Chapter 181

The adoption event was a huge success, and by the end of the evening, nearly every animal had been adopted. Only one single dog remained—an elderly pitbull, who looked sad and slumped in the corner. Cecilia paid him some company while the others cleaned up—loading away empty kennels and cages and breaking down the tent as the sun began to set on the horizon. Cecilia ached for the dog. He looked so sad and lonely, his eyes saggy, his fur patchy and gray.

“Oh, that’s Steve,” said the coordinator. “He’s been with us for a few years now.”

“Really?” Cecilia asked, frowning. “He’s so sweet, though.”

“Well, unfortunately, most people just don’t want an elderly dog.”

Cecilia pet him, watching his wrinkles move under her fingers. “I’d take you home with me if I could,” she muttered.

Ryan came to sit beside her, and the dog lifted his head to give him a sniff. Ryan reached out with a gentle hand to pet him under the jaw. “Asher hates dogs. It wouldn’t go over well.”

There was a somber moment between them as they both realized Asher might not be coming home, anyway. Asher…the dog, the Omega family from earlier—it all made Cecilia want to burst into tears. “Poor guy,” she muttered.

“Asher or the dog?” said Ryan.

“Both of them.”

“I’ll make some calls,” Ryan said, heaving himself to his feet. Cecilia blinked up at him as he offered her a hand, pulling her up from the ground.

“Some calls for what?”

“My brother owns a farm out in the country side. Plenty of room for an old dog to run.”

“You have a brother?” Cecilia asked as they walked back to the table to gather their things.

“Family and I don’t really get along,” Ryan muttered.

Cecilia looked back at the old, sad dog and asked, “Think he’ll take him?”

“He owes me a favor,” Ryan said.

Cecilia smiled and stood on her toes to a press a kiss to his cheek. Sometimes she forgot just how lucky she was. It took Ryan or the others doing something like this to remind her. “Let’s go home,” she said.

When they arrived back at the mansion, her mother was in the kitchen, cooking up a chicken pot pie. Having her around eased the tension left behind by Asher’s absence, and Cecilia loved coming home to the smell of her food cooking in the kitchen. She welcomed them both in, dragging their coats off and hanging them on the rack. “Good, you’re here. Sit down, sit down. It’s time to eat.”

“Actually, I have some work—” Ryan began, but her mother ushered him to the table.

“You work after dinner. Sit down, sit down.”

Reluctantly, he took a seat and it wasn’t long before Grayson and Sebastian joined them at the table.

Cecilia could tell that her mother was loving the prospect of having a family again—of taking care of them like they were her own sons. As far as she was concerned, they were.

Cecilia couldn’t help but note something different about Grayson’s appearance. It took her a moment to figure it out—then she realized. “Did you get a haircut?”

Grayson was poking around in his pot pie. He looked up and laughed a little, reaching up to touch his head. “Maria did it.”

“Mom,” Cecilia groaned. “You know they’re grown men, right? They don’t need to be babied.”

“Speak for yourself,” said Sebastian, edging his chair a little closer to her mother. “Maria, would you make your sweet fry bread for dessert?”

“Of course, honey,” her mother replied, reaching over and dabbing his face with a napkin.

Cecilia watched in shock as the men she’d been living with for over a year became children before her very eyes. “An news on red?” asked Maria.

A painful kind of silence took over dinner at mention of Asher. No one had to say a word. Maria nodded somberly and said, “Would anyone like to go visit him tomorrow?”

“I will,” Cecilia offered. It had been too long since she had the courage to see him. A week, he’d been in a coma. A week since they knew if he was going to live or die, and since then, Cecilia had only been to visit three-or-so times.

It wasn’t that she didn’t want to see him. It was simply that seeing him like that—in a strange, vegetative state…it was hard. She wanted him to wake up, to yell at her for being an idiot, or to blame her for everything to begin with. She’d be happy with any of that—as long as he woke.

The next day, she and her mother loaded into a car and journeyed to the hospital. It wasn’t Cecilia’s most favorite place on earth. Working there had been hard enough, and she hated seeing the faces of the same doctors who used to treat her so badly as she mopped the floors and wiped the windows. But it was the closest hospital to town, so this was where Asher stayed. There wasn’t much to say to his sleeping body that Cecilia hadn’t already said. But for some reason, as hard as it was to visit him, every time she did, Cecilia didn’t want to leave.

They journeyed up the elevator and to the same room where they’d visited him last time. But as they opened the door, Cecilia found the bed empty. Her heart thundered in her chest and she turned to her mother, a cold, clammy feeling rushing her face. “What’s going on? Where is he?” She was beginning to panic. Why would his room be empty? Why wouldn’t he be here? He was in a coma, he was just here a few days ago!

“Calm down, honey,” her mother said. She stepped out into the hall and snatched the attention of a passing doctor. “Excuse me, was this patient moved?”

The doctor looked her over, registering the situation. “No,” he said. “He wasn’t moved.”

Cecilia felt her heart drop into her stomach. He wasn’t dead—he couldn’t be. If he’d passed, they would’ve called. They would’ve—

“He checked out this morning.”

What?

“What on earth are you talking about?” Maria demanded. “The man was in a coma!”

“He woke up yesterday,” the doctor explained.

Cecilia felt like collapsing onto the floor. She squatted to the ground to gather herself, hands trembling as they raked through her hair. First he was dead, now alive and awake?

Maria was furious. “Why didn’t we receive a call? My daughter was his emergency contact, you were supposed to call us!”

Cecilia hadn’t even known she was Asher’s emergency contact until then, but she didn’t care. So many emotions were flooding through her mind. Asher was alive. He was awake. He was okay. But where was he?

“He asked us not to contact anyone,” said the doctor. “Unfortunately, that’s up to the patient’s discretion.”

“So you just let him go?” Maria balked.

“He recovered surprisingly well. His brain function seemed fine, he was walking around—we can’t keep him here for no reason, especially if he wants to leave. Unfortunately, there’s nothing I can do for you.”

“Did he at least say where he was going?” her mother asked.

The doctor shook his head. “I couldn’t tell you. I’m sorry, but I have patients to tend to.”

He turned from them and walked on, and Cecilia stood, trembling from her head to her toe. Asher was okay. He was alive. That news in itself was so much, she couldn’t hold it all in her heart. But to top it off, he had disappeared? How? Why?

Who wakes up from a coma and just…leaves?

They hurried back out to the car and Cecilia dialed his number again and again, but each time, the call went directly to voice mail. His phone was off. Probably dead, if he even had it on him. She couldn’t understand—why had he left? Where had he gone to? When Asher wouldn’t pick up, Cecilia dialed Ryan. She explained the situation to him while they made the journey back to the mansion.

“We’ll go looking for him,” Ryan said. “You and your mom come home—stay here in case he comes back.”

Cecilia agreed, and by the time they’d arrived back at the mansion, Ryan and the others were gone. They’d taken two cars, which meant they were splitting up to go look for him. Cecilia should’ve been relieved that he was okay, but she found herself more worried than anything. And as Bella came to brush up against her legs as she entered the mansion, Cecilia picked her up into her arms and cradled her close.

“Where could he be?” she asked her. “He would never leave you like this if it wasn’t something important.”

The tiny cat looked up at her with large eyes and mewled.

Cecilia couldn’t stand the helpless feeling aching through her. She turned to her mother and asked, “What do we do?”

Maria frowned.

“We wait.”