TEMPORARY MATES PERMANENT CRAVINGS novel Chapter 129

One hundred and twenty nine

Lisa POV

She’s awake.

My mother’s voice was the first thing I heard when I woke up. It came from somewhere near the foot of the bed, low and steady, the way she spoke when she was trying to hold everything together.

The doctor walked in. A stethoscope dangled around his neck and a thick file sat clutched under his arm. Frankliny stood by the window with his arms crossed. The doctor didn’t waste time. He glanced at the cannula taped to my wrist, then reached for the thermometer on the tray beside the bed. The plastic cover crinkled as he slid it over the tip.

“Hi, Lisa,” he said calmly. “We got your blood work back. There are abnormal markers we can’t explain.”

My stomach dropped. The sensation hit fast and left my mouth dry. “What kind of markers?”

“Easy,” he said, holding up a hand. He kept his voice even while he checked the numbers on the monitor. “It’s not an immediate crisis, but these markers have no business being in your system during pregnancy.”

I looked from my mom to Franklin. Everything he had warned me about came rushing back. The late-night conversations in the kitchen, the way he had checked every container that came into the house, the way he had stood guard outside my door. It all pressed in at once

“What exactly are we talking about?” Franklin asked. He stepped closer to the bed. His shoes made a soft sound on the linoleum floor.

“They don’t match any normal pregnancy response. It looks like a foreign substance entered her bloodstream. We’re still trying to identify it.”

My hand pressed against my stomach. The skin felt tight under my palm and the baby shifted once, a small push against my fingers.

“How is the baby?”

“The baby is stable for now,” the doctor replied. He offered a tight smile that did not reach his eyes. “Heart rate is holding, but the stress on your body is already affecting the pregnancy. We’re not taking any chances. You’re staying here under constant monitoring until we figure out exactly what caused this.”

He turned to my mother. “Everything she’s been taking lately, meds, supplements, even he prenatal vitamins, all from here?”

Franklin answered before she could. “Yes. All prescribed here. The home nurse has been handling them personally.”

He paused, then added coldly, “The same nurse who ran out of Lisa’s bedroom the other day.”

The doctor’s face remained blank. He flipped a page in the file. “We’ll track every single thing she’s taken and start ruling them out.”

“I’ve already collected everything,” Franklin said. “Samples are being tested in a private lab as we speak.”

“Oh. Great.” The doctor nodded once and made a note on the chart.

I sank back against the pillows while my mom fussed with the one behind my head. She fluffed it twice and tucked the edge under my shoulder so it would not slip.

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One hundred and twenty nine

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If someone really wanted this baby gone, and every sign kept pointing to Evangeline, then why? Cameron barely looked at me anymore. What was left to fight for?

The thought wouldn’t leave me alone. It sat in the back of my mind while the monitor beeped in steady rhythm beside me.

The days that followed melted into one long stretch inside the same four walls. I remained trapped in that hospital room, waiting for my body to stop betraying me. It never did. Pain tore through my stomach and forced the air out of my lungs in short bursts. I gripped the rail until my knuckles turned white each time it hit.

Eventually they put me on oxygen because the dizziness became so severe I couldn’t even sit up without the room spinning violently. The mask pressed cool plastic against my cheeks and the steady hiss of air filled my ears.

“I don’t feel right, Mom,” I whispered one morning as she helped me wash my face. The cloth moved gently across my forehead and left a trail of cool water that dripped down my neck.

That was all it took.

Nurses burst in. What I thought was just another bad moment turned critical in seconds. They hooked me up to a transfusion. The needle went into the vein on the other arm and the bag of dark red blood hung above me. My blood levels had crashed and my blood pressure was swinging dangerously. Alarms blared from the monitor in short, loud bursts. My mother broke down sobbing. She clutched my hand and begged me not to leave her. She blamed herself out loud for ever letting me get pregnant, her words coming between gasps.

I wanted to tell her I was still here, that I wasn’t going anywhere. But the words wouldn’t come. My tongue wouldn’t move and my throat tightened around every breath. I could only squeeze her fingers back and keep my eyes on her face.

Only the main doctor and one trusted colleague were allowed in now, along with two specific nurses. No one else. They weren’t risking anything. The door stayed closed except when they changed shifts and the chart notes piled up on the table by the window.

I pulled through, but it took everything out of me. My arms felt heavy when I tried to lift them and my legs stayed under the blanket for hours at a time.

After days of barely keeping anything down, I finally managed to eat more than a few spoonfuls of the bland rice they brought on the tray. The worst of it eased, but something still wasn’t right. The doctors kept it under control with adjustments to the IV and checks every few hours.

I hadn’t touched my phone in what felt like forever. When I finally did, the screen was flooded with missed calls from Cameron. The notifications sat in a long column that I had to scroll through twice.

“You need to call him back,” my mom urged. She sat in the chair beside the bed and handed me the phone. “He’s been ringing me nonstop, demanding updates.”

I dialed. He answered on the first ring.

“Lisa.”

I heard the shift in his voice, the way it dropped lower when he said my name.

“Hey,” I said. My voice came out thin and I cleared my throat before I tried again.

“Talk to me. How are you really feeling? I know the doctors are on it and Franklin’s tearing everything apart, but I need to hear it from you.”

“I’m still alive,” I answered. I kept my eyes on the ceiling tiles while I spoke.

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One hundred and twenty nie

+15 8cnus

He started talking, asking questions about the pain and the dizziness and offering reassurances that the lab results would come back soon. His words moved fast, like he had been holding them in for days.

“All the tests are still running,” I told him. “I’m managing.”

“You don’t need to panic,” my mom said when I handed her the phone back. She covered another weak cough with the back of her hand.

Franklin walked in just as she was saying, “I still don’t understand why anyone would want to hurt Lisa. If the supplements were tampered with, then what’s the endgame here?”

Cameron’s voice came through the speaker on the phone. “Focus on Lisa and the baby. I’ll deal with the rest.”

I turned my face away and closed my eyes. I just wanted the damn results. Maybe this was still just a horrible, high -risk pregnancy. Maybe none of it was deliberate.

“Evangeline’s procedure has been delayed,” my mom said after the call ended. She set the phone on the table and smoothed the blanket over my legs.

“Oh,” I muttered. I shook my head once and felt the pillow shift under me. “How convenient. You’re all accusing woman who’s literally fighting for her own life.”

Franklin let out a harsh scoff. He stood by the window again with his hands in his pockets. “That doesn’t mean she wouldn’t drag you down with her. She’s crazy. I’ve seen it.”

Later that evening, Nadia arrived carrying a basket of fresh groceries. The plastic handles creaked under her grip. Her eyes swept over my mom and James before landing on me. She set the basket on the chair and came closer.

“Sorry I couldn’t come sooner,” she said. “Wedding prep has been insane. I only heard yesterday.”

“I’ll take that,” I said. I reached weakly for the basket. My arm trembled halfway there and I let it drop back to the bed.

She set it down and sat beside me on the edge of the mattress. “How are you feeling?”

I shrugged. The movement pulled at the tape holding the IV in place. “I’ve been worse.”

“And the baby?”

“Still hanging in there.”

She gave a nod, then sighed. Her shoulders dropped as she exhaled.

“How are the engagement plans going?”

“Great, I guess.” Another sigh. She picked at the edge of the blanket with one finger. “I thought it would feel different.”

“Then don’t marry him,” I said bluntly. The words came out before I could soften them.

She stared at the heart monitor. The green line moved across the screen in steady peaks. “It’s not that simple. You don’t just walk away from an alpha without consequences.”

“But Cameron has way more money and power than Desmond.”

“That’s not the point,” she replied quietly. “An alpha is an alpha. You don’t break that bond unless there’s concrete evidence.”

3/4

Yow hundred and twenty nin

+158gnus

“Then find out what’s worth it to you,” I said. “You always dig until you get answers. And you don’t have to use Cameron’s mess as an excuse to come check on me.”

Nadia shot me a dry look. She tilted her head and kept her eyes on mine. “So I can’t check on my own brother’s child? And whether you believe it or not, I care about your safety too.”

That was enough. I told her what the doctor said, about the markers and how it might be something I took. Her expression shifted while she listened. She leaned forward with her elbows on her knees.

“Everyone thinks it’s Evangeline,” I said, watching her closely. “What do you think?”

“Evangeline isn’t a killer,” Nadia said firmly. “If she wanted the baby gone, there were easier ways. This is messy and personal.”

“Maybe she wants more than just the baby gone,” I said.

Nadia shook her head. “Not like this. And I wouldn’t stand by if she did.”

“But she’s your best friend.”

“Best friend or not, you signed a contract. We protect what’s ours. If someone crossed that line, especially someone who should be grateful, then we protect you. Even if it means ending the pregnancy to save your life.”

Her words hit me hard. They settled in my chest and stayed there.

“Cameron is your brother,” I said. “Evangeline is your best friend.”

“Still,” Nadia replied without hesitation. “This is too far. Whatever you need to get to the truth, I’ll help you. No questions asked.”

“Thank you,” I said, and for the first time in days, I actually meant it.

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