The Truth About Drew

s i x

The science lab is on fire, and it is most definitely not Drew's fault.

Okay, so maybe it was.

"Hey, is this the right chemical?" Lucy, his lab partner and fellow omega called, holding up a clear tube filled with a transparent liquid.

Drew glanced up drowsily. Staying up all night had taken a toll on him, and he could barely see straight. "Oh, yeah, sure," he said, squinting at his paper.

"Alright, thanks. So what do I do?" She fumbled with the tube, nearly dropping it.

"Here, let me do it," Drew said, taking the tube from his partner.

"Here, you forgot your glasses," she said, handing him his lab goggles.

"Oh, thanks," he said, putting them on.

He dripped a few drops into the solution and looked at his paper. "Observe the reaction," he said. He stared at the liquid. "Nothing's happening. Did we do something wrong?"

Lucy peered over his shoulder, "Maybe we need to add more?" She quipped.

"It says add only five drops," he said doubtfully.

"But isn't something supposed to be happening?"

"I guess. It says five to six, so I guess it's fine," he said. "And stand back, would you? You're making me nervous."

She held up her hands innocently, and backed away, smiling.

Drew let a single drop fall into the clear liquid. He smiled at the light fizzing. "There we go."

"Hey, Drew!" Someone yelled. Drew jumped, and that's all it took for him to accidentally drop the entire tube into the water.

He got a reaction all right. There was a strange hissing noise, everything went quiet, and he was blown backwards by an explosion.

***

Drew was dimly aware of an annoying ringing in his ears, and as his brain fought its way back into consciousness, he noticed someone was shaking his shoulder, hard.

"Hey! Hey, you need to get up, now!" A voice yelled right in his ear.

"What?" he muttered, putting a hand up to his head. He felt a cold stab of fear when it came away wet, but it was clear, much to his relief.

"Hey, stupid! Get up, now!" He was heaved to his feet, and he gasped as he was thrown over someone's shoulder in a fireman's carry.

Drew blacked out again as all the blood rushed to his head.

***

"-bed rest for at least a week. Also, no physical activities for six weeks. He needs time to heal."

Drew felt woozy and everything was disjointed, appearing as smudges of color flying by his vision instead of images.

He groaned, and he felt someone grab his hand. "Sweetie? Baby, it's Mommy." His mother ran her thumb over his hand soothingly. He relaxed at the touch.

"Mama?" He croaked, his throat dry and scratchy.

"Yes?"

"Can I have some water?"

He heard a sigh of relief. "Of course, baby." Seconds later he felt a cool bottle being pushed into his hands and his fingers were wrapped around it. "Here you go."

He tried to focus on the bottle, but all he could see were flashes of blue and grey that were spinning and blending so much he got a headache. He closed his eyes and leaned back against his pillow. "Mama... everything is blurry."

Soft fingers touched his face. "It's okay, sweetie, you hit your head. The doctor says that's to be expected."

A different voice spoke this time. "I already inspected his eyes. The glasses shielded him from most of the blast, but the flash must have temporarily damaged his eyes. Don't worry, he'll be fine. 

"Temporary?" he slurred; his tongue still dry, even though his mama helped him drink some water. He spilled most of it down his shirt.

"Nothing to fret about, kid," the voice-- a doctor, Drew realized, said, patting his hair. The hand lingered longer than he would have liked, and his mama, his gorgeous mama, cleared her throat.

"Thank you, Dr. Ford. If you don't mind, may I have a minute with my son?"

"Of course. Tell me if you need anything." The doctor excused himself, and Drew vaguely made out the blur of his mom sitting down.

"What a creep!" Christie said under her breath, like she was telling him a secret. "Full body inspection, my foot," she muttered darkly. "I wanted to strangle him."

Drew shuddered and thanked God for his mama. "Remind me to never come back here."

"I will be complaining. But he's good at his job. How are you feeling?"

"My head hurts," Drew said. "Especially here." He reached up to touch his face and stopped. A thick bandage covered part of his face, but he could still feel the wiry stitches. "Mama?"

"It's not that bad, baby," Christie said quickly. "Just a scratch really. It'll heal right up."

Drew frowned.

"Anyways!" Christie tried to distract him. "You should thank that boy."

"What boy?" Drew said confusedly. He regretted raising an eyebrow when pain lanced down his jaw line as the skin stretched.

"I don't know his name, but he's the one who got you out of the lab. It was on fire, you know. How could they even perform an experiment where that was a possibility?" She was angry. "If not for that boy, my child would have been taken from me!" No. She wasn't angry. She was furious. Drew could hear the tremble in her voice she got when she was about to kill someone.

"But I'm fine! Mama, I'm fine. Please calm down. Why don't you tell me about the boy? Maybe I'll know who it is!" he offered.

Christie took a deep breath and sat down again. "I'm calm. I'm calm." She took another deep breath and held Drew's hand. "I honestly don't know much about him. All I know is he's an alpha," Drew stiffened, "and he's a new student. Can you belive that? A brand new student willing to risk his life for another person. If ever you decide you want an alpha mate, and I'm not saying you need one, Baby, I'm not saying that at all, but that's the type to go for. Valuing others above themselves."

Drew's stomach sunk like a rock in a still pond. Somebody automatically sprung to mind, but that was obviously wrong. "I-I, well nobody comes to mind right away..." he said guiltily. If he was right, and he prayed he wasn't, then he would be the worst person in the entire world minus Hitler.

"Of course not. Don't worry about it." She patted his cheek.

There was a knock on the door. A nurse peeked in. "Excuse me, ma'am, but is Drew up for a visitor? He's been waiting a while."

Drew nodded. "It's Aaron or Blake."

His mama nodded. "It's okay."

The door opened wider, and someone slipped through it. "Hi, Drew."

Drew felt sick.

"Kai?" he said blankly.