Chapter ElevenWes
Chapter Eleven
Wes
M y gut twisted as I saw Grace on her side, seizing in the living room. I knelt beside her, not knowing what else to do but hold her hand. Fuck. Fuck. Fuck.
“I’d like to report a medical emergency,” Jett said on the phone. “Seizure. Don’t know if she has a history, but she got a concussion yesterday.” He gave them our address.
“Fuck,” Lexi whispered, standing behind me.
All I could do was kneel there as Grace kept seizing. How long did they last?
“I’ll be right back,” Evan said softly, sending reassurance through our bond.
“I was talking to her, and she started shaking and fell. She’s in a safe place, and on her side. It’s still happening, I set a timer,” Jett added to the person on the phone.
My chest shook. “It’s okay, Grace. I’m right here.”
She had to be okay. She just had to.
The shaking slowed. Good. “Come back to me. I’m right here. It’s going to be okay.”
Grace stopped shaking and whined a little, calling to my alpha instincts.
“I’m right here,” I told her, squeezing her hand.
“Seizure ended.” Jett read the time off to the emergency dispatcher. “Great, I’ll stay on the line until they get here.” He looked at me. “They’ll be here soon.”
“Grace, are you okay?” I hated this feeling of helplessness. I’d felt it over and over when we were teenagers.
She whined again, met my gaze, and then her eyes closed.
Lexi crouched next to me, voice soft. “Wes, they’re going to take her to the hospital, and you’re going to go with her and you’re going to be very careful about what you say.”
I nodded. “Right. I don’t want her to end up on a psych hold.”
Like her mom had done to her more than once.
“That, and I don’t want you to end up being investigated for abuse or neglect ,” she whispered. “This is going to look bad. When I show up because she’s part of an open case, and was found yesterday bruised, afraid, with amnesia, and possibly on the run? Yeah, that’s not a good look.”
Her words were a punch in the stomach. “Shit.”
I’d never hurt her. But the law would think otherwise.
“You’re bonded to her, but it’s not registered.
She’s not part of your pack. You’re not married, and you don’t have a legal agreement.
Sure, she was missing, but you never filed a missing person report.
Not to mention, the Center documented all those old scars on her body–and her current bruises. ” Her tone and look were warnings.
I nodded. “I can see what doctors–and the law–might think. But she’ll set them straight.”
“The law will take more than her word into consideration, since she could be coerced, or barked, into saying that it wasn’t you. I handle these sorts of cases all the time. You’ll be considered guilty until proven innocent,” Lexi warned. “With facts. ”
I gulped, as her words hit me. “Brennan’s probably calling the pack lawyer.”
“Not sure that’s going to help; at least not the way you’d want it to. Brennan’s pissed . At least it’s early enough in the morning that you can pass off what she’s wearing as PJs instead of the fact that she has no clothes. Which will be seen as neglect,” she added.
Fuck.
“Here’s your shoes, phone and wallet.” Evan joined us, dressed, holding my things.
“Regardless of whatever you feel, whatever might happen in the future, in this moment you’ve got to good alpha the ever-loving shit out of this,” Lexi continued. “Evan, will you please help him because you know how this is going to look.”
“Of course. Wes, put on your shoes.” Evan knelt down with us and stroked her hair. “I’m right here, Peaches.”
I took them from him and put my phone and wallet in my pockets and shoved my feet in the shoes, right as Jett opened the door and two beta paramedics came in with a bag and a board.
“She had a seizure. Is she going to be okay?” I asked the female paramedic, voice shaking. I’d just gotten her, I couldn’t lose her already.
She nodded. “We’ll get her to the hospital, and then they’ll check her out. Are you her…” She looked at Grace’s neck and hand, though she frowned at all of Grace’s bruises. “Significant other?”
“Yeah.” I gulped, still clutching her hand. It was the quickest explanation. “We were about to have breakfast. Why isn’t she waking up?”
“It’s common after a seizure this long,” she assured.
“Where are we taking her? The Center? Somewhere else?” the male paramedic asked as he bent down to shine a flashlight in her eyes.
Evan elbowed me. Oh, he was talking to me? Jett was talking to Lexi.
“Mercy Hospital?” I replied. Brennan’s family had their name on the wall. “I’m coming with her.”
“Of course,” he assured. “There’s room for the both of you.” He took a little box and pressed her finger to it to access her record.
Oh shit. Right.
“The grid her record was on was glitching yesterday, so if you get nothing we’ll try again at the hospital,” Evan told him. “We’re good for it, promise.”
“There she is,” the male paramedic confirmed. “Gamma. Wow.”
She had a record? Gamma? What? Confusion shot through me.
Evan came up behind me and whispered in my ear, “I’ll explain later.”
“Grace is pretty special,” I sputtered. What? How? When? So many thoughts and questions were running through my head.
They got her onto a board, and I held her hand as we went outside to the ambulance. Jett and Evan came outside with us, deep in conversation.
I got in the back with Grace, Evan went up front.
The woman asked me questions as she got Grace hooked up to monitors. Terror shot through me as I fumbled through them. Lexi was right, this was going to look bad, and with Brennan not on my side…
We got to the hospital, and as they wheeled Grace into the hallway and spoke to the doctors, she seized again. One doctor shouted, and she was wheeled off. I trotted to keep up, still holding her hand. What had happened? Was it the concussion? Something else?
They’d done a lot of things to her when she was a teenager. It could have left her with health issues.
“I’m going with her,” I demanded, not letting go of her hand. I needed her to be okay.
“It’s okay, let them do their jobs,” Evan said, prying my hand from hers.
“But–” I stood there as they continued moving, with my Grace.
No, they couldn’t take her from me. Not again.
“Why don’t we go do the paperwork,” an alpha nurse said firmly. She sat me down in a waiting area with a tablet.
I wanted to stay with Grace. The form on the tablet was partially populated with all sorts of things. An address I didn’t recognize. A blood type. A partially incorrect birthdate. Me.
Mate: Wesley Lawson, Alpha
“Evan…”
My omega put an arm around me and leaned in close, lips brushing my ear. “So, I got a record going for her last night. It’s nowhere near done, but hopefully it’ll hold for now.”
“How do you even…” While I’d taught Evan a lot, he couldn’t create a government identity for someone.
Evan chewed on his lower lip. “Sometimes the Center gives omegas new identities. I used someone I trust implicitly.”
“Oh. That makes sense.” Not that the idea of an illegal record seemed any better than no record. “Gamma?” I didn’t know much about them.
“You didn’t see her slap Brennan. That was a total gamma move. I had to put her down as something, and that made the most sense with the information I have. I know it won’t hold up on a major scan, but we’ll build that in somehow,” he whispered. “We have to protect our Grace.”
Grace had slapped Brennan? No wonder he was in a mood. I wasn’t sure what slapping alphas had to do with designations, though.
“Let’s go over this together. Then, I need to call Spencer. I told Jett the same story you told Brennan. We’re going to need to brief Grace when she wakes. Lexi is right, this could get serious, quickly,” Evan said.
“You keep saying our. ” I looked at him, part of me pleased he liked her so much.
“Do you not like it?” His look went amused.
Oh, I did. Too much. All night I kept thinking about what Evan said about him watching her take my knot while she sucked his cock.
“Right now, you have to think like her mate, because in the eyes of the law you are, ” Evan told me. “I don’t know the staff here like I do at General or the hospital at my Center.”
Think like a mate. I nodded. “Grace likes pink and cookies.”
Evan chuckled. “She told me green. She’s older now. Her favorite ice cream is cookie dough.”
We went through the forms, then Evan left to make some calls. There were so many things I knew about Evan that I didn’t know about Grace, things a mate would know. Not to mention, I didn’t actually feel her like I did Evan.
I felt something though–little flickers through my still-raging headache.
Finally, the doctor came over to me. “Wes Lawson?”
I stood. “Can I see her?”
“Grace has had a couple of seizures. We’re getting some scans and running her bloodwork. Does she have a history of seizures? Her medical records are not very robust. We do have her records from the Center.” His tone dripped with judgment.
“I don’t think so.” I shook my head, not remembering her ever mentioning that. Of course, they did shock her when she was teenager.
“I see.” He asked me a few more questions.
“Can I see her? Will she be okay? When can I take her home?” I pressed, worry burrowing within me.
“We want to admit her and monitor her for a day or two to make sure there isn’t any permanent damage. Is she going to be okay here in the Omega Ward or should we have her transferred?” he asked.
“Here’s fine.” Mercy Hospital was the best, where else would they take her?
Omega Ward?
“Go wait on the second floor. The nurse will let you know when she’s ready for visitors. Someone should bring her things so that she’ll be more comfortable,” he added.
Things? I nodded. “Of course, Doctor. Thank you.”
He left, and I texted Evan, hoping he’d know.
Me
She’s being admitted, and might be here a few days. Doc says to bring her things.
Evan
On it.
Not knowing what else to do, I went up to the second floor to an area outside a guarded set of doors that said Omega Ward.
I sat there in the waiting room, letting Spencer know what was going on, and checking my emails from my phone. Unable to do much work from here, I started looking up seizures and concussions. Also, gammas.
Oh, gammas fell under omega law? Was that good or bad?
“Excuse me, Mr. Lawson? I’m Sharice, one of the hospital caseworkers. I’d like to chat with you about Grace.” Sharice was a no-nonsense middle-aged beta.
My belly sank. “Of course.”
“While I understand that she was attacked yesterday, she also has a lot of old injuries.” She gave me a look, as if I’d caused it.
Fuck. Stick as close to the truth as possible.
“Her parents were horrible. I know this looks bad, but I didn’t hurt her . Not yesterday, not ever,” I told her, hoping she believed me.
She asked me a bunch of questions, unimpressed by my answers. Where was Evan? I could use his help since he knew how to navigate all of this.
A large, imposing, man in a suit with a badge and a hard expression strode over to us, and my belly twisted.
“Sorry to interrupt, you are Mr. Lawson?” he asked.
“Yes.” My heart lodged in my throat.
“I’m Detective Orson. I’m taking over for Detective Lawson regarding Miss Ellington’s case,” he growled.
While that made sense, I’d rather deal with my sister.
“Doctor. She’s Doctor Ellington,” I corrected. I wanted to bristle at him, challenge him for even thinking I’d hurt my Grace. But that wouldn’t help.
“I’m going to take him down to the station for a little chat,” he told the social worker.
What did I do? Immediately asking for a lawyer would make me seem guilty. Think like a mate. If this were Evan, or one of my packmates, I’d cooperate.
I stood, trying to project innocence and confidence. “Of course. Whatever you need, Detective. Is it okay if I let my omega know? He went to get Grace’s things, and I want someone to be here when she’s allowed visitors.”
“Go ahead.” He started walking.
I followed, texting the group chat an update about Grace and that I was going to the station. Hopefully, this wouldn’t end with me being detained.