Page 48 of Free Me

His room was the last stop, and it was about as expected, with a fully accessible bathroom, and a countertop/sink at wheelchair height. Papa immediately began changing the bedding to stuff from home, while Dad rested in one of the spare chairs. Linus sat through an orientation of sorts, including behavior rules and codes of conduct, and all that crap. The only mildly interesting part was filling out his menu cards for the rest of the week. Outside food was fine, but the facility offered three meals a day, plus snacks like cereal and fruit cups.

Linus randomly chose whatever option sounded the most flavorful and checked off every possible condiment or seasoning packet available. Something was going to kick-start his senses of smell and taste, damn it. He was tempted to request a bottle of hot sauce for all meals, if it meant tasting something again.

But just as much as tasting or smelling, Linus Higgs was determined to walk again. His future therapy sessions scared him. It wouldn’t be easy, and he had a lot of work ahead of him. But he knew in his heart it would be worth it.

Any sacrifice was worth keeping his promise to dance with Miko at the Winter Solstice Gala at the end of the month.So when his new physical therapist showed up for their first session, Linus sat up straight, rolled his shoulders, and said, “Let’s do this.”

By the time the weekend rolled around, Miko was physically and mentally exhausted, but he was also caught up on his schoolwork, and he’d ended the week by completing a makeup exam. He also had finals coming up soon, so he couldn’t exactly rest or take much of a break. Which worked out okay, because he’d spent every possible moment with Linus at rehab, and now that Linus’s brothers wanted visitation time, Miko could stay home and study.

They still talked regularly on the phone, though, and they texted. Linus’s parents had replaced his mobile, so he wasn’t reliant on the landline anymore. Texting Linus was so perfectly normal Miko did it almost by instinct. Short messages about what he was thinking, a snapshot of his lunch, all the goofy things best friends did.

The kinds of things couples did. Part of Miko’s conscience still struggled with not telling Linus about the bond, but he still held out hope his alpha would regain his sense of smell and know for himself. Mikoneededhim toknow.

He also wasn’t going to be selfish with Linus’s time, not when he had a dozen friends who wanted to schedule visits in between Linus’s therapy sessions. He treasured each and every text from Linus, especially photos of him doing his PT. They’d even begun the process of shaping his stump for future prosthetic attachment, and during one of Miko’s visits, they poured over a catalog of the different styles and their features. Miko was amazed at how advanced some of them were, especially the onesmade specifically for running. Linus gazed at those with so many dreams in his eyes that Miko’s heart ached.

But that ache was soothed each time he walked into Linus’s room and got a blinding smile, followed by an update on his progress. Miko even got to sit in on one therapy session, and Linus did all his exercises without losing his breath. He got in and out of the dummy car with ease, hopped on his left leg using a walker for thirty feet, and even used the walker to return to his room. The wheelchair was now a backup system, not a necessity.

Linus’s first full week in rehab had led to amazing results with his mobility. His senses of taste and smell were slower to develop, but Demir had come up with a game for Linus that involved a blindfold and strongly flavored pureed foods. The first time they played, Linus was able to correctly guess two of the seven flavors. Two days later, he guessed five of the seven. They were all smells so pungent that they made Miko’s eyes water, but it was progress.

Linus was also cleared by his neurologist on a follow-up appointment. Other than his slowly-recovering senses, he had no lasting side effects from the concussion. They celebrated that news with sparkling grape juice and takeout pizza. It also allowed Linus to do more with his physical and occupational therapies, and the first time Miko saw Linus use the walker to step forward on his new prosthetic leg?

Miko burst into joyful tears.

He’d done it. Linus had pushed through, accepted every challenge, and he was walking again. With an assistance device, but that would be necessary for a while. One step at a time, to quote an old cliché.

They gleefully recorded a video of Linus walking and sent it to everyone in Miko’s phone. They received back an adorable video of Caleb watching it and squealing with delight at seeing Uncle Linus walking again. He knew Linus missed his nephewsterribly, but no one under eighteen was allowed to visit in rehab. Miko thought the rule was stupid, but he also understood how a place like that could be scary for a child.

The only slight damper on their joy was the phone call from Chief Lars-Higgs telling them that the taxi driver who’d caused the accident had accepted a plea deal. A large fine, probation, and the loss of his driver’s license for two years, with no actual jail time. It didn’t seem like enough for everything Linus had lost, but after cussing up a brief storm, Linus wanted to let it go and move on. “After all,” Linus had said, “what’s a taxi driver who can’t drive his taxi?”

Unemployed. And facing an uncertain future, just like Linus.

The following week, Miko was in class when Linus was officially signed out of rehab, so he didn’t get to see the full welcome home at the Higgs house, but Peyton recorded a lot of it for Miko to watch later. When Miko was able to visit the next day, the Higgs home hadn’t changed much. Some of the furniture was farther apart and the spaces between wider to accommodate Linus and his walker, but that was it. Thankfully, they had a single-story house, so the only steps Linus had to regularly navigate were the three wooden ones on the front porch.

The day itself had become its own entity, with friends and family popping in constantly. Miko stuck close to his bondmate out of necessity—probably more for himself than for Linus—and whenever he suspected Linus was fading, demanded everyone give him room to nap. Linus never questioned him. Linus’s sense of smell was still wonky, and neither of them had ever uttered the words “bondmate,” but their dynamic had shifted dramatically since rehab.

For as much as he loved Peyton and Layne, it was time for the two youngest in their families to step out of the shadows andshine. Miko now had a voice in the Higgs and Tovey homes, and he used it.

At the end of the week, three days after Linus’s homecoming, Miko was studying at the Higgs’s dining table while Linus napped in his room when the doorbell rang. It was around two in the afternoon, and Isa was watching TV in the living room, so he got up to answer the bell. Miko was curious but didn’t get up, because it could be absolutely anyone stopping by to visit Linus, from their mutual friends to more of his old soccer team pals.

“Well, isn’t this a lovely surprise,” Isa’s deep voice boomed. “You didn’t come straight from the train station, did you?”

That perked Miko’s interest. He shoved back his chair and walked to the living room alcove. Two adults and a smaller bundled figure stepped around Isa and into the warmth of the house, and Miko squeaked with delight. Miko’s half-uncle, Hyatt Lee, and his alpha mate Dorian grinned at him from the entry. Dorian put their twenty-month-old son Haven down so he could help Hyatt out of his coat.

“No, we didn’t,” Dorian said, “we dropped our luggage off at home first. Hyatt really wanted to come straight over to see how Miko and Linus are.”

“Hey, there, nephew!” Hyatt practically threw his coat at Dorian and crossed the space to hug Miko tight. Miko chuckled and returned the hug, eager to see his fellow omega. Even though Miko and Hyatt were not related by blood, they were related through Peyton, and that made them family.

“It’s great to see you guys,” Miko replied. “I take it things are better in Orleans Province if you decided to come home.”

“They are, yes,” Dorian said. He’d knelt to help Haven out of his own puffy gray coat. “This little man missed his cousins like crazy, and Samuel practically insisted we leave before he called the constables on us for trespassing.”

Miko laughed. He didn’t know Dorian’s beta brother Samuel well. They’d only had a few brief phone calls over the years, but Dorian had been beside himself during Samuel’s emergency. He was glad for the small family that everything had gone well for them—just like things were finally going well here in Sansbury.

“Can we please call a moratorium on medical emergencies?” Hyatt asked. “Pretty please? I can’t handle anything else.”

“Be careful,” Isa replied cheerfully. “Whenever you young ones say something like that, you jinx yourselves.”

“No jinxes this time, I won’t allow it,” Miko said. Hyatt seemed to be eyeballing him harder than usual, and he suspected it was his scent. They’d been apart long enough that the slow, gentle muddling of his scent with Linus had to stand out as strongly as a spray of perfume in a sterile room. “So, have you seen Peyton or your brothers since you got home?” he asked, hoping to distract Hyatt before he said anything.

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