Page 26 of Princess (Marinah and the Apocalypse #5)

King

“Should she shift?” I asked Axel, while trying to keep my voice calm for Marinah’s sake.

“I’m unsure,” he replied, while checking the pulse at her wrist. “I’ll know for sure once I see how deep the shrapnel goes.”

He turned and rummaged through the medical bag he’d dropped into the floorboard of the passenger seat. He pulled out tubing and a saline bag.

“I need to get an IV into her. I don’t think the bleeding is dangerous, but I’ll feel better once I have a line in. Hold her arm steady for me.”

“Are you with me, Marinah?” I asked.

“Hurts,” she said between tightly clenched teeth.

I rearranged her so I could hold her arm out to Axel. She groaned again, and her body curled tightly against the pain. Axel got the needle in. My heart felt like it was pounding through my chest.

“Hold on,” I told her.

“Holding,” she ground out.

“Give her something for pain,” I demanded.

“No,” both Axel and Marinah said at the same time.

I growled low in my throat, but didn’t argue.

We pulled into the courtyard, and Axel jumped out. I tried to move toward the door, but Marinah grabbed my arm, her claws digging in.

“Don’t move me right now,” she gasped out.

“Get Kenneth and a stretcher,” Axel shouted.

I held Marinah while she panted. I realized blood saturated the front of me. I tried to take the second hellhound from her, but another attacked.

“I’m going to shift,” she gasped again.

“I’ve got you,” I said.

“I would rather check the shrapnel wound first,” Axel told her.

“I don’t know if I can stop it,” she moaned.

Kenneth arrived at the car. I placed her on the stretcher. Axel handed me the saline bag and began pushing Marinah toward the medical bay.

“She has shrapnel embedded in her side, and her water broke,” he told Kenneth. “We’ll need blood just in case. I may need to do a cesarean. When we get to the surgical room, set everything up for me.”

“Got it,” Kenneth replied.

He had been one of the Federation fighters who attacked the island as a red stripe. He had medical experience and had turned into an asset.

“Where’s Garrett?” I asked after we arrived at the medical bays.

“Southern part of the island in case there was trouble. You need to check on them while I examine Marinah,” Axel said.

“Beck’s got it under control. Your job is my mate, and my job is to stand by her.”

Axel lifted a hand with scissors and brought them to the straps covering Marinah’s chest.

“No, not the straps,” she said.

Axel ignored her, and she growled. The growl turned into a moan.

“I let you do your job without interference, and by damned, you’re going to let me do mine,” Axel lectured. He proceeded to cut her clothes from her body. “Help me roll her to her side,” he said when he finished.

Two inches of shrapnel stuck out. The piece was about a quarter-inch thick. Dammit, how much was inside her?

“Check the baby’s heart rate,” Axel told Kenneth who was working busily around the room grabbing supplies.

A stethoscope was placed on Marinah’s belly.

“Stable,” Kenneth said after thirty seconds.

“Grab a blood bag before I remove this. Her name is on the bags I want,” he ordered after he knew the baby was okay.

“Marinah,” Axel told her. “I’m going to give you a local before I remove the shrapnel. I may need to cut into you, so I know what I’m dealing with.”

“Do it,” she ground out. “And hurry. I need to shift.”

The pain was bad. Marinah never stayed silent, and she’d barely said ten words since she went to her knees at the shipyard. My concern for her overshadowed thoughts of our child. I couldn’t lose her. This was my worst nightmare.

Axel put another line in her arm for the blood and administered the local. He looked up at me. K-5 burned in his eyes. “If you stop me from anything I need to do, I’ll have you removed. Do we understand each other?”

I grunted, but he continued to stare. “Fine,” I said like a petulant child.

The doctor cut her skin along the edge of the shrapnel. I held Marinah’s hand.

“It’s approximately three inches deep. It doesn’t look like it hit anything vital. This will hurt.” He didn’t give her a chance to object. Using forceps, he slowly removed the metal.

Marinah’s groan was louder.

Axel quickly squeezed a clear substance onto the wound.

“Superglue,” he said. “You can shift now,” he told Marinah.

Marinah’s shifts were usually fast and explosive.

“No, no, no,” she screamed, shaking her head while her body contorted.

I looked at Axel. He shook his head.

Her Nova exploded. She jumped from the table, knocking over the IV stand and a medical tray set up beside her. In two leaps, she was in the corner, her eyes burning with fury.

Everyone froze.

Her nova form was larger than my Warrior’s form and far more deadly. Marinah’s control of it had grown, but these were extenuating circumstances.

Barely above a whisper, I said her name.

She growled, her large teeth on full display. Her eyes didn’t seem to focus on anything.

“Everyone needs to leave,” I said. “Move slowly and stay as far away from her as you can.”

Marinah’s gaze followed Axel and Kenneth as they exited.

“Marinah, you’re safe. The baby is coming. The baby is safe.”

She stared at me for a moment before she threw her head back and made a sound I had never heard before. It was somewhere between pain, rage, and fear. Her entire body shook. Her large, clawed hand went to her stomach. Her eyes darkened further; the brown with golden flakes became pure obsidian.

This scenario hadn’t occurred to me.

I took a step closer, and her jaws opened, showing a mouth full of huge teeth.

“Marinah, it’s me. I won’t let anything bad happen to you or our baby. I love you.”

I kept my voice low as I took one step, then two. When I was close enough, I lifted my arms and lowered my head. She lowered herself slightly and rested her forehead against mine.

“You’re okay,” I assured her. “The baby is coming, and it would be easier if you were in human form. I’ll shift with you.” I moved my head an inch back and looked into her haunting eyes. I saw recognition.

“Shift with me,” I said again, and let my form morph to human.

Marinah screamed, but at the same time, her body flowed into her human form. She’d pulled out the IV. I called for Axel, and he came in alone.

“Help her,” I said.

“Lay her down.”

Before I could do it, Marinah spoke. “No, stand me up. I feel too vulnerable lying on that damn medical bed.”

“It’s only me and Axel,” I said. “Do what you need to do.”

She looked at Axel. “Is the baby okay?”

“I need to check,” he said. “Can I listen to the heartbeat?”

She leaned all her weight against me and gave a soft moan. Axel came closer, went to a knee, and listened.

“The baby’s fine,” he assured her. “Mothers gave birth out of bed long before some quack had them lay down. We’ve spoken about this. You need to feel safe. It’s time to check you vaginally, though. Can you lean against King while I see where you’re at?”

“Yes,” she said. Her lips trembled, and tears streamed down her face. “I couldn’t stop Nova,” she said at last.

“You’re scared,” Axel told her. “I expected this. The fight at the shipyard didn’t help. Unless I need assistance, everyone but the three of us will stay out of the room.”

Her head turned, and she looked into my eyes. “Don’t leave me,” she whispered.

Axel kneeled in front of her while mine and Marinah’s eyes stayed locked. “I’m not going anywhere. Our daughter will be here soon. I wouldn’t miss it for the world.”

After Nova’s appearance, a steady calm filled me. The wound from the shrapnel was more than survivable. We could do this.