Shattered

Chapter 73: Relief

Kaden's POV:

"Sometimes crying is the best to get a relief from all the pain." – Shaily Sharma

What Violet was able to pull off with Max was insane for a beginner empath who barely understood her abilities. That was probably why it came with a cost.

She collapsed and I caught her before she hit the ground but something was off. I couldn't explain it, I just... Felt something that wasn't right. Cassie was too drained from her fight with the witch, so we had to seek other alternatives. Thaddeus's witch was strange, but she quickly identified why I felt something off with Violet.

An unruptured aneurysm. It didn't sound good, but everyone tried to assure me as long as it didn't rupture and it was treated, she'd be fine. Kora was the person I trusted most with something like this, it just sucked she was far away. Luckily, she met us halfway and a weight lifted when she informed me Violet was fine. She was able to repair the rupture without surgery, perk of being one of the most powerful supernaturals in the world.

The problem was, Violet still didn't wake up. Days passed and she wouldn't wake up. We had to put her on IV's and monitor her. Kora said nothing seemed wrong and I might've panicked more if not for Alana.

"She just took down a trained, experienced, powerful empath. On her own," Alana said, setting her hand on my shoulder and squeezing. "And Goddess knows what she did to pull it off. I felt chaotic emotions. From what I was able to glean... Her way out of it was through a lot of painful triggers. Her body, mind and soul need the rest, Kaden. Brains process while we're unconscious. Bodies heal while we are asleep. She wasn't properly prepared for this. It's a miracle she pulled it off at all and only with an unruptured aneurysm to show for it. Anyone else wouldn't have survived. My only guess for how she was able to is because she's trained her mind in other ways. Give her time. She'll be all right. She just needs substantial healing."

Substantial healing. That was the understatement of the millennium.

We brought her pack to Blackstone, and she still wasn't awake. Alek had a mild freak out when I told him she was being monitored at the infirmary and appeared to be in some kind of coma, just not any kind of coma we'd ever experienced. Her brain activity was off the charts. Normally, people in comas had minimal brain activity, but hers was as active, if not more so, than a fully conscious person.

"Processing," Alana said simply. "She has a lot of processing to do. Her mind is giving her a rest she very much needs."

All the other healers agreed with the sentiment. While it was abnormal for someone to have so much brain activity in a normal coma, this wasn't normal. It possibly wasn't even a coma but more of a deep sleep. There was so little we knew about empaths, but I had a feeling my mate would change that. If I knew anything about her, I knew she craved knowledge. She loved to learn. If there was a mystery regarding her own existence, I didn't doubt she'd dive headfirst into researching it.

If only she was awake.

Reassurances from my pack and the healers were appreciated, but they could only do so much. I couldn't fully trust she was all right until I saw her awake, heard her voice, saw her eyes staring back at mine. Alek, Ren and I hardly left her side and Dimitri hardly left Alek's side. If Anna was bothered by space in her infirmary taken up by four completely healthy people, she didn't say it. Well, most of us were healthy.

Except Ren. Ren wasn't okay. After years of having his mind fucked with, there was permanent damage. Alana was working with him, as was Kora. They were unsure how much they could help but weren't giving up. Ren was severely struggling with his memories, differentiating what was real from what wasn't. His mind hadn't been his own for so long and he didn't have the benefit of empath abilities like Violet to help protect his mind. Despite that, the many treatments and research Kora and Alana were doing, Ren still stayed by Violet's side as much as he could.