Tish POV
Oliver rushes from the back room with a blanket in his hands. As he gets closer to me, he begins to green. I am actually concerned that he may vomit on me, but I don't understand why. Everyone is moving with a sense of urgency and I feel like I have missed the memo.
He tosses the blanket over my body and mumbles something about needing to get towels. He disappears, and Leo bends down to pick me up.
His hands slide under my body, and pain spreads through my abdomen. I grind my teeth together and hiss through the pain. Glancing over Leo's shoulder, I see blood coating the floor. Now I understand why Oliver looked so sick.
Now that the adrenaline has worn off, I can finally feel the damage that Kai did to me. My blood is soaking through the blanket and covering Leo's arms. He moves to lie to me on the new couch, and I scream loudly.
"Don't put me on the couch," I shout. "It's new."
Leo wrinkles his forehead and tries to stifle laughter. "You are bleeding out, and you are worried about the new couch?"
"It was expensive," I say through gritted teeth.
Leo looks at Raven and she shrugs her shoulders. He carefully sits me on the rug in the middle of the floor. I whimper loudly because the rug cost more than the couch.
Oliver rushes from the back with his arms full of fluffy white towels. They are new, too, but I try not to protest. They are all just doing their best. He kneels down beside me and respectfully pulls back the blanket.
"Ah, fuck," I groan as he pulls the blanket back from my wound.
It is bad. This isn't like my arm. I can't stitch this up myself. There is nothing to stitch. A whole chunk of my side is missing. I can see my muscle, and the smell of iron is thick in the air.
Oliver covers his nose and mouth with his shirt and presses a towel against my side. He is being too gentle. If he doesn't apply more pressure, the bleeding won't stop.
"Just let me do it," I snap at him.
I grab the towel from his hands, and I start to feel dizzy. I fight through the pain and hold the towel tightly to my side. The fibers of the towel dig into my flesh, and I think it might be my turn to vomit.
I look up through my spotted vision and see that Oliver has disappeared. The loud sound of someone puking echoes through the suite, and I know it is Oliver.
Raven is still watching over me with the bat in her hands. Her eyes are wide, and I think she might be in shock.
"Tend to your mate," I tell Leo.
Leo takes his eyes off me and pales when he looks at Raven. He jumps to her side and tries to lead her back to the bedroom. But she fights him off.
"I'm not leaving," she growls at him. She waddles over to the couch and sits down with the bat in her lap.
"What's with the bat?" I ask, trying to lighten the mood.
"I can't shift while I am pregnant. This is for protection," Raven tells me. "What do you need?"
"A hospital," I answer honestly. "But I am afraid to leave this room. I don't know where Kai is. He wants to kill me."
"Tell me what you know," Raven says.
I try to suck in a sharp breath, but it just makes me lightheaded. Through gritted teeth, I slowly explain everything. I start with Kai's sleep talking and finish with what he just said to Kaden and me.
"It was her," I whisper in pain. "It is no coincidence that he had a relapse the moment she returned. He wasn't himself, but he was doing so well."
"I agree," Raven says. "I don't trust her."
"Can you dig into her mind?" I ask weakly.
"Not without approval from the council," Raven frowns.
I lay my head down on the floor and close my eyes. I just need to rest them for a moment. The pounding in my ears is relentless and I need to sleep. I let the darkness take over me and a sigh escapes my lips.
"No, no, no," a voice comes through the darkness. "Wake up. Open your eyes. I have only just found you. I need you."
I moan uncomfortably as someone slaps me gently on the face. Tingles spread over my skin, and I don't have to wonder if it is Kaden or Kai. Kai no longer cares for me even though he has marked me as his mate.
"Step away from her," someone else growls.
"She is my mate," Kaden screams. "I am not leaving her side."
"And you have failed to protect her for the last time," Raven screams. "She should have been the number one priority on your mind. Not the safety of your brother. He should be dead."
I want to cry. I don't want Kai's death on my hands. He hasn't done anything wrong except trust the woman who raised him. He can't be faulted for that. If I wake up from this nightmare, I will make sure he knows I love him.
Someone picks me off the floor and my head falls limply back. I can hear arguing behind me, but I am unable to make out what they are saying. It sounds as if they are at the end of a very long tunnel, moving farther away from me.
I struggle to open my eyes, but it is as if they are glued shut. I want to move my arms and legs but they are made of lead. I can hear sirens in the distance. I know they are coming for me, but it is too late. This is how I die, at the hands of the man that was supposed to love me.
The silence in the darkness is deafening. I wait to see a bright light that I am supposed to walk toward. That is what happens in the movies. But there is no light for me. After the life I have led, how could I expect a forgiving afterlife for me? There is only hell waiting for me.