Marked by the Alpha

Chapter 26

One police officer grabbed the yellow infamous tape that read “caution” and wrapped it around the spot where I could still clearly see Weston’s blood. I quickly averted my eyes elsewhere. Two other police officers were questioning Annie and Henry. One of the paramedics looked at me from the back of the ambulance and asked, “Would you like to come with us?”

I quickly nodded, jumping into the ambulance and trying to hold it all together as Weston lied there in pain. I felt helpless and broken. Clutching Weston’s hand, I waited for our arrival at the hospital.

***

I was pacing around the waiting room, itching to run into the surgical room. However, when I tried to follow Weston after they rushed him out of the ambulance and into the hospital, a couple of hospital guards stopped me and tried to calm me down. So, that’s how I ended up here.

I finally stopped crying, my eyes puffy and red. My hair was a complete mess from the strong wind at the beach. My clothes were still damp and sand was on every inch of my body. However, I didn’t care. All I cared about was Weston’s safe being.

An attendant had offered me coffee as I sat down on the leather clad chairs. I denied her offer kindly. Sure, the employees here were nice, but I still wasn’t feeling okay. The antiseptic smell and the white walls and white tiles were actually driving me crazy.

“Where is he?” I heard Jade scream from the front desk. I could tell she was sobbing hard and wasn’t taking it well. “Where the hell is my brother? I want to see him now!”

“Look, ma’am,” the secretary began to say calmly. “I’m sorry. But please, just take a seat and sit tight. It’ll take a couple more hours.”

“I don’t have any more time to wait,” Jade cried. I flinched as I heard something fall to the ground.

“Jade,” Jet and Eli had said calmly. Soon, the doors were open with Eli and Jet holding a struggling Jade in their arms. Warren quickly followed, his hair messy and his eyes filled with worry.

Jet and Eli had sat down and tried to calm down Jade who was torn. Warren sat next to me and grabbed my hand. “Can you tell me what happened?” Warren whispered and ran a shaky hand through his hair. “At least tell me something. He’s my best friend, Danny. I can’t bear to not know anything.”

I told him the whole story and in between all that, Jade managed to calm down and listen. So did the two other boys. Warren broke down and cried after my story was told and Jade got angry again, kicking the stand of magazines down.

The doors of the waiting room banged open again and Jarred walked in with Abigail, their eyes falling on us. I began to break down again just seeing Jarred. He was my best friend and I wanted nothing to do but talk to him about all my problems.

However, I knew that Jade needed to calm down. The only remedy for that was Jarred. He shot me a look of apology for wrapping Jade in his arms. At first, she started hitting him, but he never let her go. She eventually gave up and slumped into him, crying into his shirt.

Abigail had cuddled with Eli the whole time probably sensing that he was hurt and broken. When Jet had told Jarred and Abigail the story, they went into shock. Abigail stayed with me for an hour. She became my crying shoulder. And eventually moved onto a fidgeting and freaking out Eli. She cried with Eli, feeling his pain.

“I feel so helpless, Abs,” Eli cried and a single tear fell down his cheek. “What do you do when the person who stood up for you all those times you’ve been picked on in junior high is in pain and you can’t help?”

“Shh, Eli,” Abigail said, rubbing his back in comfort. “Everything will be alright.”

After that, everyone went into complete silence. Obviously, we were all caught up in our thoughts. We were too nervous and anxious that nothing left our mouths anymore. The clock read that it was three in the morning and every second it ticked seemed like an hour. That didn’t help with my worry at all.

Jade sensed my worry and sat next to me, clutching to my hand in silence. I felt thankful for her comfort. She didn’t need to say anything but just show me that she’d be there for me. Squeezing her hand, I let her know I’d return the favor. The door opened again.

The doctor walked in, rummaging through some papers on his clipboard. I stood up; my heart racing faster as Jade squeezed my hand harder and stood up along with me. Everyone stood up as well. The doctor then said with a serious face, “I would like to call on the guests for Weston Marshall’s attention.”  

The whole waiting room seemed to fill with silence as all of us paid close attention to the doctor. The tension in the room rose and I could feel the nervousness of everyone. Then, what the doctor had said next made us fall to the ground with tears.

He looked at all of us straight in the eyes. He then smiled and said, “Congratulations. Weston is fine and has made it through the surgery. You guys can see him in twenty minutes since he’s awake.”

We all erupted into cheers, crying with joy. Weston was okay. I felt a huge weight being lifted off of my shoulders. I turned to Jade and engulfed her in a big bear hug. She sniffled and laughed. Giving everyone a bear hug, Eli said, “If anyone tells him I was crying over him, I will make sure you regret it!”

We all laughed at him. Jarred came to my side and gave me a hug. “Congrats, Danny! Now, remember, he just got out of surgery. Don’t torture him with intercour – “

“Jarred, shut up.”

***

I felt queasy as Jarred and Jade walked out of Weston’s room and it was my turn. I didn’t know how I was going to encounter him. I didn’t know how he was going to react when he first sees me. Especially after what happened in the beach when I confessed to him. I immediately flushed at the memory.

Taking a deep breath, I turned the knob and walked in. The first thing I saw was Weston on his bed, the sheets pulled up to his chest. A couple of wires were attached to him here and there. And then my heart skipped a beat as his blue eyes met mine.

He smiled softly, patting the bed next to him. I sat down slowly, trying not to hurt him. I didn’t know what to say, so I just grabbed his hand in mine and started crying.

“Babe, please calm down,” Weston said softly. “I hate seeing you cry.”

“I’m sorry,” I laughed. “You just really scared the living crap out of me.”

“Come here,” He called. I looked at him with reluctance and motioned downed to the side he was shot. “Don’t worry.” He positioned himself so he was sitting and grunted a little and finally, opened his arms. Slowly, I crawled into him letting his smell comfort my nerves and his heat radiate onto me. I took a huge intake of his smell into my nose and hugged him back.

“You really scared me,” I muttered and closed my eyes. “Don’t ever do that again.”

Weston kissed my forehead. “I’m so sorry I scared. I’m so sorry for everything. But don’t you worry. Wolves have the ability to take this better than a regular man and I’ll heal in about a week.”

A thought popped into my head and I looked at him curiously and shock was evident in my eyes. “Weren’t they wondering why you were healing faster than usual or why you’re not in deep sleep, but actually wide awake?”

“No, the doctors here are aware of werewolves. We live in a werewolf infested town,” He chuckled.

“Danny, about what you said at the beach,” Weston said. I tensed in his arms and he stroked my hair comfortingly.

“Look, I’m sorry – “ I began to say.

“I love you too!” Weston blurted, shutting his mouth after that.

I pulled away from him and stared at his eyes, looking for any indication of lying. Instead, all I found was complete honesty and … love. I blinked once, too stunned to say anything. “What?” was all that came out of my mouth.

“I –“ Weston said, looking at the space in the middle of my eyes. “Man, I have a hard time with these things,” He said, getting mad at himself. I tried to stifle in my laughter. “I – I – I lo – I lobe you.”

I couldn’t help but crack up and laugh so hard that I began snorting. Weston looked at me seriously and blushed from embarrassment. I pecked his lips and said, “Don’t worry, I lobe you too.”