Heart Of A Lycan King
Chapter 69

My eyes hurt.

No, not from crying, but from being unable to cry. The tears wouldn’t fall, and nothing I did, no trick I pulled made them fall. Except for the pounding headache, I felt nothing.

I simply sat alongside everyone else in the waiting area numb. It’s been a day already, a whole day and nothing was heard about Donald.

I can’t clearly remember what had happened after he had collapsed, but for a moment back at the hall, I had ultimately assumed he had died. At least, until Mav had announced he was still breathing, albeit faintly. Lacie, Mama, Tiffany, Mav, and I rushed to the hospital with him, leaving Aiden and Kane behind to handle everything else. Ivanyne and Sherneil came afterwards, but they left soon with only Ivayne returning after a while.

I didn’t dare move from the hospital since I arrived. I couldn’t. At least, not when my friend is in there fighting for his life. Not when I was the reason he got harmed. The last time I was seated here, Donald was beside me. I remembered him just being his own easy going self had soothed me, kept me calm, and showed me the importance of having a friend.

Today, I was sitting here without him, while he’s in there fighting for his life. Because of me. All because of me. I had blocked Erin off completely, because I honestly do not wish to speak to anyone. Not even her.

The only image in my head was the sight of my friend’s white body, as though drained of b***d completely. His eyes wide open, and the patches that had appeared on his skin. Every time I shut my eyes, I see that. That and only that.

And the shadows had been unable to help this time? How? Why? If I remember correctly, they looked as though they were restrained, and I haven’t heard anything from them since the incident yesterday.

I let my eyes drift across the large waiting area of the general hospital. Mav was pacing around, arms clasped behind his back, while Lacie sat huddled in a corner, with Ivayne holding her by the shoulders. Her eyes were red and puffy, her lips were constantly quivering, and from time to time, she wipes off the tears. Tiffany was sitting beside me on my left, while I tucked myself into the corner with my legs tucked in. Mama had left to go home and change, and had insisted for both Lacie and I to do the same, but neither one of us dared to move.

I shifted my gaze away, afraid to look deeper into the emotions on each of their faces. Afraid to admit that as I sat here, I felt nothing. I was blank. Empty. No tears. No pain. No anger.

I knew only one thing.

I should never have come to the capital. I should never have met Aiden. If I didn’t, none of this would have happened. There wouldn’t be a creepy ex-mate teaming up with goblins to get me back. And my best friend wouldn’t have been in the situation he currently is in right now.

I shut my eyes, willing for the dull ache in my heart to turn to something else. Maybe something that would make me feel. Anything. But nothing. I pressed my lids with my fingers, hoping that would force the tears burning at the back of my eyes to finally set free. Again, nothing. The only thing I felt was a dull pain in my chest from trying to force myself to feel. As if there was a high thick wall surrounding all my feelings, denying them an exit. Trying to force them out only made me feel physically sick.

So I just sat there. Just an unfeeling b.itch with no remorse over what she had caused. A b.itch that shouldn’t have been here.

The commotion by the door made me look up to see Aiden strolling in with quick steps. He looked as tired as everyone else. It was early morning, precisely around 7am since the last time I checked. That means, it’s been close to 10 hours since Donald had been locked behind those twin doors.

Aiden walked up to Mav and I watched as they spoke, wondering how they were able to do that. Because I couldn’t take it, I shut my eyes back and returned to my little corner, embracing the darkness I knew.

“Nala?” I heard Aiden call, as he took both of my hands in his.

I flinched, my eyes flying open as I pulled my hands away before I moved into my corner more.

“Hey, it’s fine. It’s just me,” he whispered, trying to take my hands again.

But I shook my head and simply crossed my hands over my chest. I tried to speak, tried to say anything. To tell him that I just want to be left alone, but my throat hurts so bad that I’m scared of talking. Feels like the moment I try to, I’ll just explode, and that is not something I’m ready to face now.

“Nala…” Aiden called again, reaching for my cheeks. I wanted to push his hands away, I really wanted to. But the look in his eyes stopped me.

What the hell am I doing? This is his cousin, his family. But here I am overreacting. I should be apologizing to them for what I’ve caused, instead, I was angry, at whom precisely, I had no idea.

What a hypocrite I am.

My body suddenly shook from laughter. A hollow laughter that made no sense even to me. It was dry and sounded sick even to my ears. Why was I laughing in such a situation? No idea. But I just felt the urge to do something.

“That’s the first time she’s reacting since we got here,” Lacie murmured from her seat. “She’s been quiet and didn’t want anyone to hold or talk to her.” she added.

“I tried,” Tiffany said from beside me. “She didn’t say anything. She had a panic attack when we got here around early evening. And she’s been this way since,”

“Nala, are you okay there?” Aiden asked again, taking the space Tiff had been seating at a moment ago.

I swallowed. Still unable to speak. What should I say? That yes I’m fine and your cousin is in there fighting for his life because of me? That I shouldn’t have come here? That if I had remained back at the Malakari pack, none of this would’ve happened? That I would leave soon? Yeah, maybe I should. But my throat still isn’t working.

“Nala, talk to me!” Aiden yelled a bit, making me wince as the pounding in my head increased. I closed my eyes again, massaging my temple with one hand and cupping the other against my nose to breathe in and out.

The door burst open again, and Mama strolled in with a woman that looked exactly like her. Her twin. Donald’s and Lacie’s mum. While Mama looked a bit calm, this woman looked hysterical, especially when Lacie ran to her and hugged her, both women crying loudly in each other’s embrace.

“He’ll be fine. I’ll do anything in my powers to make that possible, Nala,” Aiden whispered. “You won’t lose your friend.”

Something clogged in my throat, yet, the tears wouldn’t fall. They seem to be stuck somewhere, making it impossible to work around.

“How is my son?” I heard the woman ask with a voice thick with tears and worry.

“We still haven’t heard anything from the doctors. They are still with him. They spent the night there and no one has told us anything yet,” Mav answered.

A sob caught in the woman’s throat as Mama hugged her. “He’ll be fine. My Donald is a fighter.”

“What happened? How did he end up in the hospital?” She asked, looking from one person to another. Pleading for an answer. Anything to understand the situation her beloved child was in.

“It is too complicated,” Aiden said, rubbing his face with his palms, “and everything was too quick, so we had little time to react. But so far, we’ve confirmed he got stung by the Goblin’s poison,” Aiden confirmed.

“How? A wolf attacked him, not the goblin,” Mav said confused, his brows pulled in.

“I thought so too. Apparently though, the goblin infused a part of himself and half of his poison into Matteo after he took Kamal’s appearance. We found Kamal locked in the dungeon with two bite marks on his neck, but just enough to make him unconscious, nothing serious.”

“A goblin’s bite and poison is deadly,” Donald’s mum muttered, shocked, while slipping to the floor. “He’ll never make it. He’ll…”

“Don’t say it!” Lacie cried in a panic, slipping beside her. “He’s a fighter. He can make it. He has to!”

“We all know what a goblin’s poison does to lycans,” the woman shook her head in disbelief, crying so hard. “He…h…he can’t fight it,” she added, burying her face in her hands as the sound of her cry increased. Her desperate wailing resonated in the walls. The desperate cry of a mother for their child. A sound that will haunt me for the rest of my life.

I caused this. I caused this pain. This heartache. I brought nothing but pain after pain for a family that had loved me. That’s all I’m capable of giving.

“Aunty…”

Again, the sound of a door opening cut off Aiden’s words. We all looked up to see the head doctor and two others trailing behind him. They were sweating, and they looked exhausted.

“How is my son?” Donald’s Mum said as soon as she saw the doctor. She quickly stood up and walked to the doctors, hands clasped in front of her, pleading with them with her eyes. “Tell me please, how is he?”

The doctor sighed, shaking his head. “May I speak to the King first?”

“No,” Mama replied firmly. “We are all here for one person, and we want to hear what is going on.” She added, trying her best to stand tall and prepare her for the worse.

As I watched the doctor explain terms I couldn’t make out or understand, my body went cold. I waited, waited for him to give us a solution, a way to save my friend. But the final words that left the doctor’s mouth shook my world.

“…I’m sorry, but we have only two options now. To send him off quickly and save him the pains, or we let him be in his current state, go through the pain before his body gives up on its own. I’ll suggest you make the decision fast.”

The tears finally fell.