I fucked up.
I just don’t know how to fix it.
The awkward silence is interrupted by the hospital door opening to reveal a doctor with thinning hair and a white lab coat.
“Hi, I’m Dr. Goldstein. Are you all the Graylock Pack?”
“Yes,” Killian nods.
“And you must be Officer Stone,” the doctor says, glancing up from his charts.
Stone has to clear his throat before he’s able to speak.
He won’t look at me.
“Yeah,” he says.
“Great, I’m glad you’re all here. I have good news, there shouldn’t be any permanent damage, but we noticed elevated white blood cell counts, which could be a sign of infection. Considering a lot of the lacerations were done with presumably unclean instruments, that’s something we plan on keeping an eye on.”
“So when do you think I can leave the hospital, Doc?” The normally confident cadence to Stone’s voice is nowhere to be found.
He sounds nervous. Maybe even a little scared.
The doctor’s brows draw down in concern.
“A few days, at least, it’s important that?—”
“No. I want to leave today.” Stone’s knuckles are going white as he grips the railings of his hospital bed. “I want to leave with my pack.”
The doctor purses his lips into a tight line.
“Well, I guess if you’re sure you want to leave… but only if you have someone to help care for you. You’ll need someone to change your bandages at least once a day to keep them sterile, monitor for infection, and administer the proper medications.”
Stone glances at his pack for a split second, and his expression falls.
“Can I… can I do it myself?”
“With your arm in the condition it is? No, son, you can’t.”
Stone’s voice is soft as he turns to look at his packmates.
“I know you guys are really busy, but could you help with this?”
Theo and Killian wince at the same time.
“I can try, but my schedule is busy,” Killian says, staring down at the floor.
“I can help, but I don’t know if I’ll be able to stick to a schedule, since I may need to run into the office at crazy times if the firm needs me,” Theo says.
They’re a bunch of fucking cowards.
Seriously, what the hell?
Their packmate was justtortured. He was nearlykilled! For a case they’reallinvolved in!
Fuck this. This is stupid.
“I—I can help,” Milo says softly, “I’m always home, but I don’t really know how to do any of that stuff, can I learn?”