Chapter 54
CHAPTER 54
F ran and Joe walked into Jacob’s room. The monitor was beeping away.
“I thought we were done with a heart monitor,” Joe said, walking to the side of Jacob’s bed.
“This better be the last time we need it. I’m not sure my heart could take him getting seriously sick or injured again,” Fran said, standing next to Joe and looking at the monitor, checking the levels.
Joe sighed and leant against Fran.
“He’ll be fine in a few days,” Fran told him, slipping an arm around his waist.
“He will.”
“Joe, I’ve got to ask, why do you call Jacob ‘Jake’?”
Joe looked at Fran and grinned. “Because when we met when we were three, I couldn’t say, Jacob, only Jake, and it kind of stuck. I’m the only one who calls him Jake though.”
“But you can call me Jake if you want, sweetheart,” Jacob said softly, not opening his eyes.
“Hey, babe,” Fran said, leaning down. “Stop with the dramatics.”
Jacob gave a small smile and tried to open his eyes, but the room lights hurt so he closed them quickly. “Okay, sweetheart. I’ll start tomorrow. My head hurts.”
“You took a bullet to the head. Robbie and Emory got it out. Nothing major was damaged, but your head will hurt for a couple of days.”
“Damn Nidal,” Jacob muttered, tiredly.
“Just rest, babe. Joe and I’ll be here when you next wake up,” Fran said, taking Jacob’s hand.
Jacob squeezed his fingers. “Love you, sweetheart.”
“And I, you.”
“So that’s a good sign, right?” Joe asked.
“Yeah, a very good sign.”
“Let me pull over a couple of chairs and we can sit and wait.” Joe pulled them over and Fran sat, still holding Jacob’s hand.
“Would you mind if my parents popped in?” Joe asked.
Fran shook his head. “Nope.”
“Thanks, I’ll go and get them,” Joe said, quickly walking out of the room.
“What am I going to do with you, babe?” Fran said softly. “Thank you for saving Aunt Aubrey, but we need to talk about you helping people while staying safe.” He lifted Jacob’s hand and kissed it. “Now I know why the fates thought we’d be perfect together, you need medical personnel in your life.”
Jacob came awake to the sound of a steady beeping. Why was there beeping? Was he back in the castle hospital room? The more awake he became, the more he realised his head was killing him. Then he remembered running towards Aubrey, trying to protect her from Nidal’s bullet.
He felt someone holding his hand and just knew it was Fran.
“Sweetheart, never get shot in the head, it hurts,” he said softly, cracking his eyes open. The first person he saw was a pale-looking Fran, sitting next to him.
“I imagine it would, babe. Thankfully, you have a hard head and nothing was damaged. You’ll have a headache for a few days, and possibly a concussion, but that’s the extent of it.”
“Sorry if I scared you,” Jacob said. “I couldn’t let Nidal shoot your aunt.”
“I know, babe. You have no idea how grateful we all are that you saved her. But try looking for ways to help people without getting hurt.”
Jacob gave a quick grin. “I’ll work on that.”
“Jake,” Joe said softly from the doorway.
“Hey Joe,” Jacob replied, smiling at him. “You look pale, stressed, and your hair’s a mess,” Jacob stated.
Joe huffed and ran his hands through his hair as he walked to the bed. “What do you expect when you go and get yourself shot in the head? Fran, Frank, and I have stayed here with you all night. Frank has gone to get us coffee.”
“All the coffee, I hope. An IV of coffee will go down a treat right about now,” Fran said.
“Coffee, yes, please,” Jacob said wistfully.
“Nope. Coffee is for normal people who don’t get shot in the head,” Joe responded.
“It’s not like I did it on purpose,” Jacob protested.
Both Fran and Joe stared at him.
Jacob huffed. “Okay, so I did jump in front of that bullet on purpose, but I wasn’t expecting to be shot in the head. I thought it might hit me in the side or something.”
“Maybe see if you can watch more of your mind movie to see the outcome,” Joe suggested.
“Yeah,” Jacob replied. “Can I sit up?”
“You can.” Fran picked up the bed controller from the bedside table and clicked the button to raise Jacob into a comfortable sitting position.
“Thanks, sweetheart,” he said before looking at Joe. “Sorry, Joe, you should have spent last night with your parents.”
“I did while they were here. Finn and Ezzy said they would look after them. I can see them later.”
Frank chose that moment to walk into the room, carrying a tray with drinks and from the smell of it, sausage and bacon rolls. Robbie walked in with him.
“Patching me up again, Doc,” Jacob said with a grin.
“It seems to be our thing,” Robbie replied with an answering grin.
Jacob snorted out a laugh and then winced as pain shot through his head.
“Painkillers for you, my friend, then you can sleep and the next time you wake up the pain won’t be so bad.”
“Thanks, Robbie. Hi Frank.”
“Good to see you awake, Jacob,” Frank said, putting the tray down on the bed table.
“Thanks.”
“Okay, Jacob,” Robbie said, syringe in hand. He injected it in through his cannula. “Say good night.”
“See you all when I wake up,” Jacob said sleepily and just that quickly fell asleep.
“I brought food and coffee for all of us.” Frank handed out the drinks and rolls. Even you, Robbie.”
“Thanks, Uncle, you’re the best. You know that, right?”
Frank laughed. “Yep. So, Berni updated me on everything when I was getting food. The Alpha, Beta dinner will be the weekend after next. The invitations were sent out earlier. Finn, Ezzy, Annfield, Morty, and Christine have all been combing through everything Cresswell sent. He and Berni are researching all the names they’ve found so far.”
As he updated them, the others ate their rolls. He picked up his coffee, sipping it.
“Has anyone spoken to Nidal yet?” Fran asked.
“Not yet. He’s not going anywhere. Berni and I will talk to him later.”
“How did Nidal ever think he’d be able to kill Aubrey and Berni?” Joe asked, shaking his head.
“If Jacob wasn’t a ghost wolf, he would have succeeded, and what better way to take out the strongest Alpha than by killing his mate,” Frank said.
“Yeah, but Robbie is just as strong as Uncle Berni,” Fran pointed out.
“But I would have been grief-stricken after losing both my parents. Maybe I would then have been an easy target. Either that or they have no idea how strong I am.”
Joe sat on the side of Jacob’s bed, by his feet. “But it’s still a stupid plan in general. There are hundreds of wolf packs around the country, and from what Cresswell said, they don’t have enough people to take them all out. Is it just the English packs they’re targeting or all packs around the world? If so, this is much much bigger than we think.”
“Let me message Berni and ask. I think it’s just UK packs,” Frank put his coffee down and pulled his phone out of his pocket, sending the text.
“I think it might just be UK packs,” Fran said, thinking. “They would probably try it here first and then maybe go worldwide.”
Just then Frank’s phone beeped with a message. Frank looked at it. “So they think it’s just the UK as none of the paperwork or emails mention foreign packs.”
“So that’s good then,” Joe said. He looked at Frank. “Is the Pullman pack always this adventurous?”
Frank grinned. “Well, not so dramatic, but yeah, there is always one thing or another going on. Blame Berni, he could have been a normal Alpha, but no, he had to be the strongest in the country.” He looked at Robbie. “Just think, you and Jacob have all this to look forward to.”
“Jacob?” Fran queried, looking between his Dad and cousin.
Robbie nodded. “Yeah, I want to make Jacob my second.”
Fran beamed. “Thanks, Robbie.”
“I told you I liked him.”
“You did indeed,” Fran said. “You guys should head home for some sleep, Jacob will be asleep for a while.”
“We can stay,” Joe protested. “We can be here for both you and Jake.”
“I’ll be here,” Robbie said. “You and Uncle Frank head back to the castle for a bit and come back later.”
“If you’re sure,” Joe said, looking at Fran. “I can make my own way back and Frank can stay with you both.”
“Nope, Dad’s going back with you. Then you can both come back later.”
“Okay, but phone if you want us back sooner,” Joe told him.
Fran smiled at him. “Promise.”
Joe stood up and hugged Fran and after a hug from Frank, they both left.
“I’ve been a bad nurse lately,” Fran said to Robbie. “I’ve had so much time off.”
Robbie sat on the end of Jacob’s bed. “Everyone understands. Besides, the amount of holidays you’ve worked, and the amount of overtime you’ve done, no one minds you needing time off. Plus, they were all mate-related.”
“True. Does Jacob know you want him to be your second?”
Robbie shook his head. “Nope, although I told Dad earlier, just throwing the idea out there. He agrees that when I become Alpha Jacob would be a good Beta, I might just call him my second though as he’s not a Beta wolf.”
“What about his lung issues?”
“What about them? Jacob will have medicine if he needs it and everything will be fine, especially with your dad training him. Your dad can teach him everything he needs to know and how to be the best fighter he can be.”
It was hours later that Jacob felt himself waking up. As he came out of his drug-induced sleep, he took stock of his head. The pain was down to a dull ache now. He saw his wolf resting with Fran’s wolf, sleeping next to him, both happy and content.
He also thought about his new abilities. He had never heard of a wolf who was able to see things before they happened. Sure, there were psychics out there who could see the future, but he could only see a few moments ahead, just long enough to help someone.
“Jacob, stop pretending to be asleep,” he heard a laughing Ezzy say.
Jacob opened his eyes and saw his friends gathered around the bed. Ezzy and Joe were sitting on his bed, at either side of his legs. Finn was in a chair to the side of him and Fran sat holding Jacob’s hand. “I wasn’t pretending. I was just checking how I felt and looking in on my wolf.”
“How is your wolf and how are you feeling?” Fran asked.
“My wolf is sleeping peacefully, next to your wolf, and my head pain is now a dull ache, so it’s all good.”
“Fran took your bandage off you earlier. You look much better without it,” Finn said.
“Thanks, sweetheart.” He looked at the others. “Should you all not be back at the castle researching everything?”
“We have been, but there was no way we weren’t coming to see you. And just so you know, we’ve started a book to see how long it is before you’re injured again,” Ezzy said grinning.
Jacob snorted out a laugh. “I’m under strict instructions to stop being dramatic and to stop getting injured.”
“Good. Seeing you go down after being shot in the head is not something we want to see again,” Joe added.
“So, what have I missed?”
“Nothing much. Dad has everyone in research mode. He has also sent out trusted enforcers to sniff around other places, especially no man’s lands, to see if they can pick up any talk of a potential takeover. Alphas have started to respond, confirming they are coming to the dinner.” Ezzy laughed. “Like anyone was going to say no to my Dad. The Council members were the first ones to accept.”
“I can imagine,” Jacob said. He looked at Fran. “Any idea when I can get out of here?”
“Hopefully later. Robbie or Emory will want to check you out first, but the actual wound has healed. Bones as you know take a little longer to heal, which is why your head still hurts. But if all you have is a slight headache, they should let you home,” Fran replied.
“Let’s all think positive thoughts, then.”