Chapter 24
Chapter Twenty-Four
MIA
I ride with Leo to the hospital, but once we’re set up in one of the Emergency Room suites, they take him away for blood tests and imaging scans. Leo has this handy little guide that tells the nurses and doctors exactly what he needs because apparently this disease is rare.
I learn this and so much while we wait for the results of all his tests. Aiden and Noah are there when Leo returns, and now it’s just a matter of waiting.
I also learn something I hadn’t much considered before. I knew I was falling for all of my alphas. But as Leo was taken away for tests and imaging, and while I waited for Noah and Aiden to get there, all I could think was:
One of the loves of my life might be dying.
It hit me then, only during this , that I love them.
God, I love them all. But can we survive as a pack after this horrific weekend?
I’ve pulled up a chair as close to his hospital bed as is comfortable for him. Leo hasn’t said much but I understand why. So all I can do is comfort and reassure him.
Aiden and Noah do much the same as well as field calls and messages from Wes. He’s supposed to get here to see us, but something is holding him up, although I’m not sure what it is at this point.
Finally, Leo seems to perk up enough to talk. He even reaches for my hand and squeezes it. “Thank you. All of you. This… isn’t easy. Honestly, I’m kind of terrified.”
I lean down and gently place a kiss on his hand. “Anything, Leo. Always.”
“We’re with you, man,” Noah adds.
Leo smiles warmly down at me and then nods to Aiden and Noah. “I’m sorry we’re going to miss another set.”
Noah levels him with a hard glance. “Seriously? It’s not important. Your wellbeing is.”
Aiden lifts an eyebrow but doesn’t have to say a word. What do you think we are, Lost Time?
“We agreed health and life before the band,” I say in Aiden’s stead. “As if we could even go on stage without you. Just focus on getting better.”
Leo frowns. “There’s no getting better from this, Mia. It just storms to the surface and takes what it wants, when it wants, and leaves nothing but razed bodies behind.”
“Dramatic,” Noah murmurs with enough sarcasm to let us know he’s not being serious.
The curtain around Leo’s hospital bed draws open and Dr. Norton appears. He’s been assigned to Leo since we got here. The severe look on his face coupled with his tight grip on his tablet says he wishes he wasn’t. “Mr. Altis is not wrong.”
I stand up quickly. “Is he going to be okay?”
Leo reaches for my hand again. “Mia.”
Dr. Norton looks past me to Leo and raises his tablet. “Your inflammation markers are, to no surprise, at severe levels. Your scans and imaging show the presence of some damage to your lungs, and I wouldn’t be surprised if as the pain in your arms wears off you feel some neuropathy start to set in.”
Leo closes his eyes and shakes his head. “I already have, in my fingers.”
I look between him and the doctor as the hole shearing open in my heart starts to grow. “So what happens next? You’ll treat him, right?”
Leo squeezes my hand.
Dr. Norton inhales sharply. “You’re not from here, correct?”
Leo shakes his head. “No, so I’m assuming you’ll recommend I get home as soon as possible.”
“Yes.” The doctor taps away on his tablet. “We’ll forward everything to your primary care provided and send you on your way with more steroids. But your rheumatologist will have to arrange treatment immediately.”
Leo’s face falls as the rest of us shift uncomfortably. This is the worst fucking news after the worst weekend ever. “I’ll call them. Thank you, Doctor.”
“I’m sorry I don’t have better news for you, Mr. Altis,” the doctor says.
“It’s okay,” Leo whispers. But it’s not. It’s not okay at all. “I guess the disease was bound to come out of remission at some point.”
“My guess is you’ve overdone it,” Dr. Norton says. “Rest, another round of treatments. That’s your focus now.”
“Yeah.” Leo sounds miles away.
I share looks with Aiden and Noah. I know before we’re back at the tour bus, with Leo discharged from the hospital and sleeping in his bunk, exactly how this is going to go.
How it should go.
Exit Fate’s days on Knotty Tour are officially over.