235
Matt
I buckled Quillan in the backseat of the car. He bounced and swung his little legs, his eyes bright with hope.
"You think Mommy will be awake?"
"I don't know, champ," I said. "But I hope so."
I got into the driver's seat and let Tony sit in the passenger seat. His fists were clenched at his side, and he was silent for the whole ride to Yellow Ridge Hospital. When we arrived, we headed inside and walked through the hospital to the ICU unit. It was in chaos. There are doctors and nurses rushing back and forth, their faces etched with worry and urgency. The waiting area is filled with people, some sobbing, others deep in conversation with worried expressions. The tension in the air is palpable. My heart sped up, and my gut felt like it had turned to lead.
Quillan clung to Tony's hand, his little face a mixture of confusion and fear. His enthusiasm was replaced with uncertainty as he looked in the unfamiliar and unsettling surroundings. I could see the anxiety on Tony's face as my anxiety started to gnaw at my heart.
I stepped forward toward the reception desk, where a harried nurse was fielding a barrage of questions and concerns from other waiting families. I waited patiently for her to look at me and hoped that whatever was going on wasn't going to make seeing Ginevra harder than it had to be.
Finally, the nurse turns to me with a weary smile. "How can I help you?" she asked her tone a mixture of sympathy and exhaustion.
I cleared my throat and glanced at Quillan.
"We're here to see Ginevra Blakely."
The nurse nods and begins typing something into her computer. After a moment, she looks up, her expression softening as she notices Quillan's anxious face.
"I'm sorry, but the hospital is currently restricting visitors due to a medical emergency. Only immediate family members are allowed in for now."
Tony stepped up. "We are immediate family. I'm her fiance. This is our son."
The nurse seems torn, her eyes flicking between Quillan's trembling form and Tony's determined expression.
"I'll check with the attending physician," she said, picking up the phone to make a call.
As we waited for a response, Tony kneeled down to Quillan's eye level.
"It's going to be alright, buddy. We'll see her soon, okay?"
Quillan nods, but his wide eyes reveal the depth of his worry. I put a comforting hand on his shoulder.
The nurse turned back and offered a small smile. "I'm sorry, I couldn't get the attending if you could just wait a bit. I'll try again. The ICU was overrun with a big car accident earlier. Thank you for your patience."
I tried to believe that, but her eyes were screaming that there was something else.
"I'll go find us a seat," I said, lifting Quillan into my arms and leaving Tony at the desk. I was lucky that there was a woman getting up and leaving. I set Quillan in the chair and kneeled as he started to tremble. The little boy's anxiety was palpable, his wide eyes darting around the room. He fidgeted in place as his eyes started to water.
"Mommy's... getting worse, isn't she?"
My heart ached as I stroked his hair. "I don't know, but I don't think so."
I softened my voice. "They're probably just running a bunch of tests, and the labs are backed up because of the accident. I think we'll be able to see her soon."
I glanced over at Tony as he got a hold of a doctor I recognized. His expression was tense as he spoke with the doctor.
"Tell you what," I said, turning back to look at Quillan. "If you can be a little patient, I can get you a snack from the vending machine, hm?"
Quillan sniffed and nodded. "Okay."
"Alright, stay right here, and I'll be back soon." I pointed over to Tony. "Your Dad is going to come over here when he's done talking to the doctor. You might be up to see your mom before I get back."
He sniffled again and wiped his face. "Okay."
I stood and waved over to Tony. He nodded and shifted his stance to keep an eye on Quillan while I stepped away.
Then, I smelled something too familiar to ignore and too irritating to really keep calm. She followed me away from the waiting area towards the vending machine. I tapped my card and started making a bunch of selections.
Then, she came over to me, silent as a ghost. I took off my jacket to fashion a bag out of it as my selections started coming out of the machine.
"You have a lot of nerve showing up here," I said. "You'd better have a damn good reason."
I looked up at her. "Eliza."
She flinched as I said her name. She looked worn, tired, and far older than the last time I saw her. She was dressed in dark colors, unlike she would usually be. The clothes looked a little patchy, too.
Shame.
I turned back to the machine and pulled the bags of chips out to put in my jacket.
"I tried to get in to see her, but they wouldn't let me through."
"With good reason," I said. "Tony put you on the absolutely not list."
I glanced up at her. "Given how she got into the hospital, I can't blame him."
Eliza scoffed. "She'll either die or live. Quillan is fine."
I narrowed my eyes at her. "Tell that to Quillan. Tell him he'll be fine without his mother. I dare you."
Her eyes were fixed on me, and her tone was desperate.
"I didn't come here to talk about her. I came to talk to you two."
"I was pretty sure we'd said everything we'd needed to say to each other the last time."
I hefted up the snacks and went to the drink machine. They had cold and hot drinks, so I selected a few and got coffee for me and Tony.
"Obviously not. You and Tony need to come back, Matt. Oren's been upset about it, and if you don't return soon, things could get really ugly."
I lifted one of my shoulders. "I don't care. How did you know we were here today."
"You're going to care when he sends the Council to drag you back," she hissed.
I snorted. "You really don't know how anything works. We're adults. He can't."
My lips twitched at the irony of me saying that. Up until a little while ago, I hadn't known that an alpha of a pack didn't have absolute power over members of the pack, not even their own kids. I sighed as a bit of tension started to twist tighter at the base of my neck. I reached up to try and rub it away, but the knot was hard and persistent. The weight of the past few months pressed on me, but I would be okay.
"Besides, it's better this way."
"For who? That woman, or--"
"For us," I said easily. "What happened: it's not something I can forget or forgive. It's not something Tony could forget or forgive, and if Quillan knew what really happened, he wouldn't be forgiving about it either."
I placed the cold drinks on top of the snacks and slipped the two cans of warmed coffee into the pockets of my sweatpants before I turned to her.
"We've started a new life. Tony's got a new job. I think Quillan is going to start back at school with other supernatural kids, and I... Well, I'm going to figure it out. It's better this way for everyone. You all can have the alpha you've always wanted."
Eliza's eyes filled with frustration. "Matt, you don't understand what this means," she whispered, tears welling up in her eyes. "You'll be disowned, banished... And Alpha, he's not the same anymore. There's something wrong with him."
I snorted. "Oren was, is, and may forever be a fucking lunatic."
Her eyes flashed. "Don't speak about Alpha that way. Address him with respect!"
"Your alpha," I said.
"He's your father."
"He's a psycho."
I turned, and she stepped in front of me. "You don't understand. He's... changed, Matt. He's become more aggressive and more unpredictable. He's hurting the pack, and I'm scared of what he might do."
I glared at her and listened. "You mean he's come back no different than when he left."
She paled.
"When we got his ass arrested and sent off, did you expect jail to fix him or something? Did you not care? Did everything Tony and I did to make you all live a better life just vanish with the wind when you found out he was being released?"
My lips twitched. "Must be nice, but it didn't for us. I'm not going back, Eliza. And you'd be hard-pressed to get Tony to come back now. Tell Oren to hurry up with the paperwork so we can all be done with this."
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