Chapter 459

Chapter 459
I woke to see Luke standing over me, and I screamed. I pushed back, surprising both of us. He dropped the scalpel that was in his hands, and the nurse goddess forgive her dropped the tray she was carrying.
“Whoa there.” Luke raised his hands a little more. “You passed out from the pain.”
I settled against the bed. Wrong life. My hand drifted to my flat stomach. There is no pup here. I closed my eyes and took a few deep breaths. “Sorry.” I shook my head to clear it, but pain exploded behind my eyes and I dry heaved.
“No apologies needed. You have been through a lot.” He turned and grabbed a new scalpel, then he stepped up to my bedside. The nurse rushed back in with a new tray and the old one was left on the ground.
“Don’t you need to grab all of that?”
The nurse nodded. “I’ll grab it after.” She dropped the tray on the bedside table.
“We have great healing, but werewolf or not, the royal doctor taught us to keep our sterile field.” Luke put the scalpel down on
the tray, next to everything else. “Now. I have to cut the skin around your ribs.”
“Why?” My voice was riddled with suspicion, but Luke just smiled softly.
“You aren’t healing fast, but you are still healing. Your skin healed around the bone. I have to cut the skin from the bone, push it
back into place, stitch the wounds with dissolvable stitches and then bind your ribs in place.”
I shuddered. Nix came running out of the forest. Just let us heal you. She screamed at me, and I felt guilty, but I sent her calming
thoughts.
Not yet. I need to look shattered tomorrow. As soon as we leave, we can heal. She growled.
This is stupid. As soon as the doctor pushes our ribs in, I’m healing them. And the bleeding. She snarled, daring me to fight her,
but I just chuckled.
Wait until I limp out of here and back to the office and deal.
She scoffed and then turned away from me. Stupid humans, and their stupid plans,
I looked up at Luke, and I nodded. “Do it.”
He hesitated. “I would really like to give you something to knock you out.”
I shook my head. “I’ll be fine.”
He swallowed and grimaced, but nodded. “Your funeral.” He looked to the nurse. “I need you to hold her on her side, and no
matter what…do not let her move.”
The nurse looked at me and then back to the doctor. “I’ll do my best.” She looked back at me. “This is going to hurt, but please,
don’t fight me. I’m not strong.”
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I laughed and then nodded. “I’ll do my best.” Then the nurse grabbed me by my shoulder and hip and rolled me. The pain was blinding, and I screamed as she forced me into the position the doctor needed. Breathing became hard, and my vision flickered. “Sorry. I‘ am so sorry.” She whispered to me.
Luke took another breath, and then he put a hand on my side. “Take a deep breath and blow it out.” He waited for me to do it.
“Good, focus on your breathing. I want to say that this will help, but I won’t lie to you.” I nodded once and closed my eyes to focus
on my breathing.
That worked for maybe a minute before he sliced into me. The pain turned from a burning hot pain to being the center of the
universe. My vision was gone, my breathing was ragged intakes that my body forced me to take. The burning hot pain was like a
million insect bites. The burning of silver. I white hot poker being pressed into my side.
He leaned in. “It’s okay to scream. Just don’t move.”
I shook my head. “If I start I won;t stop.‘
I could feel his eyes on me, but I couldn’t actually tell. But then he just blew out another soft breath. “That’s fine. Scream. I don’t
mind, and neither does Jenn here.”
“No Miss Amy, I don’t care.” She was a sweet girl, even if she was older than me.
“See. Just scream.”
“Why?” I stuttered out through clench teeth.
“Because you are holding your breath, some long enough to turn purple. And this way, I know your breathing. And honestly. Your jaw is clenched so hard that I’m worried you might break it. Let it out. We won’t judge you.” I shook my head again. He sighed. “I haven’t even freed one bone. You are tensing up and it’s about to get a lot worse.”
I cracked open my eye, and it burned, but I could see. I looked at him and he was very serious. “If I start…” I tried again.
“Then you scream, and we listen.”
I shook my head. “I’ll cry.” I shuddered. “If I scream, I’ll cry.”
He shook his head. He nodded to the nurse, who covered my face with a sterile cloth. “No one will even know.”