Chapter 31
Riley
I have a hard time keeping my eyes open after that. My mom is quiet as I kind of drift in and out of sleep. At one point, I hear the door close softly. I figure it’s my dad coming to check with my mom before he leaves, so I don’t open my eyes. But I hear his voice. “How is she?”
My eyes pop open, and I turn my head to see a shirtless Reid standing next to the bed. The way he’s turned slightly to face my mom gives me a view of a little bit of his back. “Reid,” I cry out hoarsely. He immediately turns towards me. “Your back,” I whisper in horror as tears form in my eyes.
“Hey,” he says gently, sitting down carefully on the bed next to me.
He takes my hand in his, the one not hooked up to the IV.
“It looks worse than it is.” I don’t believe that for a minute and tell him as much.
He gives me an easy smile. “You don’t have to believe it; it’s true.
” His hand cups my face, and he leans forward.
“How are you? How’s your pain?” I don’t miss the way he scans my body, lingering on the areas where I was injured. His eyes darken.
“It looks worse than it is,” I say, throwing his own words back at him. He doesn’t look amused.
“Are you in pain?” he asks in a low growl.
I meet his gaze. “Probably as much pain as you’re in.
” I stare him down, knowing he’s between a rock and a hard place.
If he admits he’s in pain, I’m going to be worried.
If he says he’s not in pain, then it makes it look like I’m not in pain.
I glance over and realize my mom is gone.
I appreciate the privacy for at least a few minutes.
“How did you get in here? My mom said there’s a security guard outside your door. ”
He scowls. “There is; that’s why I didn’t come sooner.”
“How did you get past him?”
“Your dad said I had a few minutes. I don’t know what he said or did, but when I stepped out of my room, the guard was gone.”
Thank you, I send to my dad.
“Are you sure you’re okay, Ry?” he asks, leaning forward.
“I am, thanks to you.” Guilt swarms me. “I’m so sorry. What happened to your back is my fault.”
“No, it’s not. Nothing that happened is your fault,” he argues.
“Yeah, but if I hadn’t been injured, you wouldn’t have had to protect me, and you wouldn’t have gotten hurt.”
“Stop.” His voice has a command to it. He leans forward, so that we’re almost eye to eye. “You are my mate, and I will protect you with my dying breath if it comes to that, no matter the cost to myself.”
I stare into his gorgeous chocolate brown eyes, and I reach out to touch his cheek. I can’t not touch him. “Thank you.” My words are soft, but I know he hears them.
He glances at the bed. “Will it hurt you if I lay next to you for a few minutes? I just need to hold you for a little bit.”
I’m already moving. It’s a tight squeeze because it’s a small bed, but he puts the sides of the bed down, so at least there’s that. He wraps his arms around me very carefully, and I lean against him. “Is this okay?” I ask softly. “Does this hurt your back?”
“It wouldn’t matter if it did; but no, it doesn’t hurt my back.”
I lay my head against his chest where I can hear his heart beating, reassuring me that he’s alive; he’s okay.
I put my hand over his heart and just leave it there.
“I’m so glad you’re okay; I was so scared,” I whisper to him.
He's the only one I’ve confessed that to, but I’ve never been more scared than I was tonight.
“I thought we were going to die,” I continue in a whisper. The words are a struggle to get out.
“I know.” He kisses my temple. “I’m so sorry.” He kisses my temple again.
I struggle to get my thoughts together, to say what I want to say. “When I thought we weren’t going to make it,” I pause and try not to get overly emotional. I feel so out of sorts from everything that's happened. I’m not usually emotional, but I am right now.
“What is it, Love?” he asks softly. His term of endearment only makes it harder, and I swallow hard, battling against the emotion threatening to choke me.
“All I could think is that I let too many years pass being mad at you.” He stills against me.
“When you shut me out of your life, it hurt. One day, you were my best friend, the next; you were a stranger. I know we’ve already talked about this, and I know why.
But I spent so many years mad at you, and I couldn’t stop thinking about that.
What if—” I can’t bring myself to say the words.
“Hey.” He puts his hands on either side of my face. “We’re not going to dwell on the past, Ry, not when we have the future to look forward to together. It’s a fresh slate between us.”
I take in his words and feel a weight fall off my chest, a weight I hadn’t realized was there until tonight. “I love you, Reid,” I tell him simply. “I always have.”
His eyes bore into mine. “I love you too, Ry. You've always been my girl, even before I knew you were my mate.” The heat of his body warms mine, and I feel myself starting to fade. He kisses my forehead. “Rest now.”
When I open my eyes sometime later, Reid is gone; and so is my mom. My brother now sits in the chair next to mine. As if he feels my stare, his eyes snap to mine. “Riley.” He leans forward. “How are you feeling?”
I wonder how many times I’m going to get asked that in the days to come. “I’m okay.”
There’s a fierce look in his eyes, one I’ve seen too many times during the past several hours.
Now, it just makes me tired. He must see that, because his gaze softens.
“Go back to sleep, Sis. I’ll make sure you’re safe.
” I want to tell him that he doesn’t need to stay here, that he should be with Evie.
But the words won’t form, and I feel myself drifting off before I can respond.
I wake up several more times mostly because of the nurses coming and going.
When morning hits, I feel like I've been run over.
But the tech that comes in to take my blood pressure tells me the doctor should be in soon, so I have to pull myself together.
Zane helps me into a sitting position and moves the pillows around behind me.
“Thanks,” I tell him with a yawn.
“You’re welcome.”
There’s a knock at the door, and a different doctor than last night comes in. “Riley, how are you feeling?” I resist the urge to grind my teeth at the question. “There are a few things we want to clear up with your blood work.”
I shoot a look of panic at my brother, but he stays calm. Dad made sure yours and Reid’s blood samples were replaced with human blood.
Relief hits me strong, even as I wonder where in the world my dad got fresh blood in the middle of the night. But I know he’s been Alpha for long enough to know how to handle these kinds of situations. He looks at the iPad in his hands and then down at me. “You’re not on a great path, young lady.”
His words so shock me, I don’t know what to say. He glances over at my brother. “Do you mind giving me a moment with the patient?”
My rebuttal is swift. “He’s my brother. You can say whatever you want to say in front of him.”
The doctor looks at me and then back at his notes.
“I’m going to be blunt with you. If you continue down this path with drinking and drugs and,” he pauses a moment before continuing.
“And the lifestyle that usually goes with.” I hear a sound from Zane that sounds suspiciously like a laugh, but he covers it with a cough.
I continue to face the doctor and will my face not to burn with embarrassment.
“Make sure you’re taking the proper precautions to not end up with something you’re not planning on. ”
It takes me a moment to realize what he’s saying.
Good grief! Where did Dad get this blood from?
I ask Zane, but I don’t dare look at him.
The doctor continues to talk to me or maybe lecture me is more accurate.
I keep nodding, hoping he’ll leave soon.
When he finally finishes, he lowers the iPad.
“Let me check you over. Barring there are no problems, you should be able to start the discharge process.” He checks my wounds.
“Those don’t look nearly as bad as they were documented. ”
“They probably looked a lot worse than they were because I was covered in so much blood,” I offer, hoping he won’t look into it more.
Both Reid and I need to get out of here before we heal much more and show off our accelerated healing.
I hold my breath while he finishes. Finally, he finishes and writes a few things on his iPad.
“All right. The nurse should be in to prepare you for discharge.”
I breathe a sigh of relief. “Thank you, Doctor.”
He nods and walks over to the door. I’m just about ready to turn to Zane when the doctor turns back. “Do you want the names of a few recovery places?”
I force a smile. “I will look up something on my own. Thank you.”
He nods again and finally leaves the room. Zane barks out a laugh, and I roll my eyes at him. “Come on. Let’s get you ready to get out of here, so we can go get you checked into a rehab.”
I groan out loud. “You’re not going to let this go, are you?”
His eyes dance. “No way.” He stands up. “Can I help you up?”
I glare at him. “I’m not an invalid.”
He puts both hands up in surrender and walks over to a chair by the door. “Dad dropped off this bag early this morning. He said Mom packed it with clothes from your room.”
“Oh, good. Thank you. What happened to my clothes from last night?”
He scowls. “They probably sent them into a contamination room or something.”
I frown. “I liked that dress.”
“Not after you destroyed it.”
“Yeah.” I sit up, groaning as I do.
My brother gives me a look. “I said I’d help you up.” He walks over to the chair where the bag is.
I scowl at him and swing my legs over the side of the bed. I stand up, and the room starts spinning. “Oh boy.”
Zane’s across the room in a flash, grabbing my elbows to steady me. I hear the door open and hope it’s not the doctor coming back. But when his scent hits me, I know it’s definitely not the doctor. “Riley?” Reid asks, worry in his voice.
“I’m fine.” But he’s in front of me a moment later. He edges Zane out, and puts his hands on my biceps. “Are you dizzy?”
“I was for a moment, but I think I’m good now.”
“It’s probably from losing so much blood,” Zane says from beside Reid, and Reid scowls.
“No kidding,” I tell my brother.
“Where are you trying to go?” Reid asks.
“To the bathroom, so I can get changed.”
Reid rubs my arms softly. “Can you manage that on your own?”
“Yeah, she can,” Zane feels the need to interrupt.
We both ignore him. “Yes,” I say to Reid.
Reid frowns. “Are you sure?”
“Dude, you’re not going to help my sister out of her hospital gown and into clothes,” Zane butts in.
Reid cuts him a glare. “Are you going to?”
Zane pales. “Well...”
“Exactly.” Reid turns back to me. “Let’s get you to the bathroom, so you can change.”
We walk slowly to the bathroom. I keep expecting to feel normal soon, but I feel so depleted and dizzy.
My legs feel like they weigh a thousand pounds.
The walk to the bathroom seems to get longer and longer.
Black spots dot my vision, and I feel sweat breaking out on my forehead. “Reid,” I start, and the world tilts.