The River (Book 3 of The Claiming Series)

Chapter Eleven

I'm shivering violently.

Sweat drips down my forehead, down my face, into my eyes and into my mouth.

I'm gasping for air.

"Mave, you're okay. You're okay," Eli whispers as he dabs a cool washcloth on my forehead.

It's so hot in here. Why is it so blazing hot?

I'm also freezing.

In my hazy vision, I see Eli look around nervously. He sits next to me as I'm sprawled on the pullout couch, blankets covering half of my body because I can't decide if I need them or not.

Eli wipes the sweat from my face. "I'm going to check your hands and arms," he says tentatively.

I feel like I can't breathe, like it hurts, like I may pass out at any given moment. My stomach is on fire.

Eli takes my left arm and unwraps the bandages around my hand slowly and gently. Stabbing pain shoots through my hand and up my arm into my shoulder. I cry out.

"Oh, no..."

"What?" I gasp.

He shakes his head. "It's really infected. The cuts were so deep..."

Eli checks the other arm, and sure enough, it's also infected. No wonder I feel like dying.

"We need to leave now. We need to get you home and to the hospital."

Panic shoves its way into my mind. I hate hospitals.

Eli rests the washcloth on my forehead and slides off the couch. He disappears up the staircase.

I try to hold the washcloth in place with my own hands, but it hurts to touch it.

Which means it'll hurt to touch anything.

Fantastic.

I tilt my head slightly towards the living room window. It's barely dawn—maybe five in the morning? Super early.

I woke Eli up by crying in pain. He thought I was having another blackout, but then he saw I was awake, and that's when he knew it was something else—something more serious. Immediately, he jumped into action and began taking care of me.

He's always taking care of me now.

Eli returns with Lily and Agatha.

Agatha takes one look at me and shakes her head. "There's no way you can travel with her like this."

"We have to!" Eli says. "She needs to go to the hospital."

"I understand that," she says calmly, "but she may get worse out there just walking to get back to the car."

"I'll pull it up to the fence," he says without missing a beat. "I'll get it as close as possible."

"How are you going to get it through the woods?" Agatha challenges.

Lily kneels next to me and brushes my hair with her fingers. "Eli's right," she whispers. "This needs to be taken care of by the hospital. She's dehydrated—she needs fluids. She needs medicine."

Agatha's eyes flash with worry. What is she not telling us?

"I'll carry her to the car," Eli says. "She won't have to move a muscle, and she'll be fine. She'll be fine."

"I can walk myself," I protest blearily.

"Don't be stubborn now, Mave." He sits beside me on the couch and turns the washcloth over to the cool side. I close my eyes.