Page 79 of Alpha & Omega

“It’s going to be fine, Alpha. We all got you. You’re alive. You almost didn’t make it. That’s all that matters. Let us take care ofyounow,” Nacho whispered through his tears.

His words made my reality so much clearer. None of this was fine. Not one fucking bit. Without my leg, I couldn’t train to skate again to make money to get Alpha’s to stay open. All the hospital bills, despite having insurance, were going to break me financially. How long would physical therapy take? Would I even be able to work?

Everything about my past was just that—my past. I would no longer enjoy skating with my crew. Those days were over, and that hit me the hardest.

“This can’t be happening… God, what am I going to do?” I sucked in a loud sob as my future crashed around me.

“Kingston,” said my doctor. “Life isn’t over. You’ll walk again, and you’ll live a normal life as you’ve always lived it.”

“No, you don’t understand! It’s going to be all gone. Leave me,” I said.

She patted my other leg. “I’ll give you a moment to process. Please know we have people on staff you can talk to. We have therapists or a priest if you so prefer. I’ll send a nurse to check on you in thirty minutes and give you another dose of pain meds. We need to stay on top of the pain.”

I said nothing as the doctor and nurses cleared out of there, all except Nacho. I tried to reach for the tissue box on the table next to me, but he grabbed it and gave it to me. I took a tissue and wiped my face, though the tears still spilled, unable to stop them.

What a fucking way to wake up. I was in fucking hell.

“You too, Nate.”

“What? Y-you never call me Nate.”

“I need to be alone.”

“But…”

I turned my head away, dismissing him as my lip trembled. If I wasn’t left alone soon, I was going toscream.

“O-okay…”

Nacho quietly slunk off, and while I wanted to feel bad, I just couldn’t have him in the room with me.

I pushed the button to raise the back of my bed more so I could examine my leg closely. Then I removed the rest of the blankets from my other leg and compared the two.

The pain was growing, and moving didn’t help at all when I reached for my leg and ran my hand over the hard cast. My vision grew blurry as I grieved over my leg. Then a sob escaped me.

My life as I knew it was over. The future of my family hung in the balance. I tried so hard to help them and take care of them. And for what? Only to fail them, anyway?

By the time the nurse came in, I had finished sobbing, but my heart was utterly broken. She gave me more meds through my IV and tried to chat with me, but I ignored her.

Being already exhausted, the dosage she gave me completely knocked me out.

When I woke up again, it was dark outside, making me disoriented all over again until I recalled what had happened and that I was in the hospital.

My eyes adjusted and landed on Tony, who scrolled on his phone, the light hitting his face in the darkened room, still covered in bruises, but no longer swollen.

He must have sensed me because his dark eyes landed on mine before they teared up.

“Oh, god… King. I’m so fucking sorry,” he said, a sob escaping. “This was all my fault. When I got the call, I took myself out of my hospital room and came directly here. If I had just left him the first time…”

“Don’t be fucking ridiculous. You weren’t at fault for getting abused.”

My harsh tone made him wince, but he stood and scrambled about in the room, pouring me some water and handing me a cup. I sipped, drinking too much too fast, spilling on my front, not realizing how thirsty I was. He grabbed some paper towels and wiped me down.

“If I had just broken it off with him, then you wouldn’t have come to me and gotten in that wreck.”

I said nothing, desperately trying not to think about my leg—or lack of one. I almost hated myself for believing he wasn’t wrong. I shouldn’t blame him, but the anger at my loss grew all-consuming. It wasn’t only about losing my leg, but the loss of everything else because of it. I would be left with nothing after all that fucking work.

“It was a drunk driver, they said. They clipped you on your right back corner, which sent your car out of control. You spun out before you hit another car and flipped. Once your car finally stopped, another car hit you again. Two died, including the drunk driver. God, you’re so lucky to be alive. I’ve been grateful every fucking second for it.”

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