The Broken Warrior's Daughter

There is so much pain. It’s everywhere, overwhelming me and my senses. | try reaching out to Artemis, but she is fighting her own battle. | can feel her struggle but cannot reach her. We will need to fight this from opposites sides and meet in the middle. While I’m conscious, | can’t open my eyes or move my body, so | use my other senses.

At some point, | smell brownies again. The scent helps my body relax. | feel hands holding mine. My right hand begins to feel normal, the pain pushed away by the hand holding it. | latch on to that feeling. The only place in my body that isn’t screaming in pain.

| periodically hear voices, | can’t make any of them out, but | think one is my father’s.

When | awaken the next time, the hand holding my right one no longer pushes the pain away. The scent of brownies is faint now and my body feels tight. | try to focus on the scent, hoping it will help me relax.

| feel a draft and the scent of brownies floods my senses again. | mentally sigh. The scent calms my aching nerves and gives me some peace. | hear the sounds of a chair scraping

on the floor and then a sudden release of the pain in my leg. The hand that was holding mine before is now on my leg. My mind relaxes and | let myself fall into blissful sleep.

The sounds of growling and snarling wake me. The scent of brownies is still strong, but the pain in my leg is back. It does seem less intense, but | prefer having it gone.

The sounds leave and | hear shouting from far away. | wish | knew what was going on. | wish | could open my eyes and let everyone around me know I’m awake and they don’t need to worry about me. | hear the sound of whirring wheels and know my father is here. | also hear soft footsteps and soft voices, before | feel myself being pulled under again.

| don’t know how long I’m out, but the next time | wake, | am feeling better. | still feel pain throughout my body, but it’s not as strong. | force my eyes open and immediately close them against the bright lights of the room. | moan softly as the light hurts my head.

“Cara? Honey, can you hear me? Go get the doctor.” My dad is talking. | try again to open my eyes only to feel the burn of the light again.

“Turn off the overhead lights. Hang on Cara, let us darken the room for you.”

| hear the light switch and can | hear the light switch and can see the light dim behind my eyelids. | try opening my eyes again and this time, | let them adjust. It still feels bright, but it’s bearable.

“Dad.” It comes out as a croaking sound. My throat feels as dry as the desert, my tongue sticking to the roof of my mouth.

“Here honey.” | feel a straw press against my lips. | greedily drink and then. choke as the water sticks before going down my throat. Coughing, | close my eyes and lay back, feeling like | just ran a marathon rather than taking a simple sip of

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“Try again Cara. They are giving you fluids, but they want you to have a lot so you can help Artemis fight the venom in your system.” That gets my attention and | open my mouth again. This time the water goes down easily and | drink until it’s gone.

“I'll get some more.” | think it's Lacey’s voice. | open my eyes again and see that | am right. She is taking the glass from my father and leaving the room to get

more water.

“Cara.” My father’s voice pulls my attention back to him. “How do you feel honey?” “Like shit.” | give him a weak smile. “How long have | been out?” | ask, having no concept of time. It could be one hour or one year, | have no idea.

“Well, I'm not sure how long you were out before Rik rescued you, but you’ve been out for a day and a half since he got you back here. You're in the pack hospital now.” So, Rik rescued me. | wonder if he’s the one that smelled like brownies.

| feel a draft and open my eyes to see Jason, a doctor and Lacey bringing up the rear with a glass of water in one hand and a pitcher in the other.