Chapter 19 019
Chapter 19
Thalia’s POV
His facial features creased with emotion, and for a moment—just one—I thought that he would finally pick me after so long. But once again, he cemented his decision and began to fiddle with his phone in his pocket.
"Thalia, I always say this to you: you are the Luna of this pack. I expect so much more from you than what you are giving me. Shelly is a vulnerable woman who needs our help because she is our friend. You can try or you want to make me feel bad about that, but I won’t. Not for a single second..."
He swiped his eyes over to my mother, nodded without saying anything, and then just left the waiting room. He left me there with a wave of humiliation crashing against me, threatening to knock me off my feet. I had to just sit for a while with my thoughts instead of exploding.
Mother came over, gently brushing my back, and I had half a mind to explode at her. But right now, I was too emotionally and physically drained to even do that. Instead, I just wrapped my fingers together and hoped that the next time the doctor came out, it would be with good news—really good news—that my boy was going to be all right without any complications.
I spent the night at the hospital, and so did my mother. But she had to leave in the early hours. Before she did, she turned to me and said that my mother-in-law would be coming around soon to keep me company. I was already stressed; dealing with my mother-in-law on top of that was not going to help, but Mother was hearing none of it.
"She has just been stressed recently because of certain pack affairs. But just like when you were little, she loves you a lot. In fact, she keeps asking me why you are pulling away from her recently. This could be an opportunity for you to make up with her and strengthen your relationship to what it used to be. What do you think?"
I knew she wasn’t actually asking for my true opinion; she just wanted to hear me say "yes" to establish the illusion of giving me a choice. Even if I asked my mother-in-law to show up at another time when I was more mentally prepped to take care of her, she would still come storming in anyway, doing what she wanted. So, I just told myself that I would have to grin and bear it.
I thought I could give her the benefit of the doubt. Perhaps she has been stressed lately, even though I didn’t know what that had to do with me or why she would turn it around on me. Still, I tried to be understanding. When I saw her, I went for a hug, and she all but wiggled her way completely out of it, saying something about back pain—even though I knew she was as fit as a fiddle, and she knew I was aware of that, too.
I tried to make small talk with her, an effort that was unnecessary since my mother was no longer there. Every time, she would give me one-word answers that made me question why I opened my mouth in the first place.
The doctor’s next appearance broke some of the ice, but what she had to say was heavy news for my heart. "Luna Thalia, he was recovering more normally yesterday, but now his recovery has slowed down drastically. Not only do we have to implement some severe precautions, but just enough to consider it."
She adjusted her glasses, intentionally missing my eyes. I’m sure that looking at a Luna on the verge of tears must have been hard for anyone. I had to pull myself together. No matter how I felt, I was a symbol for people more than a person. I had to show them that I could be strong, even in circumstances like this.
I straightened out my emotions, maintaining the closest thing to a smile I had. "Thank you so much for your hard work. I know he will recover, so please just keep updating me. Hopefully, you won’t have to use those severe precautions."
There was a way to make all of Liam’s pain go away; it was those "severe precautions" the doctor had spoken so cautiously about. However, if I chose that option, it would take more than just his pain away.
Behind me, listening and not commenting all this time, was my mother-in-law. The second the doctor left, she hooked her arms together and said without thinking, "I told you that the boy is fragile. How do you expect him to be our future ruler when he falls apart like a tissue in water over what even Omegas don't struggle with?"
My jaw began to ache, struck by the task of keeping my teeth from grinding against each other. I calmed myself just enough so that I wouldn’t do something that both of us would regret.
"Is that all you have to say about your grandson, who is handling a pain that would have completely incapacitated some kids twice his age?" I asked her straight up.
She twitched her lip from side to side. "Well, I’ll accept that he got it pretty young, but with his Alpha blood..."
"That’s enough." This was where I cut her off before she could say something that would be my final straw. She was already pulling them out, one after the other. Eventually, she was going to get to one that I wouldn’t simply bend over and accept.
She was murmuring something behind me when my phone beeped, alerting me to a text message that read: I have the results, and I can see you from here. Come see them.