Stray Echo

X-Rays

POV: Echo

We’ve been driving down the dirt path for a while now, and I can see a clearing up ahead. As we approached, I noticed a huge multistory house, sitting to one side with the forest behind it.

A second, smaller, two-story building sits next to it. Rows of fair-sized homes with green yards that are well-maintained and full of life fill the rest of the clearing. There is a crowd of wolves waiting in front of the pack house to greet us.

I lean into Atlas’s chest as I see more wolves joining, both in wolf and human forms. I don’t think I have ever seen so many wolves in one place before.

Panic bubbles into my chest, as I realize I am too injured to even move on my own, never mind get out of the car and meet my new pack. I don’t want to answer the inevitable questions that will come up from the pack seeing me being unloaded from the car in this condition.

“We aren’t stopping at the pack house, Little Warrior,” Atlas says. “You are heading straight to the pack infirmary next door. We have made plans to enter the back door for more privacy.” I relaxed a bit, and he kissed the top of my head.

I peek out and watch the pack’s disappointed faces as the car continues down the road rather than stopping in front of the pack house. We turned down a side street and around the back, where there was an inconspicuous-looking door.

The door opens wide, revealing a stretcher, several nurses in scrubs, and Healer Cordelia. Travis hops out of the car, greeting the women before he opens our door.

“How was the drive, Alpha?” Cordelia asks, squatting down next to me and taking my pulse.

“It was… alright, rather enlightening actually.” He replied, and I could feel his eyes on me as I actively watched the nurses prepping everything on the stretcher. I know he is talking about the fact that I have spent ten years in that house doing nothing but chores.

“Luna Echo,” I looked at her, “I can see that Tala has done a fantastic job of holding back on healing your injuries. I know it must be extremely painful, but if I had to re-break your wrist and ankle, it would be more so.” She states, grimacing.

‘It’s exhausting, stopping the healing. I am barely holding on…’ Tala says weakly. I mentally thank her for working so hard for me, even though I am the reason for this in the first place. ‘His actions are NOT your fault!’ she growls, before lapsing into silence.

“She says she is getting very tired, that holding off the healing is a lot harder than she thought it would be,” I tell them, hoping we can get things going quickly so she can let Tala heal us. Cordelia nods and gestures to the nurses behind her.

“Luna, we are going to have to pick you up and transfer you to the stretcher so we can get you to the x-ray,” Cordelia says in a calming tone. The two nurses come and stand on either side of the open door. Whimpering slightly, I tried to lean away from them. This was going to hurt, and I didn’t want to get out of the car anymore.

“Shh, love, I am right here,” Atlas says quietly, running his fingertips in those calming circles on my arms.

“If I could get out of the car while holding you, I would, but that would be even more painful for you than allowing them to move you.” I swallowed loudly. Logically, I already know as much.

Logically, I also know that the pressure of my weight on any part of my body is going to be excruciating. Sighing, I nod, and Atlas helps me to shift into a seated position facing the nurses.

They link their hands behind my back and under my knees, counting to three before lifting. I scream as black and white spots flicker across my vision, and a loud rumbling noise rushes through my ears.

Pain comparable to that of the wolfsbane on open wounds shoots through my body, starting in my back and under my knees, and going through every nerve in my body.

It’s over in less than a minute, as I am set lightly on the stretcher. It feels as though it has padding to make it extra soft, and it only takes a moment for the pain to subside as I sink into it. Gasping, I opened my eyes, looking for his green ones.

It took me a moment to locate him, and he was by my side the second I did. He tries to hide the broken pieces of his phone by shoving them in his pocket before I see them. I raise my eyebrows and he blushes slightly as they push the stretcher. The roaring sound I heard was him responding to my screams of pain. I grin weakly at him, and he smiles back.

He keeps pace with my stretcher, and I grasp his hand as soon as he pulls it out of his pocket. The sparks of the mate bond soothe the residual pain from being moved, and I relax completely into the mattress as it turns a corner and enters a room. It’s just me, Atlas, and one nurse now.

“Alpha, you can’t be in here for…” the nurse stops speaking as she is met with Zev’s black eyes. “On second thought, Alpha, if you want to be in here during the x-rays, you must wear a lead apron to protect you from the radiation.”. Zev recedes as he nods, and she helps him put it on, his hand never leaving mine.

“Okay, Luna,” she says, coming to stand next to me. “This is where things may get a little uncomfortable.” I frown at her, and she continues.

“I have to take the splint off your wrist and lay it against this to x-ray it.” She says, holding up a flat board. I assume it’s for keeping my arm straight and so it only takes a photo of my arm and not the bed. I nod.

The second she loosens the splint, it burns with intense pain. At the first sign of my discomfort, Atlas, who had found a stool to sit on, took his other hand to my face. While my arm still hurts, the sensation of him running his thumb over my cheek, and his other thumb across my hand, is very distracting. He leans toward me, stopping close enough that I can’t see anything else, but not quite touching.

His scent does something funny to my heart, as it skips a beat and picks up its pace. I can’t help but incline my head towards him while inhaling deeply. My whole body feels simultaneously alive and completely relaxed. I barely notice as the she-wolf in scrubs steps away. Something clicks, and she comes back.

“Okay, your arm is done, and now I have to undo your ankle splint.” She states. I make an agreeable humming noise at her, unable to break away from my mate’s gaze and scent.

His eyes never left mine, even as he leaned in to inhale my scent. He trails his thumb from my cheek to my bottom lip and lightly traces it. I gasp ever so slightly as the sensation sends tingles straight to my core. His wolf purrs deep in his chest as he watches my body’s response to his touch. I flinch as my ankle splint is finally released, even though she tries to be gentle in removing it.

I don’t have time to dwell on the pain as he leans forward and nibbles ever so gently on my bottom lip, which I hadn’t realized I’d bitten down on in pain.

I moan softly as he leaves a trail of feather-light kisses on my mouth, and up my jaw, stopping to whisper, “I love you, Little Warrior.” Huskily into my ear, before pressing a firm kiss on my forehead.

“I love you, too,” I whispered, my voice tight with need and longing. He pulls away, leaving an empty void where his face was just moments ago. The whine that crawls its way from my throat does nothing but make him chuckle as he turns to the nurse at the end of the stretcher. She smirks slightly, clearly able to smell my arousal.

“Alpha, Luna, we have the x-rays we need. We will take you to a room and start an IV drip. Healer Cordelia will be with you as soon as she looks over the X-rays.” She says and rolls me out into the hall and towards my room.