Page 94 of Her Captivated Hero

“Riya said it would take one to two hours to work, is that right? Will she wake up then?”

“I really don’t know,” the doctor shook his head.

“What happened to the royal family? Are they awake? What about the little girl? They got the drug hours ago.”

“The King and his son are awake and alert. The queen is sleeping, but she did wake up at one point. We’re still waiting to see what happens to with the princess. The good news is that she’s responding to stimuli and scoring well on the Glasgow scale, so we have high hopes.”

“So how soon will we know if this is working for Riya?” Gray persisted.

“We are administering her antitoxin exactly ninety minutes later than we did the one for the royal family, so I don’t know. The good news is that according to her records, she had the meningococcal vaccine, that’s to her favor.” The doctor must have seen the desperation in his face. “I heard how long she lasted after being infected. What she accomplished was a miracle. She’s going to pull through.”

Gray turned his head to his friends and saw Mason and Wyatt nodding their heads in agreement.

* * *

Riya never remembered hurtingthis bad. She couldn’t move her neck. Her eyes wouldn’t open. Why wouldn’t her eyes open?

“My name is Inigo…” she couldn’t hear the rest. She was so tired. The voice sounded so familiar. Was it her father?

No, that wasn’t right. But it was such a warm and comforting voice. She felt safe.

* * *

She feltsunlight on her face. She heard that voice again. This time it was hoarse, but…

It was Gray and he was talking about the Dread Pirate Roberts from the Princess Bride. She still couldn’t move her neck. But this time she could lift her eyelids. She wet her lips.

“Gray?”

Was that her voice?

“Riya?”

She was tired again. Her eyes drifted shut.

* * *

“…andthat’s why I liked this movie, and the book is pretty good too, now that I’ve read it to you. Shall I start again?”

“It was the love story, wasn’t it?” she croaked out. “You’re gooey.”

Hands crashed down on either side of her pillow. Sky blue eyes blazed down at her. “Don’t you dare close your eyes again.”

“I’m here?”

“What’s two plus two?” Gray asked.

“Four.”

“What country are the great pyramids in?”

“Egypt?”

“What’s Pi?”

“3.14159-”

“Enough!”

He slammed his lips down on hers.

Eeeewww. She needed a toothbrush. She tried to turn her head, but her neck hurt too badly.

“Kiss me back,” Gray murmured.

“No. Wanna toothbrush.”

“I love you.” Slowly he brushed his nose against hers.