Monsters Beyond the Gate

Chapter Seventeen: Changed for the Better?

My mother wasn't kidding when she said she'd help me. She immediately summoned a doctor who started running blood tests and gave me a full CAT scan. It was if she had been just waiting for me to ask her to help.

Tessa was taken back to her room, but Levi stayed in the Ward with me for some reason. This seemed to annoy my mother but she didn't say anything. She just continued to fawn over me while the doctor drew blood and looked me over.

It seemed a bit out of character for her. I wanted to enjoy it. Enjoy that fact that my mom was acting like she was genuinely worried, just like she did when I was a kid, but I couldn't help but think she was overcompensating for something.

"You don't have to stay you know," I whispered towards Levi, although even saying the words hurt a little. I didn't want him to go. Not at all.

He smiled tenderly at me, "I'd like to stay, if you don't mind."

I shrugged and tried to hide a satisfied grin. Just then the doctor returned from the lab. He looked tired as he removed his glasses and rubbed at his eyes. I felt bad, I didn't want to make people work so hard for me.

My mother looked at him expectantly. "Well, Dr. Kingsley?"

The doctor ran his hand through his shock of white hair and then slid his glasses back on.

"According to the results, Adeline's blood is still full of traces of Wolfsbane. That and the combination of stress and the silver torture she received at the mansion has resulted in her inability to shift into her wolf form."

I looked down at my wrists which were still pink from the silver cuffs, and then at my arms that still had the scars from where the Wolfsbane covered thorns bit into me.

"What can we do to reverse the effects, Silas?" My mother demanded desperately, using the doctor's first name.

The doctor shrugged but his eyes were sympathetic. "I am not entirely sure. We can wait it out and let the Wolfsbane leave her system naturally, over time, by my calculations it would be a few months because the wolfsbane poison feeds on wolfs blood and it takes a while for our immune system to get rid of it. By then the rest of her body should be fully healed," he suggested.

My heart leapt. There was no way I could wait months to change. I had to find Fisher before it was too late.

"Please Doctor Kingsley, isn't there anything else you can do?" I begged.

The doctor looked uneasy. "Well, we could always try a blood transfusion. If we can find a willing volunteer..." he trailed off, staring at the medical charts in his hand.

Levi stood up quickly without a moment's pause. "I'll do it, where's the needle?" he said.

I felt my heart flutter. Was he really willing to do this for me so quickly?

"Now hold on, young man. First we need to check to make sure your blood types are compatible."

My mother looked shell shocked. "You don't need to do this, Levi. I'm sure we will have many volunteers who aren't quite so..." she paused to find the word, "...valuable."

"No, I want to. The blood of the Alpha runs through me, it might help her even more. Let's do this now."

The Alphena looked uncertain, but she sighed and looked at me. "Adeline, I guess the decision is up to you?"

I looked back and forth between the two of them.

"Yeah," I gulped, "Let's do this."

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