CHAPTER THREE - Lyla
The wait was made worse by the fact that neither Mariska nor Emberlee were answering their phones.
I considered going to find where the charity event was in the hospital, but I could barely stand with how terrified I was.
What was worse was that my mind kept drifting back to those two gorgeous EMTs.
Two Alphas. In Primrose House.
I couldn’t be mad about it. They’d saved Miss Eloise’s life. Yet Alphas in our space… Delicious smelling Alphas. I’d never scented anyone or anything that incredible before.
Ozzi was the valiant professional. He never missed a beat.
His black hair was slicked back and his sharp Mediterranean features made him look like a god fresh out of Olympus.
His intense dark eyes seemed to see everything.
His scent was just as exotic with hints of caramel, black sugar, and a wonderfully enchanting warm earthly myrrh.
His partner, Jason, was tall, blonde, and I wanted to eat him up.
He looked like he should’ve been on a beach surfing rather than driving an ambulance.
His voice was soothing as he talked to me, bringing me out of my cycle of panic.
A few times, I thought he was going to hug me, and hell, I really wanted him to.
His woodsy scent had a calming hint of lavender, making me want to wrap up in it and snuggle.
Nope. The last thing I wanted to do was lose my heart and soul to an Alpha.
I loved who I’d become, and I refused to be nothing but a breeder, living life in the shadow of a self-absorbed man.
It’s what Alphas tended to desire, and while the hunky paramedics were hot, no doubt they wanted the same thing. Besides, Miss Eloise needed me.
To help keep my mind busy, I texted Big Sisters and let them know what happened with Miss Eloise. I also sent messages to her sister who lived in the Virgin Islands with her pack, our neighbors, and half of Fond du Lac.
I paced around the little space Nellie had given me, and I kept peeking out into the waiting room proper for Mariska. Where was she? What person didn’t look at their phone every few minutes?
An hour went by. Two.
No word from the doctors. I was going out of my fucking mind.
Nellie brought me some water and offered some food, but I couldn’t eat. My stomach was a mess. I needed to hear about Miss Eloise. She had to be okay.
Three hours.
The next time I peeked out into the waiting room, I spotted Mariska in her pretty little Mrs. Claus outfit. I nearly knocked over my chair in my rush to get to her. “Mariska!”
I hugged her fiercely, needing her strength right now.
“Oh my God. I’m so sorry I didn’t have my phone on me. How’s she doing?” My usually calm best friend spoke in a rush. Her cheeks were flushed and her eyes were shimmering, close to crying. Yet she rubbed my arms and whipped my tears. “How are you doing? I’m so, so sorry.”
“They’re still doing some scans and other tests. When they bring her back to her room, we can go see her. But she still hasn’t regained consciousness since she collapsed.” I barely sucked back a sob. “They can’t tell me when, or even if she’ll wake up.”
“She’ll wake up. Miss Eloise wouldn’t miss Christmas for anything.” Mariska’s conviction helped release a teensy bit of my dread.
I leaned against her and tried to laugh. “No way would she miss it.”
Balthazar, who I totally didn’t even register was there, put his hand on Mariska’s shoulder. A very familiar touch, it seemed. “Do you girls need anything? I can get you some water and snacks, or if you’re hungry for dinner, I’ll fetch whatever you feel like.”
“Water for sure. Do you feel like eating anything, Lyla?” Mariska turned to me. “Maybe a butter burger? We haven’t been out to Culver’s since, oh, last week.”
Food wasn’t even on my mind, but damn my girl, she mentioned butter burgers and my mouth wouldn’t say no.
“Well, I don’t know. Maybe. I don’t want to be a burden.
” My stomach perked up and gave me a nudge that we could handle our most favorite food in the world.
“Okay. A butter burger. I haven’t eaten since, uh, breakfast. I forgot lunch since I was getting you ready for your Mrs. Claus gig.
” Speaking of which, I hadn’t missed how the big Alpha looked at my bestie.
I raised my brows and smirked at him. “You’re welcome. ”
Balthazar smiled. “You must be one of Santa’s elves with the magic you worked.” Flatterer. I loved it! “Thank you. So a half dozen butter burgers, fries, drinks, and concrete mixers?”
“What? No.” Mariska scoffed.
Surely she needed some food after her day too. My stomach made a sound that was more insistent. “Well, maybe…”
“I’ll load up.” Balthazar nodded. “Text me if you think of anything else you want, and if you get called into Eloise’s room.”
“We will. Thanks.” Mariska smiled this goofy smile at him. Did I see a Christmas miracle? Was she falling for hunky Santa there?
Once Balthazar left, Mariska pulled me to one side. “Tell me what happened.”
I leaned my head on her shoulder, despite her being five inches shorter than me. She was my rock. “I was in the kitchen baking. Today was fruitcake day.”
“Ew.” Mariska crinkled her face with disgust, and I poked her for it.
“I know you don’t like it, but my homemade recipe is a lot of people’s favorite.
Miss Eloise was doing some sorting and wrapping of some gifts she was donating to Big Sisters.
She came in and out of the kitchen showing me stuff and bagging the cookies we made yesterday to add in with the presents.
” God, I didn’t want to remember this part.
Not how unnerving it was when Miss Eloise tried to talk and then smile.
“The last time she came in, she stumbled and couldn’t seem to walk straight.
She started to tell me about something, but the words weren’t making sense.
I asked if she was okay, and when she smiled, one side of her face didn’t move.
I knew right then it was a stroke and was coming to her to get her to sit or lie down, but she lost consciousness and fell. I called nine-one-one right away.”
“I’m so glad you were there with her.” Mariska gave me a squeeze. “The faster the response, the better.”
“The ambulance was there in less than ten minutes. The longest minutes of my life.” Feeling the tears coming again, I buried my face against her Santa coat. Wait. Not her coat. That was Balthazar’s.
“I’m sorry you had to go through that, but you did well. You recognized the stroke for what it was and got help. You’re so brave. Elsa would be proud.”
She was cute trying to Disney Princess talk with me, but Emberlee did that much better. “Thanks, Rapunzel.” Emberlee and I had given her that name, and she went with it. Yet fingering the fur of the coat, there was a better name for her now. “Actually, I’m going to start calling you Mrs. Claus.”
Mariska grimaced. “Please don’t.”
“Well, your hair held out but your makeup has partially worn off. I can see your rosy cheeks. Why do you have Santa’s coat?
” I sat back and motioned to the whole messy image of my bestie.
She might be embarrassed, but I was thankful for anything to take my mind off Miss Eloise. “And where are the leggings?”
Mariska immediately blushed. “Some things happened and the leggings got ripped. But I promise to buy you new ones. An extra pair on top of that too.”
Right. Like I’d let her pick out leggings for me.
They’d just be black. I tugged on the collar so I could see her face, and then when she hid behind it again, I pulled it back harder and glimpsed at her neck.
I gasped at the enormous bruise she was concealing.
“Mari! Where did you get that giant hickey?”
She covered it up. “You didn’t see anything.”
“I most certainly did.” I peeked down at her neck again.
“Wow. So let me guess…” I thought about all the romantic scenarios, and it made me giddy for her.
She deserved happiness. She deserved all the good things in life, even the naughty stuff.
“Santa saw his Mrs. Claus looking super sexy and couldn’t resist. That’s why you have his coat on, and why you lost the leggings. ”
“Ripped, not lost.” Mariska winced at her own words.
“Details, girl. How can such a thing happen at a charity event with tons of children running around?” I leaned in, eager for all the steamy gossip.
Mariska caved in and told me in her almost clinical yet gushing way. Yup. My bestie was falling hard. When she was with Jack, she never lit up like this. He never realized what an incredible person she was, and screw him, he lost out. Hopefully these Christmas tree farm Alphas were more worthy.
I was trying to get the details of what Balthazar was packing when a nurse called me.
Everything in me went tense again. I gripped Mariska’s hand as we went back to Miss Eloise’s room and almost burst out in tears to see our housemother hooked up to so many machines.
It was like something out of some sci-fi horror, and our poor Miss Eloise was being used as the heart of an AI or being drained for energy.
My brain went numb as the doctor spoke to us. Something about the tiny clot size, stopped bleeding, and how they wouldn’t know anything until Miss Eloise woke up. Then there would be tests, tests, and more tests. Hadn’t they done enough already?
He expected her to make a full recovery, but I wasn’t feeling any relief. It would take time. Miss Eloise would need rehabilitation and more treatment if anything else popped up. What shook me more was the fact she wouldn’t be home for Christmas.
Christmas. She couldn’t miss Christmas.
I stared at Miss Eloise for a while after the doctor and nurse left. She was the heart of Primrose House. The heart of this whole fucking town. She deserved all the love and laughter of Christmas. I would find a way to bring it to her.