74
“He should start to wake up any minute now,” Stella said.
“Thanks Stella,” Lucas said as he sat next to the hospital bed.
“Has Abeloth said anything?” Rev asked.
“Not a word, he’s waiting for Ryder to wake up before he speaks,” Lucas said.
“He’s extremely loyal,” Rylee muttered.
“Too damn much for their own good,” Lucas said as he sighed.
“At least Abeloth brought him home and he’s healing,” Chase said.
“I want to know what the fuck happened to my son and where he’s been for this last year and a half,” Lucas said angrily and Chase looked away.
“Lucas you might not like the answer,” Rev said and Lucas looked up.
“What the fuck do you two know?” Lucas demanded as he looked at Rev and Chase.
“I haven’t spoken to him in over three months,” Chase admitted, “but the last time we spoke he was heading to Idaho.”
“And what was he doing there?” Lucas asked clenching his jaw.
“I can’t tell you,” Chase said and Lucas slammed his fist down on the flimsy hospital trolley and it cracked in the middle.
“What the hell do you mean you can’t tell me?” Lucas yelled again.
“He didn’t want you to know!” Chase said angrily.
“Can you please stop yelling,” I whispered in a hoarse voice as I tried to open my eyes.
“Ryder!” Rylee said emotionally as she grabbed my hand and then I felt her on top of me as she cried.
“I need you all to leave the room so I can examine him and then you can come back in,” Stella said and Rylee left me reluctantly as my eyes focused. Chase gave me a bright smile but Lucas just turned his back on me and walked out.
Stella checked on my wounds and asked me a lot of questions, how I got injured, what had happened to me but I gave her a look and kept quiet.
“I know you were bitten by a wolf two times, those wounds are still healing,” she said to me.
“I’m not trying to be a hard ass Stella, my work is confidential,” I said to her.
“Your injuries aren’t,” she said and she had me there.
“Yes a few wolf bites, vampire bites, Dragon Lily poisoning, a few gunshot wounds and then I rolled the car, that’s how I broke my arm and leg,” I said to her.
“You had quite the dose of dragon venom in your system, I don’t really actually know how you’re alive,” she said to me.
“Too stubborn to die,” I said and smiled as she shook her head at me.
“I gather then you also won’t tell me where you’ve been,” she asked and I shook my head.
“Can you ask Rev to come in alone please?” I asked her.
“Rev?” she asked me questioningly.
“Please,” I said again.
She left the room after she cleaned my wounds and made me comfortable once again. I felt like shit but I had to check in with Wentworth. The door opened again and Rev stepped inside looking at me sadly.
“I need your phone,” I said to him. He simply nodded and handed his phone to me. It rang three times before it was answered.
“Wentworth speaking,” he said.
“Ryder, checking in,” I said and I saw Rev’s eyes slightly widening.
“You’re alive!” he yelled at me.
“Barely, I just woke up,” I said to him.
“I’m going to need a full report on what the hell happened down there. Mutilated bodies and crushed corpses, charred vampires, it was a fucking mess,” he said.
“I have a few broken bones but I’ll be in Chicago as soon as I can,” I said to him.
“No I’ll come to you, where are you?” he asked me.
“Abeloth brought me home, I’m in Aurora,” I said to him.
“Two days, see you then,” Wentworth said and ended the call. I deleted his number from the call log and handed Rev his phone back.
“Thanks,” I said to him.
“I had no idea you had actually gone to see him,” Rev said.
“See who? I asked him and he laughed slightly.
“Yeah, exactly,” he said and left the room after he squeezed my shoulder.
Chase and Rylee came in next and I smiled as I looked at my brother. Rylee was still crying but I couldn’t exactly do anything to make her feel better. I was sure I looked like shit and Chase laughed.
“Yeah you look like shit,” he said to me and I smiled.
“I feel like shit too,” I said.
“You have a lot of explaining to do,” Rylee said as she sat down next to me.
“Where’s Abeloth?” I asked Chase.
“In the back garden, he probably already knows you’re awake so he’ll be getting anxious, he’s been through a tough time,” Chase said.
“How long was I out?” I asked him.
“Two weeks,” he said and I almost didn’t understand what he had said to me.
“Take me to Abeloth please,” I asked him.
Chase pushed the wheelchair closer to the bed and then he picked me up and put me down in it. I winced when he put my one foot on the footrest and he smiled apologetically at me. He pushed me out of the room and into the empty hallway.
“We told everyone else to wait until you were discharged,” he said to me as if he already knew that I was wondering where the rest of the family was.
Chase pushed me around the house towards the back where Lucas held certain ceremonies and I saw Abeloth as the stood in his full height and his eyes lit up when he saw me.
“Halfling,” he mused as his tail wrapped around my waist and he lifted me from the wheelchair.
“I missed you big guy,” I said as he pressed me against his chest.
“I missed you too,” he said as he went down onto his stomach and placed me on the grass so I could lean backwards against him.
I saw that Chase had left the wheelchair but had walked away leaving me and Abeloth alone for a while. I smiled at that and then turned my head so I could look at Abeloth.
“Why did you bring me here?” I asked him.
“It was the safest place to come,” he said.
“I’m not mad Abeloth but you’ve opened a huge can of worms by bringing me here,” I said to him.
“I know halfling, between Bazzoit and your father they’ve tried interrogating me for two weeks now but I had no other choice, it was land here or die somewhere else,” he said to me.
“What did you tell them?” I asked.
“Nothing, they’re slightly pissed off with me right now,” he said and then he laughed heartily.
“Lucas didn’t even want to talk to me,” I said to him.
“Are you feeling up to a merging?” he asked me.
“Sure, I’ve missed your irritating voice in my head but put me back in the chair first,” I said and he chuckled as he lifted me with his tail and put me back down on the wheelchair. He stood up and spread his wings as he looked down at me and then he merged with me slowly.
I felt instantly better as soon as Abeloth was back inside and I could feel the healing kicking in and accelerating. I’d be able to leave again soon, as soon as I could walk in fact. The less time I spent here the better.
I started wheeling myself back to the house and it was rough going over the grass. Emily stood by the back door and looked at me before walking towards me and she started pushing the wheelchair.
“I’ve missed you cousin,” she said in her sweet voice.
“I missed you too Em,” I said as we reached the paved area and I took over again.
“We were so afraid that you would die,” she said to me sadly.
“Not going to happen,” I said to her but even I knew that was a lie.
“You made quite the impression by rejecting your bonded half,” she said to me and I could tell she was smiling.
“You knew I was thinking about it, didn’t you?” I asked her and she smiled as she stepped in front of me.
“I never really liked Tia and I knew you’d make the right choice, maybe nobody else understands why, but I do even if I don’t know why,” she said to me.
“It’s really complicated Em,” I said to her.
I reached the hospital room and Chase sat in the hallway with Melissa. Their heads were close together and he stood up when he heard me.
“Is this the only place you two can be alone?” I asked him.
“I was waiting for your crippled ass to return. How else are you going to get back into bed?” he said and I laughed.
“My ass won’t be crippled for long and then I’ll kick yours so hard you’ll beg for mercy,” I said to him.
“Bring it on gecko,” he said and Abeloth laughed in my head.
“Melissa I truly hope you made him wait a while before you gave in,” I said and Melissa laughed as she stood up as well.
“It’s good to have you home Ryder,” she said. I didn’t say anything because I wasn’t really home. It hadn’t been my home for more than a year now.
“Keep your nose out of my business,” Chase said and glared at me.
“That means she did,” I said as he bumped the chair against the door frame and I grunted as I laughed.
“Sorry, didn’t see the door there,” Chase said.
“Sure you didn’t moron,” I said to him.
Chase helped me back into the bed and I fell asleep instantly. The next morning I could move my leg and arm and I knew I’d be perfectly fine the next day, well not perfect but I’d be able to walk around unassisted.
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