Lost Without You (#Wattys2016)

Chapter Thirty- Even Then

© 2015, Briana Hernandez

ALL RIGHTS RESERVED.

☼☼ Chapter Thirty ☼☼- ♦♦ Even Then ◊◊

"Alright, Cash. Wake up now," I yelled as I shook the shivering boy. He was burning up beyond the temperature that was normal for us.

I placed my lips to his forehead for a better sense of his temperature. "Come on. You have to be fine," I muttered against his skin.

"Just leave him. What does it matter if he lives or not," I heard the familiar voice say, but the words were wrong coming from him.

"What? I can't let him die! He's one of us. He's part of our Pack and you told me to protect them," I argued as I placed my hands on either side of Cash's head.

"Stop, Willa. You need to save your energy or you are going to burn out before you have time for the important stuff," Bryson's apparition retorted as he tried to stop me with a hand to mine, but he was not solid.

I angrily waved him off even though he could not touch me. "Stop. This isn't like you, Bryson. You're trying to get in my head, but this is not what you would say if you are really here. I don't care about myself. If I can save someone, then I will."

"Well, you should start caring about yourself. Fat lot of good you would be if you were dead!" Bryson yelled.

"Please, stop. I can't think," I mumbled as my hand went to my aching head. I felt a nosebleed coming and if it did happen then there would be nothing I can do for Cash.

"If you try to save everyone from dying, then you'll only drive yourself to your grave sooner than you should," Bryson told me, but this time he sounded sad and worried for me.

I closed my eyes against the pain. "I can handle it, Bryson. I got him in this mess, now I have to get him out of it. I know you're only worrin' about me, but I have to do this. I'm sorry," I whispered as I managed to push him into disappearance.

"Hold tight, Cash. I can fix this," I said with more urgency before I slammed my hands down with force to his chest. I concentrated and gave it all I got as I felt my hands heat against his body. There was a bubble of gold light that surrounded us for a second before it disappeared and I slumped against the side of the bed. To say I was exhausted was a severe understatement. As I managed to examine my hands, I noticed that they had scorch marks and when I lolled my head to look up at Cash I noticed that there were burn marks on his chest and his shirt had holes the size of my hands.

I was trying to stay awake, but the blood that began to come out of my eyes was making it hard for me to keep them open. I felt it coming out of my nose, but when I checked to see if it was also coming out of my ears, I was not sure if it was blood or just the sight of it through my eyes.

"I'm just going to rest here," I slurred as I placed my had over Cash's.

When my hand made contact with his again, he began to stir. "Rest, little one. I made sure you were going to be fine," I mumbled as I tried to pat his hand, but my hand didn't want to move.

"Willa?" He asked worriedly as he scrambled to my side. "Willa, what's wrong? What happened?!" He asked as he tried to figure out what was wrong with me.

"Oh, sure. Now, you don't faint when you look at me," I murmured as my eyes began to shut. I saw the door fly open and as I got on the defensive, I noticed that it was Caleb. My ears began to ring, so I could not make out what they were yelling before I was out like a light.

~~~~

The first thing that I registered as I came to was the constant beep of the monitor that I must be connected to. The second thing that I realized was that there were three other people in the room. And the third thing, the one I was grateful for, was that I was in one of the Pack house's spare rooms and not in a hospital. I could sense Caleb sitting on the nearby chair with Luisa on his lap and Old Pat sitting in another chair really close to my right side.