24. Walker
Chapter 24
Walker
M y heart fell through my stomach to the floor at the sight of Sunny collapsing. One moment she was getting more eggs for Luka, and the next she looked so pale and out of it. When I asked her if she was okay, she looked at me like she couldn't even see me.
Sunny was exhausted. I could feel it through our bond, only I didn't know if all the exhaustion I was feeling was hers or mine or both. It had been a pretty brutal week, and I hadn’t been able to spend much time with her.
It was becoming apparent that something really wasn’t right with her. Something I should have noticed.
“Sunny!” I shouted her name as I rushed forward, catching her right as she hit the ground.
“Sunshine!” Blaze shot up from his seat, rushing toward us.
Pulling her into my arms, I brushed her hair out of her face. She was deathly pale, and her eyes were closed, but she was breathing normally.
My mind was running through all the various things that could be wrong. Instinctively, I reached for her neck to try and find a pulse, but she was stirring before I could add any pressure. Now that I was close to her, I could tell just how wrong her scent was, dull, nowhere near as sweet as it had been just a week ago.
A low groan escaped her chest.
“Is she okay?” Blaze asked hurriedly, kneeling beside me.
“I’m fine,” Sunny moaned, but she struggled to open her eyes.
“Sunshine, you fainted,” Blaze said as he helped her to slowly sit up.
Watching her movements, I didn’t take my hands off her. I needed to be touching her, reassuring myself she was here and she was fine.
“I just haven’t been sleeping much,” Sunny said, waving off our concern.
“You need to see a doctor, immediately,” I said in a stern voice. There was no way in hell I was going to let her go back to feeding Luka without receiving a thorough checkup.
“I don’t need a doctor!” Sunny insisted, her eyes shooting open to gape at me. “It was just a little dizziness.”
“You straight-up passed out,” I said through gritted teeth.
Internally, I was at war with myself. Anger unlike anything I had ever felt was simmering in my chest—but I wasn’t mad at her, not at all. It was myself I was mad at. How long had she been sick and we hadn’t noticed? It was one thing for my pack mates not to notice, but I was bonded with her. I should have felt it. Had I been so absorbed in my own life that I had neglected her?
Even though it was a logistical impossibility, I really wanted to punch myself.
“Help me up,” Sunny said, her voice quiet.
“I’m not sure…” I said, but she ignored me.
The moment she was on her feet again, that hazy look returned, and she started to sway.
Nope.
I was putting my foot down. Scooping her up into my arms, I ignored her weak protests as I strode downstairs, toward the bunk room that I shared with the other two members of our pack. My old room had a workman in it, so there was no way I was taking her there.
She seemed smaller than I remembered, or was that my panic talking? Had she lost weight?
I glanced away from her to look Blaze in the eye. “Call Hailey.”
He nodded, pulling out his phone.
While, technically, we were all EMT certified, Hailey was a nurse and EMT we had worked with many times, and she was an omega, so I knew Sunny would feel comfortable with her.
I strode through the firehouse, ignoring the concerned and curious look from Merrick as I passed. I didn’t have the time or energy to explain this to him. Gil had been in the kitchen, and I was sure he would catch him up.
Sunny didn’t complain as I carried her to the bunk room, placing her gently on my bed. Even in my quiet panic, I worried that there weren’t enough blankets on my bed. Omegas needed nesting materials, and Sunny was sick. She needed all the comfort she could get.
I ran into fire for a living, but nothing terrified me more than the prospect of my omega being hurt. It was a terror I had never experienced before and never wanted to experience again.
Hailey had rushed over to the firehouse as soon as Blaze called her, hardly bothering to greet us as she had hurried straight to her patient. By that time, Sunny had already been sitting up and insisting she was fine, but while Blaze had looked after Luka, I had stood at Sunny’s bedside, refusing to let her get up.
She may have called me a few mean names, but they bounced off me. Frankly, I didn’t care if she hated me for it. I had been neglecting my job as her alpha, and that shit was going to end immediately.
Rune had rushed into the room not long after I placed Sunny in the bed, having heard what happened, probably from Gil. The look of terror on his face was haunting as I assured him that Hailey was already on her way.
Hailey had done all the tests—blood pressure, temperature, listened to Sunny’s lungs—everything she could possibly do without leaving the fire station. Sunny had protested until the warm and bubbly omega turned up. Hailey Hana was a hard omega to ignore. No-nonsense and sweet as pie, it was a lethal combination. Over the years, I had personally witnessed her talking down a drunk alpha who was a foot taller than her and double her weight, despite them being in a complete rage.
The first thing she had done after bustling into the room was promptly kick us out, so it was only her and Sunny. Luckily, they kept the door open so I could hear the two omegas chatting.
“I really don’t need all this,” Sunny insisted as Hailey wrapped the blood pressure cuff around her arm.
“Indulge me,” Hailey said in that smooth southern accent. “As much as I like your guys, they’re pacing a hole in the floor and they’re irritating me. If they don’t get peace of mind soon, I’ll have to sedate them, and that’s far too much paperwork for a Tuesday.”
“Fine,” Sunny huffed, but I could hear the smile in her voice.
Hailey proceeded to ask a few questions about her sleep habits, diet, and general health. Sunny’s answers were quiet, so even though I strained to eavesdrop, I couldn’t hear them.
“How didn’t we notice this?” Rune asked as he paced the hallway.
“We’ve been slammed this week,” I muttered. Blaze was harassing us for updates via text while he fed the tiny terror.
“Still, we should have noticed,” Rune said.
I nodded. “As soon as Hailey kicked me out of the room, I emailed our upper management, insisting we need an extra man or two at this station temporarily, due to my bonding. I’ve assured them I’m not taking full bonding leave—I’ll still be at the station—but I need more men. That way, I can stay here during calls and I’m not sending the team out short-staffed.”
We had almost fifteen firefighters at Station Sixteen, but we were already short-staffed, thanks to one guy leaving and another getting sick a while back and choosing to retire early. I couldn’t let me going on bonding leave impede any of the remaining firefighters.
“You should have done that from the start.”
“I should have. I was stupid.” I didn’t like admitting when I failed, but there was no denying I had done wrong by Sunny. She came across as so independent, so put together, that I let myself think she was fine and probably missed the warning signs.
My pack mate grimaced. “We should have taken her to the hospital.”
“If Hailey thinks she needs it, I’m taking her, no matter how much she complains.”
“Well—”
Rune’s words were cut off as Hailey joined us. “Dehydrated, exhausted, and not eating anywhere near as much as she should,” the brunette EMT declared as she glowered at me and my pack mate, arms crossed.
“She’ll be okay, though?” Rune asked.
“Is she—ow! What the hell?” The tiny omega interrupted me by delivering a surprisingly strong punch, for someone so small, to my chest.
“Walker Landry. You bonded an omega, then proceeded to work as normal? No, not even work as normal, you decided to jump in and help with the wildfires, which is a non-stop situation? I didn’t take you for a complete moron!” she hissed in that sweet-as-pie southern accent.
Rubbing the spot on my chest that she had walloped, I stared down at her in surprise. “It wasn’t planned, it all happened so quickly, and I couldn’t take time off. She insisted she was okay… I thought she was.”
Hailey pinched the bridge of her nose, looking utterly done with my shit. “Why are alphas so thickheaded?” She sighed. “Let me spell this out for you. That sweet, lovely omega in there is exhausted, hasn’t been taking care of herself, and despite being newly bonded, she is hardly spending any time with her alpha! On top of that, she has a toddler who is hardly sleeping, and it sounds like she’s not been getting much support. Does that sound like a good combination to you?”
I looked at the ground sheepishly. “I didn’t realize.”
“Well, now you do. And what are you going to do to change it?” Hailey asked, crossing her arms, all business and no bullshit.
“I’ve already ensured I won’t be going on any more calls.”
Hailey nodded. “That’s a start.”
“What else should we be doing?” Rune asked.
“She needs to be resting, no running around. Someone needs to ensure she’s drinking and eating regularly. Has she got a nest?”
Rune shook his head. “She…uh…”
Hailey sighed. “Please don’t tell me she’s sharing bunks with you guys…”
“No! She’s in my private captain’s room. It’s just a little bare,” I admitted.
“Well, that needs to change.”
“We will be fixing that immediately,” I assured her.
“You better. She seems lovely. Offered to bake me cookies.”
“She is amazing,” Rune agreed.