Having Two Mates {2017}

Chapter Eighteen

           
[THIS IS THE 2017 VERSION OF HTM! THE 2024 REWRITTEN VERSION IS NOW AVAILABLE!!!]

CHAPTER EIGHTEEN:

I hadn't realized I had fallen asleep until my head fell back too fast and hit the back of the chair a little too hard. The impact was enough to jolt my entire body awake and become hyper aware of my surroundings. It was day now, the sun shining brightly through the curtains.

In the bed beside me, Alex lay resting almost peacefully. I say almost bc his heart rate was still too high for normal and his face was etched in a frown while unconscious.

Since it was lighter now, I could now see how much damage Alex had taken on. Most of the small scratches he had were healed but the deeper wounds, like the one on his cheek, had required stitches and was healing slowly. In its wake would most likely be a discolored strip of skip bc it was so deep. There were other visible wounds like dark bruises scattered up his arms and his finger tips were bright red, probably from being burned. Possibly by silver? It would explain how his wrists had burns all around them and the doctor even said he had been exposed to it.

Before I fell asleep, nurses had been in to change his bandages around his torso. It was his biggest wound and it caused him a lot of pain judging how he winced whenever they touched it. Actually, any form of contact hurt him.

Sitting here, I felt helpless, useless even. I wanted to give him comfort seeing that it was my fault he was in this state. Sure, everyone assured me it wasn't related but I could tell they thought the same as I did. Something was up and it had to do with me.

But why Alex? Why not come for me directly?

"You're blaming yourself again," Nathan brought me out of my thoughts. We were sitting in the hospital cafeteria eating breakfast. He had managed to coax me out of watching Alex to settle my growling stomach.

"How can I not when—"

"Hailey," he gave me a look. "It's not your fault."

"I refuse to believe it." I tell him. "This is related to me being a you know what and I don't like that people are getting hurt, people I care about."

He frowned. "He's alive isn't he? Shouldn't you be happy about that? It could've been worse."

"That's not the point," I frown. "What if it's my mom next, or Jared? What if it's you?"

My heart throbbed at the idea of any of them getting hurt like this.

He sighed deeply. "What do you suggest we do then? It's not like we have any leads on who did this? We won't know anything until Alex wakes up."

We did had a lead. I did anyway.

I twirled the bracelet I found on Alex's yard in my pocket, thinking on if I should set out to find Sammie for answers. She had to have been there if her bracelet was. The only other person I would suspect would be Demetria.

"I've been meaning to ask," I twirled my fork. "How do you know Demetria?"

Nathan's fork clanked loudly onto his plate. I dared myself to look up, noticing how completely taken aback by my question. I also noticed how other visitors were taking an interest in the scene before them. Although Nathan was sat frozen in front of me, I'm sure our audience had been tuning in the moment we sat down.

Their alpha is back but in an unconscious state and his mate is seen with another guy? Who wouldn't want to know what's going on behind these closed doors.

"E-Eat first," I say. "We can talk about it when you're finished."

I try to scrape up the last bit of my meal in a hurry, feeling pressured under everyone's curious stares. Nathan, however, was slow to eat.