Dakota lay motionless beneath the oxygen mask, her face pale, her hands resting limply at her sides. The monitors beeped steadily, and the physicians moved quietly around the bed, but Kade saw none of it. He saw only her.
"How is she?" His voice was rough, stripped of its usual control.
"Stable," Elias answered. "She went into severe shock after your call. Her breathing was dangerously compromised, but we were able to stabilize her. She's resting now."
Kade crossed the room in a few long strides and stopped beside the bed. He looked down at Dakota for a moment, then slowly lowered himself into the chair Sera had vacated, his gaze never leaving her face.
"I shouldn't have told her like that," he said quietly.
Sera, who had moved to stand near the door, watched her son with a pained expression. "You told her the truth. That was not wrong. But she wasn't prepared for it."
