Page 10 of His Gentle Omega
Coughing so hard I gagged, I prayed I wasn’t going to puke up the tea I had drank earlier.
“Daddy!”
Lucas’s cry seemed to come from inside a wind tunnel, and I finally lost the fight I had been waging with my body. The grayness around my vision turned to dancing spots, then complete darkness.
Chapter Five
Bennett
The night sky was lit up by the theater marquee sign, as my best friend, Seth, and I pushed our way outside of the movie theater.
“I can’t believe the omega picked that alpha,” Seth lamented, annoyance lacing his tone. “The other alpha was way sweeter. And hotter.”
Laughing at him, I shoved his shoulder lightly as we made our way to where we had both parked. “Yeah, but they were fated mates. You can’t fight fate. They were destined to be together.”
I was aware my voice held a dreamy quality to it, but I couldn’t help it. The whole idea of fated mates had always fascinated me. What was more romantic than meeting the one alpha that the Goddess had literally picked for you? Knowing nothing could stop your love and that you were destined to be together. It was so romantic, and I had alwaysbeen a believer.
Seth’s black eyeliner rimmed eyes gave me one of hislooks. The look that said I have no clue why we are best friends, but I love you anyway. “Thanks, but that’s a hard pass for me on the whole fated mates thing. That just sounds like a big cock block for all the alpha dick I have yet to sample. It’s a no for me. Besides, every single person I know who has met their fated mate has literally gotten knocked up the first time they do the nasty. Look at Asher and Gabe. They were expecting twins before they even knew if they liked each other. Babies and one alpha for the rest of my life? Thank you, but no.”
Leaning against my car door, I reminded him, “You are a pediatric nurse.”
He shrugged, scrunching his nose at me. “Because I don’t have to take any of those kids home with me. I love kids. Just from a distance. The kind of distance that does not invade my space twenty-four seven, and whose diapers I don’t have to change on the regular.”
“You are ridiculous.” Pulling out my cell phone, I slid the lock screen open.
“I know I am. It’s part of my charm.” Seth agreed with me, his blue eyes flashing with mischief.
At the groan I uttered looking at my phone, he demanded, “What’s wrong?”
Sighing loudly, I told him, “I have like twenty missed calls and frantic texts from Carrie.”
“Fucking hell, Bennett, you are on vacation.”
Quickly trying to make sense of all my assistant’s messages, each one growing more frantic and frankly disjointed, I sighed. “A vacation I’m being forced to take and technically, it starts tomorrow.”
Seth placed his hands on his hips, scowling at me. “A vacation your boss wouldn’t have forced you to take if you had actually taken time off in the last five years. The entire time you have worked at the hospital, need I remind you? I told you that you should have gotten on a plane. You could be in someplace like Italy right now, drinking wine, and taking some hot Italian alpha’s knot.”
Rolling my eyes, I reminded him, “Flying freaks me out. And I’m not spending a fortune on a vacation.”
It didn’t matter that I had a very nice nest egg and rainy day fund. Those were for emergencies and not frivolous vacations across the ocean. Being raised by a single omega parent who was always trying to make ends meet, made me extra cautious with my money. Putting the phone to my ear, I listened to it ring. “I’ve taken time off. Hey Carrie, what’s going on?”
“A Friday every six months so we can have a play date does not a vacation make, Bennett.” Seth huffed, but I ignored him. Seth had a penchant for theatrics, which normally I enjoyed and found amusing. But right now, I was in work mode.
And Seth was right, my boss had strongly suggested I take a month off of my accrued PTO. His “strongly suggested” had turned into me being given no choice in the matter at all. My shift at the hospital had ended at five earlier tonight, and I was officially on vacation. Well, staycation, because I had no plans other than hanging around my rental house, doing yard work, and catching up on all the shows and books I normally had no time to enjoy.
However, seeing that Carrie was having some kind of crisis, I couldn’t just not call her back, regardless of the fact that I was supposed to be on vacation.
“Bennett, thank the Goddess!” Carrie’s voice sounded about an octave higher than normal, laced with stress. She was fresh out of college, and this was her first “real” job. She had potential, she just needed to gain confidence, but she would get there. I wasn’t about to tell her I had been a bit worried about leaving her in charge, but I did think she could handle whatever came up. Maybe not as well or as effortlessly as I could, but she’d do fine. And I had told her I was only a phone call or text away if she needed anything.
“What’s going on?” I repeated my earlier question, making sure to keep my voice steady and calm.
“There’s a situation,” she breathed into the phone, “and I’m not sure how to handle it.”
“Are you following procedure?”
“Yes, but that’s just it. When I told Dr. Farrell what I had done, she started yelling at me. Then she said I’d better call you. That you would know how to handle this. And I am a bit out of my depth, Bennett, to be honest. I don’t know what to really do. Nothing in school coveredthissituation.”
“Is that Bennett?” I heard Meg Farrell ask sharply, and I would bet money if I used my wolf shifter hearing, I would hear the head of the Emergency Department snapping her fingers. “Give me the phone.”
