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What worried me the most was that Artie hadn’t woken up yet. It had taken me what I could only assume was a minute or two, but the omega had still been unconscious when they took him away. “Oh, gods, what if this wrecks his surgery next week?”
Artie was supposed to have laser eye surgery, but they wouldn’t do it if the pressure and swelling was too much. It had taken them six months to get the surgery on the books and I wasn’t sure when there would be another one ready for him.
Would his eyesight continue its rapid decline without the surgery to slow it down?
Guilt gripped me like an ice-cold fist as Leith put me in the car and we drove toward the hospital, one thought repeating in my mind over and over:
Had I just completely ruined everything?
“There is some significant swelling due to the concussion and we’ll have to monitor it in terms of him having that surgery next week. Omegas tend to heal much quicker from these sorts of things than anyone else…”
The doctor’s words were almost an echo of what Aurelia’s doctor had told her after her piece of shit ex shoved her down the stairs so many years ago and I had to keep from laughing hysterically at the irony of it.
Just because an omega could heal quickly didn’t mean shit to me when I’d watched my two omega sisters struggle from their injuries—Brynn especially as her head injury had been directly my fault.
Apparently, my past wasn’t stopping at bringing my father back into the picture, it also had to repeat the last time that I’d well and truly felt hopeless.
I could still taste the same shame on my tongue as I glanced over at the alphas standing around Artie’s hospital bed.
‘You were supposed to take care of her!’ Alexei’s harsh voice echoed through my mind as my eyes found Enzo who was looking anywhere but at me.
He hadn’t spoken a word to me since we’d arrived and had only updated Leith on the situation as it currently stood.
“Why hasn’t he woken up yet?” Leith asked from near Artie’s head as he gently brushed the omega’s blond hair away from his closed eyes.
The doctor shrugged. “With head injuries everyone takes their own time to regain consciousness, though I hear the more you stare at them the less likely they are to wake up.”
The joke landed completely flat, both Enzo and Leith staring at the man until he sheepishly tucked his tablet under his arm and cleared his throat. “Ahem, once he does wake up, please press the call button so we can do some more tests. I’ll have a nurse check in with you in a bit.”
The man then turned and fled from the room, leaving the three of us alone.
Torn between wanting to hide from Enzo’s anger and wanting to be near my omega, the latter finally won out and I stood, crossing the hospital room.
I’d just reached for Artie’s hand when Enzo’s snarl stopped me.
“Don’t touch him.”
“Enzo…” Leith warned, his expression hard as he glanced between the two of us. “Calm down.”
But Enzo shook his head violently. “No, Leith, I won’t calm down. I knew skating today would be a bad idea—look at her—she looked like she hasn’t slept in days and she just went fucking MIA completely yesterday. We should never have let her onto the ice with him.”
I opened my mouth to speak, but I didn’t know what to say to make any of this okay.
A wave of nausea rolled through me and I had to clamp my mouth shut to keep from spewing all over my pack.
“I’m sorry,” I finally managed in a hoarse whisper.
Enzo wasn’t done yet, though. “I love you, Ciara, but you don’t seem to trust us with any of your shit. You should have come home and been honest with us about what’s going on with you. None of this would have happened if you’d done that—or maybe it would—I don’t know, maybe you really are a bad luck charm like you said before.”
I could feel his regret as soon as the words left his mouth and we stared at one another in shock. But it was too late for regret now.
I’d told him that in confidence when we were locked in that closet so long ago and to have him bring it up now? While I already felt miserable enough about the entire situation?
“Enzo!” Leith’s bark was rough as he glared at our packmate like he couldn’t recognize him.
Ragged hurt at his words filled me and I knew they could both feel it too. Then I slammed down on my end of the bond, cutting them off so abruptly that all three of us gasped.
“Ciara…” Enzo began, taking a step toward me. He looked contrite now, but my brain was already running wild with his words.
