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Finn silently agrees.Holy-mother-fucking-shit.

What is going on in Grayson’s brain?

The scan progresses downwards toward Grayson’s chest and abdomen,and when it’s centered over the place where Gideon had said Grayson was glowing, there is a surge in the machine’s core.

Now, Finn knows the science behind MRIs and how they work, and in the second before all hell breaks loose, he has an epiphany about radio frequency bursts, magnets, and the nature of hydrogen nuclei.

It’s then that the MRI machine starts to emit a high-pitched sound.

Emmy meets his gaze in a sharedholy shitmoment, and she hits the kill switch a moment too late. Finn drags her to the floor, under the desk, as the heavy-duty glass implodes into the booth. He feels a million shards hit his back as he shields her, but his thoughts are only for his mate, stuck in the exploding machine.

Grayson!

It’s Nix’s voice inside his head, but it echoes his own distress perfectly.

It’s not one second later that the door to the hallway bursts open, flying off its hinges, and when Finn finally looks over his shoulder, Nix is hauling the unconscious Grayson out of the ruined MRI machine and over his shoulder.

Charred black, the front of the MRI looks like something exploded inside, and the blast had nowhere to go but outwards.

Oh, Goddess, Grayson.

He’s still processing the scene when Gideon is there, pulling him into his arms, checking for injuries, growling and muttering about the plan. The bits of glass in his back stick through his shirt, and it hurts like he imagines being attacked by an entire colony of fire ants.

“Oh, my god!” Dr. Rory shouts, wringing his hands in the open doorway.

“Are you okay?” Finn asks Emmy, helping her to her feet.

“Oh yeah, sure. Yup. Mmmmhmm. Wow.” Her eyes go wide at the feral omega storming out of the room. She meets Finn’s gaze before giving him a small nod. Popping the hard drive out of the control panel, she slips it into Gideon’s sweatshirt pocket.

“Ms. Houser, what in the world happened to my machine?”

“Don’t you think you should ask how she is first, Dr. Hemi-Roid?” Gideon mutters as he grabs Finn’s hand and begins pulling him after their angry-smelling omega.

Emmy coughs to hide her laugh before facing her employer bravely.

“It exploded, Mr. Roid-er-Rory. It’s a danger to everyone.”

She smiles at them and waves them off behind her back. They take that as their cue to duck out of the room.

“Hemi-Roid?” Finn asks once they’re out of earshot.

“Sue me. I mean, Helmsford Rory? More like a hemorrhoid.” Gideon’s face is a picture of disgust.

“We need to get someone to look at your back, puppy. You need to check on Grayson, and then we need to find out what the hell we’re going to explain the exploding MRI machine.”

They find their way to the ER, and it’s unusually quiet. If Finn had the spoons he’d wonder about why that was, but as it is, he can feel blood dripping down his spine and Grayson is still unconscious.

They find a med-bay where Nix lays Grayson down and then drops his lead “skirt” on the floor so that he can climb up on the gurney beside his unconscious soulmate. Not three minutes later, Gideon’s phone rings, and without looking, Finn knows it’s Jay.

“Go,” Gideon says, propping the phone between his shoulder and his ear so he can unbutton Finn’s shirt.

“Gid. What the fuck is going on? Is Nix okay? Are you?”

“Well, yes, to all of that. We’re okay, but Grayson blew the MRI machine up with whatever mojo he’s got cooking now, and he’s out. Nix isn’t taking to that too well, and Finn was a pincushion for some exploding glass that we really need to get out right now. Oh, and we might have to replace a three-million-dollar MRI machine.”

Gideon raises his eyebrow as if to askDid I forget anything?

Finn can only shake his head and let his bloody shirt fall to the floor. The other end of the phone is silent as their Pack Alpha processes.