Chapter Nine
Bennett
June
Oakley and Ally were still standing beside Felix’s bed when I stepped back into the room. Ally held one of his hands in hers, talking softly to him.
Oakley looked up as I entered, her dark blue eyes full of sympathy as she walked toward me and pulled me into a hug.
Even though Oak and I were the farthest apart in age, we had become very close after our parents died in a car accident when we were teenagers.
Wyatt’s parents had taken us all in and finished raising us, and I’d never stop being grateful to them for what they did.
Ally chose to lean on Wyatt during that time, leaving Oak and I to support each other.
I loved both of my sisters, but Oakley and I were used to being vulnerable around each other in a way that Ally rarely was with us.
She saved that side of herself for Wyatt.
“Ally’s been telling Felix about the time Mom and Dad caught you with your first girlfriend,” Oakley said as she pulled back.
“Seriously?” I asked, narrowing my eyes at Ally. “Haven’t you told him enough embarrassing stories about me over the last three months?”
“There are so many more, and I thought it might entertain him,” she said, smiling proudly.
I shook my head. “Whatever, I’m glad someone other than me is talking to him. He’s probably getting sick of my voice.”
“Probably,” Ally said before turning back to Felix. “I’ll finish the story later, but it ends with Bennett running into the hallway with his underwear around his ankles giving all of us a full view of Little Bennett saluting the family.”
Oakley covered her mouth and snickered. “That is a pretty good story.”
I walked back over to the bed and grabbed Felix’s other hand, squeezing.
“This might be the first moment that I’ve hoped you can’t actually hear everything we’re saying, handsome.
” I leaned forward and kissed his forehead.
“But if you can, then I hope you enjoyed that visual. It was as awkward as it sounds.”
Ally dropped his hand and tipped her chin toward the array of monitors and bags of medicine behind Felix’s bed.
“One of the nurses came in and said to tell you they’ve switched his pain meds.
You likely won’t see many withdrawal effects because of his other meds, but you may notice him sweating. She said not to be concerned about it.”
I nodded, eyes filling again as I thought about him having to go through withdrawal at all. “He’s already done the hard work,” I said, my voice cracking. “He shouldn’t have to go through this again.”
“Aw, Benny,” Oakley said, quickly wrapping her arms around me. I sank against her petite frame and draped myself over her shoulders as I lost control, sobbing loudly.
“How the fuck did we get here?” I cried.
She rubbed my back. “He’s going to be okay.”
Ally’s hand closed around my shoulder. “He’s strong. He did this once and he can do it again. You’ll be there for him the whole time.”
I nodded against Oakley’s neck, marking her just enough for comfort. With two alpha siblings, she was used to the gesture of affection.
A loud beeping sound made me jump to attention as I whipped my head around to face Felix. The machine monitoring his heart rate and blood pressure seemed responsible for the noise and I watched in horror as the numbers dropped quickly.
“Get a nurse,” I yelled as I dashed back to his side.
Oakley ran out of the room while Ally stepped closer to me, squeezing my shoulder as we waited, completely helpless.
Julia came running into the room with Oakley following behind and she quickly looked over each of the meds.
“What the hell?” she said, quickly turning off one of the pumps.
She flicked a few other switches and the steady decline of his blood pressure slowed.
“Get into the bed and hold him, it might help regulate him faster.”
I slid back onto the bed and pulled Felix into my arms. It wasn’t easy with all the tubes and wires keeping him alive, but I got my arms around him and curled around his side, my tears dripping on his shoulder.
“What happened?” I asked.
Julia looked at Ally and Oakley warily before facing me. “I’m not sure. I might have a guess, but I don’t think it’s a good idea to share it until I can investigate this further.”
“Why?” I growled.
“Probably because you’ve been growling at everyone for the last twenty-four hours,” Oak said, sitting down in the corner.
“Just tell me,” I said.
Julia took a deep breath. “It looks like there was an error made in the amount of methadone Felix was receiving. He was receiving too much, too quickly and that was the cause of the decline in his heart rate and blood pressure.”
“The other nurse who was just in here? Did she make the mistake?” Ally asked.
“I don’t know the answer to that,” Julia said.
“It could have been an administration error or a problem with the order put in by the doctor. Either way, I’ve stopped it for now and we’ll let his body regulate and restart it again in an hour or so.
I’ll let Dr. Tanaka know what happened so she can adjust his treatment if she feels it’s necessary. ”
“Who was the nurse?” I asked.
“Bennett, let it go,” Oak said.
I bared my teeth at her. “I will not.”
She rolled her eyes and looked at the nurse. “Two alpha siblings. I’ve been dealing with this shit my whole life.”
Julia chuckled. “My siblings and I are all betas, so I can’t imagine.”
“I don’t want that nurse in here again,” I said.
“Of course,” Julia said. “I’ll let Dr. Tanaka and our nurse supervisor know.”
“Thank you,” I said.
When she left the room Ally sighed. “You want me to call Wyatt, don’t you?”
“Yes, and tell him not to pass me off to Donovan this time. I want him to do a background check on the nurse. Actually, make that Felix’s entire care team.”
“You’re going to make yourself sick with worry, Bennett,” Oakley said.
“Going to?” Ally grumbled as she grabbed her phone and moved toward the door. “I assume you think the medication error wasn’t really a mistake?”
“I think it’s convenient that the second I was out of the room a mistake like that was made and I’m sure it all ties back to Ryder,” I said.
“Cool, so we’re just full on launching into conspiracy theories. Wyatt is going to love this phone call.” Ally stepped out of the room and Oakley stood up.
“Not to encourage you, because you hardly need it at this point,” Oak said as she moved to the chair beside Felix’s bed, “but the nurse who hung up his medication stepped out of the room and immediately started texting someone. Julia checked on him a few minutes later and I saw the other nurse watching her carefully.”
“Like she didn’t want Julia to catch her mistake?” I asked.
“I don’t know. I just noticed it. The texting in particular caught my attention. Maybe you’re making us all paranoid now.”
“It could mean nothing,” I said, holding Felix tighter.
Oakley tossed her hands in the air. “Okay, sorry, I didn’t realize we were back to rational interpretations of events. But you also said you still don’t know how Ryder got in yesterday and my money’s on someone who works here, so puzzle that out while you’re working through your theories.”
“Thank you,” I said.
“For feeding your insanity? No problem.” She stood up and squeezed my elbow. “I’ll bring you dinner later.”
“Thanks. Can you also try to track down Calvin and see if he has plans to show up to work for the rest of the week? I’m going to be here, and it would be nice not to lose a week’s worth of appointments.”
“Calvin gives me the creeps. I’ll ask Donovan or Reid to find him for you.”
“Thank you,” I said.
“You’re welcome. I’ll see you later, Ben.
” She walked out the door before turning back around.
“Felix’s body is responding to you in a way that is strong, even for a well-connected alpha and omega.
When you weren’t in the room his heart rate was higher and his muscles were more rigid. But you’re not bonded still, right?”
“No,” I said, filled with sorrow at the reminder.
“Do you remember when Mom spent a week in the hospital with pneumonia when we were kids?”
I nodded.
“I asked her once why she was always calmer when Dad was holding her. Why her body reacted so strongly that it transcended modern medicine.”
“What did she say?” I asked, fighting back tears again.
“That it was something that only happened between true mates. A lot of people thought it was a myth, but she assured me it wasn’t. She told me I’d understand when I found my true mate.”
I kissed Felix’s forehead and a tear dropped onto his cheek as I stared at him.
“I’m glad you found yours, Benny. He’s really lucky to have you,” she said, giving me a sad smile and leaving before I could think of a response.
If everyone else can see it, why didn’t he?