"This is overkill," he hears Eden mutter before turning back to her show and putting her earbuds in.
He sits in the back with her, arm around her shoulders, letting her lean on him while the sound of Luke drumming his fingers on the wheel and Eden's mouth breathing fill the car.
The clinic is located in an old strip mall and the furniture in the waiting room looks like it's original from 1986. But it's quiet at least and the nurse quickly ushers Eden into a room after handing them all paper face masks.
Luke lifts Eden onto the exam table and Julius fusses over her, offering her sips of tea and broth in turn until she practically hurls something that feels like a baseball of overstimulated frustration into them in the bond and he settles down in one of the seats next to Tenor.
Luke paces in front of her, looking twitchy. He doesn't like leaving the cottage but he's always been kind of a hermit so this is nothing new.
When the doctor finally enters, a middle-aged beta woman with massive gold earrings and clicking high heels, she seats herself in the swivel chair at the desk and her eyes skirt over the four of them, the lower half of her face covered with a mask. Her voice is no-nonsense. "So, what can I do for you today?"
He, Luke, and Julius all try to speak at once.
"She's had a high fever for three days, she woke up this morning and lost her voice–"
"She's barely eating, hasn't even eaten anything this morning, she keeps getting worse–"
"I mean, I think she just has a cold, but–"
They stop, looking at each other and scowling about the interruption. The doctor takes their momentary distraction as an opportunity to turn her head to Eden, waiting for her to speak.
"I'm not getting worse, and I am eating," She whispers, trying to offer a reassuring smile behind the flimsy paper mask covering her mouth. "It is just a cold and my alphas are... anxious."
He thinks he sees the doctors’ eyes roll. She gets up and takes Eden's vital signs, looks in her throat and ears, and then turns on him and his pack.
"It's a virus," she says. "Very common this time of year. She needs lots of rest, plenty of fluids–"
When he and Julius start protesting again, the woman squeezes the bridge of her nose with her fingers, muttering something that sounds like 'overprotective alphas...' and 'I don't have time for this' and then looks at them again. "I have other patients to see today. Your mate is going to be fine in a few days. If I write her a prescription for antibiotics, will that reassure you that she's going to be fine?"
Tenor shrugs and agrees. Antibiotics will make her better, right? Fight whatever infection this is? His mom always wanted a script for them anytime she got sick.
The doctor scribbles out a nearly illegible prescription for Amoxicillin and hands it to him, along with what looked like an entire book's worth of instructions for caring for sick omegas. "Read this. If she starts to have difficulty breathing or her fever comes back and isn't controlled by over-the-counter medications, take her to urgent care. Call the office back if you have any other questions."
Eden slides off the exam table and thanks her and then leads the way out the door back to the truck. He thinks he hears her whisper "told you so" as she passes him.
They stop at a pharmacy and Julius goes in to get the prescription filled while Tenor sits in the front seat, the wheel clutched hard in his hands.
He can hear Luke in the backseat commentating on the show that Eden's turned back on on her tablet.
"Girl, come on. There's no way you're letting a man who has frosted tips tell you that he's not sure if he's ready to commit yet," Luke mutters. Tenor fights the urge to massage his temples.
Sixteen Days Until Christmas
Eden
She doesn't think the antibiotics are actually doing anything, but it makes her alphas relax when she takes them, so she does. She gets better probably due to all the napping and the fluids that her mates are constantly foisting on her.
Her voice is still scratchy and it cracks embarrassingly when she tries to speak so she spends most of her time resting quietly, which is how she ends up snuggled into new flannel pajamas and the softest blanket Luke can find in her nest with a mug of steaming peppermint tea and her Kindle in her hands.
Outside, more snow drifts from the sky in great fat flakes, dusting the forest with powdered sugar. The rest of the world feels muffled and distant in her safe little cocoon in the cottage, tucked into her nest with Luke while Julius and Tenor once more shovel the snow outside. It feels like a never-ending chore, andeven when she's healthy they won't even consider letting her help.
Luke's bulk hovers over her as she snuggles into him, dwarfed by his size and feeling especially safe beneath his arm. There's a bowl of cut fruit in his lap which she's been picking at. Her throat only aches a little when she swallows, so it seems like the worst of her cold is behind her.
On the TV, the opening credits of a Christmas movie dance across the screen, music swelling to fill the living room. A famous actress from her childhood leaves the bustle of the city for a cottage in the countryside. As the music starts to croon on about the presents underneath the tree, Eden feels her eyes growing heavier. It seems like all she's done the past couple days is sleep, but the warmth of Luke's body next to her makes the idea of another nap impossible to resist.
Her eyes flutter a little when he shifts next to her, pressing a kiss to her hair.
“Hey, don't fall asleep yet. You'll miss the best part," he murmurs. "She's going to meet a rugged country man who reminds her about the true meaning of Christmas."
