Chapter 25

“Lilly, can youy the pillow down where Demetri wasying, raise the rail and plug it in.”

I give her a loving smile as I help her with Ang’s request.

“Cole, if you understand what I’m saying I need you to let go of my hand.”

It doesn’t take long for him to respond, slowly letting go of her hand. I easily notice the tremor in his hand but don’t say anything about it. It’s when she ces the stethoscope to his chest that he startles badly enough for him to return to the distressing high pitched whine he’s had most of the morning causing Lilly to cover her ears. Hearing a whine like that triggers memories that she still hasn’t let go of from long ago.

She looks at me with tears in her eyes as I pull her gently into me, holding her head against my chest so she can wrap her arms around me, grasping the back of my shirt into her fists. It’s only a few secondster that I can hear her through the mind link.

“That’s why you think he’s been abused.‘

‘That’s part of the reason, yes . I’ve never met an adult wolf with that whine that hasn’t been severely abused as a child. The problem is I can’t do anything about it unless he’s still being abused. Damian mentioned that he’s twenty–three which means he has to admit that the abuse is still going on and he has to agree to the protection orders. I can’t just pull him out.‘

Lilly loosens her hold on me as his distressing whine dies down. Ang speaks softly to him as she resumes listening to his chest.

“Can you help me roll him back so I can get himying on the pillow? He seems to prefer being on his stomach over his back.”

I kiss Lily’s forehead as she steps away allowing me to approach Cole again.

“ Cole. I’m going to have Demetri steady you as you are so I can give you a break from the mask. I need to put the oxygen cann back on you though. I’d also like to get a heart monitor on you. It’s a handful of special stickers that I need to ce on your chest. Good news is we don’t need to attach any wires but I do need you toy on your back for a few minutes while I ce them.”

I can hear him whine in response to the n.

“What about leaning him against the body pillow instead? Obviously we can’t ask him why being on his back is stressful but he’s been responding very positively to the way we work with him. Leaning him against the pillow will give us the ess we need while keeping himfortable with us.”

Ang nods her head, liking the idea.

“If he’sfortable enough with it–then I’ll grab a second one so he can change positions. It’s not good for him toy on his arm like this.”

With our new n for him Lilly unplugs the thermal pillow as Ang raises the rail on the opposite side. They hand it off so it can be ced on the other side as Cole seems to being out of the sedation enough to talk. I take the mask off him so it’s easier to understand him.

“Di…. rect heat…. hurts …. back”

24

I’ve pulled up a chair at the head of the bed, cing my arms on either side of him keeping him steady. It surprises me briefly when he blindly manages to grab hold of one hand allowing him to lean a little against it. I use my hand that’s at his back to y with his hair again. Although it took a little time, he seems to be able to rx when I do it.

“Ang, how direct is the heating off that pillow? I know he needs the added heat. He’s shaking badly right now and I can’t tell if he’s cold or anxious. I don’t like how cold his skin feels but I think his back might be sensitive to direct heat.”

“The heating pads are in the middle of the pillow so that it can beid on either side but I’ll turn both of them down a little lower than what I wanted to put them on. I’m also going to cover–him–with a heated nket. I kept him with you for two and a half hours hoping to warm him up but he’s dropped his temperature twice since then.”

“How low is he?”