A Lone Wolf • Mark Tuan

{Sixteen}

A warm darkness washed over you, and the world seemed to be sinking. You could hear everything that was going on: the beeping of the machines, the panic in the surgeons' voices, your life slipping away. Were the doctors aware that you were conscious of everything going on, or did they think you were completely unaware of the present? Probably the latter or they would've kept their voices calmer not to panic you.

"She's a mess. Because the amount of blood loss and the multiple wounds. There's no way we can save them both." That must've been the main surgeon, a deep commanding voice that seemed to be declaring you a goner.

You felt almost as if you were floating. It was strangely peaceful inside your mind, despite the chaos going on outside. You thought death would've been more painful, but this was okay. Then you would be free.

"Her heart beat is fading. We have to do something right now."

"We can't save them both, so there's no use in trying."

Wait, but what did they say? They can't save the both of them. They said that before, but what did they mean by that? Did someone else get hurt? Was it Mark, Jaebum or one of the others? No, they had to be safe. They just had to be, and if they weren't, you had to protect them.

You couldn't give up now. It would've been easy to let go. It was so peaceful, and if you just let go, you were sure you would drift off into nothingness, but you were supposed to be an alpha, right? That meant that you were responsible for the ones you loved, and as long as the Winchesters were out there, no one was safe. You couldn't give up now.

The machines in the room started going haywire. "We're losing her!"

No. Not like this. Everything started getting blurry. No. You had to hold on.

"Charging paddles to 200."

Mark was miserable. Nurses brought him and the others updates every hour, but he stopped listening a while ago. "She's stable," meant things were going well as of five minutes ago, but in another five minutes, you might be crashing again. "They're doing the best they can," meant things weren't looking good, and they weren't sure if they'd be able to save you. It didn't take Mark long to figure out that the only news he cared about was whether you lived or died. He didn't want to know the in between stuff, because that only led to false hope or heart ache.

The others were on their toes the moment that door pushed open, though. Jaebum was eager to know what was going on with you and the baby. Between waiting for news for you and news from the others who went to search the forest, he was on edge. Even Junior didn't really approach Jaebum.

Mark watched them carefully. Even though he didn't want to hear what the nurses were saying, he couldn't help but watch the others' reactions. Jaebum's expression seemed the same every time, but Junior's changed. Youngjae was the real telltale. Mark's eyes were glued to Youngjae, who would switch between a semi-smile and the verge of tears. The tears tore Mark up, but as long as that was the case, Mark wouldn't lose all hope yet. If Youngjae did anything more, Mark knew that's when he would start worrying.

Youngjae came over and sat next to Mark. A sigh pushed past his lips, but Mark didn't want to look at him. Instead, he gazed at the brightness of the hospital. It seemed strange how white the hospital was. It would have been much more fitting if the walls were painted black, but he supposed that would be too depressing. At least it wouldn't be blinding.

"Why isn't Jackson back yet?" Youngjae asked. "He's been gone for hours. Do you think something happened to him?"

Mark didn't respond. He didn't want to think about Jackson right now, even though he was sure that made him a poor alpha. He just wanted to focus on you, but that just hurt his heart. Maybe he deserved the pain, though. All of this was his fault.