Chapter Seven
Harper
School and work could be overwhelming. I had to work full-time to survive, but I had chosen to take a full course load as well so that it didn’t take me an eternity to finish my degree.
With the not-great education I’d had up until this time, I already started out way behind my classmates, but I made up for it with determination.
The bakery was going better with Amanda giving me more responsibilities in the back where I felt much more comfortable, and I did my best to make her feel her confidence was well placed.
Not that I didn’t make mistakes… I burned a full sheet pan of cookies, added too much yeast and created balloon bread, but I was learning.
Amanda pointed that out. Frequently. If I ever got really wealthy, I was going to buy her a castle or whatever she wanted most because she deserved it.
It was still a lot, doing full-time for both, and college classes took some getting used to as well.
But I thought I had it under control on the morning that everything started to spin.
Darkness edged my vision, and I dropped the tray of pastry I was carrying out to one of the cases.
Conscious enough to curse the loss before my knees buckled, the blackness closed in the rest of the way, and I landed on the floor on top of the gooey treats.
Then nothing.
Voices leaked into my mind, and I pulled my pillow over my face to shut them out.
I was so relaxed and my bed more comfortable than I remembered.
Sheets smelled like soap and lavender, urging me to fall back asleep and rest until I was no longer tired.
But as I hovered there between waking and sleeping, some part of me recognized the incongruence with my life.
My regular lumpy bed, thin sheets, and the cheapest pillow I could find. This was not that.
And alarms went off in my head. My eyes snapped open, feet feeling for the edge of the bed. Wherever I was, I had to get out of there. An omega could never be safe enough, and especially one on the run like me.
“Whoa.” A big hand closed on my shoulder from behind. “Settle down and lie back or you’ll end up on the floor again, like back at the bakery.”
“On the floor? I didn’t—” I did. The memory trickled back in. “Did I pass out? Oh, how embarrassing. I didn’t eat breakfast, but I’d better be on my way now. I need to get back to work.”
Pressure increased, and a second hand joined the first, easing me to lie back again. “You should always eat breakfast, but I don’t think that’s what happened.” The man came around in front of me and studied me.
I started to object when it sank in that he wore a white coat and a stethoscope hung around his neck. “You’re that man who came into the bakery and gave me his card. The healer.”
“Yes. And it was lucky you held onto the card because that was how your boss found me.”
“I need to sit up.” This time, he had a nurse help me into a comfortable chair near the bed. He adjusted the IV in the back of my hand that I hadn’t noticed in my confusion. “Okay, maybe fill me in on what happened. Last thing I remember, I was in the kitchen loading a tray with pastry.”
“It’s not odd to forget the moments immediately before a fainting spell. From what I was told, you were in the process of bringing that tray out to the cases when you went down.”
“Oh, wait, I remember a little more. I think I fell on the danishes. I ruined them. Amanda is going to kill me.”
“If Amanda was the woman who summoned me, she is anything but homicidal. You scared her half to death. She tried to wake you and when you didn’t stir, she checked your phone, but there weren’t any helpful contacts in it.
Just the college, work, what looked like maybe your landlord… not a single friend.”
And wasn’t that pathetic.
He went on. “She found my card sticking in your apron pocket and called, and I came right over to find you still out of it.”
“Wow, how long was I unconscious?” And how deep if I didn’t even notice all the fuss and getting here?
“Gonna say nearly two hours. Those supplements depleted you. Not lack of one meal. That’s why we have the IV going, although we will give you some food as soon as you feel up to it. How about a protein shake for now?”
“You’re a healer.” It seemed obvious, but I needed to say it. “And you need to know my health insurance hasn’t kicked in yet, and I don’t have any money.”
“I told you when we met that I could get you what you need for free. We operate on a sliding scale here, and nobody is asked to pay for more than they can afford.”
“Still, I should go. I need to get back to work or I won’t have enough money to pay my rent.”
“Your boss is paying you for the whole day, and after you eat, you can go rest in your nest. If you are not up to it tomorrow, she’ll pay you for that as well.”
“I have no nest. There is no nest for omegas like me.”
“Just relax, have something to eat and drink, and with the IV, you should be able to go home later. I’ve prescribed the correct supplements for you, and you can pick them up tomorrow.”
He didn’t address my no-nest comment. Probably recognized me as the unworthy omega I was, but I would accept the supplements. There was no other way I could avoid ending up with another pack like the one I’d escaped.
“Thank you.”
“Now, is there anyone you would like me to contact? Someone to help you get home or check in on you?”
“No!” I blurted out before I could even think to stop myself. “Don’t!”
He dropped to one knee in front of me and patted my thigh. “Shh. It’s fine. I won’t do anything you don’t want me to. But I would like to talk more to you about this. Everyone needs support, friends… You can call me anytime, all right?”
We talked another moment or two and then a nurse showed up with the protein smoothie they made for me, and I rested in the chair while the IV bag emptied into me. By the time I left, he’d gone off to help others, and I felt much steadier than when I first awoke.
Once again, the goddess had sent help. It was time I took better care of myself.
That was, after all, my purpose in coming to this town.
At least now, I’d have the supplements to make my choice of lives possible.
I’d never call the alpha. Rowan, his name was.
I’d learned that from his card. Healer Rowan.
He’d already done enough for me. But it was awfully nice of him to offer.