Chapter 34 #2
"Are you sure about this?" Raff asks Elowen, his jaw tight. "I’m not saying that you’re wrong," he says quickly. “I can’t believe a doctor would prescribe something for fifteen years without knowing what it does long term."
“You’d be surprised,” Elle says flatly, before turning back to Adam. "Your doctor. Is he a general physician or a rheumatologist?"
"I…uh…." Adam frowns like he can’t remember.
"He's our family doctor,” Perrin says. “We've been seeing him since we were kids." He takes a breath as his eyes grow glassy. The poor beta looks like someone pulled the floor out from under him. "Our parents couldn’t afford to take Adam to see a specialist, so Dr. Ellison helped us out.”
The shop is silent. Adam hasn't moved. He's standing in the same spot, staring at the dirty concrete floor with a haunted expression.
Elowen moves closer, and reaches for his hand.
She holds it carefully as she looks up into Adam's face.
"Hey." Her voice is so soft. "Listen to me, Adam.” She waits for his eyes to meet hers.
“Everything is going to be okay. Alright?
You might have some complications, but even if you do, it's not a death sentence.
And honestly, it helps that you're a beta. "
“Really?” Perrin’s brows raise. "Why does being a beta matter?"
"Verenthicin can't be prescribed to omegas,” she says. “The interaction with omega biology is considered too unpredictable.” She gives a little wave of her hand, like she’s trying not to go off on a tangent.
"It’s just not good for them. But for betas, the risks are manageable.
” She looks back at Adam. “We’re going to get you on a good treatment plan, and get your condition under control.
” She says it like it’s a complete certainty.
“Okay.” Adam blinks like he's been slightly underwater this whole conversation and is only now surfacing. Then he nods. “Yeah. Okay.”
"We're going to fix this," she repeats as she squeezes his hand. "We'll find you a new doctor. An actual specialist. Then we'll get bloodwork done, a full hormone panel, and figure out exactly what we can do to get you back on track." She looks up at him. "Okay?"
“Okay.” Adam looks up at me, and I force a smile.
My heart is pounding with pure rage at what my sweet mate has been through, but I can’t let him see how angry I am. It will only upset him more.
“What about right now?” Adam turns back to Elle. “I’m pretty sure I won’t be able to get an appointment with a specialist today. What do I do to…” He closes his eyes, clearly struggling to find the right words.
It could be brain fog already setting in, or he could simply be flustered. Either way, I fucking hate that I can’t fix this.
“I’ll tell you what we’re going to do,” Elowen says like she completely understands what he was trying to say.
“Right now, we’re going to get your pain under control.
" She pats the back of Adam’s hand. "Let’s go sit in the office so I can get a more detailed history of your symptoms so we can figure out what we're working with. "
"Yeah," he says quietly, still looking dazed. "Okay."
Holding Adam’s hand firmly, Elowen pulls him toward the office. Then she slips her arm around his shoulders, and Adam shocks me by leaning into her as they walk, Perrin following right behind them.
The second the office door swings shut behind them, I turn to Raff.
The alpha’s arms are crossed, his jaw clenched so tight I can see the muscle twitching under his skin. He's not yelling or throwing things, but I can definitely tell he wants to.
"I want to find Ellison," he growls softly as his scent grows sharp. "Whatever shit resort he's sipping cocktails at right now, I want to drive there and beat the ever-living fuck out of him."
My fists squeeze in agreement.
"He's had Adam on that shit since he was a kid, Cliff. A kid,” Raff whispers, harshly, clearly not wanting the rest of our pack to hear. "And he kept writing the prescription. Year after year. Never asked a goddamn question or ran a fucking test. That fucker deserves to fucking rot.”
"I know." I step closer and put my hand on his shoulder, squeezing hard. "But beating the shit out of some asshole doctor, isn’t going to help Adam right now.”
Raff's jaw flexes. He looks at my hand, then at my face.
"She's changed you, you know that?" The corner of his mouth twitches. "Six months ago you would've already been in the car."
"Six months ago, I didn't have a fucking omega to care for, on top of a beta who is literally falling apart." I say flatly. "I'm past my heavyweight days, Raff. And right now, we've got bigger problems than an incompetent doctor."
Raff exhales through his nose. The tension doesn't leave his body, but it settles into something more manageable. And he nods.
“Right.” His nostrils flare. "So, what happened at Montclare?"
"Not much." I drop my head back for a second, staring at the ceiling. "The cashier said the pharmacy was robbed last week. Someone broke in, punched the owner in the face, and took several boxes of meds."
"Anyone die?"
"No. It was a straight-forward robbery. In and out."
"That doesn't match what happened to her parents."
"No, it doesn't." I rub the back of my neck. "I've got a few people I can reach out to, to see if there were any leads in the case. But it's been three years.” I give a small shrug. “It’s very likely that no one remembers or cares anymore.”
Raff is quiet for a second. "I can try to talk to Anton."
I look at him. "That bridge might be ash by now."
"Maybe." He shrugs. "But Anton's been running product through the Morder for years. If someone killed two pharmacists over stolen meds, there's a good chance it's connected to the same supply chain he's plugged into." He holds my gaze. "I can at least try.”
"Okay," I say. "Talk to Anton." I glance toward the office door, then over at the old punching bag on the far side of the shop. "I need something to do with my hands before I lose my mind.”