The Healer

Chapter 41

Tori POV

I stood over my father with my hands squeezing his as tight as I could. My mind was searching his for the healing tether. Mystic came forward and used her abilities to tie into Apache. The problem was that Apache was an Alpha wolf. They are very strong, independent, and proud. Even though I was his daughter and an Alpha myself, Alpha wolves are still too proud to accept help.

“Damnit Apache!” I screamed at him through the healing bond. He was pulling his own healing magic to help Rick but continued to block me out. What the hell was he doing!? I am trying to heal him from the excessive bleeding from the knife wound. The knife had entered in the center of his chest just below the sternum, barely missing his heart, but it did c***k a couple of ribs. Suddenly, my hands started to burn, then my arms, then the sensation traveled throughout my body. It felt like flames were melting my skin from the inside. I looked down at the knife and noticed that it was silver. The silver from the weapon was moving through my father’s body and out the bleeding wound and into my body through my hands. I couldn’t give up; I wasn’t about to let my father die if I could help it!

Through the bond, I could see the clouds in the distance. Every one of them was black clouds and swirling all around me. Some were mixing with others and some drifting farther away from my reach. I couldn’t lock onto any of them. There was a red glow in the background, and I could hear Apache howling in pain. I tried calling him, but he couldn’t find my voice. He kept howling in pain and running in circles. The tether was beginning to break. No! It can’t break! That means only one thing. His legs started to tremble, followed by his arms and hands. Suddenly, his whole body started to shake violently, and I could hear someone calling me.

“Tori, what’s happening?”

“I can’t…its’ too hard….he’s fighting…” I tried once more to hold the healing bond so Mystic could transmit her healing powers to Apache, but the healing bond was weak. Apache was focusing his healing on rick’s body, not the bond. I threw all my energy and some of my life essence into the bond to strengthen it so I could heal him. I felt several sets of hands covering my own, and an overwhelming sense of life force pushed its way through my body into the bond. It was starting to work. I found Apache howling in pain, Mystic came forward and wrapped herself around Apache, giving him warmth and security while I sent my healing magic through the bond to my father’s body. I was becoming exhausted. I could barely hold on to the tether. If I let go now, his wounds would turn fatal. I took a deep breath and pushed forward. I saw the internal bleeding slow its course; his heart was beating in a more stable rhythm, albeit slower. His breathing was still shallow, but there was no fluid or gurgle sounds anymore. It looked as though he would make it. The burning sensation disappeared, and I felt love and warmth seeping into his bond. I pulled my hands back, and suddenly, the alarms on the monitors started blaring into the room.

“We’re losing him! Get the crash cart, stat!” Someone yelled behind me, and I felt several hands pull back from mine. One pair of hands grabbed me and pulled me away from him and his chest as we stood in the back of the room watching the doctor and nurses attempt to revive their alpha.

After three shocks to the heart, we heard the monitor sing out the heartbeat we had been waiting for. I sighed silently with relief.

“We need to get him to surgery, now!” Voices were yelling out orders, and the nurses prepared the IV’s and monitors for transport to the operating room upstairs. I stood silently and watched his chest rise and fall in shallow movements. His eyes were closed but would flutter slightly when they started wheeling the bed out of the room and down the hall.

Eric was holding Tammy as Victor held me. We had tears in our eyes and prayers in our hearts that we would once again see our Alpha. I prayed to the Goddess that I would be able to hold my father and tell him that I love him. I pulled away from Victor to see Teaghan standing alone against the far wall holding herself. Her tears fell from red and swollen eyes. With no attempt to wipe them away, she sobbed as her heart broke. Tammy and I walked over to her and wrapped our arms around her, and we wept together.

“He will make it out of surgery and be just fine.” I rubbed Teaghan’s back, trying to comfort her, and Tammy wiped her tears from her face.

“I’m so sorry Tori, yes, he is strong. He will pull through.”

“I swear I will make her pay for what she’s done.” I turned to see Victor staring back at me with a look of question and concern on his face. His eyebrows furrowed, and a frown formed on his face. He knew I was up to something but didn’t know what.

Six hours later, we were all lounging around in the surgery waiting room. No word yet as to how the Alpha was doing. So, we waited somewhat patiently for any news. Tammy had fallen asleep on Eric’s lap. Victor was sitting on one of the large couches, and I was leaning against him with my feet up. Teaghan had gone back home to change into more comfortable clothes and would be back soon.

“Baby?”

“Hmm?” I quietly answered without looking up.

“What happened?”

“What do you mean?” I twisted my head to look at him. His baby blues were peering down at me with concern and hesitancy.

“Why couldn’t you heal the Alpha?” I sat upright at this and faced him while he brought my legs up and laid them across his lap.

“Like I said before, Alpha wolves are difficult creatures. Even though I am his pup, Apache is very strong and proud. He wouldn’t accept any help from me at first. I tried to use the healing bond and cover it in love and care, but he kept running away. Finally, I felt the healing begin to work. His ribs were mended, and his lung sealed itself as well as the bleeding slowed down. The knife was made of silver, and it burned me, so I couldn’t do much. Which is kind of odd since silver never really affected me before, but maybe this was a higher concentration of the metal.” I shrugged and looked down at my hands.

I felt his fingers run down my face and grip my chin. Lifting my head gently, he gave a sad smile.

“You did what you could. Hell, all of us held on with you, and even then, he didn’t want to. He still accepted it. Apache knows we all love him, but like you said, Alpha’s can be very difficult to deal with. He’s too stubborn to die anyway.” He smiled again, and I chuckled.

“I was able to stop the internal bleeding. I hope it was enough.” I sighed heavily. “It’s just so frustrating!” He pulled me into his chest and wrapped his arms around me.

“It is, but we have to sit patiently and wait. Right now, we pray that the doctors can fix him, and he’ll come back to us. Teaghan could also use a shoulder as well.” I looked over to see that she had returned and was sitting in a chair off in the corner occasionally wiping a tear from her cheeks.

“I’m happy for both of them, but I don’t know her very well.”

“She’s a widow. Lost her mate six or seven years ago to a rogue attack, I believe. She’s also one of the top female warriors in the pack. Trained by the Alpha himself and even won a spar or two against him.”

“Sounds like someone I need to get to know” Victor chuckled and nodded.

“Yeah, she’s a good person.” He kissed me on the forehead as I stood and slowly approached Teaghan.

“Hey” I softly announced as I sat next to her.

“Hi Tori” She answered quietly and wiped the wetness from her face.

“He’s strong. He’ll be fine.” I grabbed her hand, and she offered a sad smile.

“I know. It’s just hard. He had just asked me to be his mate, and not minutes later, this happens.” Her eyes turned red again, and I squeezed her hand.

“Don’t think like that. You’ll get plenty of time with him. A few days rest, and he’ll be back on his feet.” I gave her a warm hug and smiled.

“Does this mean I have to call you step-mom?” I asked, and she giggled.

“Only if you want to.” I smiled at her and nodded.

I heard the opening of the mechanical door behind us, and a doctor and a nurse walked out. Everyone stood up and looked at them with hope.

“Beta Victor?” The doctor greeted him with a bow. I walked up next to Victor and held his hand. He wrapped an arm around me, and we waited for the doctor to give us any news.

“Yes?”

“The Alpha is out of surgery. There was some damage to the lung and two of his ribs. We repaired the lung and set the ribs to heal properly. Luckily, with a little healer help,we were able to control the bleeding and withdraw the knife without further damage. There is still silver in his system, which will take a few days for his body to clear out. He’ll be weak and need to rest for the week, but he should make a full recovery.” A collective gasp was heard throughout the waiting room as the good news settled in. I let the tears in my eyes flow, and I smiled at the doctor.

“Thank you, doctor. Can we go see him?” Victor asked as I hugged him tighter.

“Give the nurses about fifteen minutes to settle him in his room. Right now, only two at a time. He needs his rest.”

“Understood. Thank you, doctor.” He smiled and bowed, then left the room with his nurse following.

“Oh, I was so scared!” I exclaimed as I turned to Victor and smiled.

“I know, baby, but like we said, he’s strong. Do you want to go see him?” I started to say yes, but then looked back at Teaghan, who was wringing her hands with worry.

“Teaghan, why don’t you go spend some time with him. You should be there when he wakes up. We’ll visit once he’s up and feeling better.” A huge smile crossed her face, and she ran up to hug me tightly.

“Thank you, Tori! I’ll let him know you all are here waiting to see him.” I nodded and watched her quickly step down the hall towards his room.

“Besides, I have something important to go do.” I turned to leave the waiting room when Victor grabbed my arm and pulled me back.

“What are you going to do?”

“I need answers.” I growled as I stormed out of the hospital with Victor on my heels.