Page 100 of Heart of the High King
Chapter 40
Aleksander had done his best to spend as much time with Rafe as possible, not only because he enjoyed his company, but there was fear in his heart that his mate would back out of their plan to fix his hips. Thankfully he had not, and they were sitting in a hospital waiting for the nurses to come in to wheel him off to the operating room. Everyone had left them alone to give them a few minutes to speak privately, which Aleksander appreciated. His blood had already been taken and Rafe had, once again, warned against using it.
“Thanks,” Rafe murmured, while Aleksander stroked his hand.
“What are you thanking me for?”
“I don’t know…I guess for trying so hard to convince me to do this.”
“I should be thanking you for even considering it after everything.”
“I just want you to know, in case I don’t come out of the anesthesia, that I appreciate you and I’m sorry things didn’t work out. You know how scared and confused I was before all this, and if I could go back to the beginning when we met, I would’ve done things differently.”
“I know it’s hard for you to believe, but we have a future in front of us.”
“I need you to know one last thing in case I die.”
Aleksander rolled his eyes. “You aren’t going to die.”
“Will you just listen?”
Getting to his feet, Aleksander bussed his forehead. “Yes.”
“Remember when I told you that hope got me through everything?”
“I do. And I’m still amazed that you survived.”
“I wasn’t completely honest about that.”
“You weren’t?”
Rafe’s earnest gaze met Aleksander’s. “It was you. You’re what got me through each day. I would remind myself that if I could just hold out a little longer, I would be back at D’Vaire with you. It was the hope that we’d be together again.”
Moved to tears, Aleksander pressed his lips softly to Rafe’s and brushed the moisture from his cheek. “You damn well better wake up.”
With a grin, his mate squeezed Aleksander’s hand. “That kiss felt like our first one.”
“Beautiful and perfect.”
There was a rap on the door, and it swung open to reveal two nurses. “Okay, Your Highness, give him a kiss good night. It’s time to get this show on the road.”
Aleksander brushed their mouths together again. “See you soon.”
“Yeah.”
Rafe’s bed was wheeled out, and Brogan stomped in a second later. “Come on, I’ll show you where the waiting room is.”
Following his best friend out, Aleksander made the trip down the hall, and Brogan opened a door, revealing a group of D’Vaires ready to keep him company while Rafe was in the operating room. Each one embraced him tightly; then they grabbed chairs. They didn’t know how long it would take, and the sorcerers were going to take things slow to make sure there weren’t major side effects, but they had to keep an eye on the clock given Rafe’s weakened state. Each hour was likely going to feel like a month to Aleksander, as he could do nothing but sit and think about all the ways it could go wrong.
“He was okay before they took him?” Worth asked.
“Oh yeah, trying to give me his last words in case he dies.”
“How the fuck would he die?” Brogan asked.
“Rafe’s worried about the anesthesia.”
“Dr. Suricata isn’t going to let anything happen to him. He’s going to be fine,” Mac assured him.
