Chapter 43
CHAPTER
FORTY-THREE
LYLE
Taking a deep breath, I force my thoughts away from thinking about Troy laying in an operating room while a team works on him. His lung is pierced from his knife wound and it’s making things more complicated.
We’ve been here for hours, with no contact or updates after the initial one Doc gave us. This is one of the best teaching hospitals in the country, and they’re allowing our doctor to watch from the gallery while they operate. However, we haven’t seen him in awhile.
Alisa is unconscious, curled up on two chairs facing each other because she couldn’t keep her eyes open. Silas ran his fingers through her hair until she finally fell asleep, but first, we begged the hospital staff to allow her to shower and change.
There was no time to swing by the house, and I know for a fact that Savannah sees worse in its hospitals. Doc took control of the situation, barked out orders, and everyone danced to his tune.
At the end of the day, Troy lost a lot of blood, despite the patch job Doc was able to do in order to get him here.
He needed help, and the overworked nurses were shocked to see us carry in a half dead alpha.
Either that, or Alisa scared them since she looked like an attempted murder victim herself.
Breathe.
Alisa whimpers as she dreams, and Easton leans toward her and whispers in her ear to help her stay asleep. She only closed her eyes a half hour ago, and Silas is hunting down a blanket since the scrubs she changed into are thin. I’m sure her wet hair isn’t doing her any favors either.
I don’t know why hospitals are kept at arctic level temperatures. I can see my girl fucking shivering from here.
“You’d think I asked the nurses’ station for a million dollars,” Silas grumbles, returning with a blanket.
He gently drapes around Alisa in a way that’ll help keep her body heat in, and Easton moves closer to our girl to rub his hands over the blanket she’s underneath to warm her.
“It’s four in the morning. I know they’re all exhausted, but I’m also very frustrated,”
“I know,” I sigh, stretching. “One of us is going to snap soon if we don’t get an update on Troy. Aren’t they supposed to update you when a pack mate is ill?”
“They would if you were registered as a pack,” Doc sighs, stepping into the room.
“Fuck that,” Easton mutters, pulling out his phone. “Silas, switch spots with me and keep her warm. I’m back dating my registration.”
“Okay then,” Doc says, watching as gears begin moving.
“We kept talking about doing it and then it would get pushed onto a back burner,” I explain. “I’ve traded bites with Troy. A piece of fucking paper doesn’t change his importance in our pack. I will happily ignore red tape if it means getting what I want right now.”
“I have an update if that helps,” he sighs. “How long has she been sleeping?”
“Not long enough,” Silas growls. “We aren’t waking her up.”
“No. She hasn’t been sleeping while Troy has been taken, has she?”
“At the most, she dozes.”
None of us want to say her name in case it pulls her awake. It may seem silly, but Alisa is running on fucking fumes. We all are, yet our girl has bruising under her eyes from not sleeping.
“What do you know?” I ask Doc.
He stands with his legs wide apart as he crosses his arms, his face expressionless.
“The surgeon is wrapping things up now. They’re going to be moving him into a room once they’re sure he’s stabilized.
I believe they’re going to keep him on a chest tube for a short period of time to see how his lung is cooperating.
You won’t be able to tell it’s there, and it’s easily removed once he doesn’t need it anymore.
No one is asking for my expert opinion, but that’s what I would do.
“The surgeon was able to repair the internal damage, and I think he’ll bounce back physically. Troy is healthy and strong. I’m waiting to see what his blood panels come back with because the people who took him definitely pumped him full of shit. We may need to give him some time to wake up.”
“Sleeping Beauty can rest in the hospital for as long as he likes,” Easton grumbles, stabbing at his screen before he puts it away in disgust. “This looks legit enough until I get home. I would feel better with a little proof of life: eyes opening, flicking us off because we’re overprotective, something. ”
“The three of you are ridiculous,” Doc groans. “I overheard that Silas was driving the nurses insane.”
“Yeah, I was a real cunt because I asked for a blanket,” he mutters. “I won’t apologize for asking until someone pointed me in the direction of a cart. I’m aware I’m not in a hotel, but our omega’s health is very important to us. If they want to say I was a dick, then so be it.”
“Speaking of dicks—”
“We’re moving your alpha,” a nurse says, interrupting Doc as she steps into the room. “We apologize for not seeing Troy’s pack information earlier. Would you like to come sit with him?”
Easton smirks as he nods and Doc rolls his eyes. He should be used to our bullshit by now. We are Troy’s family, and we need to be recognized as such.
“That would be lovely, thank you,” Silas says, getting up and scooping Alisa into his arms. “Lead the way.”
“Would you like a wheelchair, sir?” the nurse asks, surprised by how nonchalantly he picked Alisa up.
The truth is that while she’s putting on weight as she eats better, we’re always going to be able to lift her as if she weighs nothing.
“No, I prefer to keep her close,” Silas says seriously. I think that’s the best explanation for how we’re feeling. Circling the wagons is the best way to make heads or tails of it. If I know where everyone I love is, I can’t lose them.
The nurse doesn’t seem to understand, but Doc gently reminds her of the reason she came in and gets her moving again. We wind down several hallways until Troy’s name comes up outside a room.
“Is there a way to remove that for safety reasons?” I ask. “His stab wound was not self-inflicted. Someone tried to kill him. I’d prefer if he was more difficult to find than this.”
Am I being dramatic? I don’t think so. Avery stabbed him for a reason, and we don’t know why she wanted him to begin with. All I know is that he was tied naked to a chair with a ruthless erection and bleeding out.
For all I know, Avery could decide she wants him for herself again if she knows he’s alive. I don’t have enough details to not be a paranoid fucker!
Alisa whines in her sleep and the nurse flinches before she yanks the card off the wall.
“I’ll make sure the nursing staff, security, and doctors know he’s not here if anyone outside of his pack asks,” she says. “I didn’t set his room up but you’re right. If Troy starts to have a problem breathing for any reason, please use the call button.”
“Thank you,” I murmur, herding my pack inside. Doc steps inside as well, and I feel a bit better. If shit goes down, he’ll step in if no one comes if we hit the call button.
I don’t trust easily, and we are far from the nurses station. You’d think someone just out of surgery would be in a room closer for observation. I’m a lawyer, not a goddamned nurse or doctor, so what the fuck do I know?
Troy’s skin is pale as he lays in the hospital bed. Monitors beep and squawk all around him, and a hospital gown hides all the work the surgeons have done to keep him alive.
Alisa gasps as Silas sits next to Troy and I frown as she leans into her alpha.
“Something is wrong,” I murmured while watching her. Her hand fists in the material of Silas’ shirt, and her face is full of anguish. “Is she having a nightmare?”
“I wouldn’t be surprised after this,” Easton says, squatting beside the chair. “Little Fighter, we’re here, baby.”
Alisa cries harder and begins to push away from Silas with soft sobs and I stiffen, trying to figure out if I can wake her up or not.
In the past, Doc suggested we wait a bit to see if she could come out of it on her own, but I’m feeling all this darkness inside of her.
Silas also comes to the same realization as me and begins to talk her awake.
“Hey. Open your eyes, Alisa. Troy is with us. We’re in a room with him. He’s going to want you to talk to him. Come on, baby.”
She screams before jerking awake, and I swear my heart threatens to stop as her eyes fly open.
It’s reminiscent of a horror movie and just as scary as the first time she had a nightmare in front of us.
Troy flails and yells while fighting his inner demons, but she doesn’t come back to her body for long moments before she realizes she’s not in the dream anymore.
“Look at Troy,” Silas growls, snapping his fingers in his direction to get her to turn her head. She sags as she sees him and quietly sobs harder, which tells me she was dreaming about him.
“What did you dream about?” I whisper. The door closes behind us and I don’t turn around, somehow knowing it’s Doc ensuring our privacy.
“What if Troy hates me now?” she asks, her beautiful eyes shiny with tears. “I don’t know what Avery did to him, but it had to have been terrible if he wasn’t wearing clothing. She’s a sick person, Lyle. What if he doesn’t like women anymore and doesn’t want me?”
A hand hits the bedspread to get her attention and Troy’s eyes slit open. Alisa looks like she’s going to hyperventilate as she stares at him, tears racing down her cheeks and into the crook of her neck.
“Here,” he whispers. Troy should not be awake, and I’m shocked he is with the amount of drugs he has to be on.
“Alisa, go. Don’t get him worked up,” Doc mutters. “Fuck, and please don’t lay on his chest.”
Yeah, I can hear the stress in his voice as Silas helps Alisa onto the bed. Troy tucks his arm around her once she lays down and Silas manages to put the blanket into a pillow on his shoulder for her head.
Should she be in bed with him? Probably not, but I think I’m setting all the rules on fire today.
“Mine,” Troy rasps, his eyes blinking as he begins to get dragged into sleep. “Always. Fuck her.”
“There’s your answer, Little Fighter,” Easton says. “What were you going to tell us, Doc?”
“Something about dicks,” I remember.
“Ah, yes,” Doc snorts, standing in front of the bed as he watches Troy.
“It figures you’d remember that. I don’t want to speculate and only Troy will be able to tell us what happened.
However, while he was on the surgical table, they noticed his penis was obnoxiously erect and his knot was bluish.
It’s natural during a heat for a penis to be erect for hours and days.
If Troy had been a beta, this could have been an issue.
Blood was drawn and sent to the lab to see if whatever drugs were being used on him would cause an issue with the surgery.
“While they continued with the repair of his lung, they also pushed a large syringe into his knot to drain the trapped blood in his knot and penis. The blood tests came back positive for a host of different types of medications meant to cause an increase in blood flow to the penis.
“Someone wanted Troy to perform sexually for them. Again, this is postulation, people. However, there is no evidence that he had any type of sexual release during this time. I’m not sure if Troy couldn’t have one, or if it’s a side effect of the drugs.
Either way, Troy’s dick was the topic of conversation during his surgery. ”
“Lovely,” I sigh. Alisa’s eyes are closed again and Troy seems to have joined her in sleep. “We may as well get comfortable. We won’t be getting any more answers until later.”
“I can’t believe she thought he’d hate her,” Silas whispers, his gaze on our omega.
“Troy spent years uncomfortable with female touch,” I remind him. “I believe he’s been waiting for the right people to remind him of what love really is, and I know he’s strong enough to understand the difference between Avery and his omega. He just proved it when he recognized her voice just now.
“Will he need a fuck ton of therapy after this? Absolutely. But I don’t think it’s going to change his love for her.”
“I’m right here,” Troy mutters. “Shut up so I can go back to sleep. Didn’t you hear how I almost died?”
“Too fucking soon, man,” Easton say with a grimace. “We should all get some sleep before the nurses make their rounds.”
“Ugh,” Doc chuckles. We all find a chair and sit our asses in it, and Easton turns out the light.
We’re all in one place, no matter how uncomfortable. I drop off to sleep almost immediately with my hand over my gun. It’s a testament to how chaotic things were that no one said anything about Alisa’s weapon strapped to her thigh.
We’ve had guardian angels following us around today, and I’m happy for any help we were given. Things could have gone so differently…