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My jaw drops at his words. “What? What do you mean?”
“If you really, really aren’t going to go into cervology, we won’t push you anymore. Our work is exactly that—ours. Not yours,” says Mom. “Whether you stay in medicine or move on to another field, you have our support. Right?” She directs this last word at my fathers, who flinch at her steady glare. It’s so rare to see her like this and for a second I picture Riley as a mother, watching over our children. She’d never push them to do anything they didn’t want to and rip the heads off anyone who tried.
“Right,” repeats Papa. “Even if it’s something like, uh”—he swallows tightly—“cooking.”
I huff out a laugh. “Wow. Thank you. I didn’t expect this.” Maybe Riley got through to them after all. I shouldn’t have chastised her for it. Fuck, I can be such an idiot.
“And as for Riley,” continues Mom. “We like her. She will be good for your Pack. Even with her present circumstances it’s clear that you all care deeply for her and she for you.”
This is a day for surprises. “She’s not very traditional. Not like you three.”
My mom sighs, and her gaze trails to something behind me. I turn and see an Alpha and Omega sitting at a table over a half-finished meal. The Alpha is berating the Omega, mocking her, and the Omega is just taking it. Her shoulders are slumped over, and she winces over and over at his sharp words. A sudden urge to go over there and drag him out by his shirt almost overwhelms me before I regain control.
“Sometimes,” Mom murmurs, her eyes soft, “traditions are meant to be broken.”
“Besides,” Dad pipes up. “I need someone new to debate. I know all your Mom and Papa’s arguments at this point in our lives. Getting someone new to argue with will be fun.”
Oh, dear God. Riley might want to go to a different pack unless she wants to debate Alpha-based economic theories for hours with my Dad. The man can debate for days.
“But,” Papa points out, bringing us back to the subject. “She’s very sick, Thane. I toned it down in front of the others, but she is very sick. She needs medical intervention, and quickly.”
My throat tightens. “I’ll do what I can.”
“We know you will. But she should get in at our clinic, in the new trial. As fast as possible. The new drug is very promising, and the results are better than we could have hoped, even in these early stages.”
“Can you do that?” I ask, knowing a quick turnaround isn’t always possible with all the red tape and paperwork the hospital puts its patients through. “Can you really get her in the trial?”
Don’t give me that hope only to take it away when it comes time for the paperwork.
“I’ve already gone over what we have of her medical history. She’s a good candidate for it,” says Dad, raising an eyebrow. “And you may not be interested in our medical legacy, but it’s still there. And we can use our legacy to push paperwork through pretty fast.Orwe can take our legacy to a different hospital.” His eyes gleam with amusement.
“I… I don’t know what to say.Thank you,” I manage, shocked at the turnaround in their attitude. “If she were awake, Riley would be so grateful to you as well.”
“Now order something to eat and go home,” says Mom in a no-nonsense voice. “You look terrible.”
“Thanks, Mom,” I mutter. We go through the motions of a normal breakfast from that point forward, but I barely contribute to the conversation. Exhaustion consumes me, along with thoughts of Riley and our future. Hope glimmers through, but I’m scared to grasp it in case it slips through my fingers.
Mom makes me get a rideshare instead of driving my SUV home, and I don’t fight her. I’m so tired that I find myself dozing off in the car, but when I’m dropped off at home, my nerves spark up again. I need to talk to the others.
I trudge inside, and immediately, I’m met with hugs and touches from the others. “Well?” demands Levi, stepping back, hands on his hips. “How did it go?”
“They’re going to try to get Riley into the trials,” I say, sinking into a nearby chair. “It might take a few weeks, but that’s better than the months it usually takes.”
“Thank fuck,” says Fox, raking a hand through his hair. “And it will help?”
“It will,” I say, trying to believe it. “Until then, though, we need to take caution with Riley’s health. We can’t overwhelm her, but we need to be there for her. If anything, being near us will help her heal faster. We need to set up a schedule and rotate the four of us through the hospital.”
“I can take evenings, if it helps,” offers Levi. “I can go there straight from the school and just do my coursework in her room on my laptop.”
“Fox and I can rotate out mornings and afternoons,” says Miles, checking his calendar on his phone. “Based on Fox’s games and practices. I can work from anywhere, so that doesn’t matter.”
“And I’ll take overnights,” I say. “My shifts are almost exclusively day now, and we can work through any outliers. And trust me, I’m used to sleeping in a hospital if it comes to that.” God knows I’ve done enough graveyard shifts to get to the seniority I have today.
“And when she comes home?” asks Fox, raising his eyebrows. “What happens then?”
He wants to know what happens with Riley, what she’ll become to us, but I’m not ready to talk about that.
“One day at a time,” I say, stepping past them and heading toward the staircase. “Now everyone, go get some sleep. Riley needs us, and we won’t do her any good if we can’t take care of ourselves.” With that, I head to my room, not bothering to change out of my clothes. I fall face-first into my bedding, letting the weight of everything suffocate me to sleep. But it’s not long before I sense the others.
