Page 45 of The Alpha's Broken Oath

“Okay, you little rascal. Wanna come to Uncle Luka so you can teach him to pray, too?” Luka breaks the awkwardness.

Asher, who is more than happy to spend time with Luka, runs to him, and they sit on the couch, mumbling something about prayers and whatnot.

Julie comes to stand by my side, engulfing me in a small hug, and I hold her close because the need to have people by my side when I’m internally panicking is greater now more than ever.

The last time I was in a hospital, no one was there to assure me everything was fine. Not anyone close, anyway. And no one was there to share my joy as I welcomed my babies into the world.

“He’ll be okay, Winter. Just like you said, Adrian’s a fighter. He’ll fight through this.”

I latch onto her words like a kid tasting honey for the first time. I trust in her words. I trust in the fact that the Goddess wouldn’t do something to Adrian when she’s already taken so much from me.

My prayers are answered when the healer and his team of nurses finally come to the waiting room to give news about Adrian.

I can almost hear the grating silence like an echo in my head by the time he speaks up.

“Miss Winter Cavanaugh?” he asks to confirm.

“I’m her. I’m Adrian Cavanaugh’s mom. How is my son doing?”

He takes a whole minute to speak, and in my dictionary, that minute is a second too long to not know my son’s fate.

“Your son is in the all-clear.”

I almost break into tears of joy as Julie and Luka both exclaim, “Thank the Goddess,” at the same time.

“He had an allergic reaction to an allergen that might have been in one of the foods he consumed today. Rest assured, I’ve prescribed a few medicines that should be able to stop this from happening again.”

The strangled sob that’d been lodged in my throat the entire time spills out of me, and along with it, so is the relief. Adrian’s okay. My baby…he is fine.

“Thank you. Thank you so much for helping my son.”

“Just doing my job, Miss Cavanaugh. If Adrian’s awake, you are allowed to take him home. Have a good night.”

The number of times I thank the healer and his nurses would be labeled as insanely weird, but nothing can put what I feel into words.

The healer and his nurses leave a minute later after being called to attend to some other patient.

I turn around to face Asher with a smile, and Luka and Julie gaze at the man standing a few feet from me. Noticing the tension and being relieved that the worst-case scenario has been averted, I tip my head at Julie, and my best friends get the memo because Luka says, “Let’s go, champ. Addie must be so excited to see you.”

Hesitantly, Asher holds onto Luka’s hand, but then he looks at Deacon, looks at me, and notices something fishy.

“Mommy, are you coming?”

“I’m right behind you, baby. Give Mommy a minute?”

He complies. I watch Luka, Julie, and my little boy walk down the hall to Adrian’s room.

Casting my eyes to Deacon feels like I’m looking through a kaleidoscope. A lot of different emotions mar his face. A lot of unreadable feelings carve his eyes, and from the twitching jaw and the way his fingers flex, I can almost sense his question sitting atop of me like a sword about to slice me in half.

“Adrian wouldn’t have made it if it wasn’t for you. Thank you… for everything you did for me and my son tonight.”

For calling me.

For taking my boy in your arms and rushing him to the waiting ambulance outside when I couldn’t do so because I was too rattled by everything.

For getting into that ambulance with me while Luka and Julie looked after Asher.

Eerie silence befalls us. My heart is pumping so hard I can practically hear it pounding in my ears.

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