“I don’t want you to see how ugly I am,” I admitted.
“You’re not–”
I cut her off. “Don’t patronize me.”
“You’re not ugly,” she insisted, but tenderly. “You’re healing.”
I swallowed and forced my chin not to quiver. “Both things can be true.”
“Scoot.”
I did as I was told, shuffling over so Halo could get into the bed with me. She draped her arm around me and held me to her chest.
“When I first saw you, you know what my first thought was?” Halo asked. “It was, no way I was lucky enough to have thisbeautiful, dainty little omega as my scent match. I never did anything that made me worthy of you.”
“You thought that about me?” I asked. Halo, the professional model. One of the most mind-shatteringly gorgeous women on the planet, and a rare lady alpha, thought I was out of her league?
“I was so intimidated,” Halo confessed. “I think I finally knew what it was like when people look at me. You know?” She blushed a little. “Sorry, that sounds so self-centred.”
“No, I think I know what you mean. When I first saw you, I… well…” Red rushed to my cheeks. “Even though you were already half-naked, I wanted to tear off all your clothes and…” I blushed brighter. I guess that was a good sign, that my new heart was pumping blood where it should be going. “My thoughts were a lot less refined.”
Halo let out a throaty laugh. Her fingers traced the collar of my gown, until she slipped it off one shoulder. Then the other.
“I wanted that, too.”
With her eyes on me, she dunked the wash cloth into the bowl of still-warm water, and slowly unveiled me. I cringed when she exposed the top of my scar. She kissed me lightly.
“I’ll go slow,” she whispered. She ran the warm, damp cloth over one shoulder, across my collar bone, to the other shoulder. Drops of water rolled down my skin. I felt goosebumps on my back and arms. She lowered the gown more, and it caught on my hardening nipples until Halo revealed those as well.
She moved the soft, wet microfiber cloth around and under my breasts, across the nipples. Butterfly-lightly, she kissed the cloth to my healing incision. Pat. Pat. Pat. She coaxed my arms out of the sleeves and ran the cloth from shoulder to fingertips, across my palms, and under my arms.
“Turn.”
I shifted so she had better access to my back, and she scrubbed gently, squeezing the cloth so water rained down my spine.
Then, we got to my legs, and the horrible indented red scars from the ECMO ports. Halo gently dabbed at them, then washed my legs.
“There, doesn’t that feel better?” she asked, wiping me dry with the hand towel.
It did. It was rejuvenating. “Sorry for being a bitch,” I said.
Halo hugged me to her. “You have the right to feel however you want,” she said. “And no matter what happens, I’ll always be on your side. I promise.”
We sat together like that, staring at the television screen but not really absorbing the story. The guys entered about twenty minutes later and all four of us piled together on the hospital bed.
“One of the perks for being hosted in the pack suites,” I said, nuzzling Crux’s jaw with my head and planting my scent onto him. I saw the discrete flair of his nostrils as he took in my perfume. I turned my head and did the same to Severen, eagerly awaiting the tell-tale nose twitch of him inhaling my scent. When I got instead was a flick of his jaw, which confused me.
“Sev–”
Doctor Houser knocked on the door frame and walked in. He grinned at the sight. “Don’t we look comfortable? How are you feeling, Skye?”
“Good. Stronger.”
He picked up the tablet that was slotted in the footboard of my bed and swiped through. “We’ve been monitoring your situation closely and you’ve been eating well, your heart rate is strong, blood pressure is looking good. No sign of infection or rejection.” He glanced up at me with a grin. “Think you’re ready to go home?”
Joy flooded every cell in my body. “Really?” Around me, my alphas sat up, mirroring my excitement.
“Tonight sound good to you?” the doctor asked.
