Dangerous Lives

Chapter Thirteen

RPOV

She had a fever. A very very high fever. Nathan wasn't here. We were alone. I couldn't leave the house. I quickly unraveled Alexa from the blankets as well as I could and carried her into the shower. I then turned the nozzle. Freezing cold water poured down on top of us. I rubbed her, quickly soaking her hair and pushing it out of her face. She sputtered and tried to struggle. Her body wasn't having any of that.

"Shh, sweetheart," I whispered. "Mamma's here. Mamma's here." Her little hand grabbed at mine. I had no idea how long we laid there but eventually Nathan did come home. I heard the door slam shut.

"Rosie?" Nathan called. He walked in, probably following the sound of the shower and my heartbeat. He could hear that ya know. "What the hell are you doing?" He turned off the shower and felt Alexandra's forehead.

"S-she had a fever."

"And you decided to put her in the shower?"

"It was 104!" The way a Strigoi could go completely still was pretty unnerving. "She needs to go to a hospital!" He raised an eyebrow. He didn't seem worried. Why didn't he seem worried?

"No." I knew exactly why he said no.

"Would you prefer she die?" Nathan growled at me and took her out of my hands. He dried her off.

"Alexandra," He said shaking her. "You need to wake up."

"Daddy?" I didn't hear her say it, but I saw her lips move. He looked over at me.

"See? She's fine." I narrowed my eyes.

"Nathan. She is not fine. She is the opposite of fine." It was then I noticed the faint resemlence of veins under his eyes. When was the last time he'd fed? It disappeared a second later after he took a deep breath. I followed him into the bedroom. "Nathan." He set her down on the bed and turned to glare at me. His eyes scared me. He picked up his phone and went out onto the balcony. I changed clothes. By the time I was done he was back inside. He picked her back up. Her head rested on his shoulder.

"come on." He growled heading out of the apartment. I rushed to put shoes on. We got on the elevator. His car was waiting downstairs. I'd never actually seen his car. I'd always driven a black sedan. His was a sleak, new black Mercedes with tinted windows. He dropped Alexandra into my arms before getting in his car. I followed him.

"Thank you." I whispered hugging her to me. Her hand found my hair, kind of like a baby did. Nathan wouldn't be able to get back before the sun, set. I wondered how pissed he was.

"What do you mean?" He muttered as he sped down the empty road.

"You didn't have to do this. You could've ignored me." He muttered something uncomprehendable to my ears.

"As much as you may think I hate our daughter, I don't." He said as he parked. Our. He'd said 'Our.' I wasn't going to tell him I'd noticed that though. We walked inside. I handed Alexa off to one of the nurses. Nathan paid for a private room with a pull out couch for us. That is where we waited. "Give me your wrist." Nathan said, suddenly. We'd been sitting there for well over an hour.

"What?" I asked. I noticed the veins again.

"When is the last time you drank?" He glanced at me. It had to of been more than a week. That was unusual for a Strigoi. I'd never seen a hungry one before. Well, as hungry as he looked.

"Wrist. Now." I put it out to him. He grabbed it and bit down hard. No endorphins. He'd told me already that he wasn't going to give them to me. I closed my eyes and bit my lip. He was trying to be gentle, but I could see the greediness as he drank.

"Nathan," I whispered. "That's enough." He wasn't getting as much blood as he would've gotten from the neck, but I was already getting lightheaded. "Nathan!" He dropped my hand and wiped his face as the door to the room opened and Alexandra was wheeled in. She was wrapped in multiple blankets and sucking on her thumb. The nurse hooked her up to some IVs. I was at her side in seconds, ignoring the dots in front of my eyes.

"We were able to get the fever down for now." The nurse said. "At the moment, however, it's impossible to see what caused it. There were some Xrays and blood tests done, but they aren't back yet. When she wakes up, ring the nurse's button." She glanced at Nathan. I could tell she was a Moroi. It was strange that she wasn't scared of him. "Do you have any questions?"

"How long will this take?" I narrowed my eyes.

"Nathan." I hissed. He shrugged. She rushed out quickly after that.

"Rosie." I turned to look at him.

"Our daughter is sick Nathan! If you're so worried I'll run away, have someone watch us." He grumbled something before pulling out the bed. I kissed Alexandra on the cheek before crawling in next to him.

XXX

Nathan was gone before I woke up. Alexandra was still out of it, her breakfast untouched next to her. A doctor came in about an hour after I'd woken. "Is your husband here?" She asked. I shook my head. I didn't feel like correcting her. She looked behind her and shut the door. "She's half Strigoi?" She asked. I nodded. "We've had this before. Children about her age with that fever. The children usually die within an hour of arriving. Your child is going to be just fine." The doctor took a second to breathe. "You're the first mother I've actually seen." Her eyes had fallen to my wrist. It was swollen from last night. I pulled down my sleeve. She hung up the xrays. "This, is going to be a problem." I had no idea what I was looking at. "The one on the right is a normal child's skull. The one on the left, is your daughters. This is a piece of her skull. Small, but dangerous. If she had been hit again, there's a very real possibility that she could've died." Damn it Nathan. "We could go in and remove the piece. We'd need to replace it so the brain would be protected. But it's head surgery. It's dangerous and expensive. I gulped.

"I-I'm going to have to talk to Nathan about it." The doctor nodded.

"Mamma?" Her cry was soft. I rushed over to her. Alexandra's eyes were half open. Her hands still clutched the blankets.

"I'm here." I whispered. "Mamma's here."

"where am I?"

"You're in a hospital." Her little eyebrows furrowed. She had no idea what that was. I turned to the doctor. It was possible that she knew the Russian word for hospital. I hated hospitals. I'd never try to learn the word for it. "Could you possibly, explain to her in Russian?" The doctor smiled and took my place in front of my daughter. For those few moments I felt alone. She looked like she understood. She smiled softly.

Nathan made an appearance. Unsmiling he handed Alexa her small brown teddy bear and her blankie. "Thanks," She whispered. Nathan sat down on the couch and was immediately on his phone.

"I'll be back in an hour with the blood results." The doctor said before rushing out. Nathan, as a person, wasn't exactly a crowd pleaser. Alexandra's little hand wrapped around my index finger. Her hand was so hot. I kissed her on the forehead.

"How long is this going to take?" Nathan growled. I looked at Alexa.

"Can we talk in the hall?" He narrowed his eyes.

"I just sat down."

"We'll be back in a second sweetheart." I ignored her quiet protest and walked out into the hallway. It took a minute but Nathan finally joined me. He looked pissed. "She needs surgery." He just stared at me. "She could be here for a week... or two... maybe a month." He sighed.

"She can stay," he said. "But not you. He continued before I could protest. "I have work that I need to get done. I don't want you here, especially with a child on the way-"

"Then have someone guard me-"

"No Rosie. I shouldn't have to explain myself to you. My decision is final." I took a deep breath. I couldn't yell at him. Not here.

"Okay," I whispered, defeated. As long as I knew my daughter was being taken care of, that was all that mattered. Nathan signed the surgery papers. I gave Alexandra a kiss. She fell asleep shortly after. Then we left.