Page 58 of Claimed By the Dragon

Rubbing her face, Grace tried to hold back her tears. She needed to be strong for Trahern.

But after a few deep breaths, exhaustion—both mental and emotional—crashed over her. She was beyond worried at this point, especially since the doctors were getting anxious, and a sob escaped her throat.

Their best guess as to why Trahern remained unchanged was that either his human or dragon half was silent, meaning they couldn’t work together. And if they didn’t, and soon, then Trahern might never wake up.

Another sob broke free at the thought of never seeing Trahern use the periodic table of elements to calm her boys, or watch him try to master a perfectly round pancake, or even the way his kisses made her feel like the most beautiful person in the world.

Trahern needed to wake up. He just had to.

And while Grace should be a better person and not be so selfish, she wondered why the boy who’d done this to Trahern had shifted back to his human form and had started his recovery already. All while her mate might die.

Stop it. Don’t blame the innocent child. He didn’t know what he was doing. If anything, it’s the dragon hunters’ fault for using the boy as an experimental test subject.

Grace was tired, so tired. And as her sobs calmed, she tried to regain her composure. Sleep. What she needed was sleep. As she glanced at the cot in the corner of the room, she wondered if a nap would help settle her emotions before she went to visit Eli and Eddie.

Just as she stood and turned from the bed, she heard a groan. After whirling around, she saw Trahern’s fingers wiggle.

“Trahern?” she breathed, almost afraid to hope.

He groaned again, and she was next to him in a flash. His eyelids lifted and stared unfocused for a few seconds before landing on her face.

“Grace,” he croaked.

With a sob, she placed a hand on his cheek. “Trahern, you’re awake! Thank goodness, you’re awake.” She tried to smile but failed. “I want to keep you to myself, but I need to call the doctors.”

“Wait. Tell you. Something.”

His voice was weak, but she willed herself not to cry as she replied, “Then tell me, Trahern. What is it?”

“Love you. I think.”

His brows came together, as if trying to figure out whether he did or not.

Maybe some people would be offended. But for a dragonman who’d grown up without any affection and had trouble reading emotions, Grace knew he struggled to make sense of it all.

Leaning down, she placed a gentle kiss on his lips. “I love you, Trahern. And we’ll figure it out together, I promise. But I need to call the doctors so they can help you and make sure you don’t fall back into a coma.”

“Kiss me. One more time.”

She did, and then laid her forehead against his. Just staring into his eyes, watching as they flashed, made her smile. “Your dragon is with you.”

“Yes. Long story.”

He moaned as if in pain, and Grace forced herself to stand and press the call button. Within seconds, Scarlett rushed into the room. As soon as she saw Trahern on the bed, eyes open, she smiled. “Hello, Dr. Lewis. Glad to see you’re back with us.”

The dragonwoman went to his other side, saw his flashing pupils, and nodded. “Good. Your dragon is back with you as well?”

“Yes.”

“Right, then you should heal a lot faster going forward. But I need to ask some questions and run a few tests while you’re still awake. Unfortunately, that means your family reunion with the twins will have to wait.”

Grace took Trahern’s hand in hers and squeezed. “Tell me I can stay with him.”

“I don’t see why you can’t. It’ll probably save Trahern some time later with explaining everything. But first…”

The doctor asked a series of questions about pain, wiggling of toes and fingers, and a number of other health-related things.

By the end, the dragonwoman nodded. “Between your answers and our previous scans, I don’t think there was any permanent brain damage. However, we’re going to monitor you closely for quite some time, just in case. And no, you won’t be able to go back to work for a while, so don’t even ask.” Trahern grunted reluctantly—or so Grace thought—and the doctor continued. “Right, so with the most pressing matters out of the way, we need to figure out why your scans showed no dragon or human activity despite the fact both of you are here now.”