Page 23 of Knot Her Reality

“There you go. That should help some. Why don’t you open your eyes and tell me your name, omega?”

“Her name is Evan—“

The woman clears her throat. “I didn’t ask you what her name was, did I? I asked her. Now, strip your clothes off and get under the blanket Thomas has for you. We need to get both of you to the hospital, but I need you to stay out of my way.”

I blink my eyes open to find a woman I would guess is in her sixties, smiling down at me.

“There she is. Hi, darling. Can you tell me your name?”

“E-E-Evangeline,” I stutter out around the shaking of teeth, glad that my voice doesn’t sound nearly as slurred as it did before.

The woman’s smile only grows. “It’s nice to meet you. My name is Alice, and I’m going to take care of you while Thomas gets us to the hospital. You took a swim in some pretty cold water. I’d like to take your clothes off so we can warm you up.”

“‘s fine,” I tell her. “Bottoms are scent-canceling, though. Might stink up the room without them.”

Alice laughs. “Don’t you worry about that. I have just the thing to help with your scent. Let’s just focus on getting you warm.”

“S-s-sounds good.”

I don’t know if I pass out or what happens, but the next thing I know, the bed I’m lying on is being lifted and I’m flinching away from more lights. A whimper spills from my lips again. I’m surrounded by voices and I don’t recognize any of them, pulling more whimpers from me. What’s happening? Where am I?

“You’re okay, Evangeline,” a voice says—the voice of an angel. “I’m here. We’ve made it to the hospital. They’re going to help you get all better.”

Darkness pulls me back under as the scent of vanilla and lime fills my nose, making me feel safe.

“Ugh.” I wince, lifting my hand to my pounding head. My eyes pop open when I feel a bandage.

“Look who’s finally awake.”

I turn my head to the side, blinking as I try to focus on the person who spoke. It takes me a moment to realize it’s Bree. “Bree?”

“Hey, Evangeline. How are you feeling?”

Taking stock of my aching body and head, I want to laugh, but I’m afraid it’ll make me hurt more. “I hurt—a lot. What happened?”

She hums as she types on her phone. “What’s the last thing you remember?”

“I was on a date with the day two suitors, right?”

She looks up from her phone and nods.

“Yeah, that’s all I remember.”

She sets her phone to the side, shuffling closer to me. It’s only then I realize I don’t know where I am. I frown, glancing around me. “You’re in an omega nest at the Oakes General Hospital. They’ve found that omegas tend to heal better in a nest—even if it’s not their own. As far as what happened, it seems that Viktor bumped into your kayak—something he says was an accident—and then when he was trying to circle around to see if he could help you, he smacked you in the head with his kayak.”

“Why do you say it like that? Do you think it wasn’t an accident?” I ask, frowning. While Viktor lit up my creep meter, I wouldn’t have thought he would do something like this on purpose.

“I don’t know. Nothing indicates it was anything more than an accident, but after listening to what Finnegan and Alejandro had to say, I’m not totally sure.” She shakes her head. “We haven’t sent him home or anything because there’s no proof that it was intentional, but if you want us to, we’ll send him home.”

Immediately, I shake my head. “No. I don’t want to do that.” My eyes widen as a realization hits me. “Shit. What about the show? What time is it?”

“Don’t worry about the show.” Bree waves me off. “We’re just going to delay for a week. You can have a do-over of your date with Alejandro, Viktor, Lillian, and Dustin if you want. But they said you’d be here for at least a few hours.”

“Damn it, I’m sorry, Bree. I didn’t mean to slow down production.”

She once again waves me off. “Don’t you worry about that. Your health is obviously more important. It does mean you’ll have one less week to choose your pack.”

“I’m sure that’ll be fine.” And what choice do I have if it’s not fine? None. All because I somehow landed myself in the hospital. It’s not like it’s going to prevent me from doing things like this again. Accidents happen all the time—even though Bree isn’t sure it is an accident, and that’s not something I currently feel like thinking about.

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