Chapter 49
“Cole, I need you to get your legs up on the bed.”
He responds slowly, turning his body and lifting his legs at the same time. He manages to get his feet on the bed when Angela knocks and opens the door causing one of the severest fear responses I have seen in a long time.
It takes everything I have to keep Cole from leaping off the bed, his arms flailing erratically as he yelps in terror from my hold on him. Angela and I are in shock at such a terrifying response when he had been doing so well with us. I had nearly forgotten Jamie was even there until I hear his voice in a way I could have never imagined.
“Alpha Cole, look at me!”
His voice is loud, sharp and commanding attention as his hands are upon Cole’s wrists, crossed and gently held against Cole’s chest. Light, persistent whimpers intertwine with the sound of his wheezing as he struggles to recover from his fight.
“Cole please. I love you and trust you without hesitation. You are as much my brother as Jeremy. I know you’re scared and goddess knows that you have every right to be but I need you to trust me. This alpha isn’t out to hurt you.”
Cole is completely still as they look at each other. I can see Angela approaching quietly with a syringe in her hand.
‘What is it?’
I ask sternly, cross at the very idea of what I think she wants to do.
‘Five milligrams of Valium. That was a dangerous reaction to something as simple as me coming in the door.’
‘No.’
‘No? Demetri he damn near hurt you and most certainly would have hurt himself if you weren’t here to restrain him. Every wolf is afraid at some level to be in the hospital but he’s out of control.’
‘He’s not afraid, Angela.’
‘How the hell can you say he’s not afraid?’
I growl through the link as she interrupts me.
‘He’s not simply afraid, Angela, he’s terrified right now! He is above and beyond anything that I have ever worked with. I have found and helped over two dozen wolves, men and women equally, who had been abused or were being abused in their home pack, get out. As soon as I figured it out and confronted them, told them I could help them, they opened up to me. Begged me to help them after goddess knows how many packs looked the other way. Cole is so far beyond the level of abuse those others suffered and yet he refuses to talk. He has no ability to trust, to believe that I can help him and so much as begged me not to punish him when I found the burn on his leg and asked about it. I don’t care about what just happened. You will not medicate him without his knowledge. Now go reduce the amount to one milligram and I will let you know when you can give that and the vicoprofen.’
She turns away from me and heads back to the cabinet. As an alpha in her own right she can question my authority and doesn’t have to submit to my demands, yet the closeness we have has fostered a level of trust that all alphas should have with their pack members. I bring my attention back to Cole and Jamie as I feel Jamie slowly release Cole’s wrists. Cole remains completely still even after Jamie has taken a step back.
“Cole please relax.”
Jamie’s voice is soft and gentle as he slowly covers Cole’s eyes with his hand.
“You know I can’t look at you when your eyes are darting everywhere. Please Cole, trust me.”
“How…. can you be…. so willing…… to trust him….. You don’t…. know him”
“The same way you’re terrified of him without knowing him. All I know is what I see Cole. I see an alpha who has defended you, protected you and helped you without knowing you ever since you got off that bus last night. He has been nothing but gentle and kind, has he not?”
I can feel his body shake as he starts to sob.
“I’m sorry alpha….. Dr.Carter is right….. I can’t control….. the fear…. I need to be…. tied.”
“No you don’t Cole.”
I whisper softly near his ear as I start gently swaying side to side. Slowly I feel his body relax in my arms as Angela makes her way back to us with syringes in her hand. I watch her closely as she grabs the syringe sitting on the table before sitting on the bed.
“Cole,” she waits for him to look her way before continuing. “I’m going to give you some Valium and vicoprofen.”
I still my movements as she reaches over to his hand, taking it in hers she pauses to gently rub the top with her thumb. It’s only when he relaxes that she moves his arm and attaches the first syringe, giving him the first medication slowly before giving him the second. He whines softly and tries subtly to pull away as the second is given but overall handles both quite well.
“Cole, I’m going to switch sides so I can look at this burn of yours. Demetri, do you think you can get the two of you closer to the middle of the bed?”
I start moving slowly to the right encouraging Cole to do the same. By the time she gets around to the left side of the bed there’s enough room for her to sit.
“All right Cole, let’s see what you have going on.”
I can feel the fear and tension growing again as she lifts his gown on the one side and moves it to between his legs revealing a nasty looking burn. She draws her breath in sharply as she runs a single finger lightly across the angry red band that sits on both sides on the burn causing him to yelp and draw his leg away from the pain.
“I’m sorry Cole. I’m done touching for now. Can you relax so I can look a little closer?”
His body is tense and shaking again as she draws his leg back towards her. I slip my hands into his as he lays his head back against my shoulder whimpering softly. I watch as Angela runs her finger along the actual bubble for several seconds.
“Cole, I need to withdraw some fluid from this blister. I’m not certain how much you’re going to feel based on the fact that you’re not feeling my touch on the blister itself. What I need from you is to stay completely still. Stay just as you are with your eyes closed.”
I feel him nod as she pulls out an alcohol wipe and empty syringe. She moves his leg around looking at the entire wound before selecting a spot on his inner thigh. She cleans it gently before slowly advancing the needle through the dead skin. She quickly takes the sample she’s after and pulls the needle out with only a slight yelp when she presses the gauze to his skin. The look on her face as she looks at the contents of the syringe tells me it’s not good. She sighs lightly as she speaks.
“It’s already severely infected. I will need to do a minor surgery in order to get this to heal correctly.”
Cole sits up fast at the sound of surgery, fear lacing his voice.
“Am I going….. to feel it?”
She reaches over and touches his face.
“No, you won’t feel it.”
He relaxes slightly but is still breathing hard with nervousness as she continues to explain.
“You will be put into a twilight sleep which is heavy sedation mixed with anesthesia for the pain. Once you’re asleep I’ll put lidocaine shots around both sides of the blister before using a scalpel to cut the dead skin away, freeing the liquid inside. We will need to change the bandage three times a day and put a cream on it that fights the infection and pulls any silver that’s still in it out. The cream also contains lidocaine which will help reduce the pain while it heals. You will also start getting a silver binder and antibiotics in your IV three times a day as long as you’re in the hospital and you’ll be switched to the oral type of both when you get out of here.”
“How are you so certain that this burn is from silver? I’ve never seen a blister like that created from silver.”
“It’s an unusual burn considering it’s a band that goes around his entire thigh but only silver will get infected this badly without it being an open wound. That’s why it’s so important to remove the skin and flush all the fluid out. The fluid in this blister is holding silver against an open wound which is causing it to not only become infected very quickly but it’s continuing to burn the healthy tissue underneath. Cole, when did this happen? Are there any other injuries that we need to know about?”
“I,” his voice is trembling badly with uncertainty. “I’m sorry….. Dr. Pierce…… I black out…… I don’t know.”
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