Dateless and Deadly

Chapter 13

Chapter 13:

“What?” I croaked, hoping I’d heard wrong.

“I’m so sorry, Cassandra. I know this puts even more strain on you,” His gaze seemed to burn into mine as he continued, “and I also realize that your shielding powers are far greater than you’ve let on.” His gaze turned slightly disapproving as my cheeks reddened. “That being said, I’m incredibly glad to have someone on our side that we can depend on. Especially now.”

My eyes wanted to close and I felt my shields weakening. My shields that had been with me as long as I could remember keeping the voices out, never wavering. Something hovered on the edge of my memory but I couldn’t quite grab it. There was an image of one of my adoptive mother’s friends holding my hand and…instructing me? I think we were meditating but the image was really foggy. My eyes were drifting shut and the image was disappearing more and more.

“Get some sleep, Cass. You’ll need all your strength in the days to come.” Derek patted my hand in a surprisingly gentle gesture.

My eyes opened a little wider. “Take care of her for now, please,” I whispered, my eyes sliding to James, meeting his concerned stare. “I have to find the strength,” I said as my eyes slid fully shut. I fell asleep to the image of a woman with blonde hair and blue eyes who looked so much like my sister. I knew she’d told me something important but before I could concentrate on the thought, sleep took me.

I woke up again much later to see Jack sleeping in the chair by the bed. I squinted over at him and noted that I was still in the high school nurses office as a tear ran down my cheek from the harsh lighting.

I glanced up at the small window, trying to get a sense of time. It was dark out. I must’ve been out for a while. Almost twenty four hours. I shifted a bit on the bed, feeling a slight tug at my side but it wasn’t as painful as it had been.

“You awake, sweetheart?”

I jolted a little at the sound of Jack’s voice. “Yeah,” I sighed as my heartbeat returned to a more normal pace.

“That’s good. We were starting to get worried. Not so much as a blink from you in the past twelve hours. Considering we had Angela working on you, I wasn’t so sure she didn’t spike the punch, so to speak,” Jack mumbled the last bit but I heard him loud and clear.

“You let Angela work on me?” I said in a shrill voice, wincing as the sound grated on my own nerves.

“It was necessary, darling,” he looked down at me with warmth in his eyes. “You weren’t doing so good for a minute there.” He reached his hand out to brush a piece of hair off my face and tuck it behind my ear.

I cleared my throat feeling a bit awkward at having overreacted so thoroughly. Oh yeah, and a sexy cowboy was looking at me all soulfully. That’s enough to make any girl stutter. “I guess I forgive you then.” I smirked, regaining most of my motor functions when he removed his hand. “For future reference, we should have a different doc on call, just in case it happens again. I’m not sure Red could resist the temptation of having me out of the picture twice.”

Jack grinned, humour replacing the warmth in his eyes. He opened his mouth to say something but never got the chance to speak because Angela herself appeared in the doorway. “Stop harassing the patient, will you. Didn’t I tell you she needed to rest before she can fully heal?”

I watched as Jack tried to conceal his grin. I was having a hard time not laughing myself. I mean, seriously was Red worried about me?

“You sure seem worried about her, Angel.” Jack’s voice came out a bit strangled.