Rejection and Redeemed

Chapter 30

CHAPTER 30

I t was just coming up to six am when the door opened and Robbie walked in seeing Christine just walking back from the bathroom, carrying an empty bucket.

He looked at Jacob, Fran, and Christine, all of whom looked worn out, especially Jacob.

“Morning, Rob,” Fran said, seeing him first.

“Hey, Doc,” Jacob said weakly.

“Hi, Robbie,” Christine said, sending him a tired smile.

“Have you been here long?” he asked her.

“Most of the night,” Fran said, before she could.

Robbie touched her shoulder. “Thanks.” He looked at Jacob. “I know you’ve been vomiting, but how’s the pain?”

“Truthfully, Doc, I’m not sure how much more of this I can take. I think these sixteen hours are it,” Jacob said weakly.

Robbie looked at Jacob who was as white as the sheets he was laying on, his head wet with sweat and laying there with no energy. He moved to sit at the side of the bed. “You’re doing great, Jacob. Look at it this way, you’ve survived the first sixteen hours, you can survive the rest. I had a message from the research team, they said after the first twenty-four hours the sickness should slow down as there will be less silver in your system.”

“But my insides will still be damaged, won’t they?”

“Yes, but we’re hoping shifting might help fix some of the internal damage.”

“Not all?” Christine asked.

Jacob made use of the bucket. Groaning, he said, “These eight hours need to hurry up and get done.”

Fran wiped Jacob’s face.

“We’re honestly not sure about fixing all the damage. The reports the researchers have read indicate that the length of time the silver was in the body determines the damage. It’s a wait and see kind of thing.” Robbie paused. “I’m sorry I failed you, Jacob.”

“What?!” he exclaimed, moving to touch Robbie’s arm. “You didn’t fail me. You’ve pretty much been patching me up since we met. No one uses silver nowadays. It just goes along with the shit show that’s my life.”

“Whatever the lasting effects are, we’re all here to help you,” Christine assured him.

“We are indeed,” Robbie confirmed.

“Sip some water, Jacob.” Christine held the bottle to his lips.

Robbie looked at the bottle. “Where did the electrolyte water come from?”

“Clairmont and Christine went shopping in the early hours and got it,” Fran replied. “Clairmont helped us last night. He didn’t get to bed until a few hours ago.”

“I’ll make sure he rests,” Robbie promised. “Fran, have you checked Jacob’s stomach?”

Fran nodded. “A couple of times, the stitches are holding.”

Robbie nodded. “I have to get to the hospital, my shift starts soon, but I’ll message Dad about Clairmont.”

“Can you get Christine to rest now?” Jacob asked. “Thanks for helping, Christine, but you need sleep.”

“If you have rest now, you can help me later,” Fran said to her.

Before she could reply, Emory walked into the room.

“Morning, friends,” he said, walking to the bedside. “I’m here to relieve you, Fran, and by the looks of it Chris as well.”

“I don’t need ...” Fran started to say before Jacob made use of the bucket again.

While Fran was helping Jacob, Robbie gave Emory a quick overview.

“But now I really have to get going,” Robbie concluded.

“Have a good day,” Emory said to him.

Robbie grinned and with a final bye, left the room.

“Chris, Fran, off to bed. Jacob, let me take that bucket and clean it out,” Emory said.

“Can you wash this cloth and bring it back again?” Fran asked, holding it out.

“I can. Be back in a moment,” Emory said, taking both the bucket and the face cloth to the bathroom.

“Christine, off to bed with you,” Fran said, looking at her.

Christine sighed. “Once Emory comes back, I’ll leave.”

“Can I leave as well?” Jacob asked, softly.

“Yep, shall we go to the beach? We can take a picnic,” Fran replied.

“Sounds good. I’ve never been to the beach or had a picnic.”

“Seriously?” Emory asked, walking back to the bed.

“Seriously, never. A true Alpha doesn’t have time for the beach, picnics, or fun, according to my father.”

“When you’re better, we are so going to the beach,” Fran told him. “We used to have family trips there when we were little.”

“I look forward to that. I just need to survive the next thirty-two hours.”

“You’ll survive them,” Christine said, patting his arm. “We’ll all make sure you do.”

“Now Chris, Fran, off to bed with the two of you,” Emory ordered.

Fran stood and walked over to the sofa, where the blanket had been put and picked it up.

“Fran, what are you doing?” Emory asked him.

“I’m lying here and resting for a bit,” Fran replied.

“Fran,” Jacob started to object, but Fran interrupted him.

“Give it up, mate of mine, I’m staying. I can happily sleep here for an hour or so, while Christine goes to bed.”

“On that note, I’m leaving, but I’ll be back later, Jacob. Sleep well, Fran, see you later Emory.” And with that, Christine left the room.

Jacob looked back at Fran who was now laying on the sofa, pulling the blanket over himself. Once he was settled, he closed his eyes.

“Doctors and nurses can and have slept practically anywhere. We can fall asleep quickly and wake up instantly,” Emory said, sitting on the side of the bed. “How bad is the pain?”

“Bad,” Jacob admitted. “Not only from my stomach, but from my sides, chest, head, even my eyeballs hurt. I’m trying not to complain, but the longer this goes on the more pain I have. I would have thought with the amount of silver I’ve already got rid off, my wolf healing would have kicked in.”

Jacob checked on his wolf who was curled up, looking sorry for himself.

“Not with silver poisoning. It only takes a drop of silver entering the body to cause problems. According to Berni, that shifters' claws were coated in the stuff.”

Jacob looked confused, made use of the bucket, then asked, “How did it not enter his own system?”

“No idea. Robbie’s taken the claws to the hospital to have a look.”

“Berni declawed him?” Jacob asked in astonishment.

“Cut his paws off then killed him. Here, have this bucket and I will wash the other out.”

About an hour later, the bedroom door opened and Joe and Frank walked in. Joe rushed to Jacob’s side.

“You look terrible,” Joe helpfully stated in greeting.

“Do I?” Jacob asked, in pretend shock. “And here I thought looking pale and sweaty was the in season look.”

“I mean if that’s the look you're going for, you look great,” Joe replied, grinning. “I’m not even going to ask how you're feeling.”

“I’m still alive so that’s a plus,” Jacob replied.

“Always a plus,” Frank said. “Emory, is there anything Jacob needs for the room or medically?”

“Medically, everything that can be done is being done and by that, I mean, Jacob bringing up the silver,” Emory told him.

“If someone can set up my laptop, we can have some music in here,” Jacob said.

“I can do that for you,” Joe said, picking it up from the side and opening it up. He fiddled around a bit and music started blaring out, making everyone jump. He quickly turned the sound down to background level.

“Sorry, I was blaring music out the other day,” Jacob told them.

“I don’t recognise the band,” Frank said, listening.

“Imagine Dragons,” Joe said to his mate, grinning. “Stick with me and I’ll expand your musical tastes.”

Frank grinned. “As will I with you.”

Joe sighed before looking back at Jacob. “So, I’ve not had any breakfast. Hopefully, I can stay and help watch over you without thinking I’m going to be joining you using the bucket.”

Jacob made use of the bucket.

Joe blew out a breath. “Pretty sure I can do this.”

Frank picked up the cloth and gently wiped it over Jacob’s face.

“Thanks. Fran is over on the sofa sleeping. He wouldn’t go to bed.” Jacob told him.

Frank looked at his son. “Has he eaten at all?”

“Yeah, Clairmont and Christine stayed with me while he went to eat something during the early hours.”

The door opened again and Finn, Ezzy, Berni, and Aubrey walked in.

“Looks like we all had the same idea,” Aubrey said, walking to the side of Jacob’s bed. “All we need now is Christine and Fran to join us.”

“We sent Christine to bed earlier, as she was up most of the night helping Fran, who is asleep on the sofa,” Emory told them. “Apparently, Clairmont helped them.”

“Yeah, Robbie messaged me. I went and saw Clairmont earlier and told him to take the day off,” Berni said

Ezzy snorted. “He might take the morning off, but there’s no way he’ll take the day off while someone in the castle is sick.”

“True. How’s everything going?” Berni asked, just as Jacob made use of the bucket.

“The silver is still leaving Jacob’s body. Robbie said after about twenty-four hours the sickness should start slowing down,” Emory told them.

“Probably because I’ll be dead by then,” Jacob said weakly.

“No,” Finn said, moving to the side of the bed and taking Jacob’s hand. “We’ll make sure that doesn’t happen, and by we, I mean Emory and Robbie, but all of us will be offering you our strength. I don’t know about the others, but I’ve not eaten this morning, so I should be able to stick around and help.”

“Same,” Joe said.

“And the same for me,” Ezzy added.

“You really don’t have to stay,” Jacob said. He felt like he had been saying that a lot over the past few days.

“Too bad, we’re here now,” Joe said, glaring at the bucket. “Do you want me to clean that out for you?” he asked bravely.

Emory smiled. “No need, I can do it.” He switched buckets and walked to the bathroom.

“I heard that wolf had silver on his claws,” Jacob said.

“He did, all of them,” Berni growled out. “We cut his paws off then killed him. Robbie is looking into how he didn’t poison himself. Those men also said they had no idea who they were working for, but this anonymous person paid them to travel around and attack packs. He gave us the name Mortimer, the same as you. We’re still looking into that. I also heard from Cresswell. He’s located the cupboard and found a mobile, tablet, and paperwork. He’s currently going through them and will update me later.”

“I still need to look at my father’s accounts for you,” Jacob remembered, saying weakly.

“There is time enough for that. All I want you to do is focus on staying alive and getting better,” Berni told him.

“Fran and I are going to the beach and having a picnic when I’m better, as I’ve never done either.”

“You’ll have fun doing that,” Aubrey said. “We used to do them a lot when the children were younger.”

“So much fun. Fran and I tried to bury Robbie once, but Dad rescued him,” Ezzy said with a grin.

“That’s because you dug a grave, pushed him in, and started filling the grave up with sand,” Berni pointed out.

Frank and Aubrey laughed.

“I remember that,” Frank said. “Pretty sure I got pictures of the event as well.”

“Thank you for rescuing my mate,” Finn said laughing. “But I need to see the pictures.”

“I’ll show you,” Frank promised.

“We can all go to the beach and try that again,” Ezzy said with a laugh.

“I’d love to see you try and push your brother in now,” Finn taunted.

“Joe, Jacob, Emory, and Fran can help me,” Ezzy said, full of confidence.

“Count me out. I can’t repay Robbie by trying to bury him in the sand,” Jacob said.

“We’ll see what happens when we get to the beach,” Ezzy replied.

“I’ll pop back and see you later, Jacob. I have some commitments today that I can’t get out of,” Aubrey told Jacob.

“So do I, but I’ll pop in and out whenever I have a spare moment, and I don’t want to hear any protests from you, Jacob,” Berni said, pre-empting him.

“Thanks,” Jacob replied simply.

“I have some things I need to do as well, but I’ll be back when I can,” Frank said. He looked at Joe. “Be good.”

Joe fake sighed. “If I must.”

Frank laughed and gave Joe an all-too-short kiss.

Aubrey, Berni, and Frank all left the room together.

“So, I brought my e-reader with me,” Finn said, holding it up. “Want me to continue with the story? It might help.”

“Sure,” Jacob said.

Everyone got settled around the bed and Finn started reading. He stopped when Jacob was sick before starting again, and that is how the hours passed. And when Fran woke up he joined them.