Chapter 24 Wren #2
Teddy laughed and let his hand drop to Wren’s thigh. In all honesty, the doctor might have been right. Teddy felt like a gentle breeze would knock him over right now.
Sensing the change in mood, Wren softened, pushing Teddy’s hair back from his face again. “Does it hurt? Do you need anything?”
“It’s manageable.” Teddy looked down at the tube in his arm. “Whatever they have me hooked up to must be the good stuff.”
Wren reached over and stroked down the tape for no reason, fussing over him like a mother hen. Teddy just stared at the side of his face until he noticed, blue eyes widening.
“What?”
“Nothing,” Teddy whispered. “You’re just beautiful.”
Wren huffed, shaking his head. “And you’re still handsome.”
“That’s a relief. I was worried for a moment there.”
Wren laughed, just like he wanted him to.
“I know you’re trying to make me feel better. I’m supposed to be making you feel better.”
“You are,” Teddy said. “You just being here is enough.”
Wren smiled in defeat, settling at his side instead of helicoptering. Teddy took his hand in his.
“Fill me in?” Teddy asked.
Wren took a deep breath, then he did. He explained the hospital and Gwen. The way they had found the trail Teddy had left and the curses in the woods. Teddy felt a little sick when Wren explained the liger and what a close call it had been.
“What about Kellan?” Teddy made himself ask, forcing the name past his lips. He wasn’t going to be tied down by it anymore.
“Dead,” Wren said with finality. “He’s not going to hurt you again.”
Dead? He was gone?
Teddy could hardly believe it. For most of his life Kellan had been haunting him, always a shadow, always a chain, and now he was…free?
“Don’t cry,” Wren whispered, wiping his tears.
Teddy hadn’t even realized he was. It felt cathartic, not sad. He had faced his demon and won. He’d looked him straight in the eye and finally seen him for who he was. Weak, not strong. And now Wren had made him disappear forever.
“I don’t think that will sink in for a while,” Teddy admitted. “I don’t…”
“You can take as long as you need to process,” Wren murmured. “I know it must be hard.”
“H-how did it happen?” Teddy asked. He watched Wren flinch and look away as he bit his lips. “What did you do?”
“Promise you won’t get mad,” Wren said.
Teddy frowned. “No promises. Did you put yourself in danger for me? You did, didn’t you?”
“I’m not apologizing.” He stuck his cute little nose into the air and Teddy felt a rush of feelings flood his already overloaded system.
“What did you do, Little Bird?”
Wren took a deep breath. “I dosed myself with the drug, used the boost in magic to connect with the cursed animals, every one he took from and abused, and they got retribution for every hurt. Both for you and me,” Wren said, almost in a single strung-together word.
Teddy felt like he’d be sick for a moment. The thought of Wren putting himself at risk like that, taking the drug without knowing what it would do to him, all for Teddy, made him want to scream.
“Why are you not in bed, getting treated?” he asked, looking around to find the room empty of another set of the machines and medications Teddy was hooked up to.
“I actively used a lot of the magic I got,” Wren said. “And I didn’t take a tenth of what he dosed you with. I also wasn’t plugged into that fucking death trap designed to drain me of my magic, so…I’m good.”
“Good?” Teddy asked. “You drugged yourself with an unknown substance, Wren.”
“I had a good reason for it. And I’d do it again. A million times over. He was going to kill you, and the world has no right to exist without you in it.”
He said it with so much passion and conviction in his voice that Teddy had no way to argue with him. And at the end of the day, he would have done the same. It was how their love had always been.
And when he put the thought of Wren being hurt aside, it was poetic justice that Kellan had met his end at the teeth and claws of the creatures he had subjugated and thought less of. He had fought to rise so high and he had fallen all the further for it.
All Teddy could do was nod and squeeze Wren’s hand tight, not trusting his voice to come out steady. Wren allowed him the space, just sitting quietly with him.
“Thank you,” Teddy finally said.
Wren nodded.
Teddy knew Wren wanted to say more, but he held his tongue for Teddy’s sake, probably knowing he wasn’t ready to talk so lightly about it. About how he deserved worse. About karma being a bitch. About how no one would miss him.
Teddy needed to be able to not flinch at the sound of a phone call first. He needed to not fear headlights in the dark or figures around the corner. He needed to feel that Wren was safe and no one was going to take him away. He needed to let the bruises fade until they didn’t hurt anymore.
Wren leaned forward and placed a kiss on his cheek, then kept going, placing kiss after kiss all over him. “I’m so happy you’re safe. I was so worried. I didn’t know what he would do.”
Teddy wound a hand through his hair. “At least I finally got to know why. I think sometimes it’s harder when you don’t know. Why you, you know? What did you do to make them single you out? I questioned everything about myself at one point or another, wondering how to get him to stop.”
Wren pulled back to meet his gaze. “Avery was looking at his research. He found…” He shivered. “Teddy…”
“I know,” Teddy said. “It didn’t happen. You found me in time.”
“If I hadn’t—”
“But you did. I don’t want to live in what-ifs anymore,” Teddy said. “I want to live with you. Right here.”
Wren snuggled into him, careful of the wires, and Teddy squeezed him as tight as his body would allow.
An indefinite amount of time passed before there was a soft knock at the door.
“Knock, knock.”
They turned to the doorway to see Fix standing there, Echo hovering behind him anxiously with one hand in Sable’s fur. In Fix’s hands was a tray with a steaming bowl.
“Echo heard voices, so we thought we’d prepare a little something for Teddy like the doctor suggested,” Fix said.
“Do you want to try and eat?” Wren asked Teddy, sitting up and looking so hopeful that Teddy wouldn’t have been able to say no. It didn’t matter that he had no appetite.
“Sure.”
Wren helped prop him up as Fix and Echo stepped into the room, Sable prowling after them and walking up to butt Wren in the leg affectionately. He even gave Teddy a small lick on the back of his hand.
“How are you feeling?” Echo asked anxiously, wringing their fingers together under the sleeves of their cardigan. “The doctors said you might not wake up, but Wren said they were full of…that stuff.”
“Getting better every second.” Teddy smiled to ease their worries. “I just needed to catch up on some beauty rest, that’s all.”
Echo smiled back, easing their grip on Sable.
“Is everyone else okay?” Teddy asked, and Echo nodded.
“They all got called in on cases last night,” they said. “Well, other than me. But they keep texting me every three seconds to ask if you’re awake, and they should all be coming back soon.”
“Good,” Teddy said. “Thank you for having my back.”
“You’re our brother, Teddy. We’ve got each other’s backs. Always. Just no more gunky machines and animals that could be carrying viruses or bacteria or, like…”
Teddy smiled at them, shaking his head as they launched into a lengthy list of all the animals they’d seen and all the potential diseases they could have contracted from them.
“Teddy, huh?” he asked when Echo stopped for a breath.
“It suits you much better,” they said. “We all voted and agreed.”
“Well, I second that motion,” Teddy said, and Wren smiled.
Fix passed the tray to Wren, who set it on the bed next to him, grabbing the bowl in his own hands instead of handing it to Teddy. He took the spoon and brought it up to his own mouth to blow on before bringing it to Teddy’s lips.
The care and affection made Teddy’s heart monitor skip a beat, the sound loud in the room. He flushed as they all noticed.
“I thought you said you were getting better!” Echo squeaked.
Fix laid a large hand on their shoulder, smothering a laugh. “That’s a good kind of sickness. Let’s leave them to it, huh?”
“B-but…”
Fix urged them from the room, looking back over his shoulder. “I’m happy you’re okay. Now I know what Wren has been looking for all these years.”
Teddy bit his lip and nodded. “I’ve been looking for him too.”
Fix smiled softly, then glanced at Wren. “I know you probably don’t want to hear this, but Gwen asked if you’d meet her.”
Teddy tensed.
“Nothing like that,” Fix quickly said. “I think she wants to apologize.”
Teddy blinked while Wren looked impassive. “I’ll think about it.”
Fix nodded, probably knowing that was the best he was going to get, before he shut the door behind him.
Teddy turned to Wren, who was still holding the spoon up. “If I move the spoon forward and back again, will your heart skip again?”
“Do you want me to have a heart attack?”
Wren snickered and fed him the first bite of soup. It was bland, probably on purpose, and Teddy found that it wasn’t too hard to swallow.
Wren fed him a few more mouthfuls.
“What do you think she wants? Do you really think she wants to say sorry?” Teddy asked, feeling anxious.
“I don’t care if she feels sorry. I just want her to leave us alone.”
Teddy nodded. “If she does, then maybe we have a little leverage.”
“Still playing politics?”
“If it gets me you, I’ll play,” Teddy said honestly.
“Whatever happens, we’ll be together.”
“Together.”
A loud crash came from downstairs and then voices flooded the hallways of the house.
“HE’S AWAKE!!” Saint yelled before steps thundered up the stairs.
“I can’t believe they made me share a womb with you,” Eerie said.
“Took his sweet time,” Heir added.
“Come on,” Trace said. “Let’s bug him until he gets up.”
Teddy chuckled and clasped a hand around Wren’s fingers, his world finally feeling complete.