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Everything disappeared.

CHAPTER 11

Ares

“I Stayed”

Azaria collapsed before I could finish arguing with her. One second, she was standing there stubborn as hell, telling me she didn’t need my help. The next, her body gave out.

I caught her before she hit the ground.

“Putain,” I cursed under my breath. Fuck.

Her entire body went limp in my arms, and that was when I realized how light she really was. Her breathing was shallow against my chest, and all that fight she had five seconds ago was gone.

The doctor was already moving toward us.

“Bring her upstairs.”

“Where else am I going to take her?” I snapped.

I carried her through the house and took the stairs two at a time while the doctor and nurse followed behind me. Her head rested against my shoulder, her curls brushing against my face. Her skin was pale and colder than it should’ve been.

“Open the room.”

One of the maids rushed ahead and opened the bedroom doors. I carried Azaria inside, placed her on the bed, and moved out of the doctor’s way. He checked her pulse, lifted her eyelids, and started connecting her to the monitors while the nurse hung another bag of IV fluids.

I stood at the end of the bed watching them work. I was mad as fuck that she had run down that hill barefoot when she could barely stand, but I knew enough to understand that she wasn’t fully in control of herself right now.

“She’s insane,” I muttered in French. “Running down a hill barefoot like a lunatic. I should’ve run her ass over and gave her a real reason to feel hurt.”

The doctor ignored my attitude.

“When is the last time she ate?”

I didn’t answer because I had no fucking idea, and not knowing irritated me.

“She’s been eating drugs. I don’t fucking know.”

The doctor looked back at Azaria before checking the monitor again.

“Her body is severely malnourished and dehydrated. Her blood pressure dropped when she exerted herself.”

“Okay.”

“Her kidneys were beginning to shut down.”

I looked directly at him. “What?”

“She has been starving her body. Another few days without proper hydration and this could have ended very differently.”

I slid my hands into my pockets.

“You’re telling me she could’ve died?”

“Yes.”

I looked back at Azaria.