42. Everest
Everest
I can’t stop shaking. It's like my worst nightmare has come true. We haven’t been allowed to see her because we aren’t her official mates. But at least Maddock’s there, so she's not alone.
“They said she's okay,” Jaxx murmurs to me in the busy waiting area in the hospital. “You don't need to worry.”
He says that, but he's leaning forward on a cheap plastic chair, one leg bouncing furiously as he presses his threaded fingers hard against his lips and stares at nothing in front of him, looking like he’ll break if I say the wrong thing.
Maddock already came down to talk to us an hour ago. He said she's awake and that she’ll be down soon, but it’s been too long. I think I’m going to crack open because of the tension. It’s too much. I can’t handle something like this when we’re meant to be at free practice today.
I’m supposed to be in the garage this morning, going through my usual maintenance routine so that I can keep Jaxx and Maddock racing.
But if both of them are at the hospital, how are they going to train properly? Are we even going to race with Harmony like this?
What if something happens in the next hour and that’s it? She decides she doesn’t want to be with us at all and suddenly the races will be over and she’ll leave and nothing will be there anymore?
“I can see what you're doing,” Jaxx says, and I jump as I find him looking at me with the same thousand-yard stare Maddock had when she crashed. “You've been spiraling since we got here, but that won’t make a difference.”
“You look like you're in a worse state than me,” I say. Jaxx gives a hollow chuckle.
“Yeah, you could say that. But we could have lost our omega. What the hell would we do then?”
I shake my head. I don’t want to think about it, even though I can’t stop.
“What are you doing?” a familiar voice calls through the waiting room.
Twin gasps burst from us as we shoot up from our chairs, though there are at least twenty other people in the waiting room who realize Harmony Grace is standing right in front of them.
Even though she's in a hospital, she's still dressed like a Hollywood starlet, with a blue dress and heavy gold jewelry that makes her shine in the center of the dull room.
I should have considered that, but it's too difficult when I’ve been dying to see her for at least twenty-four hours.
Jaxx makes a beeline for her too. She opens her arms, pulling us both into a hug as we wrap ourselves around her.
She lifts herself up onto her tiptoes, and all three of us groan as we’re united again.
“You made us worry there for a second, sweetheart,” Jaxx croaks, trembling harder than I am as he buries his nose into her neck.
“I'm okay,” she murmurs to both of us. “You're not going to get rid of me easily.” But her joke falls flat.
I can’t say anything. The shock that had hit me when she first crashed comes roaring back, and I pull in a wheezing breath.
I grip her harder, trying to control myself, but it's too much. I can’t deal with losing her; I can’t cope with the idea that one day she might not exist.
“Everest,” she says in my ear, but it's like a distant sound as panic takes me over. “Everest, look at me.”
I gasp as I pull back, my eyes wide, my heart thumping so hard that I know she can feel it as she presses her hand against my chest.
“I'm right here, okay? I'm not going anywhere.”
Jaxx claps me on the shoulder as he eases away from her, and Maddock is suddenly standing behind her with the same hard look Jaxx has.
He comes in close to me so all three of us wall her in, like we can protect her from anything in the world.
“I'll get better,” I croak. “I'll find a better routine so you don't have to… So you won't…” I cut myself off as my voice cracks.
“It's not your fault, Everest. You can’t control that. And there are so many points between you inspecting the car to me crashing that there's no way you were involved, okay?”
“Jaxx and I are more at fault than you are,” Maddock says.
“For God's sake. None of you are responsible.” She presses her lips, glaring at all three of us in a way that makes me want to hug her again.
“Who do you think does all my stunts? Do you think I'm lying when I brag about the acrobatics I did in my last movie in interviews?
Or the bike chase scenes? Or the gunfights?
Just because I'm not racing doesn't mean I'm not in danger. I'm used to it by now, but I can’t deal with my alphas acting like this every time I get a little bit hurt. Understood?”
She meets my eyes again with a confident smile, and something settles in me as I nod to my omega. If I act confident, maybe they won’t be able to tell I’m still panicking.
Is she saying we’re going to be her alphas? That she really wants to be a pack?
“Sweetheart, your car was basically torn in three,” Jaxx says, and all of us can feel his pain. “You could have been sliced in half. You might have—”
She presses her palm against his lips, and his eyes spark.
“You know just as well as I do how safe the cars are nowadays. Do you really think my family—any of the team—would let me in a car that might put me in danger?” she asks with a cock of her brow.
All three of us are breathing heavily as we stare at her. I don’t want to think about how bad it could have been, but I have to remember there's a reason I do those checks.
And I wouldn’t have approved the car to drive unless I knew for sure she would be safe.
But I have to find more ways I can protect her.
Biting her would be the best way to make sure we stay together. If we bite her, we can make sure that we’ll always be with her, even if she's off filming movies while Maddock and Jaxx race, and I support her behind the scenes.
“Remember what I said about trusting me?” she asks Jaxx. “And, Everest, I trust you more than anyone here with my safety. You don't need any extra worries; you're stressed enough as it is.”
Jaxx chuckles as Maddock sighs.
“I know that tone,” Maddock says to her. “You're still going to race again, aren't you?”
There’s a flicker of something in her eyes, and I want to ask her what happened, but she suddenly switches to a cheery smile.
“Just try to stop me,” she chuckles before she turns to me.
“And don't forget I need to win at least one more race to get your jacket,” she says, hitching a brow. I can’t help but smile at her, and I'm about to automatically hand mine over just to make sure she stays covered in our scents, but Jacob enters the waiting room behind Maddock.
“Though this is lovely, can I remind you guys that Dad and Viktor are waiting so we can give a statement to the press?” Jacob says, grinning at the four of us.
I sigh as she lowers down onto her heels, releasing both of us. I want to stay pressed together with her forever.
My hands still tremble, but Jaxx throws his arm over my shoulders, keeping me pressed in tight so that I don’t panic again. But from the way he looks at her, he needs the support as much as I do.
Jacob gently eases Harmony away from us, and Maddock growls softly at Jacob, who just laughs at him.
“We'll talk about this later,” he murmurs to him, pulling back to wink at all of us.
I hope Jacob will stay busy for a long time so we don’t have to discuss the scent match with him.
It's obvious what it looks like. As she smiles up at all three of us, and we wash our pheromones over her, to everyone else in the waiting room, we look like a pack.