Chapter 142
(Demetri’s POV)
I follow the young man slowly as he walks to the wing. He’s struggling badly with the pain. It takes us several minutes to get to the medical wing but to my relief he doesn’t start hesitating until we get inside the lab.
He follows my directions easily as he steps several feet inside the third room on the left, freezing up only once he is inside. I’m right behind him as his panic starts. He attempts to step backwards out of the room but he runs into me instead.
“Lean into me, Cole. Close your eyes, lean back into me and just breathe for a moment.”
His body is shaking and his breathing is short. I attempt to wrap my arms around him but he pulls away as soon as my hands touch his.
“I’m not doing this to hurt you.” I whisper in his ear.
He whines softly as I take his hands in mine, not allowing him to pull away a second time.
I wait for him to relax with my hold before I start rubbing the backs of his hands. He pulls gently, letting me know of his nervousness with the comfort I’m providing.
“Do you need to use the bathroom now or do you want to wait until you get in the tub?”
He shakes his head, the back of it rubbing against my shoulder. I allow him to stay like that until Angela enters the room.
“Cole,” she speaks softly in an effort not to startle him. “I need you to take your shirt off and sit in the chair.”
He responds with a hard whine, stepping back into me hard enough that I step back with him. I position myself near his ear, gently coaxing him to pull his arms out of his long sleeves. Once I get his shirt off I guide him to the chair and gently convince him to sit down.
I quickly grab the waist strap and pull that around him, buckling him in just as you would in a car. The shoulder straps are the same as I move quickly before he can think about fighting us.
I position a stool behind him, wrapping my arms back around him. I encourage him to lay his head back again.
Slowly Angela gets his arm down on to the specialized restraining device and secures his arm so he can’t pull away. I can feel his body tense with every move we make towards getting this blood from him but all of us know that it’s critical to be done.
“Keep your head back against me, squeeze my hand.”
I encourage him as Angela ties the band around his upper arm. He leans back hard, pulling at his restrained arm. Feeling the lack of ability to move triggers his panic.
“Stay still Cole. I’ve got a good one. It’s all going to be over in three, two…”
With several hard yelps he struggles to comply with the request but I’m relieved to hear the first pop of a collection tube being placed on the line. His whimpers turn to light growls as he leans hard into my shoulder and maintains a firm grip on my hand.
“Try to relax Cole. The IV is in.” Angela tries to calm him.
“You got it on the first try?” I’m shocked considering how difficult he is to stick at Red General.
“His right arm is easier than his left. I still had to go deep but I’ve got good flow. Myla, I need you to come get this first tube. Use a syringe to draw the blood out. You need one milliliter for the wolfsbane test, two milliliters for the silver test and a drop to check his sugar levels.”
“Yes ma’am.” She responds as she walks over.
“I’m sorry Cole. I know you’re already anemic but this round is going to take quite a bit from you. I’ll be monitoring you closely for side effects stemming from the blood draw. I’ve doubled the tests that we can run in-house.” Angela explains.
“Why did you double what we can run in-house?” I ask confused.
“I’m sending the second set to general. This time around I want verification from an outside lab of our findings. Too many times while I was on the council simple things, like blood work, had to be repeated because the pack being accused of abuse or neglect would accuse the sanctuary pack of falsifying the results. I don’t want to put Cole through more than we have to.” I nod my head as I put my concentration back on Cole.
Using the tips of my fingers I gently brush them through his hair. He whimpers lightly when I graze the laceration we repaired yesterday.
“I’m sorry.” I whisper as I change the location to the top of his head.
It’s just as I feel him relax that he startles badly.
“Melody’s here. She can’t see me like this. I can’t be naked around the littles.” He spits out in a panic.
“Relax Cole. You’re not naked. You’ve only taken your shirt off.”
I try to calm him as he’s started fighting badly with the restraints.
“No. You don’t understand. I can’t be naked. I can’t.”
He’s fighting even harder to get out of the chair.
It finally dawns on me Patrick’s observation from the video footage. When Cole and Lynnie were in his dorm room he changed fully in the bathroom. Where most male wolves find it acceptable to walk around children with just their bottoms on, Cole walked out fully clothed. The only things he put on in Lynnie’s presence were his socks and hoodie.
“Stop fighting. Freeze up, Cole.”
I wait for him to stop before speaking again.
“I think I do understand but to remedy this discomfort I have to leave you and go to the cabinet. That means you have to stop fighting the restraints. I’d like to go get you a gown to cover your chest. Can you handle me leaving you to get one?”
He nods quickly.
“Yes, please.”
“Okay, try to relax. Melody, I need you and your parents to stay where you are until I get him covered.”
I stand and walk from behind him to the cabinet, pulling out a hospital gown with snaps across the sleeves.
“Myla, is there a notebook and pen close by that you can write something down for me?”
“Yes sir, I’m ready.”
“My exact words, Myla.”
“Yes sir.”
“Strict sense of justice and adapt to his rules.”
“His rules, sir?”
“Yes ma’am. Adapt to his rules.”
I glance over at Melody and her parents and see the expected confusion on their faces.
“I know you want to talk with him but he tends to get really nervous in the hospital wing. Just give me a minute to get him a bit more relaxed.”
They nod silently as they watch him. He’s whining hard and struggling to keep his hands off the belts that are restraining him. I go back to my seat behind him, taking his hand back in mine as I sit. I rub his hand lightly as I speak near his ear.
“Try and relax for us. She’s nearly done and the worst of it already is. I’m going to let you out of these belts but you can not fight. You must stay seated. Can you do that?”
“Yes sir.”
His voice shakes as he whispers but I can tell the belts holding him down are bothering him more than the needle in his arm.
I reach around him slowly and undo the shoulder straps first, gently guiding them back into the retractor, before doing the same at his waist.
“Lift your left arm so I can slide the sleeve over.”
I encourage as I unfold the gown. He follows the direction easily and I tie the upper portion loosely around his neck.
“You can come over and talk with him briefly. I know that’s why you're here. Angela said something to me and I felt it would be okay for him to understand your feelings about what happened yesterday. I just need you to understand there are things he’s not going to talk about and I’m not going to force the conversation.”
“Thank you Alpha Demetri.” I hear Roger first as they start moving towards us.
I pull the second sleeve apart, wrapping it around him before snapping it back together. Melody pulls a stool over in front of Cole, sitting down gently.
“Are you okay?”
It surprises me when he’s the first to talk.
“It still hurts but not as bad as yesterday. Dr. Pierce said there might be some cramping with the medication I’m on but she also gave me medication for that too. How did you know?”
“Know what, sweet pea?” His voice sounds tired as he talks.
“That I could get pregnant if I didn’t get to a doctor. That it could kill me to get pregnant.”
“It’s difficult to explain without coming across as something that I’m not.”
“You’re talking about the pedophile rumors.”
Cole startles when I let out a sharp growl in response to Roger’s question.
“I’m sorry alpha but there’s no other way to ask that particular question.” Roger responds defensively.
Cole lays his head back against my shoulder.
“Every pack I go to Dallas just has to open his mouth about it.” He sighs hard.
“I will be putting a stop to the rumors Cole. I will not allow you to become a target based on unproven allegations.” I rub his hand gently.
“When I was nineteen a girl about your age came to me for help. She had a similar smell that, at the time, I didn’t recognize. I helped her as much as I could before she went home. Three months later we were having a funeral for her. I found out from Dr. Carter what it was that I smelled. That first time it made me sick to be around.
My harsh reaction to it has calmed over the years but I understand it as a warning and anytime I smell it I make certain that the pre-shifter gets to a doctor.”
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