The doctor leaned close to Boone, scribbling notes on a pad of paper. Every word the rabbit shifter spoke took tremendous effort, but he was determined to relay as much information to the doctor as possible. It was as though Boone was afraid once he fell unconscious, he’d never wake again, and he didn’t want to take this information to the grave.
Despite his determination, the toxin claimed victory over his willpower. His words slurred together until his speech was barely intelligible.
“You’ve done as much as you can. Now shut up and get some sleep.” Reese had wiggled between the nurses to appear next to his bed. Her words were bossy, but the way she tucked the blanket around him and gently squeezed his fingers belied how she felt.
“She’s right,” the doctor agreed, motioning for the nurses to back away from the bed. “With the information you emailed us, and Charlee’s and your sacrifice, I think we have a chance to save the wolves. Now it’s time for you to focus on your own survival.”
The doctor had an incredible poker face, so I couldn’t tell if he was lying or not. But it didn’t matter, because his assurance was exactly what Boone needed to hear. With a tired nod, he closed his eyes and allowed unconsciousness to claim him.
I stepped out into the hall, watching as doctors and nurses hurried past. For the first time since this nightmare had begun, there was an extra bounce in their step and hope in the weary lines of their faces.
So the doctor hadn’t been lying. There was a chance.
I just prayed Charlee hadn’t given up her life to bring that about.
“What do we do now?” I asked, voice cracking.
Monroe touched my elbow. “I think we should go check on Charlee.”
Monroe led me past the hustle and bustle of the staff, and through several doors markedEmployees Only.We stepped into a small room that was attached to the lab.
“It lacks the privacy of a private room, but being so close allows the doctors to monitor Charlee’s vitals while they begin working on a vaccine to give the pack prior to exposure to help lessen the effects of the toxin. They are also working on an antidote that could help those who’ve been exposed,” Monroe explained.
“I prefer having the doctors working within feet of her, rather than having her in a room by herself.” It was the truth.
“Cillian told me Linc and Copeland have already received the first transfusions. Now it’s a waiting game to see how theirbodies respond.” Monroe stepped aside and motioned for me to walk ahead of her toward the bed.
Charlee was just as eerily still as she’d been in the car. An IV line ran from her arm into some kind of machine that appeared to be collecting her blood.
Several feet away, doctors rolled between computers and microscopes, frantically typing notes every few minutes. A lab assistant prepared several slides, putting a drop of crimson liquid from one vial onto each thin piece of glass. Task finished, she retrieved a second vial and dripped that liquid on top of the first. Was that Charlee’s blood?
Science hadn’t been my favorite subject in school, but even an idiot could have figured out the doctors were testing the reactions of wolf shifters’ blood to the toxin and the antibodies. When I’d arrived at the hospital several hours after Linc and Copeland had arrived, Dr. Blaine still hadn’t known how to save the wolves. The staff could do nothing more than keep the wolf shifters comfortable and hope their bodies could somehow defeat the toxin on their own. A sense of heaviness had hung over the facility, but now, an undercurrent of excitement hummed through the room.
Not bothering to ask for permission, I climbed into bed beside Charlee, tucking her tiny body against mine. I pressed a gentle kiss to her bruised cheek, frustrated that I hadn’t been there to protect her when she’d needed me. It was a failure I would have to live with, and I wasn’t sure I could ever leave her side again.
For hours, we lay like that. I didn’t sleep, and instead watched the doctors, my heart soaring each time they shoved a chair back in excitement and called the other doctors to examine whatever they were seeing, only to feel it sink when their brows creased with new lines of frustration.
A large screen took up almost the entirety of one wall. Dr. Blaine stood in front of it, studying the burrow’s documents on the toxin, and comparing it to the reports being handed to him from the surrounding doctors. They were desperate to glean any information that could help them create an antidote and a vaccine as quickly as possible.
Listening to the medical team talk, I gathered that while a small number of antibodies prior to exposure had kept Linc and Copeland healthy longer than usual, it hadn’t been nearly enough to save them. Dr. Blaine wanted to create a vaccine that would last longer in the body, and would amplify the effect of the antibodies without needing to risk rabbit shifter lives in the process.
Honestly, they were attempting to do the impossible. Yet somehow, they pulled it off. And work that should’ve taken years, they figured out in less than four hours.
“It worked!” Dr. Blaine shouted, shoving away from the microscope. He smacked his palms on the granite counter.
I pushed up in bed, and Monroe lifted her head from where she’d fallen asleep against Cillian’s chest.
“You believe you have a working vaccine?” Cillian asked.
The doctor grinned. “Only time will tell, but I’m pretty confident.” The doctor grinned. “It will likely require an initial injection, and then follow-up boosters over time, but it should prevent the wolves from being affected by normal exposure to the toxin. Depending on their immune system, it’s possible that some wolves may experience symptoms after exposure similar to a cold, but with refinement, we may be able to minimize those cases as well. I’d like to make a small batch to ensure we are correct.”
“Do it,” Cillian ordered. “And let us know if there’s anything we can help you with.”
“No. No, I think we have it,” Dr. Blaine assured him, rushing to help his team.
Clearing my throat, I interrupted the excited chatter. “What about Linc and Copeland? How are they?” I was terrified to hear his answer.
Dr. Blaine turned to face me, his face grim. “They’re still alive. All we can do is wait and hope the transfusions of the antibodies worked.”
