“I think we all liked the name Jayden.”
“Jayden…” I whispered, testing it out for the first time. “Do you like that name little buddy?”
He gurgled and it almost sounded like a laugh.
“I’d take that as a yes,” said Roman as he looked over my shoulder.
“Jayden…” I said his name a second time but this time around, I couldn’t hear myself say it. I blinked and all of a sudden, everything was blurry. I blinked again and that blurriness became darkness.
“Landon!” Jane was screaming my name but she sounded like she was so far away. It reminded me of the day we had saved her from drowning. “Landon!” I wanted to help her but I could no longer open my eyes.
Jayden was ripped from my arms. “No!” I grasped at the air in front of me but it was empty. “No!” I shouted, desperate to find my son.
“Landon!” Roman didn’t sound like himself. “Landon!”
Thump!
And then everything just faded into nothingness.
Chapter 28: Jane
“Is he going to be alright?” Jayden was sucking on my breast but even my newborn son was not enough to lift the weight of worry from my shoulders. “I mean, he wasn’t supposed to pass out like that, was he?”
“No, he wasn’t. A wolf is a natural healer. With the proper rest and with a good diet, it takes little to nothing for their wounds to disappear. It makes us a versatile species and has ensured our survival for many years.”
“So, why isn’t Landon doing that?” I glanced at the gash on his stomach and it made me want to puke. It had a sickly green color surrounding it and maybe I wasn’t a doctor, but something like that definitely wasn’t normal. “I thought you were some kind of witch doctor. Can’t you help him?”
“Actually, I’m a shaman.”
“What difference does it make?”
“I know of the healing arts but I cannot control them. I only listen to nature.”
Her answer made me want to scream. “There has to be something we can do.”
Roman walked into the room with a bucket of cold water. “How is he doing?”
“He refuses to heal,” I said, my voice cracking with every word I spoke. Saying it aloud made it all the more real and I really didn’t want to think about what would happen if Landon didn’t pull through. “And Cynthia can’t do anything to help him.”
“I am sure that Cynthia is doing everything that she can to help.”
I shook my head. “I’m scared, Roman… I don’t want our son to lose out on knowing such an amazing man. I want him to grow up with both of his fathers.”
“And he will.” He wrapped his arm around my shoulders. “I know that things look kind of bleak right about now but you need to realize that Landon is as tough as nails. Some stupid infection won’t be his way out, trust me.”
“I don’t think you understand how serious this is. People used to die of infection all the time!”
“Yeah, back in the civil war era. Not any more. I can just go to the pharmacy and pick up some antibiotics and he’ll be as good as new.”
Cynthia held up her hand. I really didn’t want to hear what she would say next because I could tell by the look on her face that it wasn’t anything good. “I’ve already tried that and he isn’t taking to it.”
“What?” Roman looked like he had just been slapped in the face.
“I’ve tried every antibiotic in my arsenal and they don’t do a lick of good. There’s something wrong and I don’t know what it is.”
“What do you mean you don’t know what it is?” Roman bellowed. “Landon is dying? Is that what you’re trying to tell me? Because Landon can’t possibly be dying. He has a pack that he needs to lead and a son he needs to raise.”
Cynthia hung her head and didn’t say a word. “What are we going to do…?” she whispered. There were tears running down her cheeks. “There has to be something.”