36. Xan
Chapter 36
T hat motherfuck…I’m going to kill him.
I pace the hall outside of the X-ray suite that Jacks is in. Leo was fine being admitted for observation due to smoke inhalation, and second degree burns on his hands and back. Jacks does have a mild concussion, and five broken ribs, not three, two of which did puncture his lung, thankfully not deep. He’s also dealing with breathing in smoke, a variety of cuts and bruises, and a fractured jaw. I have to remind myself that it could be so much worse.
He’s wheeled out on a gurney, and it looks like they gave him some really good painkillers cause he is grinning like an idiot. Maybe a low dose of Alsomna–that new sedation medication I was reading about for alphas. I was wondering if it would help him with his sleeping or nightmares. They gave him something anyway, not enough to knock him out, but definitely enough to make him loopy .
“Mr. Asher? Xander Asher?” a nurse follows Jacks out of the room carrying a clipboard. Jacks reaches for me as they walk past, but I stay to talk to the woman calling my name.
“Yes, can I help you?”
“Mr. Asher?” she confirms again, wasting my time while my mate is getting farther away.
“Still yes. How can I, Mr. Xander Asher, help you today?” I grind out through clenched teeth.
“Oh, ok, well, I need next of kin information for Mr. Jackson Asher, we don’t have anything listed on his paperwork, and he wasn’t the most helpful…he just kept asking for you.” Her eyes keep bouncing around the room, not wanting to hold my own, which are furious.
“ I’m his next of kin, I’m his mate.” I pull my shirt collar to the side exposing his claiming mark.
“Oh, yes, but you’re both…and…we saw the mark on his neck…and…isn’t there a pack lead or an alpha we can talk to?”
I don’t even know what the fuck this bitch is babbling about now, only that my mate has been rolled into an elevator and is now gone, and I give it less than five minutes before he goes ballistic on everyone around him without a familiar face to calm him down.
Putting on the best version of my easy-going persona that I can, I hold my hand out towards the elevators.
“Walk with me will you, I don’t want Jackson to be left without family nearby.” I march purposefully towards the elevator, and she can either follow me, or fuck off, because I’m being serious when I tell her I don’t like him to be without his family. She trots to catch up with me, calling loudly.
“If I could just speak to your pack lead; I just need to get his paperwork filed, and I need to know his next of kin, and who will be responsible for any medical expenses. We don’t have any insurance on file for him.”
Ahh…there we have it, the vulgar topic of payment. “Just mark me down as responsible. I’ll take care of whatever bills he can’t cover.”
I’m spamming the up button on the elevator. I saw the display stop on floors three and five after he got on, so I can check the nursing stations at both of those if I need to.
“But, Mr. Asher, we really need a card on file, or some sort of insurance.” And poof…there go the last of my fucks, right up in goddamned smoke.
Breathe Xan…you won’t be here for Jacks if security kicks you out.
Fuck
I spin on my heel, still pumping the elevator button.
“Ms….” I look down at her nametag.
“Ms. McGinnis.” I try for a charming smile, but I can’t guess at what it really looks like when she backs up a step.
“Ms. McGinnis. If you have something for me to sign, some document agreeing to pay whatever fees your hospital has…I will gladly do so. One of my pack members is being treated for smoke inhalation, my mate–who you refuse to address as such–is being admitted for several injuries, not the least of which is a concussion, my omega is missing, which, coincidentally is how my two pack mates were injured, trying to protect her. My lead alpha is missing after going to the police to file a report and I am slowly losing my ever-loving fucking mind…so if you have something for me to sign, please give it to me now, before I lose all sense of decorum, and have to be forcibly removed from your facilities. Do I make myself clear?”
The elevator finally arrives, and I am about to turn towards it when Ms. Mcginnis takes another step backwards. I hear Jacks giggling, and turn towards the sound. He’s standing in the elevator, in nothing but his hospital gown. “Xan!” He slurs staggering towards me, he’s holding up a IV bag in one hand, but it’s not doing much good since it is connected to the tubes coming out of the hand holding it.
“Excuse us, Ms. McGinnis!” I say loudly, taking Jacks’ elbow and leading him back into the elevator.
“I do hope you’re not causing problems my love, now, what floor did they have you on?” Jacks holds up five fingers.
“Right, up we go, hold on then.” The door slides closed as I hold the button down for the fifth floor, my arm wrapping snugly around his hips.
“By the way, your ass looks really good in that gown.” I smile up at Jacks, and he leans heavily against me, as we head back up to his room–hoping like hell there is no path of destruction to follow and he just slipped out after they got him situated.
Luck seems to be on my side as we get up to the fifth floor. The nurses all look our way as we stumble off the elevator, but no one stops us. Jacks hobbles down the hallway with a purpose, so at least they got him settled into a room before he escaped. He checks door numbers and finally pushes into 553 half-falling inside. The sooner I get him back in bed, the better.
I barely have time to take in the slightly burnt smell and the sheet that hangs as a room separator before Jacks yanks it back, stumbling into the side of the bed. Leo is there, his face pink and shiny, bandages on both hands, and tubes running up one arm.
“C’mon….Leo…ge’ up!” Jacks looks at the bandaged hands and then grabs Leo’s arm instead, carefully avoiding all the wires and tubes attached to our big alpha. He yanks a few times, but Leo only lets out a pained groan.
“C’mon, go’a go!” Jacks gives up on pulling and tries to push Leo out of the bed, but he barely starts to roll before Jacks drops to the ground, grabbing at his busted side.
The pain seems to have snapped him out of it, at least temporarily, and he looks up at me with tears in his eyes.
“Xan?” I help him stand up and limp over to the unoccupied bed. I get him stretched out across the covers and press the nurse call button. Nobody bothers replying, but a few minutes later a severe looking older nurse appears in the doorway.
“Oh, I’m sorry, we only had one patient scheduled for this room.” She stammers out a quick excuse as she takes in the situation. Leo groaning on his bed, Jacks curled up around my arm in the other bed. She hurries over and looks down at the hospital bracelet wrapped around Jacks arm .
“Mr. Asher? Oh…Ohhh? Leo Asher is your pack mate, yes?" I nod a quick affirmative.
“Yeah, Leo’s over there, this is Jacks, and I’m his mate, Xander. Jacks doesn’t like to be alone, so he came and found me down by x-ray, and then dragged me up here and made himself at home. Can you help him, please?” I don’t like how my voice cracks at the end, or how her eyes get wider with each word.
Thankfully, she seems more professional than the woman downstairs and immediately gets started trying to help. She asks me what happened, and I try to explain, while she checks Jacks’ vitals. He’s whimpering now, the cut on his forehead breaking open and oozing blood down his jaw. She calls down to the nurse's station and asks for Jacks’ records, and it’s only a couple more minutes before a younger man pops through the door carrying a stack of papers.
“Oh, now, technically this is the burn recovery center, but…” she looks at the paper, “that’s fine since he is also recovering from smoke inhalation. However, we are going to need to get a doctor in here to evaluate his concussion, and get his chest taken care of before he can rest. If he can rest…the doctor will need to look at everything before we make a decision.” She looks back and forth between Jacks and the paperwork. He has a death grip on my hand, his eyes screwed down tight.
“We’re going to get you taken care of young man,” she says sincerely and then pats him on the ankle and smiles at me before leaving the room .
Hooking a chair with my foot, I drag it over so I can collapse next to Jacks. I need to check in with Gabe, but just need to rest my eyes first. Leaning my head against Jacks’ bed I don’t remember anything until the severe nurse shakes me awake.
Jacks
F uck me, everything hurts. When I get ahold of that little shit-monkey I’m going to peel him like a fucking banana.
Everything smells antiseptic, and they must have insane filters in this place. Warmth envelops one side of my body and I look over catching a hint of Xan’s bourbon and rain scent, cozy . He is asleep wrapped around my side that isn’t bandaged, his fingers are intertwined with mine and his face rubs into my shoulder. I catch sight of a big lump over his shoulder, and it’s Leo, hooked up to lots of machines, and heavily bandaged.
Poor bastard, I remember seeing him laying out in my Little Lion’s yard after I woke up. They didn’t want me to be in here, but I couldn’t leave him in a room all alone. What if he has a nightmare with none of his pack around, and there would be no one to sneak him snacks. Nope, he is stuck with me, and Xan, by proxy.
I push the nurse call button and an angry looking woman in a tight bun is at our door a moment later. “Oh, I wasn’t expecting you to be up so soon, I thought he was the one buzzing.” She looks down at Xan, and part of me wants to pull the blanket over him so she can’t see him, but Janey would’ve kicked my ass so hard for being rude, so I remember my manners.
“No ma’am. I’m sorry to call you in, I was just wondering how long it’s been since we arrived, and when we can leave." Her eyes widen with shock…shit, did I do something awkward that I can’t remember?
“I’m sorry, Mr. Asher, but you have five broken ribs, and you had to have a procedure to re-inflate your lung…Mr. Leo Asher over there is suffering from singed lungs and burns. I’m sorry to say it, but it will be at least a few more days, if not a week, before we can discharge you. And that depends a lot on how long it takes you to heal. So, please, lay back down and get more rest.” I look at her, dumbstruck.
“You’ve been unconscious for about 36 hours Mr. Asher."
Shit…Fuck…Shit-Fuck!
It’s ok, I can work with this.
“Thank you ma’am, I sure do appreciate your help. Can you please be a darlin’ and tell me how to get an outside line on here, I just wanna call up our pack leader and check up on our omega. "
I point at the phone smiling my most disarming smile. And yes, I am laying it on super thick, but I can’t do Xan’s effortless relaxed charm. So, let’s try fake southern gentleman charm instead, and hope it doesn’t get me in any more trouble. I clearly have no idea what I’m doing, but it works in movies.