25. Oscar
Oscar
A brams gives me a side-eye, still looking shell shocked. “I’ll need you to let her go, so I can examine her.”
“Not happening.” My tone says enough. “Check her here.”
He frowns, but it softens as he leans in toward Kenny. She shrinks back into me. “It’s okay. You remember Abrams, right?”
She met him before. Spent a lot of time with him, while we were being assholes.
Her nod is slow. “Hey, Doc. Long time no see. I guess.”
He surveys her, eyebrows flicking up. But his smile is broad. “It’s good to see you. You remember the routine? It hasn’t changed.”
She nods. All of us watch closely as he runs through a series of tests. Kenny follows them almost without thought, and the realization of how many times she sat through this alone hits me in the chest again.
Never again.
“Well,” Abrams says finally as he straightens. “It’s official. You’re a medical miracle.”
Kenny’s hair hides her expression from me. But her small words hit hard, nonetheless. “I don’t want to be a medical miracle, Doc. I just want to go—,”
She cuts off, and her next words are even smaller. “Is the trailer still there?”
“You’re coming home with us,” I say instantly. “But yes. We spoke to the landlord. We weren’t sure if you might want to see it.”
My lips brush her ear. “I promised you a home. You’ve got one, Ken. With us.”
Like hell will any of us let her go back up there. We’ll give her all the space she needs.
At home. I look at Abrams. “How soon can we get her out of here?”
His face twists with familiar displeasure. “The board will want to see an assessment.”
I didn’t think it was possible, but Kenny plasters herself back into me. And her scent – I can almost taste it, it’s so strong. All of us straighten at her distress. My body instinctively curves over hers. And then I understand why, when her tiny words slip out. “Do you… do you think I might go back?”
No. The denial, the reassurance, sticks on my tongue, refusing to leave my lips. We all look to Abrams instead, even as her words linger in my mind.
Something about them—
I force myself to focus. Abrams looks thoughtful. “I don’t think so. Everything about your numbers suggests you’ve been heading here for months. I haven’t seen any sign of them receding. We did a lot of work into the research side. Nothing there suggested you might have a relapse, but I’ll want to keep seeing you for a while, just to check in.”
“Okay,” she whispers. I run my hand over her hair again. Reassuring. Her or me. Beside us, Jake keeps one hand, Max the other. And Theo—
He watches, his eyes not leaving her face. “What do we need to do for her, Doc?”
Abrams looks like he’s biting down on another smile. “I’d say that’s up to Kennedy. But I’d strongly recommend lots of rest, at least for now. You’ve experienced an incredibly traumatic event over the last twelve months, and before that.”
She already looks exhausted, her words dragging. “All right.”
“We’ll talk again tomorrow.” I tense as his eyes flicker to mine, and he nods slightly in the direction of the door.
I press my lips to Kennedy’s hair. “Go to Jake for a minute?”
“I’m not a parcel.” The grumpy words are so beautiful Kenny that I grin. She’s already holding out her arms, and Jake shifts, easily slipping his arms under her and lifting.
I wait until she’s settled before following Abrams out. He’s waiting in the hall on the other side of the door, and I stop. “What is it?”
“Nothing.” He sighs. “Maybe nothing. The board wants to send in their team to examine her. It’s fairly standard.”
I frown. “Maybe that one doctor. But she won’t appreciate a load of strangers poking and prodding over her.”
“No.” He glances at the closed door behind me. “I’m very glad to see her, I must say.”
I nod. Slowly. “I—,”
Abrams catches me when my legs buckle. “Easy. Nice little adrenaline crash there, Oscar.”
I’m fighting for breath. “She’s back, Doc.”
She’s really back.
He claps my shoulder. “She is. Take it easy. All of you have some healing to do here.”
I shake my head. There’s a lot we need to do, as her pack.
God, the house. It’s not even a little bit set up. Not the way I’d want her to come home. My thoughts veer from one thing to another, Abrams watching me warily. “Do I even ask what’s going on in there?”
“Probably best not,” I say honestly, looking up at him. “Thank you.”
“I’ll be on the phone if you need anything. Ease her into things gently. Contact is good. Care. All the things you know. When she’s ready, I also have an excellent therapist based out of my office. She specializes in omega trauma.”
He hesitates. “One more thing. It’s not worth distressing her this evening – but one-sided mating bonds are not a good thing, as you know.”
“I know,” I say hoarsely. “But she doesn’t need to think about that right now.”
Not when it’s Theo who’ll feel it. And I know without asking that he’ll say the same. “Let her ease into it when she’s ready.”
If she’s ever ready.