ubble and bloodshot eyes, he was as sexy as ever.
He gently stroked her face, each stroke relaxing her a fraction. "Layla, love, you've come back."
He gently kissed her forehead, the action making her fight to ask, "What happened?"
Chase caressed her cheek as he answered, "You nearly died, love. But you're better and should be fine. Dr. Sid said if you woke up, then the danger had passed."
She frowned. Died? One minute she'd been finishing her mate vows with Chase, and the next she'd woken up here.
As if reading her mind, he continued, "You have a rare blood condition, love. One that can be managed, but you'd been living with it for years without any medication." He frowned. "You're not going another six months without a physical exam ever again."
Faye chimed in. "Not like she's going to be able to avoid seeing a doctor for more than a few weeks at a time for the foreseeable future, anyway."
Chase growled at his sister-in-law. "Faye, that wasn't your secret to share."
"Secret?" Layla croaked.
Chase glanced at her a second before glaring at the other two females. "Right now, I want to have a private conversation with my mate."
Faye sighed. "Fine, fine. We'll be off. The bairns did their magic already, anyway."
"I'll come back later, Layla," Yasmin added.
Once they both collected their sleeping children from the tiny crib off to the side of the room, Faye and Yasmin shuffled off. Layla whispered, "What is she talking about? Magic?"
Chase shook his head. "Faye believed bringing your niece and nephew into the room would help bring you back. Something about their cuteness being too hard to ignore, meaning you'd have to wake up to notice it at some point."
She smiled weakly.
Chase caressed her face, each strum of his fingers making her feel a wee bit more alive.
He finally leaned down and kissed her lips.
She widened her eyes, waiting for the mate-claim frenzy to course through her.
And it didn't.
He finally pulled away. "Layla, love, you carry our bairn, which is why there's no frenzy—we'll have to make one ourselves someday." Chase paused to kiss her once more before adding softly, "Dr. Sid's still unsure if you'll be able to carry to term, but I know how stubborn my lass can be. And I know everything will be all right in the end."
A million thoughts whirled through her head. Pregnant? With a rare blood condition? Depending on which one, she might never be able to ever have a child. Would that devastate Chase?
"Layla."
Chase garnered her attention again. He continued, "We'll figure this all out together, love. You have all the doctors of the UK ready to help if needed—a few in Ireland from Clan Glenlough, too—Dr. Sid ensured that. Add in me, even though I'm rubbish at anything related to medicine, and all of us will support you, no matter what happens."
Tears threatened to fall. After so many years of not having help, she was going to have more than she ever imagined.
And none of it would've ever happened if not for a young, sexy dragonman bringing her coffee at the surgery, coming back no matter how much she tried to ignore him.
She blurted, "I love you, Chase."
"I love you, too, Layla MacFie."
"McFarland," she stated. "I'm Layla McFarland now. I want your name, not my father's."
Chase cupped her cheek and kissed her gently. "Then you have it, Dr. McFarland. With you as head doctor and Grant as one of the head Protectors, we just need one of us lot as clan leader, and we'll rule it all."
She rolled her eyes, and he laughed.