Page 28 of His Reward
“You’re looking great, by the way,” Boston said, sweeping my reduced, bandaged form with caring eyes.
It was too much. Considering what Father had just said about how repulsive I was, hearing Boston say I looked great had me weeping like a baby, and coughing, of course.
“You’re upsetting him,” Father said sternly. “You should leave.”
“No, Pietro, you’re the one who’s upset him,” Mom said in the voice she used when one of us was in trouble. “I want a word with you in the waiting room.”
Father sighed in irritation. “He’s not supposed to have more than two visitors at a time anyhow,” he said, then headed straight for the door without giving me a backward look.
“You can trust Boston,” Mom told me as she inched toward the door to follow him. “He’s a really great guy and he’s beensuch a help and comfort to me. I’m sure you two will get along famously.”
“Thanks, Mom,” I said, trying not to sob like a baby and failing.
As soon as they were gone, Boston rushed around the bed to my good side so he could take my hand. “Are you sure you’re alright?” Boston asked, wiping away the tears from my face with his other hand.
It felt so ridiculously wonderful to be cared for by my alpha that I couldn’t stop crying, even though I tried hard to smile at the same time. My heart pounded in my chest like it wanted to leap out and reach for him. I was safe now. My alpha was here.
And at the same time, I wasn’t safe at all. My life was ruined.
“My father just informed me that my skating career is over,” I wept.
CHAPTER TEN
Boston
My heart broke every which way for Lucien. It had broken when I’d come to the hospital for the first time, rose in hand, to see how he was doing immediately after the fire. The hospital staff almost hadn’t let me in, but somehow Mrs. Monteverdi knew that I was the firefighter who had rescued her son, and she’d immediately instructed the hospital staff that I was allowed and encouraged to see him.
Lucien had looked so small and broken that first day. He’d been intubated and put in an induced coma while his body dealt with the shock of his burns, outside and in. My alpha had roared in protest and wanted to tear the entire hospital to pieces. I’d known that everything the hospital was doing would save his life, though.
It had been so painful to watch Lucien’s recovery over the intervening weeks, knowing there was nothing I could do to knit his skin back together or heal the inflammation and chemical burns in his lungs. The best I’d been able to do was lookeverything up on the internet so I could clarify everything the doctors told Lucien’s mom and reassure her. There had been a couple times when I thought Lucien was coming out of his sedation, but he hadn’t really been with it until now.
“Don’t cry, baby,” I said softly, crouching to be as close to him as I could, though it meant I was hunched over awkwardly as I curled my arm around the top of his head. “You’ve survived the worst of it. I’m sure you can get back on the ice.”
Lucien snotted and blubbered and ended up coughing so badly I almost called the nurse. He started out trying to say something, but couldn’t get anything out.
“Don’t push yourself too hard,” I said, shifting the way I held his hand so our fingers twined together and rested over his heart, which beat wildly. “Try to take a few deep breaths and calm down. I’m not going anywhere, so you’ve got all the time in the world to get it together.”
Deep down inside, I knew it was probably weird and wrong of me to be acting like I’d known Lucien my entire life, like we’d been lovers for more than just the three days of his last heat. But dammit, ever since that last heatwave, when I’d had to force myself not to bond with him, it felt like he was already mine, like we actually had bonded. I had to do whatever I could to respect Lucien’s autonomy and not take charge of everything about him, from his treatment to his state of mind.
It took a few minutes, but Lucien did manage to calm down and breathe normally again.
“I hate being sick,” he panted gently. “I hate all of this.”
“Yeah, there’s not much here to like,” I said, glancing at the bandaged side of his body. I remembered what it looked like freshly singed and oozing. The memory made me snap my eyes back to look into his and to force a smile. “This is just temporary, though. Your prognosis is excellent. Dr. Wendel told your mom just yesterday that once you’re able to get up and walk aroundon your own, once you’re eating well and using the toilet on your own, you’ll be moved from the hospital to a rehab facility.”
Lucien laughed exhaustedly. “Not exactly the most romantic thing you’ve ever said to me,” he said, the right side of his mouth quirked up in a smirk. “Once I’m able to use the toilet on my own?”
I heard the bitterness in his voice, so I said, “Would it make it easier if I ordered you to stand in the corner and shit yourself?”
It worked. However damaged Lucien was, the spark that lit his eyes and the flush that climbed up his neck to his cheeks was enough to tell me that the kinky play partner I’d spent the weekend of my life with the month before was still there.
“Okay, that’s weird,” he said, chuckling slightly, which led to a quick coughing session.
“Nah, it’s not weird at all,” I said softly, kissing his forehead. “You might look like a hot dog someone dropped in the campfire, but you’re still a kinky fucking sub.”
Lucien started crying again, not because I said something arguably nasty to him, but because it must have been exactly what he needed to hear. He squeezed my hand that still held his and closed his eyes, like he thought it was safe to let go. Honestly, it was one of the most poignant things I’d ever experienced. And it was a truly humbling, sub move. Lucien trusted me. Regardless of the circumstances or how scary and risky things were for him, Lucien had just let go and put his full faith in me.
It was a responsibility I took dead seriously. No, we weren’t really mates, although the whisper of the bond that could be was definitely there. I would have gone so far to say that we were fated, though up until then, I’d thought fated mates were just fairy tales. I’d befriended Bea Monteverdi in the last few weeks as we’d both watched over Lucien, but Lucien’s family didn’tknow that we’d already met. I damn well wasn’t going to tell them how and under what circumstances.
