赤裸裸的滑稽故事

Throughout her life, Alice had been tortured, starved, almost killed multiple times, and used in ways that she could now, unfortunately, remember every detail of.

But none of that compared to the longest twenty minutes of her life as she waited for the test results. These results could be the difference between life and death for her children and her mate.

Twenty minutes that became thirty, and then an hour.

Alice had learned to be patient long ago, but it took every ounce of her self-control to keep from tracking down the doctor and demanding answers. The only thing holding her back was Myka reminding her that many wounded and critically injured people were in the hospital, including Axel.

She paced the room, wringing her hands and taking slow breaths. She was trying to keep calm. Trying not to let the hope settle into her or the panic overrun her.

A knock at the door sent her heart into her throat.

"Come in," Myka called out, knowing Alice was struggling to find her voice again.

The door opened, and it was Bell that stepped into the room.

"Bell?" Alice whispered. She stepped forward with concern as she spoke. "What are you… is Axel all right? What happened?"

Bell put her hand up gently to stop Alice.

"Axel is still being treated," she began. "Peter is with him and doing everything he can."

"Everything he can…." Alice repeated. "Meaning that it\'s not good… that Axel is having a hard time."

Bell took a deep breath and got closer to Alice.

"No matter what I tell you, you\'re going to hear the worst possible meaning or outcome," she said gently. "You are scared for him, and I get that. But you need to trust us. Peter and I will do everything to keep Axel alive and bring him out of this."

Alice swallowed and nodded.

"Okay," she whispered. "I\'ll try."

Bell nodded.

"Is that the results of her tests?" Myka asked, looking at the folder in Bell\'s hand.

Bell looked down at the folder and then back up at Myka. She smiled and turned to Alice.

"I want you to have a seat so we can discuss this," she said.

Alice complied immediately, sitting beside Myka, who took her hand in his with a comforting squeeze.

"These are the results of your test. I was pulled away to review them because they didn\'t make sense," Bell began. "Alice, your bloodwork shows the infection is gone from your system."

Alice gasped, bringing her hand to cover her mouth. Myka smiled and let out the breath he had been holding.

"Completely gone as though it was never there," Bell continued. She looked at Myka. "You asked for this test to be run, right?"

Myka nodded.

"Why?"

He sat up and explained to Bell what he had felt, how he had felt it. He told her his theory, his hope.

"I see…" Bell whispered with a smile. "That explains it, then."

"Explains what?" Myka asked.

Bell looked up at them both with a smile.

"Why the infection in Axel\'s leg has stopped spreading."

Alice let out a sob. She was grateful, happy, and relieved. But the only way she could express it was through tears.

"Stopped spreading?" Myka asked after a moment. "You mean it\'s still there? I thought it would have gone away completely…."

"It\'s still there," Bell confirmed. "But that might be because of Axel."

"What do you mean?" Alice asked.

Bell took a deep breath and tried to organize her thoughts.

"We already knew he and Ashleigh were vulnerable to the infection because of the source. Axel knew that, too, so he turned his power on himself. It slowed the spread, but it also damaged his body. So right now, we are fighting both the infection and the cold."

"But the infection should be gone," Alice replied.

"Yes, but Axel has essentially frozen it in place," Bell said. "It has stopped spreading, theoretically, because the Dark Queen is dead, and it was somehow linked to her. But the part of the infection that is frozen in place it\'s not receiving the signal. It doesn\'t know it\'s dead yet."

"So, what does that mean for Axel?" Alice asked.

"I\'m not sure," Bell answered honestly. "It\'s great that the infection can\'t spread anymore. But, the parts of it that are trapped by his ice are still eating away at his body. And his power is draining him too."

"I don\'t understand," Alice said. "Are you saying that Axel is killing himself?"

"In a way?" Bell sighed. "He\'s unconscious, we haven\'t been able to wake him, and we can\'t do anything to stop his body from continuing to use the cold. The infection isn\'t a risk to his life anymore. It\'s contained enough that I\'m not worried it will kill him. But if we can\'t stop the cold… yea… he might kill himself."

Alice chewed her bottom lip nervously. Then, finally, she looked up at Bell and swallowed.

"What about your blood?" she asked. "I\'m sorry, I don\'t mean to treat you like a tool, but if it would help…."

Bell shook her head.

"Don\'t worry about it," she said with a smile. "We considered it already. It would help him heal faster, but there is no guarantee that it would stop him from using the cold. Giving it to him before would only waste it and possibly feed the frozen infection, forcing him to increase his defense."

Alice lowered her head, feeling a pit in her stomach.

"The frozen infection…." Myka whispered. He looked up at Bell. "Do you think he might be able to stop if the infection was completely gone? If the signal was able to reach those frozen parts?"

"I would assume so," Bell said. "I don\'t know for sure. All of this is definitely not textbook. But I think Axel\'s body is just responding to the threat. He cannot know that his defenses are causing the problem now."

Myka stood up.

"Take me to him," he said.

"What?"

"Myka, what are you doing?" Alice asked.

He licked his lips, swallowing the nervous energy beginning to build in him.

"She told me that I could control them," he said, looking at Alice. "The hybrids."

Alice furrowed her brows. She knew the Dark Queen had tried to tempt Myka to join her. She had promised to help him learn to control his power and use it to become stronger. But he hadn\'t given her all the details.

"Maybe I can talk to it," he said. "Or maybe I can just somehow open a link or something to make it understand. I don\'t know how all of this works… but I think I can help."

He got down on his knees before Alice and took her hands.

"You have saved my life so many times," he whispered. "You have given up everything for me… Please, let me try to help."