Chapter Sixteen
Levi
The guy started to wake up, so I had to use curtain tie-backs from the window to secure him. I thought about putting a bullet in his brain, like I’d just done to Gavin, but I decided against it. I wasn’t that guy.
I thought Ezra was dead, but I leaned over and heard his breath against my ear. Spurred into action by the possibility that I could save him, I searched Gavin’s body. I was looking for a phone, but what I found first was a set of keys. I put those in my pocket and kept searching. After a few more seconds of looking and not finding a phone, I made a decision.
Ezra cried out a little when I picked him up, but he didn’t wake up. Outside the cabin, I found Gavin’s huge black SUV parked in the driveway.
I slipped Ezra into the back seat as carefully as I could and got into the driver’s seat. A flashback almost triggered a panic attack. The SUV reminded me so much of the vehicle I was driving when I killed my family.
The thought of Ezra dying too was enough incentive to get me moving. I put the key into the ignition and started the truck. Before I pulled out of the drive, I dialed the phone and put it on speaker.
I was able to give the dispatcher instructions on where to meet me. They might not be able to make it all the way up the mountain, but enough snow had melted that I could get the giant SUV down far enough to meet an ambulance halfway.
The car Ezra had been driving served as a warning of a particularly bad spot on the road, and I was able to avoid sliding off the side into a ravine.
Fifteen minutes later, I saw the lights of the ambulance. The siren wasn’t on, but they left the warning lights going as beacons. Paramedics jumped into action as I pulled the vehicle to a stop.
I jumped into the back of the ambulance once they had Ezra stabilized enough to go. I sat in worried silence as the EMT in the back worked to keep Ezra alive long enough to get us to the nearest hospital.
When we arrived at the hospital, I looked around with dismay. It was a very small rural hospital with almost no cars in the parking lot. At least I knew there would be staff in the emergency room ready to treat Ezra; I just hoped the hospital had the resources to keep him alive.
I paced in the waiting area until it felt like my legs would give out. I tried to sit down, but I couldn’t relax enough to be still. Instead, I got myself some coffee so my hands would have something to do.
As the sun began to break the horizon, the hospital’s surgeon walked into the waiting room looking exhausted. I tried to read his face as he crossed the room to me. Flashbacks to the night my family died tried to take me down, but I wouldn’t let myself give in.
“I’m really only supposed to speak with family,” the surgeon said as he looked around the otherwise empty waiting room.
“I’m his Alpha,” I declared, and the surgeon nodded.
“Ezra made it through the surgery,” he said, and I almost fell over with relief. “It was touch and go for a while. He did code once, but we were able to resuscitate.”
“Is he going to make it?” I asked.
“The next twenty-four hours are crucial, but I’d say his chances are good. The baby’s prognosis isn’t as clear. It’s hard to tell this early in the pregnancy,” the surgeon said, and shook his head in frustration. “I really wish someone would have told me he was pregnant. I could have done more to protect the baby during surgery.”
My jaw almost dropped to the floor. “We didn’t know,” was all I could choke out.
“Ah, that explains it,” he said. “Well, it’s still possible that your baby will survive, Mister?”
“Martin.”
“Mr. Martin, our intensive care doctors and nurses will do whatever they can.”
“Can I see Ezra?” I asked, still in shock from the news that my Omega was carrying my baby.
And it might die.
“When Ezra is out of recovery and settled in intensive care, a nurse will come get you.”
“Thank you, Doctor,” I said, and shook his hand.
The hour I had to wait to see Ezra felt like an eternity. I would lose my mind if he died while I sat in a waiting room. Once my legs were feeling a little less sore and I’d had some food from the vending machine, I had enough energy to begin pacing again.
Eventually, a nurse came to get me. She informed me that they could let me see Ezra for five minutes at a time until he was more stable, and that after my five-minute visit that night, I’d have to come back in the morning.
“Thank you,” I said, and the nurse led me to the intensive care unit.
In truth, it was just two rooms stuck in a hallway off the main cancer ward. I asked the nurse why the cancer ward was so big in such a small hospital, and she told me it was the only one in four counties. No other hospitals had cancer treatment available.
Despite how small it was, the intensive care unit had good security. There was one nurse that sat at a nurses’ station and buzzed myself and the other nurse in.
“There are two nurses for two rooms?” I asked out of curiosity.
“I help her out when she needs it,” she said, and nodded toward the nurse behind the desk, “but I go back and forth between intensive care and the oncology patients. I float.”
“Interesting,” I said.
“Five minutes,” she responded.
Inside, Ezra’s room was as quiet as a crypt other than a low beeping and a soft whirring sound coming from the many machines attached to him.
I thought he was unconscious, but his eyes fluttered open when I bent down to kiss his forehead. I wanted to put my hand on his stomach, but I was afraid I’d hurt him. I guess I just wanted to let our little one know that his father loved them and would do anything if they would just make it into the world.
“You’re amazing,” Ezra said dreamily, and I had to wonder if he was still drugged out of his mind.
“No, my love; you’re amazing,” I said. “I’ve only got five minutes and the nurses are going to kick me out again.”
“Well then, you’d better make them count,” he said, and puckered his lips.
I chuckled at the adorable gesture and then kissed him softly. “I love you.”
“I love you too,” Ezra responded, and then his eyes drifted shut again.
I thought he’d fallen asleep, but when I stood up, Ezra’s eyes opened up and looked at me again. “We should get married.”
“Yes, we should,” I said, and took his hand, but I don’t think he heard my response. Ezra’s head turned slightly to the side on his pillow and he began to snore quietly.
“It’s time to go,” the nurse said from behind me. “You can come back in the morning.”
I was a little upset that I hadn’t gotten to tell Ezra about the baby, but maybe that was better. I thought that perhaps if he lost it, maybe I’d never tell him. But that didn’t seem right. I just prayed they’d both survive this, and I wouldn’t have to make such grim decisions.
A cab picked me up outside the hospital and took me to a local motel. As soon as I was in the room, I slumped down into the tan easy chair near the window and bawled my eyes out. I couldn’t help but think of how Stephen had died while he was pregnant with Danny.
Was I cursed?