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“No, I didn’t do anything to get me pregnant,” I explained, heat creeping up my neck.
He paused. “You’re on suppressants? Was it a break through heat? It’s rare, but it happens.”
I shook my head. “No. I was… I went through my heat alone.”
Dr. Labine stared at me for a long time, but it was Isla who let out an outraged sort of growl. “Alone?”
“Technically, chained to a bed,” I murmured, looking down at my wrists and seeing the bruising from the shackles. “I had to go through my first heat without… help.”
Isla gaped at me, her gaze jerking to the shirt I was clinging to like a safety blanket. “What about your alpha? The one you came in with?”
“He isn’t my alpha.” Kellan wasn’t my anything, and that made me want to cry, too. My emotions must’ve still been haywire from the heat from hell. It was the only reason I could come up with to explain why this black fabric was suddenly the beginning and end of my world.
Every person looked at me with pity and horror.
“Why were you chained up?” June finally asked, looking more than a little curious.
Dr. Labine cleared his throat. “That doesn’t matter. But let’s put a rush on those labs to ensure her heat cycle was fully completed.” He glanced at my legs. “May I assume the marks on your ankles are also due to restraints?”
I nodded, swallowing down a sob.
“We’ll need to photograph everything,” he told me, his voice patient and gentle. “If this goes to trial, the documentation will help.”
I gave another nod of assent, sinking into my own headspace as Annie slipped out of the room and came back with a camera. The four of them gently and carefully angled my body to take pictures. I finally shut my eyes to avoid the flashes, but they still echoed behind my eyelids.
Each new picture unearthed a memory of my life until it was like a picture book chronicling the last twenty-two years. The sum total of my life was compressed into a montage that lasted the eighteen minutes they documented every bruise, cut, and wound on my body.
Through it all, I clung to Kellan’s shirt, that peppermint and lemon scent the only thing keeping me from losing it completely even as silent tears dripped down my cheeks.
“All finished,” Dr. Labine murmured, passing the camera back to Annie. June had left earlier to take my blood sample to the lab. I’d barely felt the needle prick my skin.
Shivering, I reached for the blanket and, with Isla’s help, pulled it up around my body.
“The bullet only grazed you,” Dr. Labine informed me. “The bleeding has already stopped, so I don’t see a need for stitches. You’ve got some nasty bruises, but the quick x-ray we did upon your arrival didn’t show anything broken. There’s a burn on your shoulder that seems fresh, though.”
I nodded, feeling the heat of the branding iron as a phantom throb.
Dr. Labine turned to Isla. “Let’s get some antiseptic ointment and make sure it’s bandaged properly.” He turned back to me. “As you know, omegas tend to heal quite quickly, so hopefully you’ll start feeling better soon.”
I didn’t know that, actually. But it made sense why I rarely had bruises for more than a few days.
Dr. Labine frowned. “I am concerned with your weight. You seem malnourished and dehydrated. We’ll start you on some IV fluids. Are you hungry?”
I tucked my chin to my chest and shook my head.
His face fell, disappointment in the set of his shoulders and jaw.
My omega nudged me, the urge to soothe some of his upset stronger than I had the energy to fight. “Maybe I could eat a little?” I hedged. More than likely, I’d push it around. As much as I should have been hungry, I just wasn’t. Everything was just static. Like the fuzzy black and gray lines that showed up when the cable went out.
Smoothing my thumb over the collar of Kellan’s shirt, I tried to lift it to my nose without either of them seeing me do it.
“Let’s order some broth for Hazel,” Dr. Labine told Isla.
“Of course,” she agreed, flashing me a quick smile. “Need anything else, honey?”
“Can I…” I swallowed my hesitation and tried to find my voice. “Can I see Kellan?”
Her smile softened. “I take it he owns the shirt?”
