The mate of his nanny

Chapter 174: Emergency Care

Moana

That night, I tried to fight the tears. But no matter how hard I fought and tried to keep my head up, I couldn't entirely stop myself from crying just a little bit.

After all, I had just discovered that Edrick not only knew all along that I was his mate, but that he also still didn't plan on ever being with me despite this. The thought of it made me feel incredibly sick, and I felt helpless. All I ever wanted was to give my baby the happy home life with two loving parents that I never got to have, and yet I had somehow managed to be the fated mate of someone who simply couldn't even bear the thought of being with me. Was there something wrong with me? Was that why I had such bad luck in love?

My wolf, however, was surprisingly quiet throughout all of this. Even though she supposedly released her scent and that was what made Edrick "lose control" and kiss me passionately, I didn't feel much from her. In fact, when I reached out and tried to talk to her for some guidance, she seemed different than usual.

"Mina?" I called out in my mind. Even though it had only been a short few months since I had discovered that I even had a wolf, talking to her telepathically was becoming more and more natural. I rarely ever accidentally spoke out loud, and it felt much less awkward now to talk to her in my mind. In fact, on occasion I even felt as though I could picture her whenever we talked.

"Hmm... Yes?" she responded. Her voice sounded like a distant echo. There was a sleepy, almost giddy quality to it. It almost sounded as though she had too much to drink, although that was just a silly thought.

"Are you alright?" I asked. "Were you sleeping?" Even though it didn't make sense that she could have been sleeping with everything going on, I supposed that I still didn't quite know everything about how werewolves worked.

Mina took a long time to respond. When she did, her voice sounded a little closer, but it still had that sleepy quality to it.

"I'm okay. I've just been a little... Tired..."
I furrowed my brow and rolled onto my back, wiping the leftover tears off of my face with the back of my hand as I stared up at the ceiling. It was a bit worrying to hear my wolf sounding like this, and I had noticed that she seemed to be acting a bit off lately. But I decided that it was likely just from the pregnancy, or maybe the stress of the incident with the Rogues. Either way, I thought for sure that it couldn't be anything serious. I decided to let her rest that night; besides, I was getting tired as well. Even though I wanted Edrick by my side, I was still angry with him, and so I decided to finally crawl under my covers and try to sleep.

...

Somehow, I did manage to sleep that night. There was a bit of tossing and turning, but it did finally happen. And when I woke up, I felt a little bit better about what had happened the night before.

Maybe it was from a good night of sleep, or maybe it was from the sun shining in through my open window. Maybe it was both. Either way, as I got out of bed, I decided that I was going to go over to Edrick's room to talk to him. It was Saturday, so Ella would have training later, but there was still time. Maybe I could even convince Edrick to go to the orphanage with me, and seeing the children would make both of us feel better.

I threw on my robe and pulled my hair into a bun before heading over to Edrick's room. When I arrived, I almost hesitated for a moment before biting my lip and knocking anyway.
There was no response.
I wanted to see if he was even home, so I quietly cracked open the door and peered in. I furrowed my brow, however, when I saw that the bedsheets were unkempt but the bed was empty, as though he had gotten out of bed and left without making the bed.

He always made his side of the bed as soon as he woke up, so it was out of character. Was he really so upset last night that he couldn't even follow his own routine in the morning?

"Edrick?" I called out quietly. I noticed that the bathroom door was open and the light was on, which was only more confusing, so I slowly stepped into the room.

And when I did, my jaw dropped.
"Edrick!" I shouted, running over to where he was lying on the floor. He was lying face down on the floor with his arms outstretched, as though he had fallen in the middle of the night. I struggled to roll him over, but I finally managed to get him onto his back. His lips were a slight shade of blue. "How did this happen?" I whispered.

But then, I saw it: the empty bottle of pills laying on the bathroom floor.
I couldn't believe it; I didn't want to believe it. Had Edrick really tried to... kill himself last night? My eyes filled with tears, and I began to shake him roughly. "Wake up!" I shouted. "Wake up! Selina! Help!"

A few moments later, I heard the sound of footsteps approaching. The door swung open, and Selina came into the room. She clapped her hand over her mouth and let out a sharp yell of surprise at the scene in front of her.

"What happened?" she said, her voice shaking.
I couldn't speak. I could only point at the empty bottle of pills as my hand shook violently, and I continued to shake Edrick in an attempt to take him up to no avail.

"I'll call the doctor," Selina said before running away.

I continued to shake Edrick. My tears dripped down my cheek and onto his shirt. "Please, Edrick, wake up," I whimpered as I continued to shake him. "Please..."

I bent down over him as a choked sob came out of my mouth, and put my ear to his chest. His heart was beating, at least. When I placed my finger under his nose, I could feel his breath coming out. A wave of relief washed over me as I realized that he was still alive at the very least, but I didn't know for how long.

"Please be okay," I whispered. I took his hand and rubbed it gently, watching his face for any sign of movement while I heard Selina frantically calling the doctor in the other room. By now, I could hear the maids causing a commotion. Ella's tiny voice was mixed in, but I heard one of the maids make up a lie and take her away before she saw anything.

"I called the doctor," Selina said as she burst back into the room. "He'll be here in ten minutes."

I nodded, but I felt too numb now to respond. All I could do was keep holding Edrick's hand, and keep watching his face.