Seven Days by Shari Richardson Page B

enough Xanax samples to calm everyone down. Remember that had Mathias not arrived as quickly as he did, the panther might have had time to fully change and do more damage than he did.” Dr. Coffman smiled at me. “You take it easy for the next couple of days, young lady. I’ll send your family back so they can take you home.”
    Xavier kissed me and followed Dr. Coffman out of my cubicle so he could grab the rest of his clothes from the cubicle he’d vacated so violently when he’d awakened. As soon as I was alone, I gave in to the tears that had been threatening since my arrival at the hospital. I held myself, crossing my arms over the bandages and trying not to sob too hard or tear out any of the carefully placed stitches the nurse’s assistant had done to minimize scarring, and let the hot tears splash down onto my arms and the blankets unchecked. No matter what Dr. Coffman said, I was pretty certain my future was going to include fur. Becoming a panther wasn’t really such a bad thing, I supposed, but the choice had been ripped from me as it had been from every other panther I knew. The gut-wrenching pain I felt at having my future permanently and drastically altered by someone like Lane made me shudder with self-loathing. Xavier had gone through this at the age of seven. He’d been alone and the panther who attacked him had left him barely alive. Other than some minor annoyances, Xavier seemed to live a good life. He had never said anything to me about there being anything he wanted but couldn’t have because he turned furry once a month. I was just being a crybaby.
    Mairin pulled the curtain to the side and I quickly scrubbed the tears from my face.
    “Honey, you cry if you want to,” she said, sitting on the edge of my bed and letting me lean my head against her shoulder. My brain ran through the number of times during my childhood that I had sat with my sister just like this, letting her fix whatever I’d hurt or messed up. But this was something not even my indestructible sister could fix. I hitched in a breath and the tears came again. Mairin held me and rocked gently until I calmed down.
    “I am so very sorry for failing to protect you,” Mathias said from the edge of the curtained area where he’d stopped. He hesitated before stepping past the curtain and into the cubicle.
    “You should be,” Xavier said, stepping in past Mathias and turning to face the vampire. “But as the doc pointed out, if you hadn’t been there when you were, we might have had a worse outcome than we have.”
    Xavier put his hand out and Mathias stared at it for a moment before taking it carefully. It was very rare for Mathias to touch anyone other than Mairin. “Thank you, Mathias,” Xavier said, “for saving Kerry’s life.”
    Mathias released Xavier’s hand and bowed slightly. “I believe between the two of us, we stand even. You have protected and cared for Mairin as your own. So will I and my kind care for and protect Kerry as our own.”
    “You’d think with a panther pride and vampire coven looking out for these two, they might be able to stay out of the hospital,” Xavier said, grinning.
    “Yes,” Mathias said, “but they both seem inordinately attracted to danger and danger to each of them. We will have to work very hard.”
    “When you guys are done with the mutual stroke fest, I’d like to take my sister home before my mother gets here and has her hissy fit in public,” Mairin said.
    I laughed and then groaned, clutching my chest. “Don’t make me laugh,” I begged. The image of my mother swooping into the hospital and demanding information she wouldn’t understand was funny until I realized how deep the lack of understanding would eventually become when it came to my health and what I could and could not tell my mother.
    “We should head back to Gram’s place,” Xavier said. “We need to figure out who this guy is and then make a plan to take care of him. I’m thinking it’s got to be