, but Bridget’s somber expression had him worried.
“No, it’s not that bad. I just wanted to give you a fair warning before Sari gets back. I don’t want to worry her. It’s important for her to keep a positive attitude, and she’s already struggling with that.”
“She should be told.”
Bridget shook her head. “Not yet. David might stabilize, and then I would have worried her for nothing.”
“I’ll leave it to your discretion.” Kian pushed to his feet. “Do you need me to bring you anything?”
Bridget smiled. “Miranda is taking care of everything. She’s getting me breakfast, and Ojidu is preparing David’s old room in the tower for me, which means that I’m going to spend most of my time in here. I have no intention of climbing up and down those stairs all day long.”
“If you need anything, call me.”
“I will.”
Heading out, Kian didn’t go back to his room. Instead, he pulled his phone out and texted Alena.
Are you and Mother awake?
The answer came right back. We are. Would you like to join us for breakfast?
Perfect. I’m on my way.
It seemed like David would need Annani’s special help to transition, and they needed to plan for that in private. Kian hated keeping secrets from Syssi, but it was for her own good. Being privy to the true nature of Annani’s blessing was a burden he and Alena carried alone, and it had to stay that way.
29
Annani
“Good morning.” Kian walked in and took the chair Oshidu pulled out for him.
“Good morning, my son.” Annani smiled tightly. “Have you seen Bridget already?”
She had been informed that the doctor had arrived and gone directly to the clinic. That had been over an hour ago, and she had not heard from the doctor yet. Hopefully, Bridget’s assessment of David’s condition was positive, or at least not negative.
Kian nodded. “She’s with David. His temperature and blood pressure are rising. They haven’t reached critical limits yet, but Bridget seems worried. You might need to give David your blessing.”
Annani had been expecting that. “Of course. He is Sari’s mate.” She lifted her coffee cup and took a sip. “But let us wait a little longer and see if it is needed.”
“It’s karma,” Alena said.
Annani knew what she meant by that, but Kian raised a brow. “How so?”
“It’s Mother’s story to tell, not mine.”
“Is it about the nonsense of meeting David’s prior incarnation?”
“It is not nonsense.” Annani put her cup down. “You may choose to believe it or not, but since you were not there, you cannot dismiss it so easily.”
“That is true, but given what I have been told, you and Sari are basing your convictions on a vague sense of familiarity and the dreams of an adolescent boy. If David could confirm details of what happened between you and the man you think was him in his previous life, it would be proof of some kind of connection to the past. But all he had were dreams of someone who looked like you, and the situations were taken from a fiction book he read.”
Alena cast her a sidelong glance. “Kian has a good point. Perhaps we both got carried away. While listening to you tell the story, I automatically cast David in the role of Gudbrand, but we really have no proof that it was him.”