TEMPORARY MATES PERMANENT CRAVINGS novel Chapter 133

One hundred and thirty three

Cameron

The specialist stood by the hospital window, layering his words with medical jargon.

He suggested exploring alternative pathways and experimental treatments for Evangeline, but his eyes stayed fixed on the floor. I watched him and realized he was just managing my expectations.

I did not have the luxury of waiting for the slow crawl of medical research while her life slipped away. The idea of taking her home to watch her die because we ran out of options was a weight I could not carry.

My phone buzzed in my pocket. I pulled it out and saw the notification for Lisa’s report.

The air in the small office felt suddenly thick. Franklin’s voice stayed in my head, a constant whisper of suspicion. If the report showed what he feared, there would be no going back. I would be standing next to a woman who had tried to kill my child out of jealousy. Lisa would be right to sue us, to walk away, and to hate me forever.

“I’ll be back,” I told the doctor, cutting him off mid-sentence.

The hallway was quiet, smelling of floor wax and stale coffee. I leaned against the cold wall and tapped the file open. My thumb hovered over the screen. The report was broken into neat tables: timeline of ingestion, sample collection methods, and triple-blind testing protocols.

I scrolled to the results. Initial screening for foreign agents: Negative. Verification test: Negative. The chemical formulation of the vitamins matched the manufacturer’s specifications to the milligram. There was no poison. There were no hidden compounds.

I read every line again, slower this time. My heart slowed its frantic pace. Franklin was wrong. Whatever had happened to Lisa, it had not come from the bottles in her cabinet.

I forwarded the file to Franklin and waited. He called in less than sixty seconds.

“Well?” I asked. “What do you have to say now?”

The silence on the other end lasted so long I thought the call had dropped. When he finally spoke, the sharp edge of his certainty was blunt.

“I still think something is off,” he said.

I let out a short, harsh scoff. “Based on what, Franklin? The lab just confirmed the medication is clean. There is nothing there.”

“I’m not arguing with the lab report,” he replied. “I’m saying the report doesn’t explain why her vitals crashed. It doesn’t explain the markers in her blood.”

“It doesn’t have to explain her entire medical history. It confirms there was no tampering. The nurse didn’t do it. Evangeline didn’t do it.”

“You’re closing this door too quickly, Cameron.”

I pushed off the wall and began pacing the length of the corridor. My shoes clicked on the linoleum. “No. I am refusing to build a case out of thin air. You want me to turn on my mate while she is in a hospital bed. Based on what? A bad feeling in your gut?”

“I’m asking you to consider the possibility that we missed something.”

“I did. That is why I ordered the report. There is no evidence. Until there is a physical trail, I am not entertaining

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this anymore.”

“Something was done to her,” Franklin’s voice sharpened. “Let me keep digging into the staff.”

“No. I will not let you turn this into a conspiracy. If you start putting these ideas in Lisa’s head, if you make her believe someone is hunting her without a shred of proof, you will cause a panic we can’t stop.”

“I’m not trying to scare her.”

“Then drop it. If she starts spiraling because of your ghosts, that is on you.”

The line went dead. I stared at the dark screen. Franklin knew I hated it when people hung up on me. He was frustrated, but the facts were on my side. The house had cameras. The security was his own design. If someone had slipped into that house to switch pills, they would be on a hard drive somewhere.

I leaned back against the wall. Evangeline was difficult. She was prone to bouts of jealousy when she felt her position was threatened. I knew that. But I would not bridge the gap between jealousy and attempted murder without a reason I could see and touch.

I called the medical director at Lisa’s facility. He confirmed she was stabilized and showing signs of improvement. If she was getting better, then the cause-whatever it had been—was gone.

Nadia’s call came through while I was heading back to the room. I answered it without stopping.

“Are you insinuating that Evangeline had something to do with this?” I asked immediately.

“I think we should be sure she didn’t,” Nadia said. Her voice was calm, but there was an underlying tension.” Those are two different things.”

“You’ve seen her. She can barely stand.”

“I know,” Nadia replied. “I also know she has used herbal tinctures and things the specialists didn’t approve of. She was desperate to get well.”

“That was for her own health. Not to hurt a pregnant woman.”

“I am saying we should not ignore the possibility because it makes us uncomfortable. She is my friend, but you are my brother. Lisa is carrying your child. If there is even a chance that someone targeted that baby, you don’t wait for a confession to take it seriously.”

“I am not accusing her without proof, Nadia.”

“I didn’t ask for an accusation. Let Franklin finish his work. He is trying to protect the pack. Even if he finds nothing, at least we will have the certainty.”

“And if he finds something?”

“Then you deal with it. I just want the truth to be clear for everyone.”

I ended the call and walked back into the room. The air was warm and smelled of the broth sitting on the over-bed table. Evangeline was awake, but her eyes were glazed. She looked at the tray of food and then looked away.

“You have to eat,” I said. I sat on the edge of the plastic chair. “You need your strength for the next round of tests.”

“I’m tired, Cameron,” she whispered. Her voice was thin. “It isn’t just my muscles. It feels like my bones are heavy.”

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“You are going to get through this.”

She shook her head against the white pillow. “The surgery didn’t happen. My body is rejecting the prep. It feels like the doctors are just delaying the inevitable. There is no point in fighting it.”

I picked up the spoon and held a small amount of broth near her lips. “Eat first. Then we can argue.”

She took a few sips, her throat working hard to swallow. After the third spoonful, she turned her head away. I set the tray aside. We sat in silence for a long time. Franklin’s words and Nadia’s warnings played on a loop in my mind.

“You look distracted,” she said. I realized I was still gripping my phone. She reached for the cup of water on the table, and I handed it to her.

“I’m fine.”

“Don’t lie to me. I can see it in your eyes. Something is bothering you.”

“It’s just work,” I said.

She watched me over the rim of the cup. “How is Lisa?”

The question made my chest tighten. “She is fine.”

“And her health?”

“Stable.”

“You miss her, don’t you?”

“Evangeline, stop it.”

She gave a small, sad shake of her head. “It is obvious. You aren’t here with me. You’re either looking at that phone or staring at the wall. You’re somewhere else.”

“That has nothing to do with her. I have a pack to run. If I didn’t have Franklin, the whole structure would collapse.”

“This is different,” she said. “You’ve always been busy, but you weren’t always distant. Maybe I should just accept it. When I’m gone, you’ll go to her. I should probably give her some advice on how to keep you happy.”

“That isn’t going to happen,” I said firmly.

She didn’t argue. She just stared at me with a look that made me feel like I was the one being interrogated.

My phone rang again. Franklin.

“I have to take this,” I said.

“Why can’t you answer it here?”

I didn’t answer her. I stepped out into the hallway and pressed the phone to my ear. “If this is about your theory, I’m hanging up.”

“It isn’t that,” Franklin said. “There is an update on Lisa.”

“What is it?”

“The doctors confirmed the baby may not survive the week. If her vitals dip again, they are going to save her and

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let the pregnancy go.”

I closed my eyes. The hallway seemed to tilt. “That is not an option, Franklin.” 1

“It becomes one when her body can’t sustain both. They are worried about organ failure.”

“Then they fix it. Bring in more specialists. Move her to a better facility if you have to. Don’t let them give up.

“They are doing what they can. But we still don’t know what triggered the reaction. We are treating symptoms not the cause.”

I dragged a hand across my face, feeling the tension in my skin. “She was improving. You told me she was getting better.”

“She is. That doesn’t mean the baby is. The placenta is showing signs of stress.”

I leaned my back against the wall and looked up at the ceiling tiles. “Make sure she has everything. If she wants a specific food, find it. If she needs a different doctor, hire them. Use the private accounts. Just get it done.”

“That’s all?” Franklin asked.

“What else do you want?”

“If something caused this, we need to find it. She could lose the baby, and you are still clinging to a lab report that says the vitamins are fine.”

“Just take care of her,” I said. “Keep me updated. Investigate whatever you want, just don’t point fingers until you have a name on a piece of paper.”

I stayed in the hallway after he hung up. The thought of losing the child felt like a physical blow. It wasn’t just about an heir or the future of the pack. I wanted that boy. I had imagined his face. I had built a nursery in my mind.

I thought about Lisa. She wasn’t just a surrogate anymore. She was the one holding the most important part of my life, and she was suffering for it. I cared about her in a way that made this situation impossible to navigate.

The lab results were clean. That was the only fact I had. I would stand on that fact until something stronger broke it, even if it didn’t explain the shadow hanging over both of the women in my life.

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