24. Resa

Chapter 24

Resa

I pry my eyelids open.

Sunlight filters through the blinds as Vaughn sits on the floor beside my door, an open book in his hand that he immediately snaps shut when I stir.

I must have rolled over in the middle of the night, and seeing him and not a doctor in a hated white coat is a relief like nothing else.

"Morning." He gets to his feet, shoving the book into a black bag he has on the floor before I can read the title. "How do you feel?"

"Okay," I say automatically, as I sit up.

I'm surprisingly well-rested, which is a first. I'm tempted to think Sadie gave me something to sleep, but I remember dozing off myself.

Vaughn hefts the bag over one shoulder and I eye it curiously. I would have been less surprised if I'd woken up to find him juggling his throwing stars. "What were you reading?"

"This? Ah, homework."

Is he looking sheepish or is that just in my head?

"I thought you didn't like homework." At least, according to Garrison.

" This type of homework I don't mind." His smile is boyish. "You must be wondering why I'm here and not Garrison and Blaine."

Not really.

If I didn't know any better, I'd think Vaughn was trying to change the subject. I let him. For now. But his avoidance makes me even more curious about the book he couldn't stuff into his bag fast enough. "I am."

He smothers a yawn and nods at my bedside table. "Garrison thought there was less chance of you using that on me when you woke up."

Guilt churns in my gut at the thought of him spending the night sitting on what has to be a cold, sterile floor. Until the knife sitting on my bedside table distracts me.

I left it on the armchair last night. Yet there it is, within grabbing distance. Which means during the night, someone went back to the house to get it for me.

I look at it for several seconds and then I pick it up and place it in my lap. Someone leaving a knife on your bedside table should make you run for the hills, not want to hug the person who left it.

"Sometimes I hug it before I fall asleep." I brace myself for him to tell me I'm crazy for doing something so stupid.

"I used to do the same with my stars until I woke up and they were…" His pause makes me lift my head in time to see him wince. "Well, they were in an uncomfortable place."

Maybe I'm not as messed up as I thought I was. Unless…

My eyes narrow. "Are you crazy?"

"Nope. Though Garrison might disagree." His grin is so cheerful I bite the inside of my cheek to hide my smile.

"So hugging the stars…"

"You mean keeping my weapons close so I can protect myself?" he gently corrects me. "That doesn't sound crazy to me. Does it to you?"

Never have I related to truer words.

"It doesn't sound crazy to me," I say, embracing my attachment to this knife. "If I asked why, would you tell me?"

"I wouldn't have minded having a weapon in juvie to defend myself. I guess that's why."

He went to juvie ?

I try to picture the easygoing, handsome blond beta in a juvenile detention center and I just can't. Whatever he did must have been serious.

"How old were you?"

"Sixteen. It was… let's just say it wasn't a nice place to be. The guards didn't always care to intervene when shit went down. Better we attack each other than them, right?" He nods at the closed door. "Want me to get Sadie?"

Not really. I want to ask how long he was there for and what he did, but he's backing up, still smiling with the mysterious bag draped over his shoulder.

It's clear he doesn't want to talk about this anymore. "Okay."

He's gone long enough for me to realize that Sadie might not appreciate trying to check my stats or whatever she needs to do while I have a knife in my lap.

I tuck it under my pillow for safekeeping seconds before Sadie appears in the doorway, smiling.

She's in a different pair of scrubs than the night before. Pink instead of purple and her hair is in two braids. Either the clinic has a place for her to rest and shower or she went home because she doesn't look nearly as tired as Vaughn, who I suspect spent all night watching over me.

"How are you feeling?" she asks, walking over to me.

"Good."

"Excellent. We might be a small clinic without all the resources of a hospital, but we can recommend good people. Like OB-GYNs and therapists."

I snort. "You have the subtlety of a door slamming. You know that, right?"

She smiles. "Sorry. It's early and I'm only on my first cup of coffee. Give me an hour to work on my persuasiveness. I get better. Promise."

"I'll wait outside, okay?" Vaughn says, grabbing the door.

I nod. "Okay."

She twists to face him. "I'd like to give Resa one more checkup, but I can't see why she can't leave after."

I perk up. "I can leave?"

She turns back to me and reaches for the stethoscope hanging around her neck. "You can."

I eye her warily as Vaughn shuts the door, giving us privacy. "Why do I have a feeling a but is coming?"

"My friend Isaura would like to see you."

I think I see where this is going. "And is she the OB-GYN or the therapist?"

"I really needed that second cup of coffee this morning, huh?" Her smile is wry. "What do you say about meeting Isaura, my OB-GYN friend?"

A couple of days ago, I'd have shot her down without hesitation. After last night, I have to start thinking less about my fear of white coats and more about what my baby needs.

I wait for Sadie to finish checking my heart and my blood pressure. "Would I meet her here?"

"She would need to do some tests, and it's better she does those here. We'll have your blood and urine tests from the lab in the next couple of days, and she can go through them with you as well."

I think about it for a little longer and I nod. "Okay."

"Excellent. Then let's get this examination out of the way and you can get home for some bed rest for the next couple of days."

Firstly, it's not home, and secondly, the thought of resting for the next two days is already making me feel claustrophobic and it hasn't even started yet. I just got my freedom back. It has to happen, but bed rest does not fill me with joy.

"Isaura won't wear a white coat," Sadie assures me, returning me to the present.

I was kind of hoping everyone would forget all about my freakout. That doesn't look like it's going to happen anytime soon.

"Thanks. How long have you worked with Lucas Security?" I ask as she continues my examination.

"About five years now. I had a lot of big dreams when I was younger. I wanted to do everything, and being an ordinary beta meant I could do whatever I wanted."

I startle, surprised. "What?"

"Being an alpha would mean everyone expected brilliance from me. If I was an omega, everyone would expect me to be beautiful. As a beta, I could just be me."

What does this have to do with her working relationship with Lucas Security?

"And you wanted to be a doctor?"

She nods. "Dad was a consultant at a hospital, and I was a resident in another. We both wanted to work in medicine, but neither of us was doing the sort of medicine we dreamed of."

"What changed?" It sounds like something did.

"Pack Lucas," she says simply. "The reason we can afford the sort of equipment you'd find in a hospital short of a full operating theater or an onsite lab is because of them. Dad helped Garrison, and Garrison wanted to help him. So they got into this partnership."

"This clinic belongs to Garrison?" I breathe, eyes wide.

Sadie shakes her head. "It belongs to Dad and me. Dad always had big dreams of leaving consultancy and going back to private practice, so he'd have time to do more outreach. He couldn't do that while he was doing fifty-sixty hour work weeks at the hospital. You have no idea how many Christmas dinners I would bore my family to death with stories about how, one day I was going to start my own practice where I'd help patients who couldn't afford medical treatment."

"Garrison made both your dreams come true?"

"Dad brought a lot of his old patients with him, and we have a couple of doctors and a handful of nurses on staff now. We do more outreach and emergency medicine for those who have nowhere to go than see regular patients, but that's why we got into medicine in the first place."

"Is Garrison still funding this as long as you help out Lucas Security?"

"No. Garrison is still funding, so we can continue to help as many people as we can."

"What did Garrison help your dad out with before?"

She offers me a small smile. "He saved Blaine's life."

Oh.

Blaine had to have gotten those burns from somewhere, and I'm dying to ask how.

Sadie helps me into a wheelchair that she wheels from the corner of the room. "That's it. You are ready to be discharged."

On the drive back to the house, I sit quietly at the back of the Hummer, thinking.

Blaine drives, and his hands are tense. No one is talking to him, though Garrison and Vaughn occasionally talk to each other.

They dropped everything for me.

I think of how, in one of the most terrifying moments of my life, Garrison wasn't just there. He assured me everything would be okay.

And it was.