Page 47 of Broken By The Devil

“Viper, can you hear me?” I urge. She stirs in my arms, groaning in pain. I am utterly helpless; I can’t do anything to help her.

“Kade,” she groans.

I run towards the health wing, nothing slowing me down. I bang on every single door I find, including the Doc’s office where a young man emerges.

“You the one who told my second you wouldn’t treat her?” I’m really trying to reign in my anger, bearing in mind I’m holding the woman I love in my arms.

The young doctor must be in his early twenties, he’s wearing very round glasses and must be the same height as Emilia.

“I was given very strict orders by Sergeant Thomas Andrews, not to treat her, that she will have to go to a hospital instead,” he stammers out. He’s sweating now. He’s playing with some thread that’s loose on his jacket, like he doesn’t know what to do with his hands.

I clench my jaw and lean in close to his face.

“I don’t care what your orders are…treat her! Now!” I growl. It doesn’t take long for him to gesture for us to enter the treatment room. I lay Emilia down gently on the bed and stroke her hair back from her face. She is caked in sweat.

“Kade, please don’t leave,” she begs.

“I’m not going anywhere, Sweetheart,” I promise.

The doctor checks her temperature, which to no surprise is elevated. The door bursts open with force, Cyrus enters with the Doc.

“What the hell are you doing, refusing to treat a patient?” Doc shouts at the younger doctor.

“Someone who was bribed by our dear Thomas Andrews,” I blurt out not thinking it could cause damage disclosing the information. I trust Doc though. He’s been here for years.

“Not bribed, I was threatened!” the young intern cries.

“Move aside, now!” Doc orders, and he does exactly that. Something is seriously wrong, she’s delirious and can’t stay awake. After a few minutes of Doc examining her, I can’t take it anymore.

“What’s wrong with her? Can you treat her?” I blurt out. Doc has just finished listening to her chest and the look he has on his face is not filling me with confidence.

“It’s most likely a chest infection, that’ll explain the fever. Has she been out in the elements? I know you’ve just come back from the retreat.” I grit my teeth. He kicked her out of the tent in her underwear. He let her freeze out there for I don’t know how long until I got her into my tent.

“Yes, she’s been out in the elements,” I spit out.

“It doesn’t explain the tachycardia arrythmia,” he contemplates.

“English, Doc.” I urge.

“Her heartbeat, it’s not regular and it’s beating too fast for what it should be. She should have a base rate but it’s high for a prolonged period. I’ll give her IV antibiotics, that should treat the infection and bring her fever down, but I’d like to do further tests on her heart, I’ll need her consent for them,” he explains.

“Thanks, Doc.” There’s the heart issue to worry about but at least she’s being treated. Her fever is already coming down, even after only an hour of the antibiotics.

“I’ll be back in a few hours to check on her, now if you’ll excuse me, I have to speak to Sergeant Andrews about why he feels he has any influence over my staff,” he grinds out the words like Tom has personally insulted him. I turn to Cyrus as the Doc leaves the room.

“Better him than me. Cyrus, do me a favour and just make sure the unit is still running, will you?” I ask. I’m not leaving her side until she can leave. Cyrus nods, but hovers in the doorway. I think he’s going to say something, but he must think better of it and leaves.

It’s been a few hours of me just staring at her. Monitoring her breathing, watching her chest rise and fall, carefully observing her face for any signs of pain.

Emilia stirs on the bed, briefly opening her beautiful eyes, and smiling at me.

“You stayed,” she croaks. Like I was ever going to leave. I brush her hair back with my hand, her temperature already returning to normal.

“Of course I stayed, where else was I going to go?” She honestly thinks I could be anywhere else other than at her side.

“What happened?” she asks.

“Doc says you have a chest infection and he wants to do some tests on your heart. He said he has some concerns, but they’re not serious.” I try to explain to her as best as I can. Doc assured me the heart concerns aren’t serious after I asked ten different times in ten different ways.