38. Steve
Chapter 38
W here the fuck did I fall asleep, and why is it so goddamned bright in here? A better question would probably be what the hell I did last night. My head is pounding like the worst hangover ever, and my mouth feels like I licked a fucking sidewalk.
The room smells stale and sterile, like a hospital, and I cringe at how fucking trashed I must have been to get here. It’s been at least a few years since things got that bad, and usually Garret’s right here with me, having chased me down the rabbit hole of misery.
My mind spins towards my twin, and I jerk in the bed as memory slams into me. Was that this morning? How much time has passed? Is he safe? Is Teddy? Oh god, what happened to Kelly after I fell on her? Raising myself up so I don’t pull on any of the tubes or wires attached to me, I peer around the room. There’s another bed in here, but the body in it is just a lump, and there aren’t nearly as many tubes or wires coming from it. Lucky me.
With no other recourse, I press the call button, hoping to get the answers that my cotton filled brain can’t come up with. A few minutes later, an older woman in scrubs comes in. “Oh, hello, Mr. Carpenter, how are you feeling this afternoon?”
Ok…so, it’s afternoon, is it the same day?
How long was I asleep?
My throat is dry from the hospital air, and I cough when I try to answer. Nothing comes out but a dry rasp. Her face falls, and she brings me a cup of water to sip so I can speak properly, answering my unspoken questions while I suck down the cold liquid. “I’m so sorry. I thought for sure Kelly would have been awake by now and woken you up.” She walks over to the lump and peels down the covers, her face a mask of concern.
“No, bless her heart. It’s been a tough day for you two. Even when she wakes up, I don’t know how well she’ll be able to talk for a while. There’s a fair amount of bruising on her throat. I was a bit surprised she was so willing to deal with all the check-in questions, but it does make things so much easier.”
She turns back to me. “Oh, her parents are here in the waiting room, as well as three large alphas that say they’re the rest of your pack. Would you like me to let them in? Their identification didn’t have updated information on it, so we wanted to wait until you were awake.”
My thoughts twist at the mention of three large alphas. My father still had two men with him, Kyle and whoever his counterpart is. She wouldn’t know their names either. “Um…what do these alphas look like?”
She looks thoughtful for a moment. “Well, the biggest one is very large and muscular, with a short salt and pepper beard, kind of a silver fox vibe going on. The second one has long black hair, a couple of piercings, and looks like he probably wants to scream at people…and the last one looks a bit like you, but prettier...er...Sorry, that came out wrong.”
My mad cackle startles Kelly awake, and she raises her head, looking around blearily. The nurse looks taken aback, as if I just yelled at her for saying my brother is prettier. She’s not wrong, but that’s only because I’m a bit underweight right now. I’m smiling when I finally answer. “No, that sounds like our pack, Sam, Teddy, and Garret. He’s my twin, but you’re not wrong.” She blushes slightly, and I didn’t bother to correct her about Teddy’s designation. I don’t care right now. The only important thing is that they’re here and safe.
The nurse smiles at us both and bustles out of the room. A few minutes later, Kelly’s family comes in. Her parents rush to her bedside, and her brother flops down in the visitor’s chair, his head once again buried in a video game. He raises his face for a moment to nod at me. “’Sup…Steve? Right?” I nod back and get a “Co ol” for my efforts.
Kelly’s mom reaches over and slaps Tuck on the back of the head, and he scowls at her before standing up and slouching over to say hi. He takes one look at her neck and his eyes flick to mine. “So…did the whole hand necklace thing not work out for you guys or what? Wait, my dude, I thought you weren’t into girls. Were you just trying to lure my sister into a false sense of security before you pounced?”
I recoil at the insinuation, and his mother’s hand connects with the back of his head again, flipping his hair over his eyes. “Shit Mom, ow!” The short beta woman glares at him. “I mean, shoot…that hurt. Ow! Fine. Sorry Steve, I’m just fu—er, messing with you. The cops told us what happened.”
My breath comes out in a loud whoosh and Tuck laughs loudly before dropping against the side of Kelly’s bed and getting back to his game. Before his mom can say anything else, his voice pipes up. “Nope, I’m right here, socializing, and being involved. Hey Kelly, how’s the throat? Oh, wait, you can’t answer. Guess I’ll just have to sit here and try not to talk to you, so you don’t strain it anymore.” His eyes flick up and meet mine over the game in his hands, and he grins before going back to it.
A moment later, the door opens again and Sam comes in, followed by Teddy and Garret. My brother, of course, beelines straight for Kelly. Hopping from foot to foot, trying to figure out how to get around her family so he can touch her. Sam and Teddy stand between our beds, and the space is now officially too damned crowded. I look over at my mates and wave my hand at the other side of the bed, in front of the monitors. “Hey, you two, come stand over here so they have a few minutes, yeah? You’ll all get time with Pixie soon enough. But she can’t talk much right now.”
Sam and Teddy trade looks, but eventually do as I suggest and come to my other side. Teddy looks down at me like he wants to touch me, but isn’t sure where I won’t hurt. That’s a fair question. Everything fucking hurts. Instead, I reach out my not shot arm and take his hand, weaving our fingers together and squeezing. “I missed you, Bear. How was your trip?”
My omega busts out laughing. “Well, we woulda been here sooner, but your brother almost got us arrested going through Marshall, Texas because he was hanging his dick out the window trying to piss. Otherwise, the last leg of the trip was pretty uneventful.”
I stare at my brother who is now as red as a tomato, his voice is muffled where it’s buried in his hands. “We rushed out before we had a chance to hit the bathrooms. I didn’t have a hell of a lot of options, and Sam fucking told me to. How the fuck was I supposed to know he wasn’t serious?” Kelly starts laughing, and it’s a horrible raspy wheeze that soon sets her off on a coughing fit.
Her mother stares at Garret in horror, and her father looks like he’s trying not to laugh himself. Tuck just mutters to himself, “Man, old people are nuts. How the heck did you not know he wasn’t bein’ serious, man? That’s some next level lack of thought.” A little scoring noise comes from the game in his hand and the kid’s grin gets huge, as he sinks deeper into the digital monotony.
Teddy
F ucking stupid ass alphas and their inability to have a normal goddamned discussion. All this shit with Brice because no one could pull their heads out of their asses long enough to actually discuss with me what I might or might not want. Knot-heads, the fucking lot of them.
And then there’s Kelly. My poor sweet beta. All I want to do is carry her home, drag her into my room downstairs, lock everyone else out, and purr for her until she’s nothing but mush against me. Was I looking forward to having sex with her? Well, I’d be lying if I said no, but right now I just want to cuddle her, and feed her soup until her throat feels better. I bet Sam makes an awesome chicken soup.
Kelly’s parents stay for a few hours until finally Tuck is sighing and acting like the most neglected and put upon creature in the world. Shortly after dinner time they take him and go home. Her mother lectures the kid all the way out the door. Watching them interact reminds me that I should probably call Mom soon. I really miss her, and she’ll want to know we got home safely. Plus, somebody should give her an update on Brice, and since none of the alphas will volunteer, it falls to me.
Steve needs to stay overnight in the hospital. Thankfully, neither of the bullets hit any vital organs or bones, but he still lost a lot of blood. Garret’s going to stay with him and fill him in on our trip. We’ll bring them both a change of clothes and some breakfast first thing tomorrow. Sam is in full on caretaking mode and fussing over everything. Kelly’s dad’s upset that she’s coming home tonight with me and Sam, but we’re her pack, and it’s her choice. But he still glares at me before leaving.
We didn’t stay at the house long enough to do more than unload Sam’s truck from the trailer so we could drive here. The rental truck sits large in the small parking area, making everything else feel crowded. The russet stain is still on the ground where the coroner finally arrived. None of the police or fire trucks are here, and the smoldering remains of Sam’s shop release wisps of smoke or steam into the cool evening air.
Our pack lead groans when he looks over at it. His voice is rough as he lets loose a long string of profanity. Kelly blinks up at him in surprise. “Sorry, Sweetheart. It’s been a long few days and I’m just…I didn’t expect to come home to this shit. If I’m being honest, my plan was to come home, shower until my skin felt like it was gonna melt off and then drag you and Teddy in to bed for cuddles for at least the next thirty-six hours or so. Fucking would have been amazing too, but totally optional.”
Kelly cuddles up against his side, her voice is still broken. “I’m sorry about your shop Sam…and Jake. He tried to protect me. Has anybody heard from Leo or Stephanie?”
Our pack lead growls low in his throat. “Not yet, but I’ll call Gabe and check on Jake and see how they wanna handle you being hurt. Let them know they’ll have to do without you at the shop for a few days while you heal up.”
Kelly’s giggle turns into a cough. “Only if you agree to take them a thermos of coffee first thing in the morning. Though, after everything else, I should probably just get them a new coffee maker for the office. Pretty sure Xan saved Steve. Though I don’t know if it was for the sake of the office caffeine supply or Jacks.”
She coughs again and my fingers cover her lips to keep her from trying to say anything else. “Come on, Pixie, your throat’ll never heal if you don’t stop.” Lifting her in my arms, I carry her out of the truck and up the steps to the front porch. Her legs are fine, and she could probably walk with no problem—I just need to be close to her after everything we heard about this morning. We could have fucking lost her because Vee and Garret’s dad is batshit crazy…was…was batshit crazy.
Remind me not to piss off the fucking surfer. He is not the one I would have thought to be careful of.
Sam checks the lock on the back of the moving truck and then meets us on the porch to unlock the front door. Joseph said he locked it when they took Kelly and Steve to the hospital earlier. Not that anybody around here would do anything, but after everything else, better to be safe than sorry.
The house is too quiet without Jake bouncing around, and I’m not the only one who feels it. As soon as Sam sits his duffel bag down, he pulls out his phone and calls Gabe. The growly alpha picks up on the second ring. “Hey, Sam, is Kelly ok?” It makes me smile a bit that they’re protective of my Pixie too. Kelly tries to squeak out a ‘Hello’ but starts coughing and Gabe’s growl rattles through the room.
Eventually the alphas calm down, and Kelly gets down some cool water. Sam brings up the reason we called. “So, is Leo around? We were hoping to check up on Jake.” Gabe grumbles something else and then Leo takes the phone.
“Sam, glad you all made it home safe. Yes, Jake’s doing fine. He’s on some heavy pain medication, so he’s a bit loopy. He’s staying overnight at the clinic to make sure he doesn’t get too active and tear any stitches. That being said, the poor guy took a hell of a beating from those assholes, so he’s gonna be sore for a few days. But you’re welcome to come by tomorrow any time and get him. He’s not gonna be happy about it, but I’d suggest a cone for at least the next week. Stephanie and I will both be in the office all day tomorrow, and either one of us can get him sorted out when you stop by.”
Kelly takes a deep shuddering breath, the relief clear on her face that Jake’s ok. Tears form in her eyes, and I offer her the water cup again, in case it’s from her throat hurting. I assume it has more to do with Jake and everyone else since she keeps insisting that she’s ok. But that doesn’t mean we’re not going to do everything in our power to spoil her, despite any protests that I’m sure she’ll have.