Chapter 76: Touch And Go

The Quinn Residence, The Backwoods, Temperance, South Dakota...

Layla sat looking over the unconscious Brick Kenneally in shock for what seemed like hours as opposed to several minutes before her brain began working again. She had never seen him so out of sorts, flashes of the strong man that saved her life back in the alley at Earl's Diner came to her in waves as well as every moment she spent in his company since that time. Layla had not known what to do with Brick being out cold but she was relieved to see his chest rising and falling as more of the black veins began to recede and the allergic reaction was healing on its own now that the silver bullets had been removed from his body. Coming to her senses after taking notice of his continued breathing, Layla set to work cleaning up the blood from the floor and his body, as she placed a soft pillow beneath his head as he rested in relative silence while his body continued to heal from the injuries sustained during the shooting.

She'd managed to cover a good bit of ground in her cleaning and eventually turned her attention back to the ailing Brick. She kneeled beside him occasionally wiping away the sweat from his brow as he fought through the fever that had overtaken him as a result of his apparent allergic reaction to the silver bullets that were pumped into him from some unknown attacker. He had been muttering about someone by the name of Charlie Mack and how they'd also been killed by the shooter but there was nothing that would point to any useable leads not with the shooting nor with the cold case about the missing little girl.

At best they had drawn out the bastard responsible for it and rattled his cage enough that he made it apparent he'd still been lingering about and at worst, they had lost the only real link in the case when the shooter killed Charlie Mack ensuring that no one would ever find out the truth about the missing child known as Sara Downes.

Layla sighed as she ran a cool cloth along Brick's sweat-slick body wiping away the blood and sweat that resulted in his shooting and infection respectively. She'd taken a good deal of care in trying to ensure he survived this incident. He'd been her first boyfriend and subsequent love after all and it was already weighing heavily on her about the possibility of losing him.

Brick seemed to be lost in his dreams with the heat from his fever still being something of a concern for Layla. She continued to wipe him down hoping that the cool water would do him some good as she waited out the minutes that seemed to pass by with his involuntary rest.

Brick's breathing seemed to return to normal despite the heat from his increased body temperature. Layla sighed a bit in relief once she noted that all of the black veins from the various spots the silver bullets had retreated and he seemed to be on the mend. She didn't know how long it had been with her sitting beside him with her knees pressed against her chest and her cheek resting on top of one of them, her long hair a mess in the wake of her constant worry as every muscle twitch and grunt from him had been something she studied down to the most minute detail as if to actually be able to gauge if and when something had been wrong or his condition had shifted.

Brick seemed to be coming around despite his apparent exhaustion with his healing factor being kicked into overdrive. He opened his eyes finding it strange that he'd been laying on the hard floor with Layla right beside him given to tension and angst as she patiently awaited the moment he'd open his eyes and give her some kind of indication that he'd been alright and that her rather mediocre attempt at playing nurse had not resulted in the handsome biker man's untimely demise when he could have easily been saved by going to a hospital and being delivered into more capable hands.

Brick grunted as he yawned still feeling the tightness of his muscles and the tension in his body as the effects of his rapid healing took place. It was one of the most impressive perks of being a werewolf, healing from wounds in rapid fashion but like all things it came at a cost, high metabolism, and a need for full-on rest to compensate for the level of cellular regeneration that had been taking place.

Layla had been happy to once more see Brick's hypnotic grey eyes focused on her and the danger of his possible death long passed despite him appearing to have been quite drowsy in the wake of his ordeal.

"Fancy meeting you here," he said with a bit of his rather dry humor even in a situation like this Brick seemed to be all heart.

Tears began to stream down Layla's lovely face as she shifted onto her knees and crawled toward him stroking his face and kissing him as he chuckled rather darkly beneath her and pulled her body onto his.

"I gotta admit it was a bit of touch and go for a minute but you came through little girl," said Brick casually running his large fingers through her wild brown locks.

"Asshole, you nearly dying on me is nothing to joke about," replied Layla as she glared down at him. She'd been so grateful that he lived she couldn't stay angry with him and he seemed to know it better than she did.

They shared an intensely passionate kiss and Brick looked up at her with grateful eyes as the weight of what almost occurred hit him full on despite his humor upon awakening.

"You saved my life," he said plainly.

"No thanks to the fever," replied Layla not at all wishing to revisit those awful past hours.

Brick reached up and cupped her cheek softly still grateful to her, to his mate that she'd been in close proximity when the bullets had gone into him. He opted to rest up for the remainder of the day and get his overall strength back and from the worried look on her face, she had been afraid he'd run off again and come back worse.

"Don't you worry you're pretty little head, I'll be crashing here for the remainder of the night, so as not to cause you worry," Brick remarked before kissing her again for good measure to show her that he'd been truly alright.

Brick treated her to a soft smile before she ended up climbing off him and helping the weary werewolf onto his knees and from there his feet as he leaned in her direction to get to her bedroom.

He figured that If he was going to spend the night, he might as well be comfortable.