Tabitha's POV
My whole mental world just crashed down, and the loss of my pups was the last straw that broke me.
I was so hyped for the baby to come, and now I was just crushed beyond belief.
Tears and blood mixed together as I squatted on the bed, yanking at my hair. "Derek, you shouldn't have saved me! Living is just too damn hard!"
I couldn't even figure out why I was still breathing.
I felt like a walking disaster, bringing nothing but bad luck to everyone around me.
Derek once again dragged me into his arms. "Do you want to know why I saved you? Well, I'll tell you now."
He knelt down to help put my shoes and socks on before scooping me up in his arms.
"Where are you taking me?"
"You will know soon," Derek said as he carried me into one of the wards. It was a room for three, with patients wrapped in bandages, and some even in casts.
Spike probably needed to use the bathroom. With his leg injured, he could only get around with crutches, hopping on one leg.
Seeing us at the door, he quickly said respectfully, "Alpha Derek, Tabitha."
My voice came out raspy. "Your leg..."
Spike gave a wry smile. "I'm fine.
"At least I'm still alive, unlike others who would never open their eyes again."
"Rest well," Derek said as he carried me to the other wards, saw everyone, and finally reached the ICU.
Through the glass, I saw Spencer hooked up to all sorts of machines.
"It has been three days, and he has not yet passed the critical period. He might not make it through the night. Even if he survives, recovery will be long, and his body will never be the same."
Derek sighed and said in my ear, "Tabitha, now you know why I had to save you? In this effort to protect you, 28 people have been injured or killed—8 seriously injured, 19 lightly injured, and one dead."
That harsh reality hit me like a ton of bricks. I bit my lip, struggling to hold back tears.
"Where is she?"
"In the morgue. Originally, those two bullets didn't hit any vital organs. She could have survived, but unfortunately, the last one hit her head."
Images of Joanna jumping in front of me flashed through my mind—I could almost see her smile again and feel how warm her blood had been when it splattered on me.
"Tabitha, you need to calm down. There are still many things we need to do. You can't die. You have to stay alive. Only then can you catch the mastermind behind all this," Derek said, gripping my shoulders tightly, his eyes bloodshot with anguish.
He was also agonized over losing his children.
"I won't let today's debts slide easily; you gotta stick around and watch how I take revenge—using their blood as an offering for those we lost."
My head felt like a jumbled mess—I couldn't hear anything else; everything was buzzing inside my skull.
Finally, after what felt like forever, I managed to whisper, "Take me to see her, OK?"
"Tabitha, given your current condition, you'd better not go there. Don't forget that you had just narrowly escaped death."
I hung my head low with my fingers weakly gripping Derek's collar, a pitiful look in my eyes.
"Please, let me see her," I whispered, tears falling onto the cold floor.
I said with a heavy nasal voice, "I... I just want to see her for the last time, just once..."
Seeing my desperation, Derek couldn't refuse.
In a hoarse voice, he said, "Okay."
My wolf lamented in my heart, "Joanna, I must see you for the last time."