Page 80 of Alpha & Omega

Tony started wringing his hands and rocking. “That would’ve been me one day if I hadn’t stopped drinking. God, what a wake-up call this has been. I almost lost you, King.”

I focused on the black screen of the TV hanging on the wall, not wanting to lose it in front of him. His telling me what had happened had me replaying my accident in my head over and over until I wanted to scream out the memories. To forget any of this shit had happened. But as I healed and learned to walk again, it would be a constant reminder every fucking day.

“Everyone has come to see you. Well, everyone but Pippin. He really tried, but—”

“I get it,” I snapped.

“Sorry… They’re all at Alpha’s now, taking care of the bar. Everyone’s worried about you.”

I nodded, my eyes filling with water. I didn’t have the heart to tell him I was going to lose the bar, no matter how much my crew tried or how hard they worked.

“Y-your boyfriend is really sweet. All those flowers there are from him. Harley makes you a new bouquet every day. He’s come to see you, but you’ve been sleeping the whole time. He rarely leaves the hospital. I can tell he… loves you.”

I hadn’t even noticed the flowers, but I looked through my blurry vision. They were similar to the first bouquet he made me for our second date. Pretty,simple, elegant, and a little masculine. That’s when I noticed all the balloons and stuffed animals.

“We all love you and miss you,” he said.

Tears started to spill as I begged for this nightmare to be over.

Tony reached for my hand, and when he grabbed it, I tugged it away, ignoring the hurt on his face. I didn’t want to be touched or to talk to anyone because I was about to fucking lose it.

“Kingston, please don’t hate me. Please.”

“I don’t hate you, but I’m tired, Tony.” Not only was I tired at that moment, but in general. I was fucking tired of how hard life always was. Tired that our country shit on us no matter how hard we pushed ourselves to have better lives. It loved to kick us while we were fucking already down. My reprieves in life were fleeting before I got shit on all over again. But losing my leg? That topped as the worst moment of my life.

“D-do you forgive me?”

I sighed, holding my scream in with a strength I didn’t know I had. “There’s nothing to forgive. Now please let me sleep.”

Tony left, leaving me in blissful silence.

I had always been the strong one—the one who held everyone else up. Those days were over. I just wanted to fucking break and shatter, so I did. I put my hands to my face and sobbed.

I fucking failed everyone because of one asshole who chose to drive that night.

Should I be grateful I lived?

I wanted to be, but I didn’t feel it.

Twodaysprior

I nearly crumbled when the doctor told us Kingston had lost his leg. His boys sobbed and held each other with the news. Fuck, my poor skaterboy. God, at least he was still alive. I understood about amputation enough that he could lead a relatively normal life with prosthetics, but losing a part of your body wasn’t for the faint of heart. And his road wasn’t going to be easy… and it would beexpensive.

Each of us spent time with him while he stayed in the ICU, leaving them more devastated. I understood why, looking at him. They’d shaved Kingston’s head to treat multiple lacerations and give him stitches. Bruises and swelling covered his body and face. He had a breathing tube in his mouth and a tube up his nose. When I sat with him, I lifted the blanket covering his legs and saw the cast. Reality set in that he had no more leg below the knee.

My eyes watered as I rested my hand on his remaining left leg. “I’m so sorry, baby,” I whispered. “We’ll get you through this… together.”

I sat there and held his hand for a while, talking to him about the time we’d spent together and some of our more fun moments, hoping he heard me.

Kingston had wanted to pursue skating again, but that was out of the question, at least for the next year or so, if he even wanted to skate again. And while he lay there in an induced coma, I worried about his business for him. It would be a massive setback for him and Alpha’s Rejects.

By the time I finally came back out to the waiting room, the rest of the Rejects were there, all crying and holding each other. I could only imagine their devastation. A couple of them hid their pain and didn’t shed tears, but you could see it, anyway. The only one missing was Pippin.

I approached them, feeling intrusive. “If anyone wants to see Kingston now, they can. Just tell the nurses.”

All red-rimmed eyes pinged on me with desperation and answers that I didn’t have.

“What are we going to do? We don’t know what to do?” Nacho asked me, who was wrapped in Stix’s spindly arms. He looked at me with large, dark eyes, as if I knew what to do. “Alpha can’t work, not for a long time, and… we don’t have a manager or… what do we do?”

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