EverChange

Chapter 22

I sat at one end of the recovery rooms, some posh set up that reminded me of Post-Op suites at a high end hospital; one of the perks of being an "Alpha Heir." Linden was lying on some comfy bed, Ro was fiddling with small puzzles set on table tops for guests, her friends sitting on either side of her. Janae looked forlorn and was picking at the edges of her manicure. Cadence brought her leg up and down in a nervous motion, and Ro was staring at the metal puzzle on the table.

There were only so many moves you could do, and if you did it wrong they would lock, and in a minute would reravel so to start from the begining. I had already played with it twice and failed both times.

"....You guys aren't in trouble, you know that right?" I said carefully, pouring a cup of ice water for Linden and slipping a straw in it. He was lying on his side, the bed inclined so not to add pressure to his wounds. He wore a pair of paper scrubs, disposable but also more comfortable than the stuff worn in Sandexon. A new IV was in his arm administering the correct pain killers and saline. "It's just me."

"Are you sure?" Janae asked, pulling her fingers from her mouth, "I mean... We wrecked that place and we could have killed people."

I shrugged my shoulders. "I'm the one in charge."

Ro glanced up at me, then picked up the puzzle again to rattle the horseshoe and chains. "....So you're an Alpha? Alpha of what?"

"....A group of people." I held the glass as Linden drank. He was good on medication and in a few someone would come by and patch him up. "They're like us, but.... different."

"And that's where you've been all this time?" Linden asked, his dark eyes watching me. His pink tongue darted out to wet his lips. I nodded, then looked at the girls across the room. "How do ya guys like the suits?"

"...They're pretty cool." said Cadence, leg still going up and down. "really light... and flexible. Like, usually I get frost on my clothes, or get too sweaty from running around, but these are awesome..."

"They work with our powers." Ro moved the puzzle and was able to separate the pieces. "How'd you get them?"

I didn't have a real answer for that. Hawthorne and Moonie were in charge of that, and I didn't even know how they could have gotten the material together so quickly in so little time.

Ro frowned at me. The door to the office opened, and Frigga walked in. From the doorway I saw a small group of children and Jass and Brandon. I waved at them, but they didn't enter.

"How're we all feeling?" she asked the room, smiling and light emotions. She walked behind Linden, clawed hands out to hover over his form.

"I'm all right." Linden said, turning his head to look at Frigga. He offered a tired smile, and she pat him on his upper left arm.

"Good. The good news is, no nerve damage, some minor deep tissue damage, and if I do my job right, you'll barely have any scars and be up later tonight." Frigga reached over on the bedside table for a clipboard. "Linden Gregory Sinclaire."

"Yup." Linden looked at Frigga as she came around to stand beside me. "And you're a real doctor? Nothing like those... Butchers.... at that hellhole?"

"One of the best Healers in this joint." she grinned. Linden eased up, but I reached out and held his hands.

"When Frigga gets to work, it's going to sting a bit." I said softly, my thumbs rubbing the backs of his hands.

He looked at me, his lips pulling into a thin smile. "On a scale of one to ten... how much?"