Chapter 4
1604 Words
Jake walked into the living room all of a sudden, a bottle of water in his hand. Kevin looked up immediately, Todrick's head on his shoulder, while Todrick also held Grace. "Hey, Alpha. Something wrong? You look... Distraught." "Well yeah. I'm losing my mind. I don't know if Alex is okay. Travis is in there with him, to make it worse. And... I can smell Kirstie's f*****g Heat all the way down the block." "Oh, I'm sorry... Perhaps that was an irrational question... I've had to take care of Kirstie before, health wise. If you'd like me to..?" Jake threw himself down onto the couch beside Todrick, and sighed loudly. "Would you please? I've tried. I really have. I'm just not good at self control, I guess. And I'm afraid of what I'll do if my Alpha comes out." Kevin stood, pressing a kiss to Todrick's temple as he did so. "I'll take care of her. Thank you, Jake. I'm sorry you're stressing." Todrick frowned at him, and shifted over to lean on Jake's shoulder instead, shifting Grace over slightly as well. "Oh shoot... I should make dinner." Jake raised an eyebrow at him. "It's really late, y'know..." "But it was my responsibility. And also... I'm hungry." *******
The nurse insisted that Alex was moved to the x-ray room in a wheel chair, because that was the process regardless of the injury. Scott wheeled him down, allowing the nurse to do her job of interrogating Alex. Finally she got to the bottom of the page, and eyed him carefully. "Is there any chance at all that you could be pregnant?" "No, Ma'am." "What's your Ranking?" "A nine, Ma'am. But I haven't had the surgery for fertility." "Ah, I see." She wrote something, and then looked back over. "Wow.. A nine, huh? That's awesome." Alex smiled widely at her. "Oh, thank you!" She smiled back at him. "And I can see why. You're just, the sweetest thing." She gave him a once over. "And you're very attractive. What on Earth did they mark you down for? Why not a ten?" Alex shrugged, and moved his arms onto his lap when he went through the doorway of the dark room. Scott frowned. "I think... I heard the Alpha marking scores say it was because of his height. Alphas don't like tall Omegas. Which I know is a horrible thing, I'm not agreeing with it, I'm just relaying what they said." She nodded sadly. "Ah... I see... How silly of them? To mark your score down for something you have no control over. You should get retested." Alex pouted. "I did... I used to be a five. Now I'm a nine... Even the nice Counsel wouldn't overlook that?" Scott shrugged behind him. "Some things never change." *******
Travis was now in a temporary sling, just until his shoulder heals, which shouldn't be more than a few days, being the Alpha that he is. Mitch was leaning into his other side, not speaking. Avi's ankle had been wrapped up as well, a few scratches taken care of also. When the nurses left, the others were just to sit in silence until Alex's brigade came back. Avi sighed loudly. Travis was the one to question him. "Is something wrong, Alpha?" Avi looked down at his lap. "She's in pain." "You'll be home to care for her in no time."
Mitch's eyes suddenly opened wide. "Oh no... I forgot to tell the nurse to check Scott's ribs..." Avi took a moment to process his outburst. "I'm sure you have time to bring it up when they come back." Almost as if on cue, Alex and Scott walked back into the room with the nurse behind them. Alex took a seat in the chair Scott was previously sitting on, as the nurse grabbed a few things to wrap Alex's arm in a more professional manner. Travis looked over to him. "Excuse me, nurse? Is his arm broken?" "No. He should be fine. There are two large bones in his forearm, as I'm sure you know, and one of the bones is bruised. It is a type of traumatic injury, that should only need to be well rested for it to heal. Though I will also prescribe medication to reduce the swelling." Scott plopped himself down beside Avi with a frown, turning to speak to him quietly. "She had to ask me if it was at all possible that Alex was being abused in our home. And I just... Hate the fact that she even needed to ask. What kind of f****d up society are we living in these days?" Avi chuckled and set a hand on Scott's back. "I know, Rookie. I know it's tough, and unfair, and cruel... But thank God, because there are people like you in the world." The nurse turned, halfway done with Alex's arm. "I don't mean to interrupt... I'm sure you have Betas at home that could give you this information. But I would just like to emphasize that having a bruised bone is very, very painful. And Omegas' bodies aren't good at handling that. So please care for him extensively." Another nurse walked into the room then, holding up his hand a little in an apology for interrupting. "I'm sorry. Someone hit the 'call' button?" Avi glanced around curiously, but when he saw Mitch blushing furiously, he decided to take the hit. "Oh. That was me. One of my Alphas has a rib injury that I neglected to mention." The nurse smiled a little, and nodded. "Of course. How can I help?" Avi elbowed Scott, who jumped a little, but stood. Scott moved to stand in front of the nurse, and then he glanced back at Avi. "Do I have to like... Strip?" The nurse was quick to try and put him at ease. "That depends. Where is the injury?" Mitch spoke up immediately. "Center of his chest." The nurse nodded once, and then gave Scott a sympathetic smile. "In that case, yes. I'll need you to lose the shirt, Alpha." Scott reached down to grab the bottom of his shirt, but before he took it off, he froze. "Should we do this somewhere else?" "Wherever you're comfortable, Alpha." Avi snapped at Scott before he could make a decision. "You'll do it here, Scott." He wanted to see for himself, knowing Scott would downplay it, and he knew Mitch was worried sick.
Scott just nodded, turning back to the male nurse, before taking his shirt off hesitantly. "Alpha, do I have your permission to touch you? Just for a moment." Scott shrugged, too embarrassed to answer. The nurse only touched him a few times, having to lift each of his arms to see if the bruises wrapped around his sides, and then gently touching his torso where the bruises were, to see if he could feel the bones out of place. Scott just stared down at him, grateful he didn't have to meet anyone else's eyes. Avi stared at the nurse. "Well?" "I'm not sure if... I don't think he broke any ribs. Though they could be bruised or sprained. Both circumstances, with an Alpha of his stature, will probably only take a few days to heal." Avi nodded once. "And?" The nurse met Scott's eyes for a second, and then looked over at Avi. "Um... And..?" Avi squinted at him. "What? Do I have to spell that s**t out for you? And, is he going to need medications, or a Band-Aid, or a f*****g hip replacement?" Scott turned to him quickly. "Hey, stop it. Don't take your anger out on him. And in case you've forgotten, there's an Omega in this room." Avi leaned back in his seat, looking down at his lap. "Yeah.. Sorry." Scott met Travis' eyes briefly, Travis looking quite shocked at Avi's attitude. The nurse then tapped Scott's forearm. "You can put your shirt back on, Alpha. I can get you some pain medications until it heals." "No, that's okay. I'm not good with pain medications." "I'll give them to you anyway, and then it's up to you if you take them or not. Sound fair?" Scott pulled his shirt over his head. "Yeah. Hey, I'm sorry about my Alpha's attitude. He's had a long day, and it's only going to get longer when he gets back home. Not that I'm making excuses, just... I understand where he's coming from." "Oh, that's okay. I've heard worse. Thank you, though." Mitch finally couldn't wait, and stood to take a step in Scott's direction, but then stopped as if he wasn't allowed. The nurse turned to Avi, a sympathetic look on his face. "Normally, I should send you to a pharmacy to pick up all the prescriptions, but I understand that you have somewhere to be, and it's probably too late at night anyway... So I'll just get them here. Only a few minutes, I promise." Avi didn't look up. "That's fine." Scott turned around to smile at Mitch, opening his arms toward the Omega. Mitch didn't even blink, as he rushed over and grabbed Scott in a hug. At first he tried to be wary of Scott's wounded ribs, but it didn't take long before he disregarded it and hugged Scott as tight as he could. Scott pulled away just enough to kiss the side of Mitch's head. "I'm sorry for worrying you, honey. How can I make it up to you?" "Kisses and ice cream." He responded with no hesitation, as if he'd been thinking about it for a while. Scott chuckled a little. "As you wish, Princess." *******
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