Chapter 196

#Chapter 196 – Only Time will Tell Sixteen hours later, we’re still in the hospital, waiting for news.

My head hangs, my chin almost touching my chest as I listen to the clock in our private waiting room click. And click. And click. The seconds trip slowly by.

Ian leans against me, Alvin sprawled across my lap. Both, thankfully, are asleep, though they fought it for the longest time. But I’d rather have them this way, peacefully oblivious, rather than enduring the interminable wait.

They’re too young to have to be so patient.

My mother and sister are here as well, Delia having gone back to the cabin to clean up. Rafe is here too, though Bridgette hasn’t joined him. Victor’s parents are on their way, but they were in Europe on vacation when they got the news – it will take them hours more to get here, perhaps even days.

I’m a bit glad of that, actually. Not that I begrudge Victor’s family their right to be here. I just…don’t want to have to deal with anyone else’s emotions. Mine, and my children’s, are enough.

The fewer in this room, the better.

Rafe is the worst at handling the slow passage of time as we wait for news. He arrived about four hours ago, after getting the troops reordered. He also moved my father and Joyce to Victor’s own state-of-

the-art incarceration facility, to await judgment from the pack community.

I have no idea where Victor’s little jail is – nobody does, I think. But I’m glad to have those issues off my mind for the moment.

When Rafe first arrived, he paced for hours, staring at the door, growling. I think he wanted to burst into the surgery and force Victor’s body back together, force it to work. Force him to live.

But now, he just leans against the wall, his arms tensely folded across his chest, staring at the floor.

Waiting, like the rest of us.

I flinch as the door opens, my entire body going rigid. A man in surgical scrubs comes into the room, looking around at us. Rafe’s head snaps up to look at him. My mother and sister sit up straight in their chairs.

“Is he alive?” The words rush from my mouth almost as one. My boys blink awake next to me, raising their heads to see what the fuss is about.

“He is,” the doctor says, closing the door behind him. A huge exhale of breath leaves me and I press my eyes closed, giving a silent prayer of thanks.

Alive. He’s alive.

“Do you…” the doctor says next, still looking around at us. “Which of you is the next of kin?”

“We all are,” I say quickly. “Whatever updates you have, you can give them to all of us.”

Rafe doesn’t fight me on this though, technically, I suppose he would be Victor’s next of kin. As his brother. The boys aren’t yet old enough to qualify, even if they are his acknowledged sons.

And me?

Technically I’m…nothing to him.

“All right,” the doctor says slowly, leaning back against the door and taking a deep breath. “Alpha Kensington is in critical but stable condition. Our team performed several surgeries – the wound to his back was extensive. Alpha Kensington is lucky in that the bullet missed his spine –“

The doctor pauses here, letting us all take a collective breath of relief. Not his spine. Good. I had suspected that this was the case, as Victor had been able to use his legs a little while we were down in the cells – but still, you never really know –

“But,” the doctor continues, his voice dour. “There was extensive damage done to his muscular structure and especially to his left lung, which collapsed. And then again to his heart, which was…well, he was again lucky there. The bullet only grazed his heart, it didn’t penetrate it, but it did do damage to the muscle.”

I take a deep intake of breath here, covering my mouth with my hand. I wait, breathless, for the doctor to continue.

“Again, we were able to do our best to repair much of it, but…” he looks at us and shakes his head.

“Even with the Alpha’s increased rate of healing…the damage is significant. Overwhelming.”

“What are you saying to us, doctor?” Rafe says, taking a menacing step towards him. The doctor, to his credit, only flinches a little as he looks up into Rafe’s face.

“I’m saying, sir, that it’s not looking good for your brother. I could lie and say that he’ll make a recovery but…” the doctor slowly shakes his head, holding Rafe’s gaze. “It would take a miracle. There’s a chance that he could make it but…a miracle.”

The doctor looks out at the rest of us then. “If I were you, I would be praying for a miracle. And if not then…for peace.”

I can’t help the tears that begin to drip down my cheeks at this news. I don’t even try to stop them. I hear my boys start to cry next to me, devastated.

They’ve just barely got their father back, only to hear – a few months later – that they will very likely lose him.

Rafe turns then, letting out a roar of dismay and grief, and punches the wall as hard as he can. He shatters through the drywall, leaving an empty hole when he pulls his hand back.

The doctor gasps at this, pressing himself back against the door.

My mother, to her credit, keeps her equanimity. She doesn’t even look towards Rafe as she stands and addresses the doctor. I suppose, dealing with Alphas her whole life, it’s nothing she hasn’t seen before.

“Thank you, doctor, for bringing us this news,” she says firmly. “And what can we expect next?”

The doctor, eyeing Rafe with anxiety, quickly replies. “We’ll have more news in a few hours’ time. Until then, we expect Alpha Kensington to be stable. So, our advice to you would be to go home and rest.

Come back tomorrow, and we’ll let you know what is happening.”

My mother opens her mouth to reply but I interrupt.

“Can I see him?” My voice is quiet, but strong. I begin to wipe the tears from my cheeks.

The doctor looks at me. “No, unfortunately – he’s resting, but he’s in intensive care – it’s not hospital policy –“

Rafe growls and the doctor stops talking, his mouth hanging open as he stares at Rafe with fear in his eyes.

“Are they performing procedures on him?” Rafe asks, his voice low.

“Wha – no,” the doctor replies, shaking his head. “He’s just resting under close scrutiny –“

“Then why,” Rafe continues, taking a step towards him, “can’t she see him?”

“Because…” the doctor says, his brows knitting with confusion. “It’s hospital policy…”

Rafe advances a step further. “My brother has directed more money, time, and attention into the development of this hospital than any Alpha currently at the head of a pack,” he growls. I blink – I hadn’t known this was true.

The doctor takes a step back as Rafe advances further.

“If he is just resting, and she will not be an interruption to any doctors or procedures,” Rafe says, sending a quick glance my way. “Then she will see him.”

The doctor, cowering now under Rafe’s gaze, quickly nods. “Fine,” he says, agreeing. “Okay.”

Rafe looks at me, gives a single nod, and then turns away. I stand up quickly, my breath coming short in my anticipation. One glance to my mother and a nod from her lets me know that she will take the boys.

“All right,” I say, straightening my shirt. “Lead the way.”

The doctor nods, eagerly turning towards the door and stepping out of it, holding it open for me. I quickly bend down to give each of my boys a kiss on the cheek and then follow the doctor out the door and down the hall.

He’s silent as we stride through the hallways, taking an elevator to another floor where there is no real noise, just the beeps of machines and the sound of soft footsteps as nurses check on their patients.

He leads me to the end of the room and slides open a curtain. I step to stand next to the doctor and peer into the dark space behind.

Victor is there, laying in the dark, a series of tubes and wires attached to his body. One long clear tube enters his mouth and slides, apparently, all the way down his throat.

I don’t react at all to the sight of him, not physically, at least. Instead, I just turn to the doctor.

“A chair, please?” I ask. He nods and then walks quickly away.

When he returns, a few minutes later, carrying a lightly-padded wooden chair, I haven’t moved an inch.

I’ve just been standing here, staring at Victor.

The doctor places the chair next to the bed for me and I sit in it.

“Let us know,” the doctor says quietly. “If you need anything.”

I nod, but I don’t look at him. I don’t take my eyes away from Victor’s face.

The doctor slides the curtain shut, leaving me and Victor alone in the darkness.

I take Victor’s hand. And don’t leave his side for four days.