I'm reposting this chapter as well as chapter 19 in case people didn't see that the story was updated. I updated sort of late at night. So sorry... No new chapters yet!
Hope you enjoy!
"Drive faster!"
~~~~~~
"Hang in there Alarik. You need to hang on for me."
~~~~~~
"Jason. You need to go faster or we need to pull over at another pack. He isn't doing well."
"I'm going as fast as I can."
I hear the tense voices but I just want them to stop. I recognize them, but I can't remember where at the moment.
I just want them to stop.
~~~~~~
My eyes start to slowly blink open. The bright lights assaulting my eyes. I feel like a weight is in my chest and I hear a high pitched beeping that keeps a steady rhythm.
My heart, I realize. It's my heartbeat. My eyes travel to the walls, white, bright against the lights. Everything smells clean.
I sit up slowly, feeling the dull ache in my side from where the scratches are. They'd begun to heal but I knew that they would still hurt for a while. They'd been deep enough. I'd been lucky for Alpha O'Brian's claws to open the silver wound back up, it had helped the healing process.
I look down at the gauze covering the majority of my left side
I swing my legs over the side of the bed my bare feet brushing against the cold white tile.
I've always hated this place. Hated the way it's so white, the way the smell of the antiseptic burns my nose. The place smells like sickness and death. Werewolves only come here when they're beyond healing on their own.
I stand up and cross the small room, grabbing my t-shirt from the chair. I lift it up, looking it over. It's completely covered in blood, my blood. Shredded on the side by claws and blades. How did I survive that?
I turn and toss the shirt into the trash bin when I hear a high pitched scream. I feel it deep within me, it's Allison. She's in here and she's in trouble.
I run through the hallways, my bare feet smacking against the floor as I make my way toward the sound of her scream, letting the feel of her through the bond lead me to her. I sense panic.
I burst through the door, a doctor standing at the end of the bed, a confused nurse standing beside her.
"Get away from me! Don't touch me with that!" Allison's screams carry through the room, spilling out through the rest of the pack hospital. I wouldn't be surprised if half the pack could hear her.
"You heard her," I say loudly. "Step back!"
The nurse's eyes go wide at the sound of my voice and she steps back quickly, even the doctor does. Neither of them wanting to test me.
"What is going on?" I make my way to Allison's side, my hand automatically reaching for her's and clutching it tight.
"Th-they were going to inject me with a drug. They were going to knock me out. Don't let them do it, Alarik, please don't let them."
Allison's voice is so small, her eyes wide and frightened. I can feel her entire body shaking with fear. She is terrified of what they were about to do and I can't help but feel a stab of anger.
"It's only for your benefit, Ms. Cole. It's to make you comfortable for the procedure."
"No. No, I don't want it." Her voice is still so small, shaking with every breath she takes.
"What procedure?" I ask.
"Her leg." The doctor looks at me steadily. "She was shot in the leg and the bullet was left in. Her body didn't push it out. I'm not sure how she's been able to walk at all with it in there. It needs to come out as soon as possible. Chances are that she may already have permanent damage. We would also like to take the time to examine everything else. It's clear that she's been through a lot. We want to make sure she is healthy."
As the doctor talks I move the sheet to the side, looking at Allison's leg. I can see the lump there, the bullet he was talking about showing beneath the surface.
Allison's whispered pleas break through the haze of anger I feel. She's terrified of what they might do to her.
"I don't want to be put under again, Alarik. Don't let them do it to me."
"You never have to take the drug again. I promise I won't let them do anything like that to you."
"With all due respect sir, she really needs something. I wouldn't recommend putting her through the procedure while she's awake. We don't have anything here to dull the pain. Her metabolism would burn straight through it."
"She said she doesn't want it," I say through gritted teeth.
I feel the same, familiar feeling of anger within me. It makes me want to go back to that place and tear every last person limb from limb. I left survivors and I shouldn't have. They were monsters. Even if they weren't all directly responsible for what happened to her, they all stood by and let it happen. There was only one person who'd stood up for her, and that monster had killed her.
I'm brought back out of my thought's by Allison. Her hand squeezing mine, the other clutching onto my arm.
I let her go only momentarily to pull a chair over and I sit next to her, putting my hand back in hers.
"Do it in here."
I can feel the doctor wanting to object, but I don't look his way, I keep my eyes only on Allison. There is no room for negotiation. It wasn't a suggestion, it was a demand. He will do it right here, she will not be given any drugs to put her under, and I will stay right by her side.
"It's okay. It's going to be okay." My voice is barely a whisper and my free hand reaches up, resting against the side of her face.
I take in the sight of her completely. Her eyes, wide and frightened are rimmed with dark circles. She had been drugged, forced to sleep but it's like she hadn't slept at all. Her cheeks are sunken in. Her small frame seems even smaller now, her body completely taken over by the bed she's in.
I want to know what happened to her, but at the same time, I'm afraid to know. I know that it will only make me angrier, and there's nothing I can do to go back and change what happened. I also don't want to make her relive what she went through.
I lean over her bed, pressing my forehead to hers, relishing in that spark between us. That feeling that I'd been without for so long because of her absence.
I hear the clinking of metal on metal. The doctor and nurse shuffling around to turn this room into an operation room. The nurse improvises, finding a sanitized metal slab to put under Allison's leg, covering it with a thin sheet.
I can tell when they're ready, they both cross to the other side of the room, washing their hands and come back over to the bed.
I hear the doctor talking to the nurse, telling her what he'll need and what he's about to do. I can feel Allison's body tensing. I know she doesn't want this any more than she wants to be put under again, but she knows that it will have to be one or the other. Either she lets them put her under, or she lets them do it while she's awake.
"Hey," I whisper to her, "look right here. Right at me."
Her eyes find mine and I press my lips to hers, lightly at first but then it intensifies. I never want to break apart, I don't need air, she's all I need. Despite what I want I pull back slightly, putting just millimeters between us.
I hear her sharp intake of breath and smell the blood coming to the surface. I know that they cut into her. My eyes flash down for a moment, watching them cut deeper to get to the bullet.
Allison gives little indication that it hurts and I know it's because this must be nothing compared to what she'd been through while she'd been kept prisoner with those hunters.
I feel her hand tighten in mine, and her nails start to dig into my palm. I don't cringe, I don't pull back, I know that what I'm feeling is nothing compared to what she is right now.
"I'm right here," I remind her.
"I thought I lost you." Her voice is small and my brows crinkle slightly at her words. They weren't what I was expecting to hear.
"I thought you were gone," she says trying to clarify. "At the end, in the car. I thought you were going to die."
I thought so too, but I didn't want to tell her that. I should have been dead, I should have died in that basement. I shouldn't be standing right now.
"Well I didn't." It's all I have to say.
A weak smile spreads across her lips and I can't help but to kiss them again. I can still see the pain in her eyes when I pull back and I can't believe how strong she's being, sitting through this.
She's strong because she's had to be, she's had no choice. She was abandoned, left with those people to do what they wanted.
"Needle." The word comes from the doctor so I know they must be finishing up. "We're going to stitch this back up to help it heal quicker. Stitches should be good to come out within forty-eight hours. The pain should die down by tomorrow morning. I would advise you not to walk around. We'll send you with a wheelchair and you should remain in bed for a while. When we take the stitches out we will check everything else to see what the extent of damage is."
I feel Allison nod automatically and I wonder if she actually listened to anything he said.
It takes another twenty minutes before Allison and I are cleared to go. The nurse checks the gauze on my side, changing them out. I look down at the raw skin, the gashes that are still there. I know that they should be healed soon. I'm not worried about them, I'm just worried about Allison.
She comes down the hall, being pushed by another nurse to the counter where I'm already signing us both out.
"Your parents are already waiting at my house. They wanted to come here, but my father told them it wouldn't be necessary. It's not like there's much room for a reunion here."
"Great, my parents." I can hear the tension in her voice and I know it's not because she doesn't want to see them. She's had a close relationship with them. She just doesn't want to confront anyone. She doesn't want to have to talk to them, she's afraid of what they might say, of what they might ask.
I've been afraid of seeing her parents for a completely different reason. I've been terrified that they blame me for what happened to her, the gods only know how much I blame myself already and looking into their eyes-
Let's just say that I'm glad to be looking at them with her daughter back than to have to face them and tell them that she was dead.
Even the thought is enough to make me sick and I squeeze her hand tightly. She's alive, maybe a little worse for wear, but she's alive. She's my Allison, finally home. I'm never letting her leave again.
I move behind her and start pushing the wheelchair. I know she's not thrilled about having to be pushed around, however I have no problems with personally taking her anywhere and everywhere.
We leave the pack hospital and start the short walk to my house.
My mind is racing with everything that's happened the past few days. The fact that I'm now the Alpha of O'Brian's pack in the wake of his death. I know that I'm going to have to step up soon, leaving the pack alone for too long would be negligent on my part. I can't leave them without a leader, they would start to fall apart. Then again, I don't know what to do with them.
It's just one of the things I push to the side again. I'll have to sit down with my father and talk to him about it later after everything has settled down here.
"Alarik, something feels different in you," Allison says as we're almost to the front door.
"A lot of things are different," I murmur. I know she can sense it, she can feel it within me. It's the Alpha awake and alive. I just can't admit it out loud yet.
I quickly open the door and push her through so I don't have to explain. As we cross the threshold we are bombarded by people. I can survive this. I survived O'Brian, I can survive parents.
****************
So there's that. We are not at the end quite yet, however the end is close.
Thanks for sticking with me up to now, you guys are the best.
Remember to leave your comments and votes! They are much appreciated :)