Chapter 11
Elias ran into the emergency room feeling like he made it at the last second.
“Alpha?” one of the nurses asked as she approached him. “What’s going on?”
Elias could barely breathe, not to mention talk, but he managed to say the words he needed to bring across, “She’s hurt, I need her to get priority treatment.”
His lungs burned as he gulped for air, but that wasn’t what bothered him. It was his fear for Fay’s life that was gnawing at his soul. As he looked down at the beautiful girl in his arms his anxiety intensified.
“Get the best doctors on the case,” he added.
The nurse nodded as she motioned to a hospital bed that was standing next to the wall. Elias knew that his orders would be followed to a tee since he was the Alpha, but he was still reluctant to leave Fay in the hands of others. She was his responsibility, his charge, yet he had failed her.
He could’ve stepped in right at the beginning of the match, but he let her end up in this position. But Elias let his pride stand in the way and he could lose her because of it.
With a heavy sigh, he put her down on the bed so he could look over her wounds. He tentatively reached out to touch the gash on her shoulder, but someone grabbed onto his shoulder, pulling him back.
“Dr. Debrowsky?” Elias asked with a sigh of relief as he saw the head doctor. “Please… Do whatever it takes to help her.”
“It’s okay, Elias. We’ll take good care of her,” Dr. Debrowsky said with a reassuring smile. “Take a seat while we do the preliminary tests and get her patched up.”
Before Elias could protest, the doctor and nurses pushed the bed into an empty room, shutting the door behind them. He nervously ran his fingers through his hair as he sank down against the wall opposite the room she was in.
Elias didn’t understand any of this. He didn’t know why she would get into that fight, or why she had silver in her blood. But the one thing he did understand was that things had gone too far.
“Hey, how is she?” Tybalt asked, drawing Elias from his thoughts.
He looked up to see his best friend rushing down the hall. Tybalt’s face seemed to mirror the worry on Elias‘ own. It was the first time in his entire existence that Elias didn’t know what to say.
He just felt so helpless. He didn’t even think about helping his mate when she needed him most. And he took on the full blame for what had happened.
Even though no one else was pointing fingers, he was, and that finger was pointed at himself.
“Did you find her parents?” Elias asked as he pushed to his feet.
“Yeah, they’re on their way,” Tybalt said as he followed Elias‘ gaze. “Is she in there?”
Elias nodded solemnly. He hated that he was forced to stand aside and wait. He wanted to be in there, to follow the doctor’s every movement, to see if she would pull through.
But instead, he was forced to stand outside and let his vicious thoughts get the best of him. To wait for God knows how long until he got any answers or until he got to see her. Elias wanted nothing more than to see her.
At that moment, all he wanted was to sit next to her while holding her hand. To promise her that everything would be okay. He just wanted to be there for her in a time of need, but everyone was stopping him from doing so.
“Perhaps I should ask how you’re holding up.” Tybalt said as he looked down at Elias‘ balled fists.
“I feel like I’m losing it, man.” Elias said, pacing along the hallway. “If I don’t get to see her anytime soon, I might-”
He stopped himself short the moment he saw Melanie and Finch entering the hall. No one but his Beta needed to hear what he had to say, especially not her parents.
“What happened to Fay?” Melanie asked as the couple rushed up to them. “How did she end up here?”
Before Elias could respond, the door to Fay’s room opened and the medical staff stepped out. The doctor approached them, but the look in his eyes had Elias extremely worried.
He’d known the head doctor for many years, but the last time he saw that look was the night the doctor informed him that his parents didn’t survive their injuries.
“It took a lot of effort, but we managed to stabilize her,” the doctor said as he let out a sigh. “We’re still facing some problems, though. There’s a large amount of silver in her blood so she won’t be able to recover as fast as we might have hoped.”
“What does that mean?” Elias snapped, unable to comprehend what he was being told.
“It means that her wounds will take weeks, if not months, to close up, and until that happens, she’s in danger.” Dr. Debrowsky pulled Elias aside. “Her wounds could become septic, especially if they tear, so I would keep a watchful eye on her if I were you.”
“Do you know how this could’ve happened?” Elias inquired.
The doctor shook his head as he threw a glance at Fay’s parents.
“We can’t tell, but I don’t think it was ingested voluntarily,” Dr. Debrowsky whispered.
He patted Elias on the back before disappearing down the hallway. The confirmation of his suspicions shocked Elias to his core. The incident was just so… convenient that he was forced to believe that someone had done it on purpose.
And as he did previously, he would’ve immediately pointed a finger at Cassidy. But when he had her pinned to that wall, he could see she was being honest. So who did it? How did such a large amount of toxin get into Fay’s bloodstream?
Elias turned to her parents, realizing that their reactions were a cause for concern. Melanie was pale as a sheet and he could see the speed at which her heart was racing in the pulse point on her neck. And Finch’s jaw was practically scraping the ground.
Elias and Tybalt shared a look, but their attention was quickly drawn back to the couple when Finch whispered something inaudible to his wife.
“I told you something like this would happen!” Melanie screeched as she pinned Finch to the wall. “When will you start taking my words seriously? When it’s too late?”
“I didn’t mean for any of this to happen,” Finch said, raising his hands in submission. “I just wanted to help.”
“That’s what you always say! Everything you’ve ever done is to help her, but having her in hospital with life–threatening injuries isn’t helping anyone, Finch!” Melanie tightened her grip on her husband. “She couldn’t even defend herself. Do you understand how bad that is for someone like her?”
“She’s my daughter!” Finch growled. “Of course I’m just trying to help her! But I never thought anything like this could happen!”
Elias was completely taken aback. All he could do was stand there, watching them with a hand over his slackened jaw. He had absolutely no idea what to make of the situation and he could tell that Tybalt was feeling the same way.
They’ve never seen the couple acting like that in all the time they’ve known them. From the outside it seemed like the Walker family didn’t have any problems. But for Melanie to react so strongly, something had to be up.
A wife wouldn’t just strangle her husband for no reason. Yet, none of that mattered because it was their words that confirmed to Elias that something was very wrong here.
With great effort, Elias and Tybalt managed to pull the couple apart. They positioned themselves between Melanie and Finch so they could both take a moment to cool off, to think about what they were doing.
“I’d like to remind you that your daughter is in hospital. That she almost died while I tried to get her here.” Elias looked both of them in the eyes before continuing. “So I’d suggest you stop fighting, because I’d rather be checking on her than keeping you two apart.”
He released his grip on Finch and walked into Fay’s bedroom. Elias was furious, not only with what happened to Fay, but also because of the argument her parents were having. He was beginning to suspect that they had something to do with the silver in her system which didn’t sit well with him.
But he knew that everyone, including him, needed to calm down before he could question them.
Elias‘ thoughts evaporated the second he laid eyes on Fay. She looked so much better than she did when he had brought her in. If he didn’t know any better, he’d say that she was just sleeping peacefully.
The sight of her had his heart skipping a beat, it caused him to nearly fall over his own feet as he stumbled to her bed.
A loud gasp forced him out of his trance. That reminded him that he wasn’t the only one who was there because of her. He turned around to see her parents standing in the doorway. Melanie had her hand over her mouth, and Finch was holding her against him.
“Would you mind telling me just how the fuck we ended up here?” Elias asked as his fury returned with full force. “Why does your daughter have large amounts of silver in her blood?”
“Tell him the truth, Finch,” Melanie demanded. “Our daughter is alive because of him. I think he deserves to know what happened.”
“Fine,” Finch mumbled as he took a step forward. “I gave Fay a silver pill… Insisted that she take it… It was meant to protect her, not harm her.”
“Why?” Elias grated.
He was on the edge of losing his sanity. Unable to understand why a father would do such a thing to his own daughter, knowing how dangerous silver was to their kind. Knowing that it could’ve had severe consequences, as it did.
Finch let out a deep breath and sagged his shoulders. “Like I said, to protect her.”
Those words were the last straw for Elias. His vision turned red as his wolf took over and he lunged at the older male in front of him. Elias grabbed Finch by his collar and punched him in the face.
The force of the hit sent Finch flying through the air. He crashed into the wall behind them, sending pieces of plaster tumbling to the ground.
