“Crux, you heard the doctor.” Severen said. “It was just a shitty luck of the draw.”
“If you need someone to blame, blame Bianca,” Charisma sat in the chair next to me. “The expectations she had for her daughter.” She shook her head and narrowed her eyes. Thin, delicate crows feet perched there like guardians. She opened her stylish bag that cost more money than I ever made in a month, and pulled out her phone. “I’ve been calling, and texting, but Skye’s mother has washed her hands clean of her.”
“Skye kept reaching out,” I said. “No response. The last time they spoke was the day we bonded with her, when they had that big fight. She sent a text that we were moving to Port Haven. And I could feel that it was like… closing the door on that relationship.” I scrubbed my face with my hand. “I’d kill for a drink.”
“In lieu of that, is there anything I can do?” Charisma asked.
“Skye would probably want you close,” Severen said.
A nurse cleared her throat. “Heller Pack? You can go up to see your omega now. Take the elevator to floor 4, room 403.”
“Thank you,” said Severen.
The three of us walked to the elevator, Charisma already texting Halo the room number. We walked in.
It was a welcoming suite. There was a sitting room, with nice, plush, but easy to clean leather furniture. A coffee table, a small kitchen area and two bathrooms, one for guests and one closer to the hospital bed.
The hospital bed behind the curtain, which we moved aside to unveil our sickly omega.
Skye was in the bed, with her hands outside of the blankets and resting at her sides. Wires slithered from her hospital gown, to a forest of various machines that blinked and beeped. An IV stand held three bags of various solutions, and they all dripped at different times. A heart rate monitor was clipped to her right index finger. Thick tubes, like roots growing from a machine by the bed, snaked under her blankets and disappeared somewhere inside her. To me, it was a forest of pale, sickly green vines, except for the blue tubes that shone like neon.
On the small side-table next to her bed was a paper bag with her name on it. Severen opened it, paused, reached in and pulled out a little bit of fabric. The blue and white bone china patterned dress she had been wearing. He let go and the swath of fabric dropped back into the bag. He closed it up again, sat next to her and took her hand.
Skye looked so small. So frail. Not at all the vivacious, bright woman we all loved so much.
In my colourblind eyes, she stood out in a different way, a way that terrified me. “She looks… blue.”
Chapter 6
SEVEREN
Hospitalsaretemporalvortexes.Time slows a crawl, and feels non-existent. It’s purgatory. Limbo. It’s torturous when you’re waiting for some kind of news. At the same time, it’s a blessing, because if nothing changes, nothing gets worse. For now, Skye was still with us.
“Have you eaten anything today?” I asked Crux, sitting next to me.
He lifted his head and blinked a few times, coming back to the present. “I don’t think so.”
“Me neither. We probably should. Keep our strength up.”
“I’m not leaving her,” Crux pressed his fingers into the arms of the chair.
Charisma looked up from her sketchbook. She had been passing the time plotting out new designs I assumed. “I’ll go. Is sushi alright?”
I wasn’t sure if Charisma was at that level of wealth that she was out of touch with basic things. I mean, a tuna sandwich from the hospital cafeteria would be fine, but if she was paying, I wasn’t going to turn her generosity away.
“Sushi would be great,” I said with a sigh. “Unagi is Skye’s favourite. If you could…?”
“That’swhy I suggested it,” Charisma shot me a knowing smile. “Anything else?” she asked, gathering her things.
I picked up the bag with the dress inside. “Can you take this to the house? Don’t throw it away. I don’t know, just shove it in a closet somewhere.” Taking a glance around the room, I said, “I think that’s all.”
“Skye has this blanket she loves,” Crux said. “It’s in the back of my Jeep.” He shifted in his chair and pulled out his keys, then held them out to Charisma. “Blue Wrangler. You can’t miss it.”
She took the keys from him and placed them in her bag. “I won’t be long. Text me if anything changes.” Then, Charisma drifted from the room.
Once she was gone, Crux said, “I wonder if that’s the most obedient she’s ever been to an alpha in her life?”
That amused me, but all I could manage was a mild expulsion of air from my nose. Silence once again permeated the space, except for the beep and wheeze of the machines keeping track of Skye’s vitals and even keeping her alive.
