Vaughn #2
Henry grinned against Vaughn’s neck. “Yeah.”
Henry leaned back again and looked toward the school entrance before turning back to Vaughn. “We need to go see Sam’s dad, now, Alpha. He’s not feeling very well today. The trees told me.”
The trees told him.
Vaughn nodded. “Okay. They should be out any minute. We’ll go check on him.”
Five sets of eyes stared at him, trusting him to be able to do the right thing.
He had no idea how they weren’t scared of him.
He couldn’t imagine not having his parents, Nana, the pack.
He’d been surrounded by love and support his entire life and he’d never had to doubt for a moment whether he’d be taken care of, spoiled even. He was the only son of a beloved alpha.
Sam walked out a minute later with Ollie walking beside him holding his hand. The little guy was all smiles again and he babbled up at Sam as he skipped along.
Vaughn couldn’t help smiling at him either.
Sam dressed like a teacher in khaki pants and a plaid button up shirt.
He had a leather messenger bag flung over his shoulder and a cactus plant in his other hand.
He was so fucking gorgeous and the way he and Ollie were grinning at each other… Goddess, Vaughn had it bad.
When Sam made it to Vaughn’s side, he stared at him for a second, before giving Ollie a little push toward the truck. “Okay, buddy. Hop in. Get buckled up.”
“Okay, Sam!”
Ollie bounded into the vehicle, and Sam turned to Vaughn with a smile. “That was interesting.”
“I bet. I’m sorry I interrupted your class. I really didn’t know what else to do. I might have panicked a little when we couldn’t calm him down.”
“It’s okay. I mean, we can’t do that again, but today was an exception.”
Vaughn nodded before reaching up to grip Sam’s neck gently. “Henry says we need to go see your dad. He’s not feeling well today.”
Sam’s eyes widened, but Vaughn held him steady. “Okay.”
“If it’s okay with you, I’ll have Nana take your car back to the house, and we’ll go with you to your dad’s.”
Vaughn really didn’t want to try to separate Sam and Ollie so soon, and he also wanted to be there for Sam as he checked on his dad.
Sam nodded. “Nana won’t mind?”
“I’m sure she won’t.” Vaughn stroked his thumb over Sam’s jaw gently.
“Principal McNeely stopped me when we were walking out. She said you were a catch and congratulated me.”
Vaughn grinned and wiggled his eyebrows a little. “I’m a great catch.”
Sam chuckled. “Let’s go check on my dad.”
Nana happily agreed to drive Sam’s car home so he passed over his keys. Once she was on her way, he climbed into the passenger seat and directed Vaughn to his dad’s house. When they pulled into the driveway, Sam gasped. “He didn’t.”
Vaughn looked around and noticed a ladder leaning against the front of the house. Before he could ask questions, Sam scrambled out of the car and hurried to the front door. He flung it open without knocking.
“Stay in the car,” Vaughn said. “I’ll be back in a minute.”
The kids all looked tense after Sam’s reaction, but Ben nodded and he knew the older boy would keep them all calm. Their hellhound guard was with them as well, so he wasn’t leaving them unprotected.
Vaughn hurried after Sam, going through the open door. He didn’t have to go far. Sam knelt by the couch where his dad was stretched out and in obvious pain.
“What happened?” Vaughn asked.
“He’s got a bad back and decided it would be a fantastic idea to go up a ladder and clean his own damn gutters even though he knew I was coming by this afternoon and could have done it.”
“I’m not helpless,” William barked. “Who are you and what are you doing in my house?”
“Dad! Don’t be an ass. He’s my friend, Vaughn.”
William’s eyes narrowed on Vaughn. “I know you. You’re one of the Jerricks.”
“I am,” Vaughn said.
“Hmm. You related to Jean?”
“Yessir, I’m her grandson.”
William tried to sit up but gasped in pain again. Vaughn squatted down beside Sam and reached for William’s wrist. He checked his pulse, worried over how fast his heart was racing. “On a scale from one to five, what’s your pain level?” Vaughn asked.
“I’m fine,” William answered.
He clearly wasn’t.
“I’ll call an ambulance.”
“You will not!” William shouted.
“Dad! You’re obviously hurt. We need to get you to the doctor.”
“I’m not going back to that damned hospital. They either pump me full of drugs I don’t want or treat me like I’m out to get a bunch of narcotics I can sell on the street. There’s no middle ground and no fixing me so I’m not gonna bother.”
Vaughn rested his hand against Sam’s back. “I can take him to the clinic.”
“Vaughn—”
William let out another cry of pain.
“Sam, move over. Let me examine him.”
It only took him a minute to realize William was having an incredibly strong back spasm.
“Do you have any ice packs?”
Sam nodded. “We keep them in the fridge.”
“Get one for me.”
Sam hurried away while Vaughn adjusted William’s legs to take some of the pressure off his lower back.
“He know what you are?” William asked, his voice trembling as he spoke through the pain.
Vaughn jerked his attention back to William’s face and met his concerned gaze.
“Don’t try to bullshit me, Jerrick. He’s my only son, and I don’t want him caught up in your world.”
“Too late, Dad,” Sam said from the doorway. He carried over the requested ice pack and knelt by his father’s side again.
Vaughn eased the ice pack under William’s back, positioning it beneath the worst of the spasm. “I can treat you if you come to the clinic,” Vaughn said.
“Will it make it worse if we move him?” Sam asked.
“It won’t be a fun ride for him, but I can’t do much for him here.”
Sam nodded and squeezed his father’s hand. “Dad?”
William looked back and forth between them, as fierce as his son even though Vaughn knew he must be in an incredible amount of pain.
“Explain,” William said. His eyes were locked on Sam’s.
“It’s new,” Sam said. “But… yeah. It’s a thing. And there are kids. So… a big thing? Really big thing. We haven’t… it’s a thing, Dad. That’s all I’ve got for now.”
William turned his attention to Vaughn, narrowing his eyes to a sharp glare.
Vaughn cleared his throat nervously. He’d never actually had to worry about disappointing a parent before.
Between being an alpha, being a Jerrick, being a doctor, and being an all around decent guy, most parents were pretty interested in having him as part of their family.
He was saved from having to explain himself when another sharp spasm wracked William’s body.
“Sir, I will happily answer your questions later. For now, can we please get you to my clinic so I can help you?”
William nodded.
“Sam, get an overnight bag together for him, would you?”
Sam hurried down the hall, and Vaughn gave William’s arm a gentle squeeze. “This is gonna be rough, and I’ve got cubs in the car that I really don’t want to terrify. You think you can hang tough for me until we get to the clinic?”
“You’ve got kids?” William asked on a gasp.
“That’s part of that long story Sam so eloquently tried to explain earlier.”
“Sam loves kids.”
“I know.” He carefully guided William into a sitting position, and then helped move his feet to the floor. He tucked the ice pack into the back of his pants and let him rest for a minute.
Sam came back with a bag over his shoulder.
“Do you have any of his medical paperwork here? Anything I can look over?”
“Yeah, we’ve got his records. We have to have them anytime we go to a new specialist. And I’ve got his list of current medications on my phone.”
“Excellent. Okay, Mr. Baker. We’re going to stand up now. I want you to put pressure on my arms and let me do the lifting okay?”
William nodded while Vaughn adjusted his grip on the man’s forearms and prepared to help him rise.
“On the count of three. One. Two. Three.” Vaughn lifted William, being careful not to pull too tightly on his arms. They managed to get him standing, even if he wasn’t able to straighten all the way.
“Doing great. Sam, go get the car door open for us. We’ll put him in front.
Push the seat all the way back and lean it back a little.
Not all the way. We don’t want him flat. ”
“Okay.” Sam hurried out the door.
Vaughn tightened his hold on William’s arms. “Let’s try taking a couple steps.”
William shuffled forward, breathing heavily, but was able to get most of the way to the door before he had to stop.
“Sir, I know you’re probably not going to like this, but I can carry you to the car much faster, and we’ll be that much closer to getting you help.”
William squeezed Vaughn’s arms. “I don’t like Sam seeing me like this.”
“I’m sure you don’t, but right now, he’s worried sick about you.”
“Do it,” William said quietly.
Vaughn moved fast, releasing his hold on William’s arms and scooping him up in his arms a second later. He hurried out to the car and lifted him into the seat quickly. “Breathe through it, okay. Deep breath in. And out.”
“I know how to breathe,” William griped.
“Dad!”
“It’s fine, Sam. Hop in and we’ll get him some help.”