“To thank my future son-in-law for saving my daughter tonight.” She walks out the door, closing it a little harder than necessary.
I look back at my dad. “If you were hard on Reid, you need to apologize to him.”
My father scowls at me. “I’m not going to apologize to him.”
“Dad.”
He meets my gaze with a stern expression. “If I was wrong, I would apologize. I’m not wrong. It’s his place to keep you safe no matter what.”
“Which he did,” I argue.
“And I will thank him for that, but it’s also okay for me as his alpha and your father to remind him of that.”
I take a deep breath and feel the fight go out of me. “Just please be nice to him.”
He steps closer and touches my hand. “It’s Reid. He’s been like a second son to me since he was young. You don’t need to tell me to be nice to him.”
I realize there’s truth to my father’s words. I stare up at him, and suddenly, I feel absolutely exhausted. My father pats my hand. “You need to rest.”
“When can I see Reid?” I ask, battling against eyes that feel too heavy to keep open.
“I’ll figure something out. Can you rest now?”
While he’s here and I have his attention, I have to know. “Why?”
His face darkens, and he doesn’t pretend not to know what I’m talking about. “I honestly don’t know.” He suddenly looks like he’s aged several years, and I hate that.
“We’ll figure it out,” I tell him. He doesn’t agree or disagree.
“Zane’s going to stay here tonight to make sure you can rest.” I frown. “He’s the only one I could get the hospital to clear staying, and that’s because he’s your brother. I have to work with the team that I sent to the hotel and see what we can find. Your brother won’t let anything or anybody past him.”
I know that. “What about Reid? He’s not exactly able to fight back quite yet.”
“Slate’s staying with him.”
I frown. “What about Evie and Tessa?”
“They’re both staying at the off-campus house the guys live in. Quint is there, and I sent over four enforcers. They’ll be safe.” He stands up. “You need to focus on healing and nothing else.”
“Thanks, Dad.”
His face softens, and he leans down and kisses my cheek. “I love you, Riley.”
“I love you too, Dad.”
The door to my room opens, and my mom walks in, anger all over her face. “That boy’s back is shredded. You’d better go thank him for sacrificing himself to keep our daughter safe.” My father opens his mouth, but she shakes her head. “Not a word unless it’s to sing his praises. Go.” She nods at the door, her expression stern.
My father sighs and then walks over to her. He kisses her long and hard, and I look away. I’m used to it, but that doesn’t mean I have to watch. “I’ll be back,” I hear him say right before the door to the room opens and closes.
My mom walks over to the chair she vacated when she went to see Reid and sits. “Is it really bad?” I ask.
She levels a look at me. “Of course, it’s bad. What part of his back was shredded did you not get?”
I groan, and anger rises up in me. But she continues in a voice that’s not quite so stern. “But his healing is kicking in, and they gave him strong drugs as well.”
We both know that may not even touch it because we burn through drugs quickly, and they leave our systems without really doing anything. But we can hope they’re doing something to relieve the pain for Reid. I want to reach out to him, but I don’t know what to say. And I’m hoping once my dad leaves him alone, maybe he can sleep so he can recover. Honestly, the best thing we could both do is shift. It would be incredibly painful to shift in this condition, but if we could, it would speed up our recovery. Obviously, it’s not an option while we’re both stuck here. But hopefully, tomorrow when we’re discharged, we can go home and shift and begin to heal even more quickly.
Chapter 31
