69, Waiting

Colin’s POV

Colin watched Adina work. Her eyes were closed, and she had her hands on Sean’s body. There was a steady trickling of silver coming out of is wound and into the basin.

Clara came walking into the room with Jason. Jason went pale when he saw Sean. Clara swallowed hard but continued to walk up to the gurney. Before Colin knew it, he had emitted a low growl as a warning. His wolf was just under the surface and saw both his mates being vulnerable and he reacted out of instinct.

“Sorry,” he said to Clara. She had frozen in the spot as he growled, and Jason had moved between his friend and his mate.

 “Go ahead, just go slow and don’t do any sudden movements,” Colin tried to smile at them.

They had decided that Clara should stay in the shelter during the attack in case something went wrong, and Doc had been injured during the attack. Clara hadn’t been happy about it, but it was the prudent thing to do as they now had two doctors in the pack.

She now carefully looked over Sean’s injuries and seemed fascinated by Adina’s healing. Then she noticed the tube attached to Adina and checked the bag attached to it. She slowly walked up to Colin.

“Do you know what the IV is?” she asked him. Colin nodded.

“And you know it won’t give her everything she needs?” she then asked. Colin grunted.

“She can’t eat while she is healing?” Clara asked. Colin was losing his patience with the questions. But he took a deep breath.

“No, we give her water if it takes a long time,” he said.

“Could we give her other things to drink?” she asked.

“As long as it fits through a straw, it should work,” Colin shrugged.

“What if we make a nutritional shake, like a smoothie?” Clara asked.

Colin looked at her. That was brilliant. Why hadn’t they thought about that?

“That would be amazing. I’m linking Joonas. He will bring some equipment and ingredients from the coffee shop. Work together with him. Thank you, Clara,” Colin said.

Clara nodded and walked away. Jason looked at her longingly as she left, but then he turned toward Colin.

“How are things out there? Do you need me?” Colin asked. He hated the thought of leaving. But he was still the alpha of the pack.

“It’s a bit chaotic, but Mateo and I have got it. Doc is working on the other wounded. Clara can help him once she and Joonas work out the recipe for the miracle concoction,” Jason said.

“Okay,” Colin nodded.

“Sean’s brother is outside. He wants to know how his brother is. What should I tell him?” Jason asked.

Colin looked at Sean. He was pale from blood loss and the sleep Adina had put him in made him look almost dead. The gaping wound on his side looked gruesome. What was the right word for that?

“I will speak to him,” Colin said.

“You don’t have to. If you want to stay here,” Jason told him.

“No, it’s Sean’s brother. I will talk to him,” Colin sighed. He bent down and placed a kiss on Adina’s head.

“I’ll be right back, baby. I need to talk to Liam. Don’t do anything stupid when I’m gone,” he whispered to her.

“Could you stay here while I go talk to alpha Liam?” Colin asked Jason.

“Sure, I’ll look after them,” his friend said, and placed a hand on Colin’s shoulder.

“I’m really sorry, I know this must kill you,” Jason then said. Collin nodded and walked out of the room.

Colin walked over to the waiting area, and he had no issue locating Sean’s brother. Alpha Liam shared a lot of the traits that Sean had, and he was the only other alpha in the room. Someone had handed him a pair of shorts.

“Alpha Liam?” Colin said. The other alpha turned towards Colin and Colin understood what Adina had said that she felt he was Sean’s younger brother.

“Alpha Colin?” Liam asked.

“Yes, I’m sorry I haven’t introduced myself sooner,” Colin said, extending his hand.

“No need, we showed up quite unexpected thanks to your mate,” Liam told him with a faint smile.

“Thank you for that,” Colin said as they let go of the handshake.

“It was high time my pack stood behind Sean. Talking about Sean, how is he?” Liam asked, looking behind Colin.

“I won’t lie. It’s bad. He was hit in the chest with an exploding silver device,” Colin said.

“I know, I saw it. I just couldn’t do anything. Is Adina…?” the alpha asked.

“She is trying to heal him,” Colin nodded.

“It isn’t working?” Liam asked.

“It is. But the injuries are extensive, and he has a lot of silver in his body. And Adina doesn’t have all her energy after bringing everyone here. She is doing what she can. She loves your brother deeply, we both do. I will do my best to make sure she, your brother and the pup are safe,” Colin told him.

“The pup? Is Adina…?” Liam asked.

Oh, great, Colin thought. He was just telling everyone, even though they had said they would wait. His head just wasn’t in the right place.

“Yes, she is pregnant,” Colin confirmed.

“Do I need to call my mother and prepare her?” Liam asked.

“I think that would be wise,” Colin said. “I’m sorry, but I need to get back to my mates. My wolf is riding me hard,” he then admitted.

“Of course, go. Thank you, alpha Colin,” Liam nodded.

“I’ll keep you posted, and it’s just Colin,” he said and gave the other alpha a nod before going back to Sean and Adina.

He was halfway to the room when Joonas called him. Colin stopped and waited for the gentle giant to catch up to him.

“Here, this is for the luna. Clara told me what to put in it. Then I added about a pint of lemon ice cream. I know she really likes that,” Joonas said, holding out a takeaway cup with what looked like a milkshake. It had a thick straw in it.

“Thank you, Joonas. I’ll make sure she drinks it,” Colin nodded as he took it.

“I’ll bring her another one in half an hour,” Joonas said. It was obvious Clara had instructed him to.

Colin nodded again and walked into the room. Nothing seemed to have changed since he had left. Jason stood by the side and kept an eye on things.

“I’ll be going. Just let me or Mateo know if you need anything,” Jason said and left.

Colin walked up to Adina and kissed her temple.

“I have something for you to drink, little dove. Joonas made it for you,” he told Adina and held up the straw to her mouth. She drank big gulps and smiled.

“Thank you, that was nice,” she said.

Colin remained silent as Adina worked. At one point, he got a wet cloth and dabbed her face. Joonas delivered her one of his shakes every half hour, as promised.

Clara and Doc would stop by in between seeing other patients. They would exchange the IV bag if it was needed.

Despite the IV bag and the shakes, Adina was looking worse and worse. Colin was worried she was pushing herself too hard. He wasn’t just worried about the pup. Now he was worried that Adina wouldn’t make it. What if he lost both Adina and Sean? He wouldn’t survive that.

Sean was getting a little better. The silver had all been extracted and Adina was now helping his body to heal the wound.

Four hours after stepping into the hospital, Adina took a deep breath and Colin could see the light emitting from her hands vanishing. Sean was healed, but there was a scar that ran along his side.

Colin took Adina’s hands in his and kissed her palms.

“How are you feeling?” he asked.

“Tired,” she said with a small smile.

“Julia will be here any moment with something to eat, then you can sleep as much as you want,” Colin told her. He stepped up to her and pulled her into his arms.

Adina let out a little sigh and leaned against him.

“Thank you for taking care of me,” she said.

“Always, Adina, I love you,” he smiled.

“I love you too,” she told him.

“Will he be okay?” Colin asked.

“Yes, I will remove the sleeping magic, and then he can wake up when he is ready. I think it will take a while. His body has been through a lot,” she said.

The relief running through Colin’s body was strong. He had been preparing for bad news and hearing good news had him on the brink of tears. He hugged Adina closer, and she buried herself in his chest.

“Do you want to go to our room to sleep? We can ask Julia to go with you,” he asked.

“If you think I’m leaving his side before I talk to him, you are wrong,” she said.

“Okay,” Colin nodded.

He would have preferred her to sleep in their bed. But she looked so tired that he didn’t have the heart to argue with her.

There was a knock on the door, and Julia stepped inside with a tray of food. She placed it down on the bedside table and smiled at them.

“Can you stay with Adina for a moment? I just need to find Sean’s brother and give him an update,” Colin asked Julia.

“Sure, he’s in the waiting area,” she smiled.

“Will you be okay?” Colin asked Adina.

“I’ll be fine, go,” she nodded. He kissed her and went to find Liam.

Liam was almost in the exact spot where Colin had left him. He looked up as Colin came walking.

“He will be okay. Adina managed to heal him,” Colin told Liam.

“Thank you, and Adina?” Liam asked.

“She is tired, but it looks like she will be fine as well. I would invite you in to see your brother. But he will be asleep for a while and Adina refuses to leave his side, and she is also exhausted. To be honest, my wolf is even having a hard time letting my pack members be around them at the moment,” Colin told him.

“I get it, especially after what happened when they visited us. No hard feelings. I just needed to hear that he will be okay,” Liam smiled.

“Why don’t you get some rest? I will send someone when Sean can have visitors. I don’t know when Adina will be able to send you back, or if we need to look into other solutions,” Colin said.

“I think I will do that. Your pack has been more than friendly to my warriors and me. They have all already gotten beds, and I have been fed and people have been asking me if I need anything,” Liam told Colin.

“I’m happy to hear that. The pack loves Sean, as his brother you will get the best treatment,” Colin smiled.

The two alphas said goodbye and Colin returned to Sean’s room. As Adina had finished her food, she got some washcloths and started to gently wash away the dirt and blood from Sean’s body.

“I would normally use magic, but today I have to settle for the usual way,” she smiled at Colin.

“Sit down in the chair and let me do that, baby,” Colin said, and took the washcloth from her.

“Are you sure?” she asked.

“Just rest,” he insisted as he started cleaning Sean.