Page 27 of Free Me

Miko closed his eyes. When they blinked open again, those precious brown orbs glittered with tears. “You don’t know how much I love hearing you say that, Linus. I’m glad being herehelps, I mean it. And I know I’ve said it, but I am so fucking sorry about your leg. I’ll do anything to make this up to you.”

“You didn’t cut my leg off.” Saying the words out loud crashed them down on Linus’s head in a way that made it newly, devastatingly real. He looked down at the lump of his knee and the empty space below. Tried to wiggle toes that weren’t there. To flex calf muscles that weren’t there. He felt them, swore he hadn’t lost them, but they. Were. Not. There.

Something hot and wet splashed his cheeks and dripped off his chin.

“Oh, alpha, please don’t cry.” Miko leaned forward and pressed their foreheads together. His sweet breath caressed Linus’s lips, and Linus closed his eyes, drawing on the strength offered by the beautiful omega in front of him. Linus hated crying in front of anyone, but he was safe here with Miko. Safer than he’d felt in a long time.

Safe enough to let it out.

He pulled Miko in close, pressed his face into his omega’s neck, and he cried.

SEVEN

Miko hada cramp in his neck and his right hip was uncomfortably pressed against a bed rail, but he didn’t care. Those slight discomforts were nothing when his alpha was falling apart in his arms, sobbing into Miko’s neck, wetting his shirt, and releasing a torrent of emotion. Miko ignored the tears running down his own cheeks. They weren’t his own tears anyway, not really. He was crying for Linus’s pain.

He wept for his alpha.

He didn’t know how long Linus sobbed before those wrenching noises softened into quieter sniffles. Miko’s nose was stuffed, his eyes sandy, and his feet were numb, but nothing was going to make him let go first. He was also aware of other people in the room, but when he slotted one eye open, his view was of the wall, wires and outlets. So he stopped guessing and gave comfort for as long as it was needed.

Linus muttered something then tugged the ends of Miko’s hair. Miko reluctantly raised his head. Linus’s face was blotchy, his eyes puffy and red, but his expression was oddly calm. “What did you say?” Miko asked.

“Need to blow by dose.” Linus snorted then flinched. “Ow.”

“Me too.”

Liam appeared on the other side of the bed with a box of tissues. His own eyes were swollen but his cheeks were dry. Miko took a moment to wipe his face and blow his nose. Linus did the same, and then Miko tossed everything into a waste bin by the door. Isa was there, too, close by Liam’s side. Miko hadn’t spoken to Liam directly since yesterday, when Miko fled the hospital like a coward. But he saw no anger or reproach in Liam’s eyes, only exhaustion and…gratitude?

“How is it possible to feel both better and worse?” Linus was still a bit stuffy but easier to understand.

“I think the ‘feeling worse’ is going to last for a while yet,” Liam replied. “But you are surrounded by people who love you, Linus. We’ll be by you every step of the way.”

“Every step, huh?” He released a harsh breath. “I can’t even walk, Papa. When will I take a real step again?”

“You’ll take a real step when you get your strength back,” Miko replied, a little surprised by the ferocity in his own voice. “You’ll do it in your own time, when your body is ready, and we will all be there to cheer you on. I won’t run away again.”

“Good.” Linus grasped Miko’s nearest hand and squeezed. “I need you but it feels so selfish to say that.”

“It’s not selfish.”

“Yes, it is. I’m broken.”

“You aren’t broken, Linus, you’re wounded. And wounds heal. I know it feels like everything has been taken away from you, but it’s all still there. It’s just a little further away than before. We all have to work harder to get you back to it.”

Linus released a harsh, grumpy breath. “I’ll never play soccer again.”

“You don’t know that. There are all kinds of prosthetics out there now, and if we can’t find the right one in Sansbury, we’ll go to another province. We won’t stop searching until we find what you need.”

“You keep saying we.” He did that almost-smile lip quirk again. “These are promises I am definitely going to hold you to. I can’t do this without you.”

Oh, you dear, sweet alpha.

“You can,” Miko said softly, giving Linus’s hand a firm squeeze. “But you won’t have to.” He wanted to say it, to claim this alpha as his, to tell Linus about feeling the mating bond. But Linus had only been awake for a couple of hours. He was still absorbing his injury. Throwing the mating bond onto his lap was selfish. He glanced at Liam and Isa, grateful the pair hadn’t said anything. “You’re my very best friend, Linus Higgs. There is nothing I won’t do for you.”

“Thank you.”

“You’re very welcome. We’re also kind of breaking the visitation rules.”

“Don’t care. Will you stay?”

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