Page 19 of His Gentle Omega
Blinking hard, I tore my eyes away from his fingers to stare into his eyes. I could stare into the endless blue depths all day. Blue eyes had always been my kryptonite. “What? No,” I shook my head, trying to rid it of the fog that being this close to him caused. “I work in administration. I help patients with any services they might need, coordinate transport, and out-patient facilities that might be needed upon release. Things like that. I do a bit of everything.” After a few seconds, I quietly added, “I work a lot with…abuse cases.”
Tread lightly, Bennett. You know the drill.This is…a different situation.
Shay’s eyes flickered before his blue orbs burned into me. There were so many emotions flooding them, and my soul ached for what I saw there.
Pain. Pride. Denial.Fear. Self-loathing.
It wasn’t anything I hadn’t seen from hundreds of cases just like his. It wasn’t anything I hadn’t seen reflected many times from my own omega dad’s eyes. But seeing Shay with that look in his eyes hit me differently. None of what I was feeling made any sense–I didn’t even know the man–but everything inside me wanted to gather him in my arms and absorb all his pain into my body. Anything to make that look in his eyes disappear.
Shay swallowed, and I watched the play of muscles in his throat. Saw the wince he tried to hide that the movement caused. My eyes latched onto the dark bruises around his throat, and my chest physically hurt seeing those marks on him. Blinking rapidly, I fought against the hot sting prickling my eyes.
It was a stereotype to think these things didn’t, couldn’t, happen to alphas, because they did. But it wasn’t often talked about, and I couldn’t say I knew what he was possibly feeling right now. What I knew was from a completely different perspective and it wasn’t the same. Plus, years of experience working with abuse victims had taught me he wouldn’t want to see sympathy shining in my green eyes for him.
I waited for him to deny the abuse, because it was what most victims did. And I didn’t blame them when they denied it. Sometimes, it was their safest course of action. I knew that.
Start thinking of him like any other patient, Bennett. Stop thinking of him as your fated.
When I had composed my face back into a mask of professionalism, I searched his eyes for any sign he knew who–what–I was to him. Did he remember me touching him earlier? Did he remember the electric shock that had snaked down our arms at our touch? It didn’t appear he remembered me at all.
He stared at me blankly, though I could almost see his mind trying to decide how he was going to respond to my statement.
Lucas, safe and secure with his dad once more, appeared to have drifted off to sleep. Curled into his father’s side, his stuffed rabbit tucked under his chin.
“Did I…” Shay took a shallow breath, swallowed again, plucked at the rough blanket with his thumb and forefinger. “Did I tell them Alpha Law when I was awake before? Things are really hazy.”
Nodding, I fought the urge to run my fingers down Lucas’s back, or over Shay’s arm. Fought the urge to touch them, to comfort them both, because they both surely needed comforting. Had to keep reminding myself that they weren’t mine. They didn’t belong to me and I needed to focus on the conversation, and not the urge to touch him.
“You did. The sheriff will need to take your statement, when you’re up for it.”
He started to say something, but was cut off by a horrible round of coughs that sounded like he was trying to bring his lungs up. Grabbing the glass of water that was sitting on a rolling tray next to his bed, I held the straw for him and watched as he sipped.
When the coughing fit finally subsided, he flopped back against the pillows weakly. “Thanks. This is the worst cold I’ve ever had.”
Snorting loudly, I sat the cup down. “That’s because you’ve got bronchitis. Practically pneumonia. You’re very ill.”
“Fuck, I was afraid it was something like that.” His arm had come across his middle during his coughing, and he winced as he tried to get more comfortable on the bed and not disturb Lucas in the process. Who had somehow slept through his dad’s barking loud coughs.
“My brother–” he wheezed, and without thinking I hit the call button. I should have done that when I realized he was awake. Being near him made all my brain cells sizzle out.
“Asher Pierce, he’s your brother?”
“You know him?” I’d have had to be blind to miss the look of relief that washed over his features.
“I’m actually Gabe and Asher’s neighbor.”
He frowned at the unknown name. “Gabe?”
“Gabe Carmichael, Asher’s mate.” How long had it been since he’d seen his brother? “They took the twins to visit Gabe’s family. They aren’t home right now.” Realizing from the look of absolute confusion on his face that I might as well have been speaking gibberish to him, I clarified, “Gabe’s parents live in Washington state.”
“Twins?” He looked startled and confused. “Asher has twins?”
“Ah, yeah. Tristan and Raphael, but they call him Rafe. They’re um, a year and a half now, I think.”
Shay’s nurse walked in at the same time I heard him breathe the word,“Tristan.”The nurse took his vitals, smiling at Lucas’s sleeping form as she checked Shay’s blood pressure.
That’s when I remembered Asher had mentioned that the twins were named after his father and Gabe’s omega father who had passed away. It was apparent that the Pierce brothers had not seen each other in the last several years and had obviously not spoken to each other either.
The nurse patted Shay’s hand, telling him quietly that respiratory would be in shortly to administer another breathing treatment. When she left, I told him, “I’m going to try to get ahold of Asher. If you want me to.”
