A Luna's Broken Heart

Chapter 3: Coming Back From The Dead

-Rider-

I feared I couldn’t save the male. He was so weak. So thin. His breathing was very slow, his skin so pale. The cuts and bruises worried me. Some of them were too red. I feared an infection. I had added an IV to him and kept track of his vitals the best I could, but my home didn’t have the necessary machines to give me a full picture. I had given him some antibiotics and listened to his heart and lungs, but the rest was up to him. He was a strong one, I knew that. Surviving for months on his own, in his wolf form. No help. All alone, and he was still fighting. At least his body was. His mind I was not certain about. I knew he was grieving, but I couldn’t let him die. He was too important. He mattered too much to my brother. Besides, I had taken a vow to take care of people and never take a life no matter what. A doctor’s vow.

I sighed, as I looked at him. I had laid him on a couch in my living room. He wore nothing but the blanket I had covered him with. I wished I could do more for him, but except making sure neither hunger nor infection killed him, there was nothing else. He had to do the rest himself. I had been so surprised when I found him in the woods, only two miles from my house. I knew about the death of his mate and the fact he hadn’t been seen for months. I hadn’t been looking. I only hoped my brother would find him. I had no idea where he had been or where he had come from, but I thanked the Goddess for putting him in my path. He almost weighed nothing as I brought him back, which was the scariest part. Maybe a week or two more, and he would have died from hunger. He wasn’t the first patient I had seen treat himself in such a way, because of their loss, but it still hurt to see them give up.

I got up from the couch. It was time I took care of myself, even though I easily forgot when I was with a patient. Luckily, I owned my own practice and could take the days off I needed to. I worked with some good people that were almost always available to take over if I needed to. Maybe because I never took days off, not until now. I needed to be here, and make sure James recovered, both mind and body.

I walked into the kitchen, yet I wasn’t hungry despite barely having eaten all day. The worry I felt stopped me from feeling hungry, just tired. So, instead, I walked into a small hallway, with a staircase leading to the first floor. I walked up to the next floor and down a little hallway before reaching my room. Tiredly, I threw myself on my bed and closed my eyes. I was an insomniac. Had been for years. Ever since my family was brutally killed and I had been taken captive, I had always had trouble sleeping, but tonight I felt the sleep come faster than usual, and last longer than before sunup.

The next morning, not much had changed. James was still sound asleep, yet his color had gotten a little warmer. I just hoped it meant he was getting a bit better. His wounds were still red and oozing. I cleaned them, changed his bandages, before listening to his heart again. Slow. Too slow. It worried me, but hopefully, with time and fluid, it would get stronger. I walked into the kitchen, and started to make some breakfast, before I heard screaming from inside the living room. I stormed back inside, only to find James tossing around on the couch calling out for his dead mate.

“Jane! Jane! No!”

It broke my heart to see him like this. I walked over to a bag where I kept my equipment and some sedatives. I quickly added the liquid to his bloodstream. He slowly calmed down, and I sat back down on a little coffee table. I couldn’t help but wonder what kind of person I would meet when he woke up. I had kept track of my brother over the years and the people that surrounded him. James was a hard-working male and serious about his job. I knew he had helped my brother a great deal, and he was an exceptional fighter. He was a good person, and he didn’t deserve this. I knew he wished to die, so he could meet up with Jane, but I knew his death would bring too much trouble. My brother needed him. Especially now with the new council he had formed. This would make big changes, and he needed a male like James. He needed someone of his character to help him decide between right and wrong. He couldn’t die. Not yet. It was not his time.

I rose to my feet, taking one last look at the poor male on my ugly old couch. I refused to let this be the last day he lived. I would make sure he survived, no matter what. I turned away and walked back into the kitchen, but my appetite was gone. I put the food back into the fridge before going upstairs to take a shower. I had just turned on the water, when I turned to look at myself in the mirror. The blond roots were already showing a lot. I needed to dye my hair again today. It grew so fast and no matter what I did the blond roots would always show themselves in some way. I quickly found the black hair dye. I looked more like my older brother this way and my father. Valerio was the only one who had inherited our father’s color. Tara, me and … we had all gotten our mother’s color, but our eyes were all similar. The strong yellow color. Showing just how true our blood was.

I ran a hand through my hair, before getting rid of my clothes and stepping into the shower. The warm water felt good against my body. When I had washed my hair and body, I got out and wrapped my lower body in a towel before drying my hair and grabbing the black hair dye once again. I would have to buy some more soon, but I could survive for now.

“Here we go.”