Chapter 153

Rachel POV

"Why aren't we going to get my mother, now?" I asked, wiping the sweat from my brow with a towel growing steadily warmer with every touch to my skin.

Art had brought Richard Campbell's computer along with the files from behind the picture frame. We had an exact location on the asylum my mother was being held at, but we had no access to her. I was still trying to understand why.

I prompted, "What is the plan, Art? We can't just let them keep my mother in that hellhole."

I knew the place Mom was in had to be terrible. They couldn't be a reputable institution and keep a woman with no illness hostage for two decades. I didn't even want to visit the place much less imagine how my mother could have survived there for twenty years.

"Are you okay?" Art asked, his expression concerned as he studied me hard enough to make me wipe myself with my cold towel again, "You don't look okay."

"I feel hot," I said, "I don't know? It seems to be getting worse."

Magda had seemed confident they weren't signs of early labor, but she wasn't a medical professional. I was feeling dizzy too which was different for me. With Art showing definite signs of concern, I wondered if I wasn't in need of at least a check-up.

"Maybe I could get a check-up? Could we call the doctor to see if I should come in?" I asked Tyler.

Tyler shook his head, his expression grim; I knew he wasn't going to let me wait on the doctor to come to me. Our high-risk OBGYN wouldn't need to do a home visit from the look on his face.

"We have to take you in, Rachel. You're getting worse. You can't fight me on this. Think of our daughter," he said, using my love for our baby against me so I would agree.

I sighed and nodded, "Fine. We'll schedule a check-up."

"We'll call her and she will meet us at the Medical Center. You're not waiting any longer. I can't wait any longer. Wynd is too close to the surface, Rachel. Do you want to see what happens when my wolf tries to protect his young?" Tyler asked.

I knew I had to agree. Wynd would do anything for his mate. Rayne was stirring in my mind just from the reaction of her mate. Our wolves were closer than any mates I knew; I hoped they remained this way after the birth of our daughter.

Some wolves changed their focus from each other to their young once their family was started. I didn't want that to happen to our wolves. I wanted Wynd and Rayne to be happy in love for each other in their mating for the rest of our lives.

"Fine. I don't think I can walk anyway. I'm dizzy," I admitted, "And hot. I can't seem to cool off this time no matter what I do."

Tyler scooped me up from the sofa to carry me outside to the sedan. I could tell Art wanted to offer to take us immediately, but I didn't think I could handle being shifted through space with my body already feeling so out of sorts.

We took two cars to Our Blessed Goddess Medical Center. Adam drove one with me and Tyler; Jack drove the other car with Bella and Lindy. The trip seemed to take hours and only minutes at the same time.

"Do you think we should have brought Magda?" I asked, my thoughts feeling strangely out of order in my mind, "She's done so much for me. I don't want her to feel as if she's not welcome. She's family, too. I don't think of her as just---just the help."

Tyler held me closer to him on the backseat, murmuring against my ear, "No, love, I think Magda is just fine at the house right now. She's taking care of things until we get home. This might only be a very short trip after all. We don't know anything is wrong."

I hadn't thought anything was wrong until Tyler said the word 'wrong.'

Panting from the heat, I gasped, "Why am I so hot? Do you think there's something wrong with our baby? She's too early to come now. I just want everything to be okay, Tyler. What do we do?"

"We get you to the hospital, Luna. You'll be in good hands once we arrive. They've got your doctor meeting us there in the Emergency Room," Adam said.

We pulled into the emergency bay in moments and then everything happened too fast for me to process.

I was put onto a stretcher. I was wheeled into the ER. I was hooked up to so many different monitors I couldn't keep track of them all. My doctor was with me and I was being examined. I was waiting with Tyler for results only I couldn't stay awake.

Cool IV fluids were running through my veins when the doctor came back to say, "She's showing signs of preeclampsia. That means the baby is in trouble. We may have to induce labor. We're going to try to keep her stable as long as we can. Your baby has progressed significantly though. Alpha young grow fast so don't worry right now."

"Everything is under control?" I asked.

The words were almost foreign to me as I said them. They didn't make sense in the order I'd placed them even though I knew it was a full sentence. Why was I so hot? What was preeclampsia?

"Can you tell me what's wrong with me? I feel so---strange," I admitted.

The doctor nodded, "Your blood pressure is too high and your body is having a hard time regulating itself. Your wolf wants to shift to protect you, heal you, but you can't shift while pregnant. Your body is fighting itself as a result. We're giving you cold saline via IV to drop your temperature. We do have this under control."

I didn't feel as if anything was under control.

Lindy was crying again and I wondered what it was she thought she had to cry about now. It wasn't her body on the fritz or her baby in danger. All she had to do was go meet her family and she'd have a brand new one of her very own. I didn't even know if my mother would be sane enough to recognize me when we finally got to her.

I was crying as I said, "We don't know if Mom is going to be okay, do we? Why can't we see her, Art? Tell me what's going on with my mother. I need to know. I need something. Anything. I can't think about being here with all these machines."

My body was betraying me and I was desperate for any distraction I could get. Art was my best choice since he was the one who had the most answers for us all.

Jack and Bella were holding each other in the doorway to my room while Lindy sat crying in the chair to my left and Tyler occupied the space to my right. Tyler was refusing to sit so he towered over everyone; Adam was using the chair on my right which Tyler had forfeited.

I was surrounded by love yet all I wanted was my mother back.

Tears started to stream down my face. I couldn't stop my teeth from chattering even though I was the very opposite of cold. I was on fire. I was burning.

"What do you know about my mother, Art?" I asked.

Art sighed, "She's being held at the Hollow Oak Asylum. They specialize in paranormal occupants. Her diagnosis is listed as paranoid schizophrenia with chronic delusions. She's been heavily medicated since her admission."

I knew something wasn't being told to me. I just couldn't focus enough to ask anything specific. I only knew I wanted my mother and Art Windsor, Alpha Inspector, was being deliberately vague with me.

"What aren't you saying? Why haven't you gone to get her? Tell them she's not crazy, Art! It should be easy to prove she doesn't belong in that place. Why isn't it easy?" I asked, trying to focus my frustrations on something I could control unlike my body's current breaking down.

Art and Tyler exchanged a look. I wasn't having any of that. They weren't going to protect me with silence.

"What is it?" I demanded, "Tell me!"

Tyler took my hand, rubbing it between his own, "Are you sure you want to know right now? Your body is already under a lot of stress, my love."

Shaking my head, I insisted, "Tell me. I deserve to know. She's my mother. It's my baby. My body. I can handle it."

"The facility says only the man we know as Peter and Patrick Flores are allowed contact with Elena. They have her admitted as Elena Campbell. We don't know how we're going to get access to her unless we can find Peter," Art said.

All I could think was---who even knew this Peter? Was my mother found yet lost all over again?