Page 11 of Alpha's Redemption

“What is it?” I ask and Macey makes a choking noise. My entire body trembles when she doesn’t answer straight away.

“Macey?” I ask, my voice shaking with fear.

“You need to get here,” she says, the words sounding so broken. The emotion in her voice as she stammers and cries into the phone has me scrambling to my feet. I jump to the floor and grab whatever my hands land on first.

“What happened?” I ask, frantically dragging a shirt over my head and placing the phone back to my ear.

Macey cries, the sound crushing my soul and twisting my stomach as dread fills me.

“It's Ben,” she sobs, and my heart stutters and threatens to stop beating at her words. A cold, sinking feeling settles over me. Valen sits up, looking for danger, and tears burn my eyes as I stare at him, shell shocked. No! Not Ben! My heart and soul screams for the boy, for Emily. It would kill her if something happened to him. Valen gets to his feet, looking alarmed.

“Everly?” he asks.

“I have to go. I need to get to the hospital,” I tell him as the cold feeling washes over me again, making me numb and turning my veins to ice. I feel like I’m moving on autopilot as I throw clothes on without seeing them. Valen chases me around the apartment as I grab my handbag and keys, only stopping when I notice Valarian sitting at the coffee table watching cartoons and eating a bowl of cereal. He looks over at me—Ben is his friend, not much older than my son.

“Mom?” Valarian says as I stare at him unblinkingly; a parent’s worst fear.

My voice is robotic. “Everything is fine. Eat your breakfast,” I tell him.

“I’ll head over as soon as Dad gets here,” Valen tells me, gripping my arms. He shakes me a little and I blink rapidly, turning to look at him.

“I have to get to him,” I gasp before turning on my heel and running toward the door.

ChapterSix

Walking into the hospital, I find Macey and Zoe pacing outside Emily's and Ben's room. Tears streak both their faces and Macey's eyes are puffy. Whatever is going on is terrible because Macey never cries; she never even gets emotional. She keeps her walls high and takes on the world with a no-fucks-given attitude. My stomach plummets as I approach them, my entire body shaking. The moment I get to them, the door opens and the doctor steps out with a grim expression on his face.

Macey instantly turns to face him. “Well?” she asks, but Doc's shoulders drop.

He looks tired, and I can’t imagine having his job—having to deliver bad news to families or parents. Bad news is precisely what we got when he spoke.

“As you know, Ben deteriorated overnight. His blood test when he first came in showed some hope, he wasn't a full-blown forsaken, but now he is. His body is shutting down, his organs are failing; he doesn't have much time left.”

I swallow his words down and bite the inside of my lip to stop the quiver. “Emily?” I ask, clearing my throat.

“The only thing keeping her alive is the machines. Without them, she will die,” Doc answers. We already knew that, but I had some hope. Doc just killed that hope.

“Is he still conscious?” Zoe asks.

“He keeps coming in and out. One minute he almost seems lucid, the next, he is hurting himself or trying to attack the nurses,” Doc says.

“So, what now?” I ask.

“There is nothing else we can do. We did dialysis, but the infection is not just in his blood; it's in his muscles, bones, everything. I'm sorry, Luna, but now we just wait.”

“Wait for him to die?” I ask. Doc smiles sadly and nods. I press my lips in a line and gulp before clearing my throat. Zoe sits heavily in the chair by the door.

“He's just a child,” she says, putting her head in her hands. Macey grips her shoulder, hugging her against her hip.

“Thank you for everything, Doc,” I tell him.

“You're more than welcome to stay with him. I will send some chairs in for you all,” he says, wandering down the hall.

I stare at the ceiling, willing the tears to go before pushing the door open and stepping inside. Macey follows me in, sitting beside him and grabbing his hand. Zoe enters too, but remains close to the wall as she stares, not knowing what to do. Doc comes back in with two extra chairs, and I sit between Emily's and Ben's beds, holding Ben’s hand and rubbing circles on the back of it. Hours pass.

Ben eventually comes to, thrashing and snarling periodically.

“He didn't deserve this,” Macey says, gently brushing his bangs from his deformed face. She sniffles when Valen walks in. He nods to us before hugging Zoe, who is a mess at the back of the room.

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