“Oh, she’s your wife,” the nurse said with an exaggeratedly loud voice for the other nurses’ benefit. “Follow me, sir. Sorry for the confusion.”
Kai could have roared in victory, but instead, he followed behind the nurse. She brought him to a long hallway. Ember’s scent went down the corridor and disappeared behind a set of doors.
“She’s through there,” the nurse explained. “One of the ICU doctors is my mate and the best one at diagnosing ailments.”
That made sense, Kai thought, since the man would have his shifter senses to help him decipher what was going on.
“If you stay right there, I’ll make sure Dr. Carr speaks with you as soon as your mate is stable.”
He nodded and began pacing the length of the hallway. Through the thick doors, he could barely hear what was going on. There was no way to tell which of the heart monitors he was hearing belonged to his mate. He hated himself for it. He would have been happy to be able to tell which one was hers, which one his own heart beat for.
Guilt ripped through him because he couldn’t tell which was hers.
It wasn’t the only remorse he felt. He knew that he was partially responsible for this. The stalker had most of the blame, but some was his. He knew someone was after his mate, and he hadn’t put his foot down. He had let Ember go into the studio to film the day’s challenge because their relationship was still new. He hadn’t wanted to push Ember away completely, and now he could lose her because of it.
Kai wanted to punch the hospital wall, but it wouldn’t do him any good. He had to pace and wait to hear for some news.
He was doing his millionth rep when a tall, thin woman with her blond hair pulled into a tight bun exited the door. She took one look at him and gave him a sad smile.
“You must be the mate,” the panther shifter said. Kai had falsely assumed that the panther doctor was a man. Not that it mattered. He rushed toward the doctor, running his hands through his hair. “I’m Doctor Carr.”
“And? Is she going to be okay?”
The doctor nodded. “She ingested poison. A small dose, but something that was highly lethal. Until we get the test results, we won’t know for sure what she was given.”
“Is she going to be all right?”
“Yes, of course. She just needs rest and fluids. The oxygen and IV drip we have her on will help her recover. It’s an antitoxin that should clear it up soon enough. You got her here just in time.”
He shook his head. “Whatever it was, she didn’t ingest too much of it. Just a couple of tastes.”
“She will be fine. I wouldn’t let a fellow shifter’s mate die. You can go into see her before you wear a hole through the floor. We’re moving her out of the ICU and into a room on seventh.”
He breathed a sigh of relief. That was a good sign. He made his way to Ember’s hospital room on the seventh floor, calling Lee as he did. Kai was torn between staying by Ember’s side, which he really needed to do. Not just for her, but for himself. Just thinking about leaving her alone and defenseless made his stomach roll painfully. But he also needed to get to the studio to grab everything from Ember’s workstation to see what had been contaminated. He couldn’t do both. Marius was there with the cops, but Kai needed assurances that everything was being done to catch the poisoner. Marius needed backup.
He grabbed his phone and dialed his brother’s number. He hated to tax him with a large task, especially since Carmen was about ready to pop. But he didn’t have a choice. He didn’t trust anyone else — even Marius.
“I’m sorry to lay this at your feet,” he said to Lee, after explaining the current circumstances.
“No, don’t you dare apologize. I get it. If it was Carmen or the kids, I wouldn’t want to leave their side either. You take care of your mate. I’ll take Dad, and we will go shut down the soundstage. I’ll make sure everyone gets interviewed. Not just the crew and other bakers, but all of the people who had access to the lot today.”
“Go as far back as yesterday. Whatever was given to her could have been messed with yesterday after shooting was over.”
Kai clicked off the phone without saying goodbye. He knew his brother would understand the stress he was under. Kai walked into the hospital room, and his heart fell to the ground, beaten and still. Ember was lying in bed, looking pale and frail. There were all kinds of tubes sticking out of her, but at least her heartbeat was steady. He dragged the chair to the bedside and settled in, taking her hand in his. He would never let go.
He was not going to let her out of his sight. He would buy her that damn bakery himself. She would just have to deal with it, period!
That is right, his lion growled. No more nonsense. We call the shots.
Right.
Ember wouldn’t be too pleased about that, but he wasn’t going to let her kill herself for her dreams. She didn’t have to. She wasn’t alone anymore. She had him.
Moments later. Dr. Carr came into the room to check on Ember.
“She’s doing okay,” she assured Kai. “But I have to say, it’s not a good day for that baking competition,” Doctor Carr said with a tsk of her tongue.
“What do you mean?” Kai frowned.
“Another person is here from the set. Same symptoms.”
His skin prickled. “Who?”
“I really shouldn’t say—”
“I’m head of security at the network. I need to know.”
The doctor shrugged. “Ashleigh something or other.”
Kai’s eyes narrowed. Had Ashleigh been poisoned too? That was highly suspect. Had the other woman also been receiving threatening letters? Up until this very moment, Kai had pegged her as the person responsible for the threat.
“We took blood samples from both women. They’ll be sent to a lab to determine the cause, but I suspect it will be some kind of insecticide. It’s the only thing that can cause such an immediate reaction. Her stomach will be off for a few days, maybe up to a week. She will need to eat bland food, preferably liquids, clear soups like chicken noodle. Nothing cream based. Saltines and, when she feels better, maybe a bit of dry toast, but no butter or anything like that. We had to pump her stomach before she puked herself to death.”
Kai nodded along to the instructions. “Is there anything else I can do for her?”
“No, unfortunately, this has to pass on its own. Rest and fluids are what’s best for her. Now, if you’ll excuse me—”
Doctor Carr left them alone. Kai leaned his head down onto the bed to be closer to Ember. He couldn’t lay down beside her, but if he had been able to, he would have done so.
He needed to hold his mate, to revel in the fact that she was going to be okay. He needed to feel her heartbeat next to his. He sighed and squeezed her hand.
“Please be okay,” he said to his sleeping mate.
She moved, slowly coming to. Ember blinked those beautiful eyes of hers. They were glassy and unfocused, even though she blinked them a few times to get her bearings.
“What happened?”
“You were poisoned, but you’ll be okay in a little while.” Kai leaned down to kiss her forehead. “I have called your family to let them know you’re here. They should be here soon.”