Page 56 of The Beta: Part Three
They all speak at once, and they all say the same thing. None of them want me to go to the facility where Seth is to see him. And I can't even argue with them about it. I wouldn't want me to go either. It's a stupid fucking idea. But that doesn't mean I don't feel like I should. Like we should. “I won't try to convince you that it's a good idea, because it isn't. But he stood with us. He helped us kill his pack. Regardless of the fact that they were utter bastards, they were still his pack. He severed those bonds, very fucking violently, to get us out. He's been in treatment for a few months. I want to go check in on him.”
“It's reckless, bella. I can hardly tolerate you leaving the manor to go to the shops, or even be out on the lawn without us surrounding you. I know we're smothering you, but I don't think I can stand you going all that distance to visit with a man who hurt you so badly. And then we have to take it into consideration that you're fourteen weeks pregnant with our child. La mia bellezza, mia tesoro, be reasonable.”
“I am being reasonable, Corso,” I tuck his wavy brown hair behind his ear and sit down at my usual place at the table, “I'm not demanding to go. And I won't go if you say I can't. I'm not so stubborn that I'd fight to go when you all don't want me to. I also have no intention of going alone. I wouldn't feel safe unless you all were with me. I feel safe enough going to get groceries with just a few of you, but this is a completely different situation. I don't know, it just feels wrong to let him sit in a facility alone after he went through all that with us.” I sigh and look down at the table.
Devon tips my chin right back up, “what did I tell you, cupcake? You don't look down for anybody, not even us. I don't want you to go anywhere near there or him. It's a horrible fucking idea, and it makes my stomach hurt. But I understand why you feel like we should. Would a phone call work?”
Maybe. I don't know. I feel like it would be better if he saw us. All of us. We aren't his pack, and we couldn't ever make up for that devastating loss, but we did fight alongside him.
“Don't chew your lip off, Talia. I don't think a phone call would cut it,” Alex says. “I don't like that motherfucker, but he did help us get out of that shit hole, so I've called to check on him a couple times. If we're going to go there to see his awful ass, we need to do it before you're any farther along.”
Reid stands up and folds his arms over his chest, glaring at me and Alex. “We are not going to that facility. Talia is not going any farther than town. And she is absolutely not going anywhere near Seth fucking Pratchett.”
Jasper nods his agreement, but doesn't say anything.
The kitchen is apparently divided. Jasper is standing between Reid and Corso, with Trent and Kaleb leaning against the counter beside them. Nathan is sitting on the opposite counter, and Devon and Alex are sitting with me at the table. Nobody actually wants a visit to the facility, but there are varying degrees ofabsolutely notscattered around the room.
Nathan blows out a breath and says something completely unexpected. “We should go. All of us. I can't imagine being in his position. I thought...I thought Devon was dead, and they were killing Trent and Kaleb, and they had Jasper... It was so bad, but I still have all of you. He doesn't deserve it, but I don't know what I'd do if I was alone like that after everything. And he's really alone. The only people he has are his shitty father and his weak mother. I don't want to see him, and I sure as shit don't want Talia around him, but maybe we could go for a short visit. Like, in one of those meeting rooms with the big tables. Besides, I have a couple questions that only he can answer and I don't want to risk an interception.”
“No, Nathan. You're too fucking nice for your own good. I don't want you there, either,” Trent says.
I agree. I really don't want to risk Nathan having a setback.
“That's what makes this so stupid,” I lay my head over my arms on the table, “I know exactly why we shouldn't go. I know why I shouldn't go. I don't want Nathan or Jasper there. But it just feels wrong to leave him there with no support at all. Like I said, I won't go if you say no, and I won't go off the rails and go anyway. That's not how we treat each other. I just wanted to talk about it.”
“We can do a video conference. If the facility will allow it. That's the only compromise I'm willing to make. I won't agree to her going there, pregnant or not. And Seth doesn't even get to breathe near her.” Kaleb has put his foot down. “Your questions will just have to wait, Nathan, I'm sorry. I never pull rank, not ever, but I don't want you near him, either. I don't think he's a threat, but he doesn't deserve your empathy.”
Four days later we have that video conference. We set up Kaleb's phone on the porch banister so that nobody has a view of anything but the woods behind us. We're paranoid enough that we don't want anyone seeing the inside or the outside of the manor.
He looks horrible. Gaunt. Dull. Pale. And the white, very-medical, eye patch over his eye just makes everything worse. The first several minutes of the call are very awkward, with everyone on either side of the screen staring at each other without trying to stare at each other. It's ridiculous. “Aren't you eating?” I ask. I should have probably gone with something a little more polite, but Seth and I are a bit past polite.
“I eat.” He sounds like shit, too; his deep voice reduced to a soft rasp.
“You look like you don't. Do you sleep?”
“No.”
A guard walks behind his chair to the other side of the room and I can tell Seth's fighting the urge to turn around and watch him. That was a shitty thing for the guard to do. He's not there as a prisoner, he's there to get the help he needs to overcome the shit he's been through. “Are all the guards there like that prick?” I ask, and he smiles a little, letting his eye finally drop to my stomach. You can definitely make out the swell, but it isn't horribly obvious in this sweater. The second he sees it, his face falls and his eye shoots to Kaleb.
“Can you get Talia a chair? She looks a little upset to be on a call with me. That's understandable, but will you please help her sit down? You guys are outside, maybe there's a blanket or a coat she could put on?”
“I'm not-” I start to argue, but Seth cuts me off.
“Please, Talia. I feel bad enough already. Just sit down, or go inside. I don't want you getting sick just to talk to me.”
This is weird as fuck. Since when does Seth care so much about me getting sick? Strange as it is, I still sit in the chair when Kaleb puts one behind me. And I'd be a liar if I said having someone tuck a thick quilt around you when it's chilly outside didn't feel amazing. “Thank you, Kaleb,” I say, and fight off a giggle when he kisses the tip of my nose.
“There,” I go back to Seth, “I'm sat and snug. Now tell me why they're treating you like a prisoner instead of a patient.”
He tries to smile, but it falls flat. “Some of the doctors here are great. I do counseling a few times a week, and I have a psychiatrist that listens to me bitch and moan twice a week. They even do scent therapy.”
“That sounds fucking horrible. What the hell is with them and scent therapy?” I don’t care if they can see and hear my distaste.
He explains it, but it still sounds horrible, and useless. It also reminds me too much of when nurse fuck-off put that box of bullshit on my bed when I was in the hospital. “That's not going to help anything. You need to eat. And sleep. Has anybody been by to see you?”
“Dad came by. We had a good talk. He apologized for so many things. I think it'll be okay, eventually. He said he tried to apologize to you, but Devon wouldn't let him.”
“No, I fucking didn't,” Devon says. “One look at him and she had a goddamned panic attack and that's your fault too, you piece of shit.”
