7. Chapter Seven

Chapter Seven

Bennett

Trying to get to Lucas before he jumped up on the bed or something–and did more damage to his dad–I tripped over my feet and fell forward into the room. Arms flailing, I caught myself before I fell flat on my face. Swiping at my hair that had fallen forward into my eyes, I found two pairs of blue eyes staring at me.

Brushing it off like I had walked gracefully into the room, I gave Shay a tentative smile. Dear Goddess, the man made me forget my fucking name. Made me forget how to walk properly. Or how to breathe in and out like a normal person. Why was my heart beating so fast?

Thankfully, Lucas had stopped himself before jumping on the bed next to his dad. Shay was touching his son's arm, a look of relief on his still slightly ashen face .

"You're awake," I announced to the room, as if neither one of them was aware of the fact.

Get it together, Bennett.

Fuck, you act like you've never talked to another person before in your life! So what if his eyes are so fucking blue they look like swimming pools? Or he smells like the best thing you've ever smelled in your entire life? Just ignore the slick still fucking flowing from you.

It's fine. You're fine. Everything is fine.

Shay shifted on the bed, the thin hospital gown he was wearing rustling. The material moved on his neck, exposing his mate claim bite scar. Seeing that was the equivalent of having icy water tossed over my head.

He moved his head a fraction, in a half nod, and croaked, "I am. I can't seem to stay awake very long though. I think I've been in and out."

Moving closer to him, my hands fluttered nervously in front of me, until I finally clasped them together tightly to stop their jerky movements. "Well, you look better."

He frowned at me but said nothing.

"I mean, better than before." He did, a little, but the bar had been set pretty low, so that wasn't saying much. His face had a bit more color than earlier, which was an improvement.

"I'm sorry, who are you?" His voice held confusion.

"Oh," my voice rose an octave, "I'm Bennett. Bennett Maxwell. I work here at the hospital."

Lucas fidgeted from one foot to the other, his eyes darting between his dad and me. Shay scooted over on the bed, then patted the spot next to him. "Climb up, kiddo."

"Is it okay?" Lucas asked, and I could hear the fear in his voice .

"You won't hurt me, baby, I promise." Shay's voice sounded like every word pained him, but my heart squeezed at the way he tried to reassure the little boy. Or maybe that was my ovaries squeezing. Because seeing an alpha being attentive and caring towards his child was attractive as fuck. Had I just tapped into a new kink I hadn't known existed for me?

Lucas was too small to climb onto the tall bed, which had been raised from earlier, and Shay's blue eyes implored me for help.

Gently, I picked Lucas up and sat him down on the bed. The little boy immediately snuggled into his dad's side, and Shay's arm wrapped around him tightly.

"Are you a doctor?" The ragged sounding question broke me out of whatever trance I had fallen into, watching Shay stroking his large hand down Lucas's shoulder and arm in a soothing manner.

Blinking hard, I tore my eyes away from his fingers to stare into his eyes. I could stare into the endless blue depths all day. Blue eyes had always been my kryptonite. "What? No," I shook my head, trying to rid it of the fog that being this close to him caused. "I work in administration. I help patients with any services they might need, coordinate transport, and out-patient facilities that might be needed upon release. Things like that. I do a bit of everything." After a few seconds, I quietly added, "I work a lot with…abuse cases."

Tread lightly, Bennett. You know the drill. This is…a different situation.

Shay's eyes flickered before his blue orbs burned into me. There were so many emotions flooding them, and my soul ached for what I saw there.

Pain. Pride. Denial. Fear. Self-loathing.

It wasn't anything I hadn't seen from hundreds of cases just like his. It wasn't anything I hadn't seen reflected many times from my own omega dad's eyes. But seeing Shay with that look in his eyes hit me differently. None of what I was feeling made any sense–I didn't even know the man–but everything inside me wanted to gather him in my arms and absorb all his pain into my body. Anything to make that look in his eyes disappear.

Shay swallowed, and I watched the play of muscles in his throat. Saw the wince he tried to hide that the movement caused. My eyes latched onto the dark bruises around his throat, and my chest physically hurt seeing those marks on him. Blinking rapidly, I fought against the hot sting prickling my eyes.

It was a stereotype to think these things didn't, couldn't, happen to alphas, because they did. But it wasn't often talked about, and I couldn't say I knew what he was possibly feeling right now. What I knew was from a completely different perspective and it wasn't the same. Plus, years of experience working with abuse victims had taught me he wouldn't want to see sympathy shining in my green eyes for him.

I waited for him to deny the abuse, because it was what most victims did. And I didn't blame them when they denied it. Sometimes, it was their safest course of action. I knew that.

Start thinking of him like any other patient, Bennett. Stop thinking of him as your fated.

When I had composed my face back into a mask of professionalism, I searched his eyes for any sign he knew who–what–I was to him. Did he remember me touching him earlier? Did he remember the electric shock that had snaked down our arms at our touch? It didn't appear he remembered me at all.

He stared at me blankly, though I could almost see his mind trying to decide how he was going to respond to my statement .

Lucas, safe and secure with his dad once more, appeared to have drifted off to sleep. Curled into his father's side, his stuffed rabbit tucked under his chin.

"Did I…" Shay took a shallow breath, swallowed again, plucked at the rough blanket with his thumb and forefinger. "Did I tell them Alpha Law when I was awake before? Things are really hazy."

Nodding, I fought the urge to run my fingers down Lucas's back, or over Shay's arm. Fought the urge to touch them, to comfort them both, because they both surely needed comforting. Had to keep reminding myself that they weren't mine. They didn't belong to me and I needed to focus on the conversation, and not the urge to touch him.

"You did. The sheriff will need to take your statement, when you're up for it."

He started to say something, but was cut off by a horrible round of coughs that sounded like he was trying to bring his lungs up. Grabbing the glass of water that was sitting on a rolling tray next to his bed, I held the straw for him and watched as he sipped.

When the coughing fit finally subsided, he flopped back against the pillows weakly. "Thanks. This is the worst cold I've ever had."

Snorting loudly, I sat the cup down. "That's because you've got bronchitis. Practically pneumonia. You're very ill."

"Fuck, I was afraid it was something like that." His arm had come across his middle during his coughing, and he winced as he tried to get more comfortable on the bed and not disturb Lucas in the process. Who had somehow slept through his dad's barking loud coughs .

"My brother–" he wheezed, and without thinking I hit the call button. I should have done that when I realized he was awake. Being near him made all my brain cells sizzle out.

"Asher Pierce, he's your brother?"

"You know him?" I'd have had to be blind to miss the look of relief that washed over his features.

"I'm actually Gabe and Asher's neighbor."

He frowned at the unknown name. "Gabe?"

"Gabe Carmichael, Asher's mate." How long had it been since he'd seen his brother? "They took the twins to visit Gabe's family. They aren't home right now." Realizing from the look of absolute confusion on his face that I might as well have been speaking gibberish to him, I clarified, "Gabe's parents live in Washington state."

"Twins?" He looked startled and confused. "Asher has twins?"

"Ah, yeah. Tristan and Raphael, but they call him Rafe. They're um, a year and a half now, I think."

Shay's nurse walked in at the same time I heard him breathe the word, "Tristan." The nurse took his vitals, smiling at Lucas's sleeping form as she checked Shay's blood pressure.

That's when I remembered Asher had mentioned that the twins were named after his father and Gabe's omega father who had passed away. It was apparent that the Pierce brothers had not seen each other in the last several years and had obviously not spoken to each other either.

The nurse patted Shay's hand, telling him quietly that respiratory would be in shortly to administer another breathing treatment. When she left, I told him, "I'm going to try to get ahold of Asher. If you want me to."

He nodded his blond head. "Please. I would appreciate that. I don't have his number. I…my brother and I…we…," he was struggling for the words, and it had nothing to do with him having trouble breathing. A shadow darkened his blue eyes and he looked away from my gaze. "We haven't seen each other in a very long time. I don't know…I don't know if he'll even care that I'm here. But he's all I have left, and I–" his eyes landed on Lucas, "–I hoped he would help us."

My legs moved on their own volition, carrying me forward until my chest touched the edge of the bed. Who the fuck had cranked the bed that damn high? No wonder Lucas hadn't been able to get on it.

My hand hovered over his, as his fingers plucked at the blanket pooled at his waist. Taking a breath, I let my hand fall over his, stopping his movement. Heat, lightning, electricity. It all sparked and flowed between our fingers, skin on skin, where we touched.

Shay jerked, yanking his hand roughly from beneath mine, blue eyes wide with confusion. Shock, unasked questions, and something resembling recognition of what it was. Lucas mumbled in his sleep, and Shay shushed him with a hand to his back, his eyes burning into mine. My mouth opened to say–something, anything–then flopped closed, no sound emitting from it.

"You? What? I don't–" Shay gasped, and my hand hovered over him, wanting to touch him. Soothe him. Feel his warmth under my fingers. Feel…that racing feeling when we touched, that was absolutely everything.

The curtain was flung open, the metal hooks holding it up on a bar clanging loudly, breaking us out of the spell we were under.

The respiratory therapist bustled in, all business, as he hooked up a nebulizer. Strapping the mask over Shay's face and cutting off any further words from him for the next fifteen to twenty minutes, as he breathed in the medicine to help clear his lungs .

Stepping out of the way, away from Shay's warm skin, his scent, I pulled my phone from my pocket. Holding it up and waving it, I announced, "I'm going to try calling Asher."

Knowing Shay couldn't answer me, I hurried from the cubicle, rushing down the hallway. Breathing hard, heart pounding, I leaned against the wall and tried to calm my racing pulse.

If I had ever doubted what I had felt the first time Shay and I had touched, those doubts just flew out the window. We were fated.

And nothing good could come of it. The mate claim bite on his neck was a solid indication of that. It was like a big, red, flashing neon stop sign. Do not enter, danger ahead.

I knew what I had to do. I had to take the out clause the Goddess had built into the fated mate legend. Had to walk away and not look back. Move on with my life, and hope that one day I would find someone that I would want to spend the rest of my life with. We wouldn't be fated, but many solid, loving relationships happened between people who weren't fated. Fated mates were a rare thing, and most people never found their fated mates.

Nodding my head at my solid plan, I hit the contact for Asher Pierce on my phone, then paced the corridor while I listened to it ring in my ear. Three…four…it was late, and I would probably end up leaving a message.

"Bennett?" Asher's quiet voice cut through the ringing, "Is everything okay? Is there something wrong at the house?"

"Hi! I didn't think you would answer." My voice was doing that way too chipper thing it had started doing tonight, and I winced at the sound of it. "Nothing's wrong at the house. Did I wake you? "

"I wish. Tristan has an ear infection, so we're up. It's been a great trip." There was no denying the sarcasm in his statement. "If the house is okay, something else must be wrong. It's like…midnight."

"Uh, your brother is here. In Sweet Alps. In the emergency room. With his son." Now, not only was I too chipper, but I also couldn't string an entire sentence together that wasn't over three or four words. Fucking hell.

I was so busy silently chastising myself, it took me a minute to realize there was silence on the other end of the phone. Absolute, dead silence.

"Asher? Are you there?"

"My…brother?" He finally asked, those two words short and clipped. "Are you sure it's my brother?"

Blowing out a breath, I nodded, even though the man couldn't see me. "Shay. His name is Shay, correct? I'm sending you a picture."

Quickly I sent him the picture of Shay's drivers license I had snapped. I had anticipated Asher might want some kind of verification, and I wasn't about to send him a picture of Shay looking battered, bruised, and beat all to hell.

A few seconds after the picture finally sent, I heard the soft murmuring of words between Asher and Gabe. Determined not to listen to their conversation, I smiled at one of the nurses that passed by in the hallway.

"That's Shay," Asher confirmed, his voice flat and guarded. "You said he has his son with him?"

"Lucas," I confirmed, wondering again what the story was between the two brothers.

"Why are they there?" His voice was less guarded now, a tinge of worry creeping in. "Are they alright? "

"Lucas is fine," I assured him. "Shay is…" pausing, I scraped my bottom lip with my teeth, choosing my next words very carefully. "Shay is pretty sick. Sounds like a summer cold that escalated to a pretty severe respiratory infection." If I had learned nothing else navigating patients, stressed out family members, overworked medical staff, and bureaucracy, I knew how to sugar coat the truth.

"We…fuck," Asher sighed, "we can't get home for a couple of days. We can leave tomorrow after we get some sleep. But with two babies under the age of two, one with an ear infection, we probably won't be able to drive it in one go. Does Shay need to be admitted? What about…Lucas, is that his name? Is Edward with them?" The way he said the name Edward told me Asher didn't have a high opinion of the man.

Rocking back on my heels, I ran a hand through my hair, deciding what I should tell Asher. I was well aware I was walking a fine line with patient confidentiality. And it wasn't my place to talk to Asher about his brother's other injuries. I wasn't about to tell him that Shay and I were fated, especially since the best thing for me to do was walk away and let him live his life. With his mate. The abusive asshole. He very well could decide to go back to him, after all this. It happened more times than I cared to think about.

"He's here alone. He doesn't need to be admitted, but I'm not sure he has anywhere else to go. Even if he goes to a hotel, he shouldn't be alone with how sick he is. Especially with a small child to look after. Meg could admit him until you can get back here, but there's the issue of Lucas. Without a relative here to take him, we would have to call social services, and we're trying to avoid that. "

Should I mention that Shay had claimed Alpha Law? There was obvious tension between Shay and Asher, though Asher was making plans to get home to his younger brother. Family dynamics were complicated, and I certainly didn't feel like I had a right to ask what the situation between the two brothers was.

"I'd rather not have social services involved. That seems unnecessary," Asher agreed, "especially if Shay is ill. That's just a stress that he doesn't need. Let me make some calls and see if I can work out a suitable solution, until we can get back to Sweet Alps. I might need to have Meg admit Shay for a day or two, if Brendan and Ryan can look after Lucas. If they can't, I'm sure one of the other Sinclairs would be willing to watch him until we get back, and I can bring Shay to our house."

"They can stay with me!" The words spewed from my mouth before I could stop them.

What the hell had my mouth just shouted? Had it not heard what my brain had decided?

"Bennett–"

"It makes perfect sense." Cutting Asher off, I continued my ramble, "I live across the street from you, so that's convenient for when you guys make it home. And I've spent time with Lucas tonight, he knows me. He doesn't know Brendan. And he might get scared going with a stranger, especially if Shay isn't with him. They can stay with me. I have room and I'm on vacation anyway."

What the fuck was I doing?

Asher was silent, and my heart was pounding so loudly it was drowning out any other sound.

Finally, Asher broke the silence. "If you're sure you don't mind, Bennett. Things with Shay and I are…complicated. But he's my little brother. I love him. "

"I'm sure. It's no trouble. Though if you could see if Brendan or one of his brothers wouldn't mind helping me get Shay to my house, that would be great. Your brother is not a small guy and I'm kinda puny."

There was no way I would be able to manhandle Shay in and out of my car, let alone get him inside my house. He might be able to walk on his own, but if he lost his balance or passed out again, we would both be fucked.

"I'll get you help," Asher promised, "and thank you again, Bennett. This goes well above and beyond your job title."

"It's what neighbors do. So, it's settled. Shay and Lucas will come home with me."

Bennett, what the fuck are you doing? You're playing with fire and there is no way you aren't going to get burned.