CHAPTER TEN - Jason
Anxiety tore at my gut. “Shelley said Lyla hasn’t been in all day. No one except the staff has been in to see Eloise.”
I’d searched for Lyla in the morning before our Friday shift, and popped by Eloise’s room twice during the day. Now it was eight, our seemingly never-ending shift was over, but still no Lyla. Why wasn’t she here? Had something happened to her? Nothing would keep her from being by Eloise’s side.
Ozzi glanced up from his report. “A major snow storm is slamming into us. Everyone is staying at home. Well, except the ones we had to pull out of their flipped trucks today. Lyla’s a smart girl and stayed indoors.”
“But what if her power is out and she freezes? Or if she doesn’t have enough food? What if someone breaks into the house, and I’ll fucking kill them!” My heart pounded in my chest. The urge to go to her and protect her from the world was strangling me.
“Calm down, man.” Ozzi was always the most zen of Alphas. It worked out good for me because I easily lost my shit and he could calm me. “If you’re that worried, we’ll stop by and see her, bring her some food. Yaya would never forgive either of us if we let a young woman starve.”
“We can’t disappoint Yaya.” I bobbed my head and thrust my half-finished report at him. “Here. You’re faster at the paperwork. I’m going to be a proper gentle Alpha and stop by Eloise’s room to get permission to go to Primrose House. Plus maybe she can tell me Lyla’s favorite food.”
Ozzi sighed as he took the paper. “All right. Just be quick about it. If we’re stopping by Primrose House, we want to get there soon before our road is impassable.”
Which it probably already was. We both knew it too. While we lived five minutes from the hospital on a good day, our house was off a back road, and it wouldn’t be a priority for the town to plow.
I didn’t wait for Ozzi to say anything else. Taking off out of the room, I made a beeline for the long term care wing and room one eighteen. I knocked softly as I could see Eloise’s roomie was already sleeping.
“Come in.” Eloise’s quiet voice came from behind the curtain which separated the two beds.
I slipped in and smiled to see Eloise sitting up in bed with a book propped up against her water jug on her overbed table. “Hi Eloise. How are you doing?”
“Jason.” She placed a slip of paper into the book to mark her place. “So sweet of you to stop by. I’m doing well. It’s been a quiet day.”
“Yeah, big storm.” As if she couldn’t tell that already!
For some reason, a flutter in my belly made me feel like a young teen getting ready to ask a girl out for the first time.
Lyla had made me feel all sorts of things the past few days.
“Do you have everything you need? Water, snacks, anything else? Ozzi and I are done with our shift, and we’ll be off for the weekend. ”
“Don’t tell me you boys are working through Christmas then?” Eloise tsked.
I shrugged and grinned. “We don’t mind. It gives the other EMTs with kids and visiting families a chance to be with them. Besides, we’ll go over to my parents’ house Christmas evening for a turkey dinner and gifts.”
“You’re such good boys.” Eloise reached and patted my hand. It was a whole-hearted gesture but physically weak. Must be why she had her book propped up against the jug. “I have everything I need, thank you. One of my girls will be by tomorrow with anything else.”
Likely not with the storm, but I didn’t want to make her sad before I asked her about Primrose House. More so, about Lyla. Would she let us see her without a chaperon? Or let me hug Lyla, kiss her all over, hold her and never let go?
Shit. I was in so deep.
“I was thinking about stopping by and checking on Lyla, maybe bringing her some food. Would it be all right if Ozzi and I went to Primrose House?”
“That would be lovely if you could check on her. She texted me and said she’s fine, but Lyla’s a person who thrives with other people around.
” Eloise nodded and pursed her lips for half a minute.
“Lyla has a sweet tooth. She’d love anything sweet, but there’s a burger she loves…
” She crinkled her face, forming deep wrinkles. “I can’t remember…”
“It’s okay. I’m not sure any place will be open, but we’ll pick her up something.
” We’d take care of Lyla. Forever, if she’d let us.
The thought, no, the emotion hit me hard.
My lips moved as fast as my heart. “I want you to know I really like Lyla, and I want to date her, ask her out, uh, court her. I’ve never met any woman like her.
She’s not just gorgeous, but amazing. I can’t stop thinking about her, and dammit, I’m sorry.
It’s inappropriate of me to say these things. ”
Eloise chuckled softly and gazed at me with a look like she knew it all already.
“No, honey, don’t you apologize for being fond of my girl.
She is amazing. She needs someone who can see her light.
” She leaned her head back, eyes starting to droop.
“Take care of her. Lyla might say she doesn’t need anyone, especially not an Alpha, but you could be the right one.
Take care of her in any way she’ll let you, because she may not think I noticed, but she needs you.
Your partner too. He’s such a nice young man. ”
I blinked. Did she just give me permission to date Lyla? And there wouldn’t be a chaperon. The amount of trust she placed in me… “Thank you.” I lifted her hand and kissed the back of it. Fucking right! “Thank you!”
Swallowing the urge to shout out with joy, I gave her hand a gentle squeeze. “I will be respectful and patient and kind. I will give her the world. And Ozzi is the best man I know. He’ll make sure I keep my promises.”
“Good. Now go on and let an old woman sleep.” Eloise was barely keeping her eyes open, but there was a small smile on her lips.
I closed her book, moved her table, and switched off her light. Tucking her in, I made certain the nurse’s call button was by her hand. “Have a good sleep, Eloise. If you need anything, just tell one of the nurses, and I’ll get whatever you need.”
She murmured something, but sleep was taking her fast. I left the room striding back toward the paramedics’ office with pep in my step.
Lyla.
I picked up my pace. We couldn’t get to Primrose House fast enough.
Ozzi would see she was perfect for both of us. So what if his parents were going to pair him up with some snobby Omega at New Year’s dinner. What they wanted was not what he needed. Ozzi was even more of a romantic than I was. He was a fucking proper Darcy like in those girly regency movies.
I would make this work all around.
Ozzi had completed the reports and was putting on his coat as I arrived. He raised his brows in question.
“Permission granted, man.” I laughed. I couldn’t stop myself. While any other time I might have been tired from working extra shifts this week, I was fully energized. “Permission granted.”
He rolled his eyes, but I saw him smile. “We have chains on the truck, but we still have to take it slow. Did you find out what Lyla’s favorite food is?”
“She has a sweet tooth, and she likes burgers. I don’t know what’s going to be open though. We should just pick up whatever we can. Fuck knows I’m starving.” I could eat a twenty pound turkey myself at the moment, but more than food, I wanted to see Lyla.
The wind slammed into us the second we opened the exit door. We shielded our faces inside our coats and walked swiftly toward our Ford Explorer. Ozzi turned on the engine to warm it up as we both cleared the vehicle of snow. We did it without talking and with more haste than usual.
Yeah, he wanted to see Lyla as badly as I did.
We hopped in once we were done with Ozzi in the driver’s seat.
I turned on the music and tapped my hand on the armrest. “Wendy’s is the closest place, but I bet you they’re closed.
They close even if we’re due for an inch of snow.
” I snorted. An inch was nothing. We were going to get at least a foot tonight.
“Maybe Baby Joe’s might be open. John lives in the apartment above it.
There’s also the Culver’s down the street a bit farther. ”
“I know. Let’s just take it as it comes. The lot here is cleared and the main street looks okay as far as I can see, but that doesn’t mean other places are.” Ozzi focused on the road. The ice and snow crunched beneath our chains. Fuck, I wished he would go faster.
“Wendy’s is definitely closed.” The sign wasn’t lit up or else it would be visible as we exited the lot even with the swirling snow. I mentally plotted the fastest route to Primrose House. “Go downtown. Baby Joe’s should be open.”
“Call. It will save us from going that way if they’re closed.” Yup, Ozzi was the logical one.
I looked up the number and tapped it to send in a call. It rang and rang, but no one answered. Shit. “Closed.”
“Let’s head to Culver’s.” Ozzi was still driving at a snail’s pace. We hadn’t seen anyone else out on the road and for good reason. Some of the side roads we passed were blocked in with snow drifts. No way we’d get home tonight.
I sighed. “We might have to crash at my parents’ house.”
“Yeah, I figured we would.” He didn’t let his eyes leave the road for a second. We weren’t sliding, but his knuckles were white with how tightly he clutched the wheel.
“Or we could be stuck at Primrose House.” I eyed him for his reaction.
His jaw twitched. “That’s not appropriate, man. It’s a place for Omegas. It’s one thing when we had to go in and save Eloise, and another that we’re checking on the welfare of Lyla, but we need to respect their space.”
“Eloise gave us permission.” I reminded him and grinned. “She also gave us permission to date Lyla, if she wants us. Not just date, but her literal words were ‘take care of her in any way she needs.’ Any. Way.”
Ozzi’s head swung toward me and he gaped. “You did not ask Eloise that!”
“I surely fucking did.” I chuckled.
“Fucking hell.” He grunted and took a slow turn which would take us to Culver’s. “That’s not proper in the current situation. Not with Eloise recovering from a stroke and Lyla being so shaken up about it, and now with the worst December storm we’ve had in years—”
“I couldn’t stop myself. I want Lyla. She’s perfect for us.” I wasn’t going to apologize for it. It might not be an ideal situation, but I was honest about how I felt. I had never wanted an Omega as much as I wanted Lyla.
“For you. She’s perfect for you.” Ozzi groaned and stopped at a red light. “My family would never approve of Lyla. Besides, they have an Omega for me to meet on New Year’s Day. Thea Alexpoulos.”
“Who cares? You’re not obligated to marry Thea. Give Lyla a chance, man.” I couldn’t understand how he didn’t see her as the greatest Omega ever. In my head, we were already spending the night at Primrose House. The more time he had with Lyla, the more he’d fall for her.
“Yaya had a dream about Thea. She’s the one.” Ozzi announced this with complete seriousness and like the decree of a queen.
Ozzi’s grandmother was a hoot. A little wacky and stuffed full of old world superstitions. I adored her, but Yaya having dreams that told the future was too far out there for me. It always surprised me when Ozzi gave the dreams weight. “Seriously?”
“Yes. She said I would find my mate very soon.” He nodded and turned toward the Culver’s which did have its lights on. “She’s very excited about it.”
“So she specifically said Thea is your mate?” I wasn’t going to call it bullshit because he’d be pissed, but it was exactly that.
“Yaya didn’t name her. She said she couldn’t even see her in the dream, but Yaya told me that right after my mom informed me Thea would be at the New Year’s Day dinner with her family. That’s more than just a coincidence.”
I rolled my eyes. Total bullshit. “Whatever, man.” He would change his mind once he got to know Lyla. “Let’s just get some burgers and go to Primrose House.”
There were only two people in Culver’s and no other customers. We got five bags of food and pointed our truck toward Primrose House. Thankfully we could stay on Main Street most of the way, because once we turned onto the block that Primrose House was on, the road became much more treacherous.
“I think we should park here and walk the rest of the way.” Ozzi slowed to a stop.
I shook my head and motioned him forward. “We can make it. We can shovel out her driveway if need be.”
“We might get stuck.”
That was the plan. “We’ll be fine.”
We made it to the end of the driveway and got stuck.
The ground dipped where the road met the sidewalk and the drift was deeper there than we expected.
Ozzi shot me a look as he switched off the engine.
We weren’t blocking the street, and it wasn’t like any other car was going to come along any time soon.
We grabbed the bags of food and hopped out of the Explorer. Ozzi didn’t say a thing to me as we trudged through the snow to the porch. Someone had shoveled the front, but snow was already piling up again.
I was at the door first and pressing the bell. The energy in me was equal to a happy dog wagging their tail a mile a minute. Ozzi walked up beside me, still being stubborn and not looking at me. I smirked, and I was about to ring the bell a second time when the door swung open.
Lyla stood there with her golden blonde hair mussed and a flush in her cheeks.
She wore some wacky gingerbread men Christmas sweater which stretched the line of cookies tantalizingly over her chest. There was scotch tape on her sleeves and a tiny smudge of chocolate on her jaw.
She stared at us with her mouth forming a little ‘o.’
Even in this chaotic state, she was beautiful. In fact, I loved this look even more. Messy, rosy skin, and chest heaving with each breath.
Before I could say anything, Lyla grabbed Ozzi and I by the front of our coats and yanked us into the house.