Page 140 of Broken Dreams

“Perfect,” the doctor says, setting the bottle in front of me. “Sip on this, and I’ll call down to get the rest of the testing scheduled.”

He doesn’t wait for me to respond before moving to the desk to make the call. I wonder if there’s going to be a long wait, but frown when I listen to him say that he’ll expect a room open for him in the next forty minutes.

“Mmhm. Is there really a long wait, or are you attempting to piss me off?” Dr. Adrain asks. He listens for a moment before rolling his eyes. “I have a patient that doesn’t have time to wait around today. Find me a time slot.”

The room stays firmly in place after I drink half the bottle of juice, and my stomach is no longer upset. I guess the nurse did take a lot of blood all at once.

“Great, I appreciate you finding me a spot,” Dr. Adrain says. “I’ll be down there soon.”

He hangs up the phone before turning to me. “I wouldn’t normally strong arm anyone, but there’s this new tech who gives me grief whenever I need X-rays done. It’s obnoxious. How are you feeling now, better?”

I nod carefully, breathing a sigh of relief as I find that I’m feeling myself again.

“Caitlyn should be back in… there she is,” he says. The nurse bustles in smiling, brow raised. “We’re going to get the next patient in and get his blood drawn if you’ll wait in the waiting room. I’ll walk you out.”

I’ve noticed he’s very careful not to say Linus or my name. It’s nice to see that he’s taking the situation seriously. The doctor moves the table out of the way as I put the tablet in my bag, and I stand slowly. Finding that I really do feel better, I walk out with him to where Linus is waiting with Duncan and Callum.

“We’re ready for you,” Dr. Adrain says to Linus, and he stands to follow.

I feel sleepy as I sit next to Duncan, yawning.

“Close your eyes if you want, sweetheart,” he says. “We’ll wake you when you’re needed.”

Nodding, my eyes droop before they close completely. Just a few minutes…

LINUS

My blood draw was painless as I expected, and I was able to ask Dr. Adrain my questions about my heats as well as figuring out how to fix my nose.

“That kind of pharmaceutical tinkering is illegal,” he grunts. “It’s cruel to get in the way of biology, but since this Bret character had to ensure that he readministered the drugs often, I believe it’ll work its way out of your system. I know that’s not the kind of answer you want to hear, though. Forced heats, as you know, burn hotter and more intense. If I can spare you from that, I will.”

Nodding, I blow out a breath. “He enjoyed playing God with our lives and hormones,” I explain. “When we had heats, how aware we were of our surroundings, and he even made life or death decisions for us. I just want to know if my body will ever work the way it should.”

“The blood tests will hopefully give me more exact answers on that,” Dr. Adrain says. “Your senses are being manipulated by his drug cocktail that he’s apparently perfected for this. Did your sense of smell change after your heats at all?”

“Not that I ever noticed, but Bret was really quick to inject us hours after our heat,” I remember. The nurse is gone and it’s just us, so I continue. “Quinn was able to scent Duncan and Callum as her scent matches soon after her heat, so that’s a solid idea. It may just work itself out.”

“Waiting sucks,” the doctor admits with a wince. “I don’t want to pump something else into your system if I don’t need to.”

“I get it. I feel like I’m on the edge of something. I’m more irritable, anxious, and feel off. I don’t usually go more than three or four months without a heat and I’m nearing that threshold.”

“Which means it could happen naturally. However, all the other fun things that come with a natural heat will happen too. The need to nest, feeling overheated, or like things aren’t right will likely come with it,” he says. “Have you ever had a natural heat?”

“Never,” I deny. “Quinn hasn’t either.”

“I can’t imagine what goes through someone’s mind when they decide they’re going to systematically fuck with someone’s entire life,” Dr. Adrain says harshly. “It boggles my mind. I’ll have the results of your tests by the time I finish Quinn’s X-rays, so I’ll have some answers soon.”

“That’s so fast,” I murmur, surprised as I stand up. “I don’t know why I thought it would be longer, even with having the results rushed.”

“No reason why you should have to wait,” he says gruffly, walking across the room to open the door to escort us out.

That’s something I’ve noticed with both myself and Quinn. Dr. Adrain is careful never to leave us alone, ensures ourprivacy by sending out his nurse before digging into sensitive information, and is adamant about helping us however he can.

There’s a passion in his work, it’s clear this isn’t just a job. Knowing he helps omegas who need it at Omega’s Haven is even more impressive.

Quinn is just waking up as we join her and the Kelly brothers, and Dr. Adrain suggests we relocate across the hospital for her X-rays. Quinn looks a little more relaxed as we start to walk over, making me think she was a little worried about going for X-rays.

My pinky finger curls around hers as we walk over, and she leans against me a little. She’ll never have to be alone again, because we’ll always be with her.

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