Chapter 12
LIAM
Today’s the day I meet the omega Eli thinks is our scent match.
I’d be lying if I didn’t say I barely got any sleep from the nervous anxiety running through me.
I texted him to let him know she made an appointment with my office.
I nearly fell out of my chair when Trudy told me the name of a new patient that needed to be seen right away.
I cleared the first part of my morning, in spite of the odd look Trudy gave me.
The small medical practice I bought out from the retiring doctor two years ago has been updated both visually and technically with the latest equipment, giving Moonlight Valley better access to things they would have had to travel an hour or more for previously.
I arrived earlier than usual, again to Trudy’s surprise.
I can’t dedicate any energy to being subtle when something so important is happening.
My nurse doesn’t even come in this early.
Eli probably shouldn’t have told me what he suspected.
I feel worse than Parker trying to keep a secret.
The medical side of me is fascinated by the possibility of a scent match.
It’s so rare, even when I spoke of it to Eli I didn’t realize how rare until I researched it more.
Documented cases of scent matches dropped off drastically about two hundred and fifty years ago.
In the last generation alone the ones we know of in the country are less than two dozen, for the entire country.
None have been reported in the last twenty years.
It’s been so long since these matches were prevalent and it was before modern science became what it is today.
There isn’t much known medically about these types of bonds other than what would be the equivalent to campfire tales.
Suddenly, I hear the front door chime. That has to be her.
I’m in my office which is down a hall adjacent to the four patient rooms we have.
I hear Trudy checking her in and showing her to a room promptly.
She’s the first and only patient for the next two hours.
I don’t think her appointment will last that long but knowing me, there will be something I want to research right away.
I wait patiently—well not really, my foot is tapping incessantly until Trudy lets me know she’s all set.
I wait for a minute since she likely had her change into a gown.
Taking a deep breath to calm my nerves, I walk out of my office and knock on the exam room she’s in.
A light, “Come in,” is spoken and I’m opening the door and immediately enveloped in a scent that stops me cold.
It takes every ounce of my professionalism to mask my shock.
I haven’t had such a hard time doing that since my first year of residency.
Eli was fucking right and we will never hear the end of it, not that I mind in the least. She is our scent match.
Our mate. Sitting down, I glance over the tablet with her information on it.
“Thea Fera? I’m Dr. Liam Sullivan. What brought you in so urgently today?
” Maybe if I breathe through my mouth it’ll be easier.
I inhale slowly. No, that absolutely did not help.
We do have high-end air filters in the office, so her scent should not feel so strong to me, unless? Her heat. Holy shit.
“Nice to meet you. I’ll cut to the chase, I need heat suppressants. I haven’t felt quite like myself lately and think it’s time for another round.”
That piques my interest—another round? Makes it sound like she’s already on them.
Heat suppressants have a strict two years on, one year off timeline.
Is she asking to have it back-to-back? “Are you already on suppressants?” I ask, my professionalism being less of a mask for my reaction to her scent and now fully taking over.
“Yes,” she says immediately, then balk. “Wait no, I mean no.”
I put down the tablet that has her intake information on the screen and look at her.
She’s nervous. She does want a back-to-back dose of suppressant.
Why? I roll over closer to her in the exam chair.
She fidgets at my nearness. I wouldn’t say I’m inappropriately close to her.
Is she being affected by my scent as much as I am hers?
I’m an idiot sometimes, of course she would be.
“Thea.” I look at her, in her mesmerizing hazel eyes. “How long have you been on suppressants?”
“Ten,” she begins before slapping a hand over her mouth. Ten what, months, years? That cannot be right. No ethical doctor would do that.
“Ten years?” I ask slowly. She nods, still keeping a hand over her mouth.
I don’t hide the shock that runs through me.
Then comes the anger at whoever her doctor was that allowed this.
There is a reason for the strict timeline; the side effects for prolonged continued suppressants is extremely dangerous for the omega.
Tears are forming in her eyes and it breaks through some of my anger.
“What’s happening? Why is your scent and others affecting me so much?
Is my heat coming?” she asks softly, sounding so scared.
I look back at the tablet I had put down and see that she’s twenty-nine years old.
Gods, if she presented late and has been on suppressants for ten years she likely has never had a heat.
No wonder she’s scared. I’m fucking scared.
My omega is in serious danger and she doesn’t even know it.
Grabbing some tissues, I hand them over to her.
I can’t just drop that part of the reason for all this is she found her scent matches.
It’s too much all at once, even I can see that.
“I can’t say for certain without running your labs, but I would say it is likely your heat will be coming soon based on the symptoms you filled out here.
When did your suppressants end? Be honest, please. ”
“They were supposed to last until February of next year, if they’re failing it’s four months early.
I can’t have a heat. Can you please give me another round of the suppressants?
” She nearly begs. Her tone suggests that there’s more going on.
Why does having a heat sound like such a nightmare for her?
I shake my head. “I cannot ethically do that. Also, I want the name of your previous doctor who repeatedly gave you suppressants these last ten years. They need to be reported.”
“No,” she blurts out. I raise a brow in question.
She deflates a little when she says, “It wasn’t a single doctor.
I alternated between my primary and the omega clinics.
They didn’t always check records with your primary doctor especially if it was one of their free clinic days to help omegas in need of suppressants. ”
“You gamed the system for suppressants.” I blink at her duplicitousness. “Why?”
“There were varying factors over the years. That doesn’t matter. What does is I’m alone in a new town. I cannot have a heat here,” Thea says, steeliness returning to her voice.
She’s right, I’ll find out the reasons for before another time. As much as it pains me to suggest knowing my pack is her scent match, I tell her, “There is an omega clinic just over an hour away that has heat services. You can sign up there and ride out your heat.”
She physically shudders at the suggestion. “Absolutely not. I can’t have my first heat with strangers.” Well I guess I was right that it’ll be her first heat. I never wanted to punish a patient like I do right now. She put herself in a dangerous position.
“Thousands of omegas do. You can’t avoid this coming heat.
You said yourself the suppressants are failing four months earlier than expected.
That is likely a result of your extended usage and their efficacy has waned.
It’s all catching up now,” I say but omit my theory that meeting her scent matches may be speeding this process up.
I need to do more research on extended suppressant usage.
She shakes her head but doesn’t respond.
It’s a lot to take in. In the meantime, I still have the routine exam to do.
“Are you okay with continuing your exam today?” I ask, wanting to make sure she is still up for this.
She nods, but that’s not enough. “Verbal consent please, are you okay with continuing the exam?”
Thea looks up at me, with tears slowly falling down her face.
“Yes we can continue.” The next few minutes are filled with me giving basic instructions as I check her vitals and log everything down.
She doesn’t say a word. Every now and then there’s a sniffle and my heart feels like it’ll break.
I’m so mad at the situation but I can fix it.
I’ll find a way to help her. I have to. I haven’t communicated exactly why it’s such a big deal for the extended suppressant usage but she needs to know before leaving here today.
“Your vitals all look good. Before you leave, we’ll draw some blood so we can run the labs and get a baseline and projected date for your heat.” She nods. I then clear my throat to get her attention. “Before we do that, I need to make it clear about your situation.”
She huffs, that steeliness coming back. I should not find it such a turn on when she’s argumentative with me. “I know my situation, doctor. No need to go over it again.”
“Actually, you don’t. You know part of it.
As you are aware, for suppressants there is a two years on, one year off rule.
You gamed the system to work around that rule, which has more implications for your health than just having your heat come on due to failing suppressants.
” I pause to gage her reaction, which is confused, so I continue, “Extended suppressant usage has negative effects on omegas’ health.
I’m not talking about extra discomfort with your heat.
Long term usage has been shown to be potentially life threatening.
I don’t believe I’ve seen or read a case that was ten years.
The longest I remember was six years and the omega had to be hospitalized during her entire heat and even then, she almost didn’t make it. ”
“That’s—that can’t happen to me. I didn’t know, there was never the right time for my heat,” she says quickly then quietly I almost miss it. “He was right.” And that’s when the slow trickle of tears she’s been crying turns into a full-on sob.
Fuck professionalism, she needs to be comforted.
I stand up and put my arm around her shoulder, squeezing tightly, letting her know I’m here.
She turns and leans into my chest, crying.
I wrap my other arm around her and hold her through this.
I’m going to find a way to fix this. We can’t have found our scent match, a once in a generation chance, and lose her immediately.
No, that is not happening on my watch. My mind is already going through any and all medical journals and research I can remember.
I may have to call a friend from my days at the hospital and see if I can use their library.
After a while her sobs quiet down to sniffles and then she pulls away. I had migrated to sitting with her on the exam chair and rubbing her back as she cried. “I’m so sorry—” she begins before I cut her off.
“Y-you have nothing to apologize for. It’s a lot to take in.
Here’s what we’re going to do. I will draw your blood and we’ll run the labs we discussed.
Then in between patients and after hours I will be researching everything I can find to help you through this heat as safely as possible.
Sound like a plan?” I need to be strong for her.
“Yeah sounds like a plan.” Her voice wobbles, and she tries and fails to give me a watery smile.
The remainder of the appointment happens in relative silence while I take her blood and get the labs going.
I check on Thea one last time before she leaves.
Her face is still flushed and eyes red from crying but otherwise dry from any evidence of tears.
She’s dressed again, though it’s my first time seeing her outside of the shapeless medical gown she was in.
She is breathtaking. She’s wearing a retro style skirt with a knit sweater half tucked in, both clinging to her curves at her waist and hips.
My eyes trail down, seeing her thick thighs peeking through the skirt then down to her little ankle boots.
Even with the situation as it is, I can’t help but feel like the luckiest alpha.
I give her a reassuring smile, or as best as I can manage, and say, “I will call you when I have the results of the labs and the research regarding the heat.”