Page 12 of His Gentle Omega
“She called the police before she even questioned where he got the bruises.” Meg was clearly annoyed. “Before I even gave her a preliminary report of my findings. He could have been in a fight in a bar for all she knew.”
“She’s young and still learning. She jumped the gun and I’ll talk to her. Do you suspect he was in a bar room fight?”
Meg shook her head, “There’s no defensive wounds.”
So more than likely mate abuse. “Can I talk to him? Shay, was that his name?”
Oftentimes, victims would open up to me when they wouldn’t admit abuse to a doctor or caregiver. It was hard enough for an omega to admit what was happening to them to another omega. I doubted it would be any easier for an alpha to admit to being abused. Carrie had been right in calling me in. This was way outside of her experience.
“In your medical opinion, do you feel this is a case of abuse, Meg?” Meg had been running the E.R. for longer than I had been employed with the hospital. She was great at her job, and I trusted her opinion.
Meg sighed, running a hand through her long locks. “I ordered x-rays because I needed pictures of his lungs. He’s sick as a dog, Bennett, borderline pneumonia. But somebody did a number on him. And his x-rays show old breaks and fractures.”
Frowning, I asked, “Pointing to abuse?”
Meg nodded, “I’m afraid so.”
“Has he woken up at all?”
“Just for a minute. Long enough to mutterAlpha Law. I think we are looking at an abuse case, and an alpha who has taken his child from his omega.”
Nodding, I had to agree that’s at least what it looked like on the surface. However, part of my job was not jumping to conclusions.
“And he’s Asher’s brother?”
“Looks that way. Look, the police are on their way to take a report. Carrie did good with that, even if she maybe jumped the gun. We’ve taken pictures of his injuries for documentation. I honestly don’t know how long it’s been since Asher has seen his brother. I can’t imagine he knew about any of this.”
Abuse was often hidden from friends and relatives, I knew that for a fact. “Asher and Gabe are out of town.” I informed her. “They took the twins to visit Gabe’s family. I’ll try to get ahold of them once I speak to Shay. He can’t go to the omega shelter until they return, for obvious reasons. We can’t place an alpha there. Does he need to be admitted?” At least if he was admitted, he’d have a bed for the night.
Meg shook her head. “Not really. He needs rest, antibiotics, and breathing treatments, but it’s not something we would usually admit someone for. He’s got one hell of a case of bronchitis, working his way right up to pneumonia.”
“And his other injuries?”
I was in full blown administrator mode now. My official title was Executive Director of Administrative Services. Asher had once told his mate, Gabe Carmichael, that I did pretty much everything at the hospital. When it came to finding help and services our patients needed, he wasn’t far off the mark. And battered omegas and children were one of my specialties. The fact that the battered person was an alpha didn’t change things, other than complicating finding him a safe place to stay.
“He’s got a badly swollen and blackened eye. A split lip. Badly bruised nose, though not broken. It has been in the past though. Bruised cheekbone. Knot on his head but doesn’t appear to have a concussion. Bruised ribs down one side of his body, but not broken. His lungs are congested, obviously, and he’s running a fairly decent fever. Bennett, he’s got bruises around his throat and neck. Clear fingerprint marks. Someone choked him, and they used a lot of force.”
Swallowing hard against old memories and ghosts from my childhood, I forced myself to push them back where they belonged. “You said he has a child with him?”
“A little boy. Carrie has him in the on-call room. He’s pretty upset. Asking to see his dad, but we couldn’t have him in therewhile we were working on him. We weren’t sure what we were going to find when he passed out.”
“Has she called child protective services?”
Meg shrugged, “You’ll have to ask her. I think she was unsure what to do when I told her he had claimed Alpha Law. It’s such an old law a lot of people don’t know what it entails.”
Raising a brow at her, I said, “And you yelled at her for calling the police? Really Meg?”
She waved a hand in the air, “She jumped the gun, and you know it, Bennett.”
“She followed protocol, and you know it, Dr. Farrell.” I only addressed her by Dr. Farrell when I wanted to remind her not to exert her authority in my department. “Kindly refrain from yelling at my staff.”
“I’ll try, Benny,” Meg conceded, giving me a smile, “for you.”
“Thank you.”
“Because you’re small but also a little terrifying.” She tacked on.
Grinning at her, I nodded, “I am. Remember that. Now, is Shay awake? I’ll see if I can get more information out of him, so I can come up with a game plan for what he and his son need. I’d like to have solid facts on the situation before I contact Asher.”
