Page 4 of Monsters in the Museum (Defenders of the Light #1)

Chapter four

S low mechanical beeping and the whispering of voices too low to make out permeated the blissful blankness of Nora’s mind. Finding herself unable to open her eyes, she contented herself with taking inventory of what she could feel. She immediately regretted her decision as her next level of consciousness returned, and she became acutely aware of a searing pain in both her leg and her head. Grasping for other sensations to distract herself from the discomfort, she found a tight band around her left upper arm. Somebody had their fingers interlaced with hers as well. She tried to wiggle those fingers and the hand around hers tightened.

“Nora, zolotse , are you there? Can you hear me?”

Nora succeeded in fluttering her eyelids and tried to tell Odelle that of course she was there, but only managed a slight groan. Odelle didn’t let go of her hand but called, “Drew, she’s awake!”

There were footsteps, and a large hand rested on her cheek. She fluttered her eyelids again and then managed to keep them open for a moment, a familiar pair of concerned brown eyes coming into focus.

“Oh, thank God,” Drew rumbled. Her eyes drifted to his misty blue scrubs and white coat. “How are you feeling? Can you talk?”

Nora opened her mouth to respond and all that came out was a whispered, “Ow.”

Drew grimaced. “I can do something about that.” He looked away for a second. “Odelle, would you go find her nurse?”

The hand squeezed one more time before it was gone, and Drew’s attention returned to her, his eyes assessing.

“What… what happened?” Nora croaked.

“You were in a car accident,” Drew responded, straightening the blankets around her. “You hit your head badly, probably gave yourself a concussion. I have to say, you’re lucky you didn’t develop any sort of cranial bleed. And you’ve got a pretty nasty wound in your leg, too.”

Nora tried to turn her head to look around, but that type of movement was still beyond her.

“How…?” she trailed off, unable to complete her sentence.

Drew seemed to fill in what she wanted to know.

“Your… colleague, Adam, carried you in here.” Nora’s eyes finally focused enough that she saw a muscle in his jaw tighten. “He was kind of crazed, covered in your blood. He kept shouting that he needed Dr. Drew Coleman. He wouldn’t let go of you until I arrived. I had to do some fast talking to prevent security from being called.”

Images slowly wormed their way into Nora’s consciousness. Adam tying his tie around her leg, him reciting familiar Russian fairytales.

“I told him to ask for you.”

Drew’s smile looked strained. “I’m glad you did. Although I must admit, when I said I wanted to see you again, this wasn’t what I had in mind.”

Nora offered him her weak attempt at a smile, although she only managed a small facial twitch. “Odelle’s been teaching me how to make an entrance.”

Drew let out a half chuckle. “Glad to see you survived with your wit intact.”

At that moment, Odelle ducked back around the curtain into the room, a nurse at her heels. Drew stepped back, and there was a flurry of activity that Nora couldn’t quite follow. The nurse said something to Drew about her blood pressure and another unit of blood. An almost empty bag of scarlet fluid hung from an IV pole. She also registered tubing across her face, delivering what she assumed was oxygen. The prongs in her nose were uncomfortable, but she was too dazed to care.

The nurse pushed something into her IV, and immediately, the throbbing in her head and leg lessened, though the medication made her head swim and left a strange, plasticky taste in her mouth. She stopped trying to follow what was happening and just rested her head back against the pillows again, grateful for the relief. The nurse and Drew were poking and prodding her a bit, pulling back her blankets to look at her leg and using a stethoscope to listen to her chest, but she didn’t have the energy to be bothered by it.

She felt Drew’s hand on her upper arm, and she peeled her eyes open, not realizing they had drifted closed again.

“I’ll be back later. I’ve just got to go check on some other patients, okay? You rest and tell Odelle or your nurse if you need anything.”

Nora blinked dazedly in response, and Drew gave her another tight smile before withdrawing. His face was replaced by Odelle’s, and her sister’s fingers wove back between her own.

“Hey, zolotse . It’s good to see you with your eyes open.”

Nora attempted to smile but was pretty sure it came off as more of a grimace. Then, another thought floated to the surface of her foggy mind.

“Adam…”

“He hasn’t left. He’s just on a couch in the lounge, taking a nap. We sent him out there to rest. His pacing was making us nervous—I think Drew was seriously considering sedating him. I told Adam we had it under control here and you could call him when you were up to it, but he refused to go. Something about feeling responsible. Odd, but gallant.”

Nora grunted her agreement, and Odelle chattered on.

“I didn’t know you encountered such attractive men in your line of work. Sexy professor isn’t my type, but do you happen to know if he has a brother?”

While Nora couldn’t exactly dispute the sexy professor comment—she wasn’t immune to the charms of a tweed blazer and vintage-looking glasses—she still mustered up the most withering glare she could in her current state. While she was sure the oxygen tubing in her nose detracted from her ferocity, Odelle backed off.

“All right, I’ll save the questions for when you’re feeling better. Do you want to talk to him?”

Nora flopped her head from side to side as best she could. “No. Sleep.”

Odelle chuckled. “It’s okay. Get some rest. I’m not going anywhere.” Odelle settled back into a chair at her bedside and squeezed her hand again as Nora drifted back into unconsciousness.

The next time Nora woke, she opened her eyes to find Adam seated at her bedside, his nose buried in a book. He hadn’t noticed her eyes opening yet, and she took the moment to observe that he still wore his charred blazer, albeit extremely rumpled. Somebody must have dug a pair of scrub pants up for him, though, so he could change out of his bloodstained ones. They were too small for him and clung to his thighs. Nora tried not to stare.

“Nora,” he whispered, noticing that her eyes were open. He put his book to the side and put his hand on her arm, causing her to wince as he jostled her IV. Everything still hurt, but it had settled into a dull ache instead of the agony of the first time she woke.

“Adam,” she whispered, her voice like sandpaper in her dry throat. “I’m sorry about your tie.”

He let out an incredulous laugh.

“Of course. You almost die, and the first thing you think of is how my tie must have been ruined.”

Nora furrowed her brow.

“I almost died?” she asked, still fuzzy on the details of what had happened. She remembered Drew saying something about a car crash and a concussion, but not much else.

Adam cocked his head to the side. “Well, maybe that was a slight exaggeration, but you weren’t exactly thriving. You had gone into shock from blood loss by the time I carried you here. They had to take you straight to surgery to sew it up, and you received several blood transfusions. You are lucky that the cut wasn’t just an inch to the side, or it would have hit a major artery. The good news is that you’re going to have a rather impressive scar.”

“I’ve always wanted a cool scar,” she murmured, the blanks in her memory filling back in. They had been at the museum when she got hurt, and he had taken her to the hospital. “Wait, you carried me here?” Her mind performed some sluggish calculations. “That has to be, like, two miles! Do you have something against ambulances?”

Adam looked down and rubbed the back of his neck. “I was worried about you; I kind of forgot. And I have to be honest with you. I didn’t cradle you the whole way. I switched you to a fireman carry after you lost consciousness. Much easier on the arms.”

Nora gaped. “You forgot about calling 911?” Her brain managed to put together a few more pieces of what was going on, but she was still missing essential parts of the puzzle. “Wait—Drew said that I was in a car accident, but we weren’t in a car. We were at the museum.”

Adam’s face contorted in discomfort, and Nora’s stomach plunged. She attempted to sit upright but found that she couldn’t and settled for an agitated jerk instead.

“Oh my gosh!” Nora gasped, “You touched an artifact with your bare hands, and… and swung it around like a crazy person! That didn’t really happen—I hit my head too hard and got confused, right?” Nora practically pleaded with Adam, but he only offered her an apologetic grimace.

“I must say, I’m surprised the first thing you’re asking me about in that whole scene was whether or not I touched an artifact without proper precautions,” Adam deflected, shifting uncomfortably in the plastic chair.

“We left them on the floor!” Nora raged, “Forget about my promotion, this will lose me my entire job.”

Adam held up his palms placatingly.

“I went back to the museum while you were in surgery and cleaned everything up. I don’t think the weapons are what you need to be worrying about right now.”

“You’re an English professor,” Nora snapped, “You can’t possibly know the proper methods for cleaning weaponry.”

Adam raised a brow, “You know, they don’t teach you how to fight with weapons without teaching you to take care of them too.”

“That’s another thing! How did you know how to fight like that? And what were those—oh…” Nora trailed off as she remembered the Shadow creatures in the museum, and Adam’s comment that she had bigger things to be worrying about made more sense. While her heart still raced at the idea of an improperly cleaned sword, the thought faded in the face of memories of all-consuming darkness. The image of a creature clawing its way up her leg forced itself into her memory. Nora shuddered in revulsion.

“Hey, it’s okay. They’re gone, and they are not going to hurt you,” Adam soothed. He reached his hand out as if to stroke her arm in reassurance, but Nora jerked away.

“It’s okay? How in Hell is it okay? What were those things? And how are you some sort of master swordsman?” Nora demanded.

Adam shot Nora a pained look before glancing furtively towards the hallway. “Nora, I want to explain everything, I do. But not right now. Not while you’re in the hospital.”

“I almost died, and you aren’t going to tell me what the things that nearly killed me were?” Nora fumed.

“I said that you almost dying was a slight exaggeration—”

“I don’t care if I got a splinter; I deserve to know what happened! Not to mention, those things obviously had something to do with you. I was doing just fine until you appeared, and then I started getting attacked at my own job. How do I know you didn’t bring those monsters down on me?” If Nora hadn’t been as weak as a newborn kitten, she would be grabbing Adam by the shoulders and shaking him.

“Listen,” Adam pleaded, “if I wanted you hurt, I wouldn’t have carried you two miles to the hospital. I swear on my life I will tell you what happened. I’ll tell you as soon as you’re out of the hospital. You still have a concussion, and you need to focus on healing. Plus, it’s going to be a long conversation that would be better held in private.”

The sincerity in Adam’s eyes placated her despite her anger. She already felt her energy draining out of her like the air from a balloon after her brief outburst.

“Fine.” She leaned back into her pillows to sulk. “But the instant I’m discharged, I demand explanations.” She was disgusted by how easily she caved, but she felt worse than she cared to admit.

“I promise, and I’m sure you’ll be ship-shape in no time,” Adam reassured. “Dr. Coleman has been taking impeccable care of you.”

“Drew’s still here?”

“His shift ended a few hours ago, but he refuses to leave. Wants to keep an eye on you.” Adam paused. “Are the two of you… together?”

Nora’s eyes narrowed at his question but found his expression politely curious. It was an inquiry of the type she shouldn’t be encouraging from a professional partner, but they had already gotten this far.

“We were, but we broke up a few months ago.”

Adam tilted his head, and for a moment, Nora worried he was going to question her further about their relationship, wishing he would instead just let the subject drop. She was saved by a young woman in misty blue scrubs appearing around the curtain.

“Look who’s awake!” she chimed. “I’m Sheila and I’ve been your nurse today. It’s good to see you up. Let’s see how your blood pressure is doing.” She bustled into the room and pressed a button on the monitor, making the cuff on Nora’s upper arm tighten. Adam took the moment to duck out of the room, motioning that he would be right back.

“How are you feeling?” Sheila asked.

“Cold,” Nora responded, indeed beginning to shiver.

“Hmm, I’ll make sure to get you some more blankets after I finish getting your vitals.” She grabbed a thermometer off the wall and held it up to Nora, who obediently opened her mouth and put it under her tongue. When it beeped, Sheila looked at the reading with a furrowed brow.

“One hundred and two. Do you mind if I take a peek at your leg?”

Nora shook her head, and the nurse moved the blankets aside before unwrapping the bandage around her thigh. As Nora’s wound came into view, she hissed. The long gash had been closed with a line of neat stitches, but an ashy blackness radiated out from the line of angry red. A white, puss-like substance oozed from the wound, sticking to the gauze as the nurse pulled it away.

“Oh dear,” Sheila muttered. “Dr. Coleman will want to see this right away.”

She stepped to the side and pulled a small phone out of her pocket while Nora continued gaping at the gruesome-looking gash on her thigh. It still throbbed angrily, and Nora imagined that she could see the redness of the wound pulsing in time with her heartbeat.

It was only a minute before Drew ducked around the corner of the room.

“Look at you, sitting up and everything!” He gave her a broad smile before his eyes drifted to her leg.

“Okay,” he muttered, rubbing his thick beard, smile dissolving instantly. Turning to Sheila, he said, “Let’s get a culture on that and start her on some IV vancomycin. Increase her fluid rate, too.”

They moved around her room, carrying on a rapid discussion about her blood pressure and something about her labs. Irritation bubbled up under Nora’s skin. She itched to interrupt and protest the feeling that she was being ignored in all of this, but she had begun shivering more forcefully now and was too uncomfortable to worry about inserting herself into the discussion. At that moment, Adam pushed past the curtain, carrying a Styrofoam cup of something steaming, adding to the small crowd of people moving around her already hectic bedside. As he moved to the head of her bed to say something to her, he caught sight of her infected wound. “Oh, that doesn’t look good.”

“Just an infection,” responded Drew as he rebandaged her leg. “We’re on it.”

Drew’s clipped tone was jarring in comparison to his usual unshakeable calm, but he appeared focused on his task, so Nora didn’t mention it. Adam’s brows pulled together and he was opening his mouth to say something, but Nora decided it was best if they left Drew alone.

“Where’s Odelle?” Nora interjected, to change the subject.

Adam turned his attention back to her face.

“She had to go to work, but she’ll be back as soon as she’s done. She left some beef stroganoff in the mini-fridge in case you want it.”

Nora grimaced and shook her head. While stroganoff was her go-to comfort food—especially Irina’s recipe—her stomach twisted uncomfortably, and she realized she was slightly nauseous.

“Maybe later; I’m not feeling up to eating right now.”

Drew had finished wrapping her thigh in a fresh bandage, and the nurse had exited the room to fetch something or another. He straightened and cleared his throat pointedly before saying, “We’re going to start you on some antibiotics for this infection and monitor your fever. You let us know if you are feeling any changes at all, okay?”

Nora nodded, and Drew shot a hard look over his shoulder before pushing past the curtain and out of the room. The two of them were now alone and Adam settled himself into the chair at the head of the bed.

“Well, this is the pits. I hope this doesn’t keep me away from work too long,” Nora huffed and attempted to cross her arms but was impeded by her IVs. Instead, she settled for clenching her hands into fists on her thighs.

“I wouldn’t worry too much. Dr. Coleman has been… vigilant.”

Nora nodded in agreement. There was a pause before Adam continued.

“I don’t think he likes me very much.”

Nora was about to ask him where he got that idea when another round of violent shivers wracked her body. Adam leaned in and tucked the blankets around her as tightly as he could, commenting, “It must be from the fever.”

Nora made to nod, but moving her head seemed to make her unbearably dizzy.

“Adam, something’s wrong.” The taste of metal flooded her mouth and her shivering had transformed into more of a constant tremor. Even her vision began to distort, as if she was staring at Adam through a fun-house mirror.

Adam put his hand on her cheek and tried to meet her eyes, but she couldn’t bring his face into focus.

“No, no,” he whispered. “This isn’t an infection. Infection doesn’t progress this fast. This is poison.” His voice sounded like he was trying to speak to her from underwater.

She opened her mouth to ask him how she could have been poisoned but she couldn’t breathe as her whole body went rigid.

“Nora!” Adam cried, but she couldn’t respond. Her world had turned a blazing white, and she didn’t have any control over her limbs as they shook, but she could still hear Adam. Fingers scrabbled at her IVs, ripping them out, droplets of warm blood running down her arm.

The whole time Adam muttered, “Thad. Thad will know what to do.”

Then there were more voices, Drew’s deep voice like thunder, barking orders and demanding Adam step away from her. There was more yelling, something about poison, and more about whoever Thad was.

Nora tried to scream but made a horrible choking sound instead. She couldn’t breathe. She needed them to stop arguing. She needed quiet. She needed the shaking to stop.

Adam’s determined voice cut through the haze. “You can follow me, but you can’t stop me from taking her.”

Her world lurched again as arms tightened around her. Her limbs thrashed against them, but Adam got her over his shoulder and held her tightly.

Drew’s voice reached her. “I’m not letting her out of my sight.”

Then the world spun away, and Nora was falling down a dark well but didn’t remember ever hitting the bottom.