Chapter 27

Dominic

Tessa screamed.

Before I registered what was happening, Mira was running back into the living room.

I was right behind her, but it took me a moment to register what was happening.

Tessa was standing, yelling, flailing.

Ward was trying to calm her down.

Mira was on the ground, hovering over my grandmother.

My grandmother was on the ground, unconscious.

I took a step closer, trying to assess the situation without crowding Mira as she my grandmother’s vitals and looked her over.

“What happened?” I turned to Tessa and Ward.

“She, she—“ Tessa was never good under stress.

“We were talking, and then she heard your raised voices in the kitchen,” Ward explained. “She got up to follow you and then she just, collapsed.”

“Don’t worry, she’s breathing fine,” Mira said with relief. “Where is her bedroom?”

“Upstairs, end of the hall, north side,” I responded, the layout of the house as clear image in my mind.

“Dominic, can you lift her?”

I followed the doctor’s orders and carefully scooped up the older woman and carried her up the stairs. For all her height and gravitas, my grandmother felt as light as a child.

Mira followed me in with her medical kit, unpacking supplies and medicines and placing them on the table.

She was quiet as she once again checked for pulse and heart rate, carefully touching different parts of grandmother’s body to see if there were any other injuries.

“Her heart rate is steady, but fast,” Mira said.

She placed a small bottle under my grandmother’s nose

“Eucalyptus,” Mira said, reading my questioning look.

Grandmother’s eyes fluttered and then opened. At first she looked frightened, then calmed when she saw my face.

“Oh my,” she said to me. “Darling you look so worried! I’m alright now, I’m alright.”

She tried to sit up and Mira gently stopped her.

“Don’t get up, not just yet,” her voice was firm but warm. “Rest here a little longer.”

“Grandmother, what happened?”

She avoided my eyes, her fingers playing with her rings and smoothing her clothing.

“Nothing, it’s nothing,” she tried to convince me. “I must have stood up too quickly. I get dizzy sometimes.”

“How often are you dizzy?” Mira was is in full medical mode.

“More often than before, sure,” Elena’s pride was returning to her voice. “I can admit that I am getting older.”

“And how often does it lead to fainting, or falling?”

“Oh from time to time, I suppose. I can usually find a place to sit down if I feel faint.”

“Do you lose vision before it happens?” Mira was looking more serious. “And are you feeling light-headed now? Any pain anywhere?”

“Vision? Maybe, I don’t know,” my grandmother seemed uncomfortable. “My chest feels tight, but I think it’s just the stress of this episode. Really, it’s not a big deal. I just need to rest a moment and then I’ll be fine.”

Mira’s brow furrowed, but she nodded.

“Dominic,” she said, looking to me. “Can you bring your grandmother a class of water?”

“Of course,” I told her.

I went quickly downstairs, retrieving a glass of water from the kitchen.

“How is she?” Tessa asked.

“She’s awake, and Mira is looking after her. She’s in good hands.”

Tessa seemed conflicted in her reaction, but nodded and went to waiting with Ward on the couch.

I climbed the stair slowly, tuning into the sounds of the bedroom.

I hated eavesdropping, but something about Mira’s face before told me that my grandmother was hiding something form me.

Pausing outside the door, I listened for an extra moment.

“If it gets worse,” Mira was saying, “and it will, I strongly urge you to come to the hospital for more tests.”

“And if it can’t be cured?” my grandmother’s voice was softer than I’d heard it before.

“I will do everything in my power to make your life comfortable until the end,” Mira said, shifting. I imagined her holding my grandmothers hand. “Whenever that end may be.”

“Thank you, Mira,” the older woman said. “And please, let’s keep this between us? My boys worry too much as it is.”

Mira sighed.

“While I don’t agree with you,” she said, “as your doctor I promise confidentially. At least for now.”

I made noise as I entered the room.

“Here, grandmother,” I said handing her the glass of water.

“Thank you, dear.”

“How are you feeling?”

“So much better,” she said elegantly. “This doctor of yours is quite something, and she’s given me some lovely herbs to calm my nerves.”

I looked at Mira, who was looking at her hands.

“Some basil and garlic for heart health, an ashawaganda mixture for balance and brain stimulation,” Mira said mechanically. “And I’ll leave you a turmeric and cinnamon blend that will help with inflammation and fight bacteria. It’s quite good in a cup of coffee.”

Mira met Elena’s eyes with a smile as she gave this last advice. Clearly the two were having a silent conversation, and I did not pry.

“We should let you rest,” the doctor said.

“We’ll be just downstairs if you need anything,” I told my grandmother.

“Doctor?”

My grandmother’s voice stopped us at the door.

“I was wrong about you, earlier,” she told Mira. “Your medicine is a gift, and you should never stop sharing it.”

Mira’s face went through many emotions, settling in a smile as she turned and left the room.

I followed Mira into the hallway, but held her arm before she reached the stairs. She shot me a confused look, but when I nodded towards a separate bedroom she followed me in.

“What’s wrong with her?” I asked.

“I—“ Mira began, “I can’t tell you everything. I promised her.”

“Mora, this isn’t—“

“I promised.”

“Okay” I said, exhaling. “What can you tell me?”

“She’s stable, and she was receptive to my advice. She has my number is she has questions, and I think I drove home that she can’t let pride get in the way of her health.”

I could’t prevent a slight snort in thinking of my grandmother without her pride. A trait that most of my relatives shared.

“I will try to get her to agree to a blood test, and then I’ll at least know more that I might do from her. For now, we just wait and see.”

“She seemed to trust you, even after earlier…” I trailed off as her eyes narrowed in on mine.

“Yeah earlier.”

I could almost hear Mira’s heart rate increase.

“You threw me under the bus pretty quickly there. And I will remind you that I will not give up my career, my life’s purpose, and become some figurehead puppet Luna, breeding babies and hiding behind my Mate.”

“Mira, no one is asking you to—“

“Aren’t they? You agreed with her!”

“I told her what she wanted to hear,” I said. “Mira, the elders, Elena included, are set in their ways. Sometimes it’s best to tell her what she wants to hear, especially when in her home.”

“That makes sense,” Mira said apprehensively.

“I may not always agree with my grandmother’s ideas,” I continued, “but as she gets older I know better than to enter an argument I cannot win.”

“So, you don’t agree with her? About me?”

“Of course not!” I stepped closer to her, placing a hand on her shoulder. “Mira, I recognize how gifted you are, and how much you offer our community as a healer and physician. I won’t go back on my word to support you in following your career, for as long as you want it.”

“Thank you,” she said quietly.

Her hand held onto my outstretched, and for a moment I felt our auras meet and intermingle.

I could see she felt it too, but neither of us said anything.

“Dominic?”

My grandmother’s voice called down the hall, and Mira let go of me with a shy smile.

We stayed a few more hours at her house, then said goodbye to my grandmother and made the journey back.

All of us seemed tired, but it manifested in different ways.

While Ward was snoring in the backseat, Tessa leaned forward and put her head next to Mira’s.

“Have you been preparing for your trials next week?”

“Trials?” Mira asked in a dreamy voice.

I wondered what she’s thinking about. Lately, I wondered what she thinking about all the time.

“The Luna Trials, duh,” Tessa snapped. “You didn’t think that one vote would automatically make you the Luna, did you?”

Mira shrunk a little as Tessa scoffed at her.

“No, I just, hadn’t thought that far ahead,” Mira was uncomfortable. “I guess I should start…studying.”

“You’ll definitely need to study harder than most,” Tessa was piercing through Mira’s confidence. “The altar test is a challenge for any she-wolf to pass through the trials, so I can only imagine it could be extremely difficult for someone like you.”

“Someone like me?” There was hint of fear in Mira’s voice.

“Someone who is wolfless.”

“Who told you that I was wolfless,” Mira said.

She twisted her neck to glance at Ward in the backseat. He shifted position, giving away that he had been listening the whole time.

“Does it matter who told me?” Tessa said innocently. “All that matters is that I know. And honestly, Mira, at this point— everyone knows your secret.”