Now that Teal’s bosses had alluded to it, Ronan could make out the low din of a crowd gathered outside the hospital. “Thanks for putting out the statement.”
After the alphas had left, Niall went back to sit with Teal. Ronan wanted to check in with hospital security about the crowd outside, and he asked Jax to call Sorcha with an update.
Jax went into a private area to make the call. Dayson took the opportunity to approach Ronan.
“You’ll need to be careful. There will be a lot of eyes on Teal and the rest of your family right now.” Dayson’s gazeshifted meaningfully in Jax’s direction and Ronan knew that he’d guessed the betas were more than just nanny and nanny’s boyfriend to the McGinns. It made sense he’d figure it out, since Dayson already knew about Sorcha.
“I understand,” Ronan replied. “At this point, I honestly don’t give a fuck what anyone thinks. I just want Teal to get better.” He sighed, blowing out a long breath toward the ceiling. “But I don’t want to make the decision to change anything about our image without talking it over with Teal. That’s not something that should happen while he’s out of it.”
Dayson nodded. “My thoughts exactly. And I’ll do what I can to help.”
“Thanks. I’ll talk to Niall and Jax about keeping things low-key. And I’ll give Sorcha the heads up that there may be more eyes on us in the near-term.”
Dayson laid a hand on Ronan’s shoulder. “It’s the right call. I have a feeling Teal will feel as you do. Between the tribunal and his illness, not to mention all the changes that have been happening with your family, it’s clear his priorities and perceptions are changing. But you’re correct that he should be involved.”
Twenty minutes later, Niall returned and Jax went to sit by Teal’s bed. After he came out, Dayson took his turn.
While Dayson was with Teal, Dr. Kinzinger came out and pulled Ronan, Niall, and Jax into a small private office to the side of the waiting room.
“I have the results of Teal’s bloodwork,” he stated gravely. “Unfortunately, it’s not great news.”
Chapter Thirty-Six
Niall
The doctor sat behind a large desk across from the men. Jax grasped Niall’s hand and Niall felt the tension rolling off his shoulders. On Niall’s other side, Ronan sat statue-stiff, the rough rise and fall of his chest signaling his distress.
Dr. Kinzinger didn’t waste time easing into Teal’s results. “The bottom line is that Teal has poison in his system. Quite a lot. Based on the amount in Teal’s blood, skin, and organs, I estimate he’s been ingesting this substance for a few weeks—”
“Since the beginning of High Court.” Ronan swore underneath his breath, balling his hands into fists.
“Yes,” the doctor continued. “It’s a lab-generated compound. It’s difficult to tell how it made its way into his system, whether topically through his skin, or perhaps orally. With this type of poison, it’s also possible it was inhaled, like a gas.”
“If he’s had this in his system for weeks, how come he seemed to get better sometimes?” Niall asked. “Even before he collapsed, he gave one of the best proses of his life.”
“My best guess right now is that the severity of his symptoms correlated with the amount of poison in his system at any given time. That speech probably took so much out of him that his body just gave out.”
“We need to call the police,” Ronan said. “Are you sure Teal’s safe in this hospital?” he asked the doctor.
“I already called the authorities. A detective should be here soon to meet with you. There are several security officers I trust implicitly stationed outside your husband’s room. I told them to maintain discretion since I wasn’t sure what you wanted the public to know.” Dr. Kinzinger sat back in his chair, folding his hands across his stomach. “There are a lot of people in front of this hospital. And most of them seem almost as concerned about Teal as you are. So you have some decisions to make there. What to tell them.”
“We can decide that later,” Ronan said. “As long as you’re sure he’s safe, the only thing I care about is making sure Teal gets better. He’s going to be okay, right?”
“Yes, please tell us, doctor.” Jax’s voice was gravelly. “Teal looked so sick when I was by his bedside.”
Jax had been the last of the three of them to visit Teal, and he hadn’t said much since. Niall knew his stoic boyfriend prided himself on being strong and pragmatic. But seeing Teal so still and colorless had obviously affected him.
Dr. Kinzinger’s features drew into a deep frown. “I don’t want to sugarcoat this for you all. Teal is very unwell. It might not have progressed this far if we’d caught it sooner, but the poison has had weeks now to invade and defile his body. Part of the reason he’s sleeping is that he’s simply too fatigued to be awake. It’s not exactly a coma, because he has full brain function and we expect him to wake eventually, but it mimics it.”
“But he’s here now, getting treatment, and you say he’s going to wake up. Why are you still so concerned?” Ronan askedcarefully, but Niall sensed the rage in his undertone. Someone had tried to murder his omega. He wanted answers, and more than that, he needed to know that Teal would be okay.
“Right now, we are flushing the poison from Teal’s system with fluids and rest.” Dr. Kinzinger whooshed out a breath. “But until he wakes up, we just don’t know how this is going to affect him, in terms of his brain, his liver function, or his digestion, just to name a few. Everything is a question mark. And because he’s an omega, there’s the extra issue of his reproductive health. As much as I’d like to tell you that all his problems will go away once the poison is out of his system, I can’t do that.”
Ronan scraped a hand over his face, giving every impression of wanting to smash something.
“When do you expect he’ll wake up?” Niall asked.
“I’m guessing he’ll be in and out of it starting tomorrow and for a few days. His body is going to run at a high temperature while this poison gets purged from his system. We’ll be monitoring that as well. He’ll probably be fully awake and aware in about three days.”
