Finding Home

Chapter Forty-Paige

When Paige regained consciousness she didn't recognize where she was.  She kept her eyes closed and tried to remember what had happened. Her mind brought it back to her in pieces. Nathan's kiss, his arms, his smell. That cedarwood and pine smell. It smelled like home, she didn't know how else to describe it. It smelled like home, even though it didn't make any logical sense. She felt comforted by the memory of the night before until her mind started bringing back more. The morning after her date everything was too much. Too loud, too bright, too smelly.

She remembered the fight with her father. He was so angry, and she was so done. He tried to order her away, to make her go back to London. Earlier he wanted her home, now he was sending her away and telling her to never come back. It was the proverbial nail in the coffin. Their fight from the day before she realized that he would never give her the kind of love she wanted from him. He would never be proud of her, no matter what she did, and now she was done with trying.

She was done before and this last fight just confirmed her decision. He was really going to try and stand between her and Nathan, he was going to speak for him even though he had no idea what was really happening. For moment she felt bad that he was in the dark but then she remembered that the rest of her family was in the dark too, mostly, and they didn't try to control her. If he wanted to be in the know he shouldn't have been such an ass.

She heard the sound of steady beeping and smelled the faint smell of antiseptic and thought that she must be in a hospital or something. But she could also smell that cedarwood and pine again. Was Nathan here? She felt light on the back of her eyelids and decided to open them the tiniest amount. Not being able to withstand the brightness, she let out a groan.

"Paige?" She felt warm tingles on her hand.

"To bright," she mumbled, closing her eyes again.

"Someone get the lights." When it didn't feel as bright she tried to open them again. She blinked a few times and Nathan's face came into focus.

"Nathan," she breathed out as a smile spread across her face.

"Hi love," he let out a shaky breath. "You're awake." He leaned up and pressed a kiss to her forehead. She felt warm tingles spread out from where he touched her. She felt a tear drop on her face. Confused she reached up and touched her cheeks but she wasn't the one crying, she looked at Nathan, it was him. It was his tear on her face.

"Are you crying? What's wrong? What happened?"

He let out another shaky breath with a smile and said, "What's wrong she asks me." He huffed out a breath. "You scared the shit out of me, that's what. What do you remember?"

She furrowed her brow in concentration. She had just thought about it. "I remember, our date, and the next morning, I had the hangover of all hangovers but that doesn't make sense, we didn't drink that much."

"No, we didn't."

"Then I was fighting with my dad and I felt faint. I asked Sophie... Micah!" She looked around the rest of the room, then remembering what happened just before she collapsed. She saw her mother sitting on the other side of her bed. Micah was right behind her. She made note that Sophie was also in the room, along with Doctor Lawrence and Healer Hartland. Her father wasn't there, she didn't know whether to feel hurt or grateful.

Her focus zoned in on the two women. "What happened to me?"

Healer Hartland took a step towards her. "We believe that your wolf tried to come forward but she was unsuccessful."

"What does that mean? She was unsuccessful?"

"The hangover symptoms you were having," Dr Lawrence said, "The sensitivity to light and sound, and I assume smell as well. They're all things werewolves experience after a first shift, however because they have their wolf completely they're able to make the adjustment better. They're able to adapt better to the changes their human body goes through. Because your wolf didn't come all the way forward your system was overwhelmed and you collapsed."