Chapter 18
Chapter eighteen
Ben
Colt and I worked for hours packing his things, taking only a quick break to make and eat a couple of sandwiches before getting back to it. I felt Angus’s absence, but the emotion wasn’t so strong I couldn’t push it back.
When my phone rang, I was surprised to see it was after four o’clock. Where had the time gone? But glancing around the room, I was pleased to see how much Colt and I had gotten done. He came back in the front door from taking a pile of trash to the road as I answered the call.
“Hi, David. What’s up?”
“Hey. Are you in the middle of something?”
“We’re still packing things. I can take a break. Why? Is something wrong? Is it Ollie?” Anxiety clenched my gut.
“He’s doing great. But Laura called and said that the hospital is full and understaffed.
Since Laura is a doctor, as soon as the roads were clear, they sent Jeremiah home with her promise to look after him.
But he isn’t doing well at all. She said she thinks he’s…
” David left off, but I knew what he didn’t want to say.
“That’s terrible. Poor Nova and Eric,” I said. Colt looked at me solemnly, no doubt guessing what we were talking about.
I mouthed, “very sick” so he’d know the little boy was still alive.
“Ben, would you, uh, would you go out to the Borders’ ranch? I told Laura about what you did with Ollie...”
Groaning, I interrupted, “David, I didn’t do anything.”
“…and she asked if you’d come.”
How could Laura believe I could help? How I possibly say no?
“I’m just worried they’ll get their hopes up for nothing,” I said with a sigh. “But I’ll go.”
“Great. I’ll tell Laura you’re coming. Colt will drive you?”
I looked at Colt. “Will you take me to the Borders’ ranch?”
“Of course,” he said.
“Tell her I’ll be there in half an hour.”
We finished what we’d been working on and left the cabin. I was pretty sure I saw Mrs. Benson looking out at us from a crack in her curtains, but I was too upset to find it funny.
I kept thinking about little Jeremiah and how cute he was with his blond curls.
I hated that he was sick. If I really had a healing ability, I would gladly help him.
But David and the others had the wrong idea about me, and I was going over there with the Borders expecting me to make him well when I couldn’t. I felt like a sham.
Colt seemed to sense my mood and didn’t say anything on the ride there. He parked out front, and we climbed the new porch and knocked on the door. Laura opened it.
“Hi. I’m so glad you’re here,” she said, opening the door wide and stepping back. She nodded to Colt as we stepped in, whispering, “Jeremiah is very, very ill. I can’t do anything for him.”
“I don’t know why anyone things I can help,” I whispered back. “I’m an ordinary omega. I’m sure Ollie was already on the mend when I held him.”
“It won’t hurt, though, right?” Laura said. “I understand you have reservations. I didn’t tell Nova and Eric you were a miracle worker, just that you sometimes helped me do my work and I could use your assistance. Okay? So, there’s no preconceived idea that you’re coming to heal him.”
That made me feel a little better. “Okay. That sounds good.”
“Colt, do you want to wait in here with Kate?” She led him into the living area where the little girl was sitting on a new rug, playing with a set of Ninja Turtles, while I hung back in the hall. “I’m going to send Eric and Nova out in a minute. Maybe you can get their mind off things for a while.”
“I’ll do my best,” Colt said. Looking at me, he winked. “You’re doing the right thing, Ben.”
Taking a deep breath, I followed Laura down the hallway, noticing that the walls had been painted a fresh white since the last time I was there. Eric and Nova must have been hard at work before Jeremiah got sick.
Laura knocked softly on a door before pushing it open. Nova and Eric sat by the bed where Jeremiah lay, faces creased with worry and lack of sleep.
“Colt’s in the living room with Kate. Go sit with them while Ben helps me get Jeremiah more comfortable,” she urged them quietly.
“I laid the bath things on the table,” Eric said before following Nova out.
I sat down in the chair Nova had vacated and leaned toward Jeremiah.
“Is he hot?” Laura asked me.
I rested the back of my palm on his forehead and nodded. “Very.” Gently, I stroked the sweaty curls from Jeremiah’s forehead. The little boy’s breathing was shallow and sounded congested. My heart went out to him.
“I wish I could help him,” I said miserably.
“Just keep touching him,” Laura said, going to the bath supplies. As I continued stroking Jeremiah’s hair, I heard her wringing the washcloth in the pan of water.
“Go ahead and undress him down to his underwear,” Laura said.
I did, taking off his cute blue pajamas with elephants printed on them and setting them aside.
I left his white briefs on. Laura came over with the wet cloth and, sitting on the other side of the bed, began washing him, lifting his arms and legs as she needed to.
Jeremiah didn’t wake up. I kept his small hand in mine and watched him.
When she was finished and had patted him down with a towel and put a fresh pair of pajamas on him, Laura looked around the room.
“Ben, why don’t you read him this book? But get up on the bed and let him lean against you. While you’re doing that, if he wakes up, maybe I can get him to eat a little of this broth I made right before you got here.”
Following her directions, I slipped off my shoes and got the little boy situated so that I sat behind him on the bed, Jeremiah between my legs with his back leaning against my chest. Laura handed me the book, which was about animals at a zoo, and I began reading it while Laura sat on one of the chairs and watched.
I was almost to the end of it and Jeremiah hadn’t even fluttered an eyelash, but then he coughed.
Then coughed again, followed by a whimper.
“Jeremiah, honey, it’s okay,” Laura said, touching his cheek.
He opened his eyes. They were hazel like Eric’s.
“There’s my pretty boy,” Laura said, and it struck me that she’d become very fond of him very quickly.
I would have thought that, as a doctor, she’d trained herself not to do that with a patient.
Perhaps she’d already become fond of him before he got sick.
“Here, baby. Take a little sip of this for me.” She offered Jeremiah a spoonful of broth, her face lighting up when he accepted it. I sat and watched as he ate almost the entire bowl. Only then did he look up and behind him like he’d suddenly noticed his pillows felt different.
I smiled at him. “Hi. I’m Ben. Do you remember me?”
He nodded and rubbed his eyes, then settled back on me like I’d always been there. “Book?” he said.
“Yeah. Want me to read?”
He nodded, and I read through the book again, pausing before I turned each page so he could look at the pictures. When I finished, he snuggled into me and fell asleep.
“Wow,” Laura said. “That was—” She shook her head. “Ben, he hasn’t eaten in days or enjoyed doing anything like he just enjoyed you reading that book to him. Sit with him a while more. I’m going to go update Nova and Eric. Are you comfortable?”
I nodded, and she left me alone with Jeremiah, and, with nothing to do, I fell asleep, too.
When I awoke, Jeremiah was sitting at the bottom of the bed playing with a small truck and car. When he saw I was awake, he said, “Hi, Ben.”
“Hi, Jeremiah. Are you feeling better?”
He nodded.
“Um, have your parents come in?”
Shrugging, he started making motor sounds while he drove the car over the covers. Hearing a noise at the foot of the bed, I leaned forward only to have something jump out and yell, “Boo!”
Falling back with my hand to my chest, I stared at Kate in consternation after she slipped the sheet off her head, her dark hair flying around her face.
Laughing, she turned to her brother and said, “Did you see him jump, Jerry? That was so funny!”
Jeremiah giggled and nodded. Kate picked up a red bucket and dumped dozens of toy vehicles on the bed.
“I get all the blue ones,” she told Jeremiah, then seemed to think better of it. “You can choose first, since you’ve been sick.”
Getting off the bed, I slipped into the hallway and walked toward the living room where I could hear Colt’s voice. Glancing in the kitchen as I passed it, I was surprised to see Laura embracing Eric. He was sniffling, and she was rubbing his back.
Continuing on, I walked into the living room and went straight to Colt.
“Awake now?” Colt asked, squeezing my hand.
I nodded.
Nova stood from where she’d been sitting on the couch. “Thank you so much, Ben,” she said, enveloping me in a hug.
“I didn’t do anything. Just read to him,” I said.
Colt made an unhappy noise and Nova let go of me. “Sorry about that, Colt. I’m just so grateful.”
Standing, Colt wrapped his arm around me. “I’m happy that Jeremiah is doing better.”
Laura walked into the room. “Maddox just called and said Bertram and Trey are on their way over and they’re going to video call Jackson’s parents to talk about…things.” She glanced at Nova, who frowned.
“Things?” she inquired. “Are they the same things you were discussing on the phone yesterday? About the Omega Reintroduction Program?”
Laura sucked in a breath. “How did you know about that? Were you listening?”
“I just happened to hear on my way to the women’s room. Is there something going on in that program? I have a nephew who is about to hit the age of ripening. The Omega Registration, Collection, and Redistribution Office called to say they’d be collecting him in three weeks.”
Laura looked at me and Colt. “I…”
“Tell her,” Colt said.
Swallowing, Laura quickly gave a rundown of all we knew.
“Are you fucking kidding me?” Nova asked, beginning to pace. “I’ve got to call my sister about this.”
“Wait,” Laura said. “We’re about to discuss new information. “Come with us and hear it before you talk to your sister.”
Nova stopped pacing. “All right. I want to hear everything there is to know. Give me a minute to tell Eric I’m going.”