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“Listen to me, Aunt Norah. I need to...” she stopped. She looked around, disoriented. This wasnother bedroom. Mairi opened her mouth to ask her aunt where she was when a bolt of pain struck her head, making her cry out.
“That’s it,” Norah said grimly. “I’m calling the nurse.”
“No, Aunt Norah, I’m...” She bit her lip hard when another bolt of pain hit her head. Oh God, she was so disoriented, so dizzy. She felt like she was forgetting something important, something she had to do, but the pain was too much.
When the nurse came close, what she was holding made Mairi shake her head, which only worsened the throbbing of her temples. “Don’t need that. Please...” She needed to keep her senses about her.
But it was no use. She was so weak, and the nurse’s hold was strong and firm as she kept Mairi still before injecting her.
Mairi gasped as the needle pierced her skin.
“That will calm her down and help her sleep through the night,” she drowsily heard the nurse telling Norah.
Norah said something in return, but it was too low for Mairi to hear.
Her head tossed and turned on her pillow. There was something she had to remember, something she had to do urgently before it was too late. She tried so hard to recall it, but sleep stole over her in a matter of minutes, and all was peaceful again.
It was the fourth day of her confinement when Mairi became lucid enough to piece the memories of the past few days together.
She had gone into shock after seeing Damen beaten. And when she had gotten over it, she had become hysterical, demanding that she be allowed to see Damen. But Drake’s guards had not allowed it, causing Mairi to have a nervous breakdown that required her to be hospitalized.
But now she was better and her mind was clear. Mairi knew what she had to do.
****
MAIRI, COME BACK.
I am back.
Please come back.
I am here.
Please don’t leave me.
I won’t ever leave you again.
But still Damen begged, a part of him knowing it was all a dream and that when he woke up, she would still be gone from his side.
“Damen,” a voice whispered.
It couldn’t be.
He forced his swollen eyes to open.
It was her.
It was Mairi.
She was here.
Damen forced his mind to work even though he knew he was still feeling woozy, one of the expected aftereffects of his medication. He carefully took note of her appearance, and he frowned when he realized that she wore a hospital gown under her trench coat, one that was too large for her.
“You were in the hospital?” he demanded in a scratchy tone. It hurt to speak but he needed to ask, needed to make sure that nothing bad had happened to her while he had been convalescing.
She nodded, her eyes luminous with tears.
“Why?”