Chapter Four
Brennan
My phone buzzed as I walked back toward the Omega Ward.
Evan
Something’s wrong. You need to get her.
Me
Trying.
I checked my email again. There it was. I’d started trying to obtain the court order the moment they separated us from Grace at the hospital.
It would cost me because this was the judge who helped me yesterday.
But, I felt like she’d be sympathetic since she already knew some of Grace’s story.
A vacation at one of my resorts for her pack was well worth Grace’s safety.
Guilt ate at me. Maybe we should have made Grace part of the pack sooner. No, Jett was right. Being cautious about bringing someone into the pack was normal. Also, the legal process of adding someone took time, especially with her falling under omega law.
How were we to know all this would happen?
The court order would work for now. Who knew what the universe would throw at us next?
No. I shouldn’t tempt fate like that. With Grace, the literal universe could throw actual things at us.
The delta at the double doors leading to the locked Omega Ward glared at me. “I told you, I can only let in someone who’s pack or an emergency contact, and not that guy who I was told not to let in.”
I showed him my phone. “This is a court order placing Grace Ellington in my pack’s care. I’ll give you any documentation you need. But please, let me in. She’s all alone and scared.”
He studied it. I showed him my ID.
“I’ll let you in, but they might not allow you to go to her room.” He opened the door.
“Thank you.” I went into the ward, which looked just as comfortable as the one in Rockland, with pastel walls, paintings, and soft music.
A woman in pink scrubs looked up at me from behind a desk. “Can I help you?”
“I’m here to see Grace Ellington.” I smiled at her.
Her eyes narrowed. “I won’t hesitate to throw you out like the other one.”
Once again, I showed her everything. She printed out a sticker with Grace’s name and room number on it.
“The officers left a bit ago, so I think you can go in? If there’s still an officer at the door and they don’t let you in, please don’t tackle them?” She gave me a pleading look.
Is that what Wes did? Not that I blamed him. If someone was keeping Evan or Jett away from me, I’d do the same.
“Of course, thank you.” I put the sticker on my shirt and went down the hall.
Two guys in pink scrubs were gossiping at one of the nursing stations.
“You brought the patient in 317 dinner, right, and called her pack? They said she could have her pack now,” a doctor asked as she walked by.
“Yes, I brought her dinner along with a blanket,” one of them nodded. “Her pack is unresponsive, I’m guessing that they abandoned her.”
The doctor frowned. “They’re probably busy with the pack member who is on the second floor. Maybe bring in Liz?”
“She’s gone for the day, but I’ll call for a social worker.” He waved her off, and the doctor hurried down the hall.
What? 317 was Grace’s room. I texted the group chat.
Me
Did anyone from the Omega Ward reach out to you? They’re saying they did, and we were unresponsive.
Wes
They didn’t text me. Also, I have her phone.
Evan
Not me. Not Spencer's phone either.
Jett
Nope.
Oh? I looked over at the nurses. The gossips paid me no attention.
“Did you really?” one asked, looking scandalized. “I wouldn’t.”
The other laughed. “Of course not. She shouldn’t even be here.”
I turned down the hall, and my belly twisted. Everything felt off. Evan’s words came back to me. Something’s wrong.
While all the other doors had placards with the patient's name and designation, Grace’s had none. There was no officer at the door. The window blinds were open, and it looked like she was sleeping, in her bikini, no blanket.
A sour-sweet smell, like rotten fruit, made my nose twitch. I put my hand on the door. Locked.
Why the fuck was her door locked?
This wasn’t right.
I kicked the door; then I kicked it again.
An alpha came out of the room next to hers. “What are you doing?”
“They fucking locked her in there.” Anger bubbled inside me. How dare they treat anyone like that, let alone Grace?
“Isn’t she a criminal? I saw the police here.” The alpha gave me a wary look.
Another door opened, and someone stared at me.
“A criminal? Why would you even think of that? My mate is a police officer; they question people at hospitals all the time. Her mate was stabbed, and she had a seizure.” I looked at him like he was an idiot.
I kicked the door again, and it flew open. The smell of rotten peaches rolled over me–a scent reminiscent of the night that she spiraled.
“Fuck.” I ran into the room and pressed the call button, which didn’t work. Why didn’t it work?
Shouldn’t an alarm have sounded when she started spiraling? A glance at the monitor that she was attached to showed that it was off. Shit. I started undoing her from everything so that I could get her out of here.
Grace’s tiny form was crumpled into a ball. Her skin felt clammy. Tears stained her face.
What the fuck happened?
I scooped her up and kissed her forehead, which tasted of sweat, fear, and sadness. “Come on, Grace. Let’s get you out of here. You’ll feel better with your mates.”
Hopefully. But I wasn’t about to leave her here. How dare they?
“What are you doing? Are you supposed to be in here?” The doctor from before stood in the doorway.
“I’m her head alpha, and I’m taking her out of here. You locked her in a room, turned off her monitors, and disabled the call button. You’re making her sick,” I shouted, clutching Grace’s clammy body to my chest, as I threw a sheet over her.
The doctor looked confused. “Locked? We unlocked it when the police left. It took a moment to make sure she was cleared, but her mates were notified that they could see her.”
“I literally had to kick her door in–and no one notified any of us.” I brushed past the doctor.
“You probably just missed the text. You can’t just take her,” the doctor said.
“Watch me. How can you even call yourselves medical professionals? No one should be treated like this, especially someone whose mate was stabbed. She should have been moved in with him as soon as he was out of surgery, not locked in a room and denied us.” I carried her toward the exit.
“It’s going to be okay, Little Butterfly. I’ve got you.”
“Security, security,” shouted the guy in pink scrubs who said he’d called us.
“It’s a good thing my arms are full, or I’d punch you. You didn’t call us. Are you the one who locked her in? Did you turn off the monitors? Certainly, you didn’t bring her a blanket or dinner. I’ll have your license. If anything happens to her, so help me,” I growled.
“She’s a fucking variant. She shouldn’t even be here,” he snapped back.
Moving Grace to my right arm, my left fist hit him in the face.
“Variant? What the fuck are you talking about? She’s a gamma and mated to Spencer fucking Thanukos. Do you have any idea what you’ve done?” I snarled. “Even if she was, how dare you treat anyone like that? Don’t you all swear oaths?”
The scent of her spiral was strong, and everyone in this unit probably knew what it meant.
“Let’s take her back into her room. We’ll get her some medicine and blankets. You can stay with her. Spirals can be dangerous,” the doctor said.
Security ran over. “Is there a problem?”
“Yes. We’re wasting time. I need to get her to her mates since not only did this spiral happen on your watch, you caused it,” I snapped, wishing I had time to punch that nurse again, but continuing to stride down the hallway instead.
“I think you should bring her back to her room.” A security guard blocked me.
My growl filled the hallway–a primal noise that made some of the staff shake.
“And let you hurt her more? You’ll be hearing from our lawyers.” Holding Grace tight, I broke into a run, taking her down the hallway and going past the desk. No one messed with our pack–or treated us like this.
The woman at the desk shot me a startled look. “Wait, should you–”
Ignoring her, I burst through the doors, the guard looking surprised.
“Don’t fucking try me, they could have killed her,” I called, as I kept moving. I’d already wasted too much time.
“Hold on, Grace.” I headed straight for the stairs. “We’re going to get you tucked in next to Spencer. Evan can snuggle with you. Wes and Jett are there, too. Riley even saved you some pizza.”
Exiting on the second floor, I ran straight past the desk and the nurses' station.
“Wait, sir?” Someone called after me.
“She’s spiraling, I need to get her to her mates,” I yelled, still not stopping.
I ran into the room, and everyone looked at me. Evan sat on the couch between Jett and Wes. Riley was on her phone.
“Here you go, Little Butterfly. You cuddle right there,” I whispered, tucking her into Spencer’s good side.
“I smell that. What the fuck happened?” Wes stood up.
“Evan, can you squish in here so that she’s in between you two? Your snuggles fixed her last time. Can someone get another blanket? She’s only in her bathing suit.” I covered her with the one on the bed.
“I will.” Riley ran out.
“Fuck.” Evan squashed into the bed, sandwiching her between him and Spencer. “I’ve got you, Peaches. You’re safe here between Spencer and me. Wes is with us.”
Evan’s purr filled the room. Wes got in as close as he could, stroking her hair as his purr joined Evan’s.
The nurse who had been checking on him ran in. “You said that she’s spiraling?”
“Yeah. But I don’t want anyone from the Omega Ward anywhere near her, especially the person I punched in the face. I might get banned for that.” But Grace was worth it.
“I’ll get a doctor in here.” The nurse left.
“What happened?” Jett put a hand on my shoulder.
Riley came back in with an armful of blankets and started heaping them over Grace and Evan.
Quickly, I told them what I’d found, what I’d overheard, and what happened.
Wes looked stricken. “They did what? Fuck. Maybe I shouldn’t have tried to get to her.”