Sweet Caroline
Chapter 20

Glancing at the clock, Caroline noticed it was two am. She was so nauseous, and her stomach was cramping so badly that it became hard to breathe. Her whole body hurt, and she felt horrible. She’d been this way for two days now. She had no energy, no strength to eat, and couldn’t sleep. She knew something was wrong, horribly wrong, but what?

What I really need is Andrew. However, since I can’t have him, maybe something to drink would help. Well, that and some fresh air because my room is so hot.

Standing up, Caroline swayed, then ran for the bathroom. She barely made it to the toilet before losing everything she’d eaten that day.

Looking down, she saw blood. I’m throwing up blood; this is not good.

Making her way slowly out of the bathroom, she left her room. Dizzy, she swayed, catching the wall before trying again. Knowing she wasn’t going to make it anywhere, she cried out, “Dad, daddy!”

Her dad stumbled out of his room. “Caroline? What’s wrong?”

“So… sick daddy, throwing up blood,” Caroline mumbled before she felt her legs give out. Just before she hit the floor, she heard her dad yelling her name.

Andrew’s wolf howled loudly in his head as he felt pain radiate through his wolf body. He stopped running, his body falling to the ground as he fought back the nausea the pain caused.

“Our mate. Something is wrong with our mate. Must go to her NOW, human!” His wolf yelled at Andrew in his head.

Andrew agreed. Something was wrong.

He was fighting through the pain as he made his way in wolf form to the Alpha’s house. Shifting, he banged on the Alpha’s door, holding himself up by sheer will alone. The cramps in his stomach had him hunched over as pain fills every inch of his body.

The porch light came on as the Alpha opened the door with a growl.

“Alpha, my mate, something wrong,” Andrew huffed in a barely coherent manner. Then losing the battle with consciousness, he passed out at his Alpha’s feet.

Caroline’s dad ran to her, where she now lay on the floor in their hallway. When he couldn’t wake her up, he loaded her in his car and rushed her to the hospital. Pulling his car to a screeching halt at the emergency exit, he ran inside, yelling, “Help, Help! Someone, please help! My daughter collapsed!”

A nurse quickly had him place her on a bed and called a doctor to look at her.

The Alpha stared down at Andrew after he collapsed.

“Dad? What’s going on? Did I hear Andrew’s voice?” Darryl asked as he came up behind his dad. Then he fell to his knees next to his friend. “Dad, what happened?”

“I don’t know. He banged on the door, said, ‘mate, somethings wrong.’ Then he collapsed,” the Alpha answered.

“His mate? Something must have happened to Caroline. He’d feel it since he marked her.” Darryl muttered as he ran for his phone. He quickly dialed a number and held the phone to his ear. “Nothing. Caroline isn’t answering.”

The Alpha pulled his phone out of his pocket when it vibrated. Staring at the number, he commented, “It’s Andrew’s dad. Yes, Arnold? Yes… okay… alright… Yes, he’s here, but he isn’t doing very well. I believe it must be his mark on her… yes, alright… goodbye.”

The Alpha hung up his phone.

Darryl looked at him questioningly.

“Caroline’s dad called Arnold. Caroline passed out and is now in the hospital. He thought Andrew would want to know.”

Andrew groaned and tried to open his eyes.

“Andrew? Wake up, bud. We need to get to Caroline,” Darryl said as he patted Andrew’s cheek.

“Move back, son, and I’ll carry him. We don’t have time to wait until he wakes up.”

So, the Alpha picked Andrew up, and they headed for the car.

“You better have a good reason for calling me at two-thirty in the morning!” She snarled into the phone.

“I do. Caroline’s dad just took her to the ER. I heard him tell Andrew’s dad she passed out after throwing up blood,” Ben replied.

She laughed. “Good. She’s dying even quicker than I had expected. I’ll take it from here. Good work though.”

“I hope this is all worth it,” Ben answered before hanging up on her.

“Oh, it will so be worth it because I will finally have Andrew.” She laughed and began to dress quickly. “Now it’s off to the hospital to see my problem finally solved.”

“Can I help you?” A nurse asked.

“We’re here for Caroline Barlow,” Darryl said.

“She’s still in the ER, so you’ll have to wait. The waiting room is down the hall and to your left,” the nurse told them.

“Dad, we can’t wait,” Darryl whispered. “We need to get Andrew and Caroline in the same room together. This could be the bond at work because they’ve been separated.”

His father nodded. “I don’t think it’s the bond, but I agree they do need to be together.”

Andrew stood sluggishly next to them, barely standing and barely coherent.

“Is your friend alright?” The nurse asked.

“He’s fine. He just got off a long flight and is slightly jet-lagged,” Father answered.

The nurse gave them a skeptical look but didn’t say anything else. Then turning, the three of them quickly moved down the hall. Stopping at the waiting room, they peeked in and saw Caroline’s dad.

“You made it!” Caroline’s dad exclaimed as he glanced over at Andrew. “What’s wrong with him?”

“He’s been sick with a virus of some kind, but he refused to stay away when he heard Caroline was sick,” Darryl lied.

Caroline’s dad looked at him skeptically but nodded. “Who are you?”

“Oh, sorry, I’m his best friend Darryl, and this is my dad, Terry. Andrew and I had just come back from camp together because of him being sick when you called his dad,” Darryl said, adding to his lie.

Caroline’s dad narrowed his eyes as he sized up Terry.

“You must be his Alpha,” Caroline’s father calmly and quietly stated.

Darryl and his father exchanged looks.

“Don’t worry, we’ll talk about this and how I know later,” Caroline’s dad said.

“Nee…d Caro…line!” Andrew gasped as if finally coming too.

“She’s down here,” Caroline’s dad said as he led the way.

“Hey, you can’t come in here,” a nurse said as Caroline’s father pushed the curtain back.

Andrew drew himself up, feeling a bit stronger just by being close to Caroline. As he gazed at his mate, he asked, “What’s wrong with her?”

The doctor turned. “Who are you?”

“I’m her fiancé, and this man here is her father. Now, what’s wrong with her?” Andrew snarled.

The doctor sighed. “The best we can tell is that she’s been poisoned.”

You could have heard a pin drop in the room at his answer.

Andrew and everyone else stood staring at the doctor in shock.

The Alpha was the first one to speak. “Poison? How and what kind?”

The doctor rubbed his forehead as he seemed to collect his thoughts. “Yes, poison. Although I won’t know what kind until her test all come back. It was very effective and would have had to have been given to her in strong doses because her body is shutting down already.

“She’s only been sick for two days,” Caroline’s dad mentioned.

Andrew turned his eyes to Caroline’s dad and then the Alpha. “So, after I left for camp. Who would do this to her?”

Caroline’s dad shook his head. “I don’t know.”

The Alpha then asked, “So, you plan to run more test?”

“Yes,” the doctor agreed.

“Do you have any idea at all how the poison was given to her?” Andrew asked next.

“I’m pretty sure by looking at her mouth, it was orally. Her mouth is broken out, raw almost,” was the doctor’s answer.

Silence reigned until Darryl burst out with, “Toothpaste!”

“What?” Andrew asked, looking at him.

“Toothpaste. It’s something she would have used every day and would come in contact with her mouth. It’s also something that she uses that is hers alone otherwise her dad would be sick too. Right, doc?” Darryl asked.

The doctor nodded. “Yes. That sounds reasonable. Get me her toothpaste and I’ll have some tests run on it. Now, I have other patients to see. Let me know if you need anything. I’ll be back with her test results later.”

“Darryl, go to her house and look around, bring back her toothpaste,” his father commanded.

Darryl gave a nod and quickly left.