He sighed heavily. “She must rest. We need heat packs around her. Her fever is high, but that is natural. The chill is what worries me.”
“She needs me.” Del-Rey’s voice was rough, primitive. “Let me lie with her. She needs to be warmed. I warm her.”
Chernov shrugged. “As long as she is allowed to rest for the next week, the wound should be fine. Nothing strenuous.” He eyed Del-Rey warningly. “She must be treated as though she would break with a breath, Ghost.”
“Del-Rey,” he growled.
Chernov grunted. “As though I did not know about those transmissions this child sent you. Six years you waited, though I told Sofia countless times she must tell you the truth of who she was. Chaff from the harvest.” The doctor scowled back at him. “As though we were not doing this. You did not research as you should have.”
There were a lot things he hadn’t done as he should have, Del-Rey admitted to himself.
“She needs a bed,” Chernov said. “She needs comfort and care now. Is there a room available here? I do not want her transported for two days at least. Where she goes, we must go as well. With the child she carries, her condition is too delicate. We must watch her closely.”
Dr. Sobolova touched Anya’s hair gently. “I believe my girls Sharone, Emma and Ashley are awaiting us now,” she said. “I have missed them. I would make certain they are well and not suffering from their injuries.”
“Petrov Kobrin is demanding to see his daughter, Dr. Armani,” Wolfe announced through the intercom. “When she’s stable enough, could you please meet with him? I have four crazy Russians consuming vodka in the community center, and Breeds joining in. We’re going to have a mess soon if we don’t do something.”
Nikki nodded. “We have a private room just down the hall. We’ll transfer her there and see if her mate can warm her.” She glanced at Del-Rey with a cool little smile. “I have a gown she can wear.”
Del-Rey didn’t rise to the bait. He nodded, rose and was at the head of the bed as they wheeled it to the room.
Nikki jerked the blankets back on the double bed as they maneuvered it into the room.
“Very gently, Ghost,” Chernov advised worriedly as they lifted the blanket Anya rested on. “We’ll monitor her for infection, though I do not expect such a thing to develop.”
They eased her onto the bed, then pushed the gurney from the room as Nikki helped Del-Rey ease his mate into the soft cotton gown she had pulled from a dresser.
“She’ll sleep for a while.” Nikki patted his shoulder as she moved for the door. “If you need me, there’s a link on the bedside. Rest yourself, Del-Rey.”
Rest.
He undressed and eased into the bed on her uninjured side, wrapping himself around her as he pulled the blankets over them.
He flinched at the feel of her cold flesh and rubbed her shoulder, her arm, gently.
She was breathing slow and easy, but her lips were still blue. She was cold, so cold. He eased her legs between his, his arm beneath her head, and all but surrounded her. If he didn’t get her warm, he wouldn’t be able to keep the knot clogging his throat from choking the hell out of him.
“Come back to me, baby,” he whispered at her ear. “Warm me, Anya. I’m cold, love. So cold.”
As cold inside as her flesh was on the outside. He kissed her forehead again, then laid his head at her shoulder before gently kissing the little wound he had left there.
“I love you,” he whispered. “My sweet Anya. How I love you.”
CHAPTER 26
She was warm. Toasty warm from head to toe. She could feel the warmth wrapped around her, like a brush of flesh, like Del-Rey.
It felt like Del-Rey. It didn’t feel like death. She didn’t feel feverish. She didn’t feel cold and in pain. She didn’t feel weak and lethargic.
Actually, she was damned hungry.
She opened her eyes as a rumbled growl of hunger caused a flush to heat her cheeks. How long had it been since she had eaten?
A warm, broad palm whispered over her stomach. She felt a bandage on her side and the tight sensation of flesh adhesive.
Memory rushed over her then. The meeting, the attack. Ashley and the girls.
Her eyes opened to meet the gentle, black gaze staring down at her.