10. CHAPTER 10

CHAPTER 10

At first, Renzo was mildly displeased with the condition of the hospital as well as how lacking the medical supplies were. But as the day wore on and Maxon's profuse apologies about not being better equipped as well as explaining they had had little luck finding what they were missing, especially antibiotics and pain medicine, his disapproval vanished.

Considering what he'd had to work with for the past year–which, originally, he'd assumed was because his captors weren't willing to treat the Omegas properly–he realized it was more about not being able to procure what was needed. That wasn't something he'd been used to east of the Mississippi. Well, mostly.

There were things hospitals weren't always able to supply since the population wasn't enough to continue producing what had been readily available before the eight billion people were reduced to half a billion. Still, the basics of bandages, antibiotics and such were being made. That said, Renzo imagined trying to get them on this side of the Mississippi would be… difficult, to say the least.

"Maxon, stop," he said after Maxon's last apology when they were done treating the patients they had and gotten them into their rooms. "It's not as if there's a way to easily get what we need. The important thing is the rooms are clean and sterile." Which they were. He could smell the cleaner, although faint so as not to overpower the patients, that proved that to be true.

The nurse smiled at him. "Thank you. It took time to scrub this place down, but my team has made a lot of headway in the last few months."

Renzo had zero doubt after having worked with him the last few hours that he'd have the entire place scoured from roof to basement before they even had enough people in town to fill it, much less need it for medical purposes. "You've done an amazing job. Hopefully, we'll be able to find someone who can help us stock what we need before it becomes an issue."

Maxon nodded his agreement as they worked to clean the examination rooms they'd used.

Overall, supplies—of what they had anyway—were somewhat available. They would have to be careful what they used in order to not run out, but it should last them about a year. That was assuming there weren't too many more people added to the community. Which, based on Coleson, was why they'd staked their claim on the town in the first place.

Shit.

They were going to need more supplies and soon if they were going to bring in as many Omegas as the town already had in the past few months. He'd need to discuss this with Lowen, Westland, Oxley, and Raman soon. Not because they were Alphas, but because they were used to trading west of the Mississippi. Actually, he should involve Gulliver, who had gone with his Alpha father when trading and Damon, who'd worked riverboats with his Alpha father for years.

But that was for another day. Between being held captive, killing his captors, running with eighteen Omegas while trying to keep them safe, and fighting off Alphas that were hell bent on taking their ship, Renzo was exhausted.

"Do you happen to know where I'll be sleeping?" he asked Maxon.

The nurse shook his head. "No. But I can try to find Coleson, since he normally is the one to assign rooms."

Glancing at the clock on the wall, Renzo winced at the thought of possibly waking his Omega, considering it was just after midnight. "No. Don't do that. I can just sleep in one of the hospital rooms if you can just point me in the direction of a clean one. That way you can head on home since I'll be here to watch over our patients."

Maxon shook his head. "Sorry, but I can't, in good conscious leave them with an Alpha as their only support." He laid a hand on Renzo's arm. "I promise it has nothing to do with you. But considering what they've been through, it would be better for them if an Omega was here in case they need some comfort."

Renzo wanted to protest, especially since most of their patients were from the same place he'd been imprisoned, but he also couldn't deny Maxon might be right. Every single person in Sanctuary had been through hell. They all deserved to have a safe space where they could heal.

Nodding, he said, "That makes sense. If any of them need me, let me know." Then he shut the door and stripped down to his boxers and dropped onto the bed. He was asleep the moment his head hit the pillow.

"There has to be somewhere we can get the supplies we're going to need." Renzo hadn't meant to shout, but he was tired of being told no one had the antibiotics or pain medicine they needed to stock the hospital.

Gulliver, who he was learning didn't hold back, said, "And where are you hoping we'll get them? Santa Claus?"

Coleson snorted at the old, yet odd, reference. Christmas hadn't been something they'd celebrated in… well, definitely before Renzo had been born. Hell, he was fairly certain it hadn't been since the world's population had died off.

Not exactly happy with Gulliver's response, Renzo also had to force himself not to smile at his Omega's response. "I get it won't be easy, but if we don't have the medicine to treat anyone, bringing Omegas in need here would only end up hurting them, or possibly killing them, in the end."

That might have been a bit… no, very dramatic, but he'd needed to get his point across. The fact was, Sanctuary's medical supplies had been almost cut in half when they'd brought in a hundred Omegas who'd been severely hurt.

Pointing at Lowen, he added, "What if Ford has a problem delivering your baby? Or, God forbid, the baby gets sick? How am I supposed to help either of them if I don't have the medication they might need?"

Lowen looked ready to kill at the thought of either his Omega or their child dying. "We get it," Lowen bit out. "But exactly how are we supposed to get what you need if we can't go east of the Mississippi?"

"We talked about it before, but we should try to forage other abandoned towns," Coleson exclaimed as if he was tired of not being listened to, even though Renzo hadn't heard the suggestion before.

"That might work," he admitted. "But the odds of the medications being out of date could be an issue."

"Really?" Coleson glared at him. "Is it better to use a medication that is ‘out of date' or none at all?"

Honestly? Renzo had no clue. He'd been taught to always look at expiration dates, but Coleson had a point. It wasn't as if a certain date suddenly made the medication stop working. Right?

"Okay," Westland said. "Let's set up a team to go to the surrounding towns and scavenge for medical supplies." He looked directly at Renzo. "You'll need to go with them since you're best equipped to decide what we'd need."

He'd wanted to object because just the thought of days of traveling sounded exhausting, but he had to admit it was the right call. "Fine," he'd agreed reluctantly.

"Coleson should go, too." Lowen held up a hand when it was obvious the Omega was going to object. "The town has other supply needs and you are the one most knowledgeable about all of them."

Coleson sighed, but nodded. "True. But I expect lists from anyone with specific demands." He pointed right at Lowen. "Like your farm."

Lowen grinned at him. "You got it. Since we're coming into fall and the weather will change quickly the later it gets, plan on leaving in three days. That will give us time to figure out who is going besides you two, transportation, a map of places you should try to hit, and gathering a list of things anyone needs."

The group nodded and stood. Renzo, on the other hand, continued to sit there stunned. Somehow it was just arranged to spend days, if not longer, with Coleson by his side.

The thing was, he did not know how it had happened. Sure, he'd been there for the discussion. Hell, he'd been the one insisting on the need to find medical supplies. But he'd never once imagined any of that would have meant getting to be in close contact with his Omega.

And, yes, Coleson was his. They may not have even kissed, but he knew, in his heart, they belonged to one another. He might not have any clue how he was going to win Coleson's heart, but Renzo knew, without a doubt, they were meant for each other.

What he hadn't expected was to have time with his Omega to convince him they belonged together.

Talk about lucky.