Chapter Five
Bennett
June
“Good morning, Mr. Winchester.” A petite Asian woman stepped into Felix’s room with a trepid smile on her face.
“Hi,” I said, not moving from my spot beside him in his bed.
After I’d finished my breakfast, Julia explained that Felix was in a medically induced coma, and that even in his state, omegas could be calmed by physical touch from their alphas. I’d barely let her finish her sentence before I’d kicked off my shoes and slid under the covers to hold him.
She’d also noted some unverified science that true mates could help heal one another faster, so I wasn’t getting out of this bed unless I was forced out.
The doctor stepped closer. “His heart rate and blood pressure look much better than they did in the middle of the night. How long have you been holding him?”
“A couple hours.”
“Well, it seems to be helping. I’m Dr. Tanaka. I’m the critical care doctor who’ll be taking the lead on Felix’s case. Is this an okay time to talk to you about his condition?”
I nodded, tightening my arm around Felix’s waist. “I don’t have to get up, do I?”
“No, of course not.” She sat down in the chair next to his bed and balanced an open laptop on her legs. “I’m not sure how much you’ve heard from law enforcement already.”
I shrugged. “I’d rather hear what you have to say right now.”
Since Donovan still isn’t fucking here.
“Okay. According to the report I received from the ambulance company, when the paramedics found Felix yesterday, they were working with two major issues. First, he’d overdosed on heroin.”
I felt the growl in my chest before I even knew it was happening.
I was damn tired of people saying Felix had done this to himself, and if Donovan didn’t get here soon, I was going to be ripping Wyatt a new asshole over the phone for leaving this up to his deputy when it was fucking Felix we were talking about.
Next time Ally gets a flat tire, I’ll tell her to wait for Calvin to show up and see how Wyatt likes that.
I won’t.
But I will keep picturing the look on his face because he’d be pissed.
Dr. Tanaka held up one hand. “I know you have concerns about how this happened. It’s my job to heal Felix, Mr. Winchester, not speculate as to how he ended up in my care.
What I can tell you is that I see the inconsistency in the track marks on his arms too, and I’ve noted that in his medical record.
You should also know that the amount of heroin in his system was twice what most users ingest. Any long-term drug user would know that it was far too much, so when he wakes up, we will need to do a psych eval to ensure that he didn’t intentionally harm himself. ”
My canine teeth dropped, and Dr. Tanaka must have felt the shift in my energy because she paused and I scented her fear subtly filling the space between us.
“I can assure you, I will comply with all official requests for information related to Felix’s case,” she said, gently squeezing my elbow.
I relaxed slightly and took a deep breath, which she must have interpreted as a sign to continue, because she said, “The paramedics administered naloxone enroute to the hospital and intubated him. The breathing tube you see now is what allowed the trauma team to keep him alive while they dealt with the injuries from the car accident. Do you need me to take a break?”
“No,” I said, desperate to hear the rest of his diagnosis and what it all meant for Felix’s recovery.
“He wasn’t in a position to brace himself when the car hit him, which resulted in a brain injury and a broken leg.
We were able to set the bones in his leg during surgery before you arrived yesterday and that injury should heal fine.
It is my belief that he will also recover from the overdose, though the possible lack of oxygen to his brain is what complicates things in that regard.
We don’t know how long his breathing was impaired by the heroin before the paramedics got there and we won’t know the full extent of his brain injuries until we’re able to start to wean him off the medications. ”
“Haven’t you done scans?” I asked.
Dr. Tanaka nodded. “The MRI showed enough brain swelling that we want to keep him in the medically induced coma he is in right now for another day or so. Anything longer than two to three days and we risk doing more damage to his brain by keeping him sedated. The scans look promising, Mr. Winchester. I don’t want to give you false hope, but when I look at this case, I see a lot of things that worked in his favor. ”
“Is he in pain?” I asked, running my hand over his cheek as I studied the features of his face. He looked so relaxed he could be sleeping, if not for the tubes and wires sticking out of his mouth, nose, and arms.
“No, the morphine he’s on is preventing any pain.”
“He can’t have morphine,” I said, whipping my head around to face her. “He has an opioid addiction!”
Dr. Tanaka startled and looked down at her laptop, clicking around. The rage I felt made me want to start ripping tubes out of his arms until I found the right one, but I tightened my grip on him and waited.
She furrowed her brow as she looked at the screen. “It is strange that they started him on morphine in the emergency department.” She looked up slowly. “It says here it was requested by a member of the family.”
What the fuck?
“It’s safe to assume that wasn’t you?” she said.
“No. It was not me. Or anyone else who has a right to speak on behalf of his care,” I said, feeling my canines drop again.
“Okay, don’t worry. I can take him off the morphine now and switch him to methadone. If I’d made the connection earlier, I would have suggested that when I came in. It’ll manage his pain and help him to detox from the drugs we’ve already given him.”
“How will that affect him when he wakes up?” I asked.
She took a deep breath. “It’s unlikely to cause long-term damage to his overall recovery if that’s what you’re concerned about. At least, no more damage than what getting a fresh taste of heroin in his system likely did.”
“Just get it out of his body now,” I growled, scenting her fear at the mistake. “And I make his care decisions until he wakes up and can speak for himself. Understood?”
“Of course, Mr. Winchester,” Dr. Tanaka said, standing up.
“I’ll put in the medication change orders and a nurse will be in shortly to make the swap.
As for his long-term recovery, I hate to say this, but we should be grateful that his car was hit when it was.
If that hadn’t happened, it likely would have been too late to save him from the overdose by the time anyone found him. ”
My heart dropped into my stomach. All the more reason to find out who gave him the heroin and why.
A tall, dark-haired man in uniform stepped into the room and offered me a small wave. “Hey, Bennett,” Donovan said.
Dr. Tanaka smiled at him. “Hello, Officer. I’ll leave you two alone. I’ll be back to check on Felix in a few hours, Mr. Winchester.”
“You might as well call me Bennett,” I said. “I’m sure we’ll be seeing plenty of each other.”
“Yumi,” she said with a nod.
“Thank you, Yumi,” I said as she stepped out of the room. I scowled at Donovan. “What the fuck took you so long?”
“Good to see you too, Bennett. Wyatt mentioned you were behaving like an alphahole but I figured he was being dramatic since your bark usually has very little bite.”
“When it’s your omega fighting for their life, then you can judge me,” I snapped.
Donovan narrowed his brown eyes at me and they flickered with an annoyance that he masked quickly. He sighed. “Pretty sure you’d be just as much of an asshole then, since that would also mean your sister would be fighting for her life.”
I swallowed more rage. They may have thought I was being an asshole, but frankly I was being civil as hell, given the circumstances. The last thing I needed at the moment was a reminder that Donovan was involved with Oakley.
Everyone loved Donovan, and he’d been a friend of ours for years since his brother, Reid, was my and Wyatt’s best friend.
I’d known him his whole life and I still didn’t feel like I really knew him at all.
He and Reid had been at odds since the death of their father six years ago, which led to him being around us even less.
I suspected Oakley’s relationship with Donovan was temporary since I was pretty sure Reid was the brother she really wanted.
Then again, this saga had been going on for nearly a decade.
Still, I wasn’t entirely sure that Donovan’s interest in Oakley was anything more than something to annoy Reid.
It was probably why neither of them seemed all that serious about the other.
“I think you’re going to like what I have to say,” Donovan said, shoving his hands in his pockets with a smug smile.
I stared at him, waiting for him to get on with it.
“Right,” he said, rubbing the back of his neck.
“There were signs of a struggle in Felix’s car.
I gathered prints, and Sarina is back at the station waiting for the results.
We also got a report of a break-in at your shop this morning which is where Wyatt has been.
No signs of forced entry, but we assumed you didn’t lock up on your way here? ”
“I don’t even think I closed the door.”
He nodded. “Well, that all fits. But still, someone smashed up the place pretty good. So that, combined with the fact that Felix hasn’t shown any signs of a relapse for as long as you’ve known him, is suspicious to say the least.”
I reached across Felix’s body and uncovered his left arm. “Look.”
Donovan walked around the edge of the bed and looked at the fresh track mark and then reached for Felix’s right arm, comparing the two.
He nodded. “I’ll call Wyatt and tell him about this too.
If the intention was to make it look like Felix did this to himself, we’re obviously dealing with an amateur. ”
“The doctor said he took a dose twice what normal users take,” I said. “Even if he relapsed, he wouldn’t be that stupid. He knew how to get high without killing himself.”
Donovan took a deep breath. “Have you considered the possibility that he wanted to kill himself?”
I sat up like a shot and bared my teeth at him, slowly losing the fight against my rage. It didn’t help that in this moment his handsome, pale face looked particularly punchable. “Suggest it again and I’ll fucking kill you,” I snarled.
Donovan's lips quirked upward on one side.
Very punchable, indeed.
“Do you need to step out for a few minutes? Catch your breath?” he asked, raising a thick eyebrow at me.
“Do you have anything to say or ask me that doesn’t make me want to rip your throat out with my bare hands?” I asked. “Fuck, if Wyatt tries to send you again, just don’t bother.”
“What is your problem with me, Bennett? I’m a respectable cop in this town you love, I’m the younger brother of one of your closest friends, and I’m dating your sister.” He waved one hand through the air as if to reveal himself to be a decent guy.
“I don’t like anyone right now. Just say what you have to say and get the fuck out.”
It was partially true. I didn’t like anyone right now, but I still liked him least of all the people I’d talked with today so far. I rarely interacted with Donovan on my own, and I was starting to see why Reid always complained about his brother.
Donovan shook his head. “Wyatt said there was someone else here at the hospital when you arrived and that you might be able to tell me more about him.”
I glowered at him. “Yes.”
“I need his name, Bennett,” he said with exasperation. “There’s a chance he’s connected to this. Was this the first time you’ve seen him around?”
“No,” I said. “Felix has run into him a couple of times over the last few months.”
“Wyatt said there was a history between them. Are you going to tell me what that is?”
“No,” I said. “I’m Felix’s alpha.”
Donovan nodded with a knowing smile. “Got it.”
“Do you?”
“I can read between the lines, Bennett. I’m not a dumbass.”
“His name is Ryder Armstrong. He’s a drug dealer in Crescent River. That’s all I know about him.”
Donovan looked at me curiously, clearly trying to decide whether I knew what I was talking about or not. “I’ll look into him, see if we can find his prints in the system. Do you know anything else about him or his connection to drugs?”
“No,” I said, noticing too women appear in the doorway behind him.
Donovan’s nostrils flared and his body stiffened. “I’ll leave you with your sisters while I look into this,” he said, without turning around to confirm it was them.
Oakley and Ally stepped into the room, exchanging pleasantries with Donovan who kissed Oak softly on the cheek while I let my eyes roam over Felix again.
Is it possible Felix contacted Ryder again? Why would he have let Ryder get close enough to him to do this after the last time they’d met up?