The Werewolf Dates The Deputy - Kristen Painter Page 0,7
this time. “I’ll bring Deputy Blythe down.”
“Sir,” Cruz began, “with all due respect, you don’t look—”
“Don’t worry about me. I’m—” The ground beneath Titus’s feet canted like the house had slipped sideways. The blackness returned and slid over him before he could get another word out.
Mechanical beeping and the smell of disinfectant woke Jenna. She opened her eyes, a little blinded by the sudden light. She blinked twice before her eyes focused on the concerned face of her sister.
“You’re awake,” Tessa said with a smile. “How are you feeling?”
“Like I just went ten rounds with a berserker.” Jenna rubbed at the throbbing in her head. “Where am I?”
“The hospital.”
Jenna looked around. Okay, that should have been obvious. There was no mistaking this room for anything else. How long had she been out? But more important… “Where’s Titus? He was hurt too.”
Tessa’s smile widened ever so slightly. “He’s in the next room.”
“How is he? I think he took more of the blast than I did.”
“He’s doing all right. Do you need anything?”
To see Titus. In fact, the desire was almost overwhelming. So much so, it made her uncomfortable. Why should she care so much? She shouldn’t. And yet, she did. Eagerly, she changed the topic. “Just for my head to stop throbbing. How long was I out?”
“A few hours. Mom’s been trying to reach you. One of your friends from your time in the service called her, looking for your number to get in touch with you.”
“Who?”
“I don’t know. But I didn’t tell Mom the reason you weren’t answering your phone is because you’re in the hospital.”
“Thanks.” Tessa was a good sister. “Did they find out who was responsible for that bomb? Do they know what chemicals were used on us?”
Tessa shook her head. “They didn’t catch anyone yet, and they don’t know what was used to drug you, but samples were taken for analysis. In fact, I brought you some clothes because your uniform has to be cleaned before you can wear it again. It’s all covered in that stuff. Your Kevlar vest was okay, though.”
“Thanks.” She looked down at her hospital gown. “What did you bring me to wear?”
“A pair of my yoga pants and a sweatshirt. I didn’t have time to go by your house.”
“Okay. Who’s analyzing the samples?” Jenna sat up a little, but it took some effort, which bothered her. She didn’t like feeling weak, and she was ready to put this whole episode behind her. “Because I’m pretty sure there was magic involved in what happened to us.”
Tessa put the bed’s remote control in Jenna’s hand. “Here, use this to adjust your position. Everyone seems to agree that magic, and probably witchcraft, is a factor. I know one of the samples was sent to Alice Bishop.”
Jenna exhaled. “Good. Alice should be able to figure it out.” Not only was the woman the most powerful witch in town, she was also the oldest, most experienced witch. It was her magic that imbued the local water so that it clouded tourists’ minds to the fact that real supernaturals walked among them.
Alice was the OG of witchcraft in Nocturne Falls.
A knock on the door was followed by a doctor coming in. “Hi there, I’m Dr. Navarro. How are you feeling?”
Jenna shrugged. She knew Dr. Navarro was human but that he’d recently been clued in to the reality of Nocturne Falls. In other words, he probably knew she wasn’t just a sheriff’s deputy. “I have a headache, but that seems to be it.”
“We can get you some heavy-duty Tylenol for that, but with your metabolism, I’m not sure it would be effective.”
“I’ll be all right. When can I get out of here?”
“Whenever you’re ready. All your vitals are normal, so we have no reason to keep you. I would strongly suggest you rest for the next day or two while your system rids itself of the chemicals you inhaled. You might have some short-term memory loss, but we expect that to disappear quickly.”
Rest wasn’t really her thing, but she wasn’t going to tell the doc that. “Short-term memory loss, huh? That’s interesting. Do you know what any of the chemicals were yet?”
He nodded. “We did find trace amounts of pentothal in your blood work. It’ll be a few days before the rest of the labs are back.”
She frowned. “Truth serum?”
“That’s one of its uses. It’s also a powerful sedative. We’re pretty sure that’s what knocked you both out.”