Page 24 of Alpha & Omega (Alpha's Rejects #4)

After we talked in the early morning and I didn’t hear back from Kingston for the entire day, I started to worry. Sure, he was busy with Tony in the hospital and getting him packed up, but Kingston had always been responsive whenever I texted. Maybe not right away, but he wouldn’t have waited this long. What worried me the most was the boyfriend coming after them.

Regardless, I had to get ready for work, so I took a quick shower, pulled up my hair to keep it out of my face, and got dressed.

Before I headed out, I texted him again.

Me: Hey, how are you and Tony? I haven’t heard back, and I’m

getting a little worried. Are you all okay?

I looked at my phone, begging him to respond, not sure why my gut was twisting so violently, telling me something was wrong.

“You ready, Hud?” I yelled at his bedroom door.

“Yeah, be there in a sec.”

Hudson was working at the restaurant tonight, so I just drove him in with me.

We arrived a little early for work so I could prep, though my staff was good at that already, but I wanted to stay busy and distracted. My mind kept playing tricks on me that something had happened to Kingston and Tony. If a man could abuse his boyfriend, who knew what else he was capable of? Shit, what if Kingston went after the guy instead?

Okay, one more time , I told myself.

I texted Kingston one last time before I got too busy. Although my message showed it had been delivered to his phone, none of my messages had been read, which didn’t ease my worry. I said nothing to Hudson, not wanting to get ahead of myself or make him worry, too.

The evening grew busy, and I didn’t have much time to stop and think about anything as I kept up with the demands of making meals.

“So, how are you and your boyfriend? What’s his name again?” Terri asked.

I smiled as I plated some of my now famous mussels, and handed them over to my pantry chef. “Kingston. We’re really good. He’s met Hudson, and they’ve hit it off.”

“Aw, Chef is in love.”

I smiled and shook my head. “Not gonna deny it.”

She looked over at the restaurant, watching my son clean tables. “He’s so responsible,” she said.

“Of course he is. He’s my son.”

“Do you think he’ll be a chef like you?”

I scoffed. “He likes junk food too much. Nah, he’s more into science and has big plans already.”

“Nice. I didn’t have my shit together until my mid-twenties.”

“I’m really proud of him.”

We stopped talking when a large group came in with several orders .

It was close to ten at night, and it was nearly time for me to wrap things up when our hostess came up to me.

“There’s a young man in front who says he knows you. He says he’s from next door and is a friend of Kingston, and he has an important message for you.”

My gut clenched, and my heart suddenly raced when my eyes instantly pinged to the front door to see the young man in question with dark, curly hair. Nacho. All my instincts screamed at me that something was terribly wrong.

“Thank you, Jess,” I said, trying to be calm and not jump to conclusions.

I stepped up to Terri. “Can you finish up here? I have to deal with something important.”

“Sure, we got you, boss.”

“Thanks. You’re the best.”

After washing my hands and yanking off my apron, I headed toward the man waiting. The closer I got, the more my gut twisted. His dark eyes were red-rimmed, and his hands were fisted. Something was definitely fucking wrong.

“Hi. Nacho, right? What’s going on?”

“Hey… yeah. Uhm, so… ah…”

“It’s okay. Take your time and breathe.”

Hell, I needed to tell myself that because I was holding mine.

Nacho took a deep breath and let it out. “We just got a call from a hospital in Virginia. Alpha’s been in a serious car accident, and…”

Tears suddenly slid down his face, and he held his body with his arms, making my own eyes leak.

No, no, no, no…

My worries are worse than I could’ve imagined.

“Is he…” I asked, unable to finish my question.

“He’s alive, but… he’s in the ICU. They’re not sure he’s going to make it.”

Nacho let out a sob, so I led him outside for some privacy and held him. God, he was so small and slight. He gripped me and cried until he could calm down, while I tried not to pepper him with questions and controlling my own emotions.

“Sorry,” he said, wiping his nose with his hand.

“Don’t apologize.”

“We want to close the bar, but Alpha will be upset with us. ”

“How busy is it over there?”

“Not really busy. It’s Thursday, but it’s still early for us.”

God, if they shut down Alpha’s even for a night, it could be a big loss of money. But his family deserved to know what was going on and to be there for Kingston.

“Can a few of you handle running the bar? I can take the rest of you to the hospital to wait for any information.”

He looked up at me with wide, dark, soulful eyes. “You would do that?”

“Of course. I want to be there, too. I need to know if he’s okay.”

Nacho had no idea what turmoil and worry I felt as I tried to be calm for him. I’d done this so often for Hudson, putting on my ‘ dad hat ’ to be the strong, confident one while Hudson felt safe to break, even if I was shattering on the inside.

“My boyfriend Pippin will try to stay to bartend. He’s got a phobia of doctors, so he won’t be able to see Alpha, anyway.”

“Okay, I can fit four people in my car. Grab whoever is coming. I’ll meet you out front here.”

Nacho ran off, and I rushed back inside to look for Hudson. When I found him, I waved him over.

“What’s up, Dad?”

“Kingston… Jesus… He’s been in a car wreck. I need to go. Do you want to come with me, or…”

“Oh, my god. Is he okay?”

“I think so. I’ll know for sure when I get there. Plus, I need to take some of his family over there.”

“Just go. I’ll call Oliver to come get me.”

“Thanks, Hud. I’m not sure when I’ll be home. Can Oliver stay with you?”

“Yeah, sure. Let me know how Kingston is, okay?”

“I will. I love you.”

Hudson pulled me into a quick hug, then ran off to finish cleaning empty tables.

I grabbed my things and rushed to my car, parked in the parking garage across the street .

When I pulled up in front of Alpha’s, Nacho, Stix, and Ajax climbed into the car. The rest stayed behind to work and help out.

“Which hospital?” I asked.

“VCU in Arlington.”

I plugged it into my GPS and quickly drove off. It took us nearly an hour to get there, but we made it.

After I parked, we all rushed toward the registration desk, asking about Kingston McLaren’s status. Then, we had to wait for a doctor to tell us about his status. All they could say for now was that he was in the ICU.

We paced, munched on snacks, and drank too much coffee as we waited for hours until a woman doctor finally came out wearing a purple surgical cap and matching scrubs.

“Hi, I’m Dr. Torens, Kingston’s orthopedic surgeon. Are you family?”

“Yes,” Stix said immediately. “We’re brothers.” He grabbed my arm and tugged me forward before lying smoothly. “And this is his husband.”

“Uhm, yes. Hi. How is Kingston?”

She looked down at her tablet. “It says here that there are five emergency contacts, which is… odd. Are any of you Nathan Lamont, Sampson McGuire, Nico Jamieson, or Jaxon Kean? Tony Griffin is already here in the hospital under our care.”

Stix waved his hand again. “We’re all here but Sampson.”

“I’m sorry it took me so long to get to you, but we had to get Kingston back into surgery tonight. You should be prepared because his situation is serious. We have him in a medically induced coma right now to stabilize his head because he’s sustained a lot of damage and is in a lot of pain. We will bring him out of it in a couple of days. Right now, he’s stabilized.”

“So… he’ll be okay?” I asked. None of it sounded fucking okay.

“Only time will tell. Kingston is very lucky to be alive. According to police and EMS, he was hit by a drunk driver, and he spun out of control before another car hit him, forcing his car to flip. When he settled, one more car hit him. The drunk driver died in the crash. Kingston has sustained internal injuries to his spleen, which ruptured and had to be removed, and there was internal bleeding we had to stem. Of course, we’re monitoring his concussion, but he seems stable for now. Kingston is young, strong, and healthy. His prognosis looks good for now, but I’ve seen cases where they’ve taken a turn for the worse.”

I watched as the young men all held on to each other, trying to listen and not cry.

My own heart was in turmoil. Kingston didn’t deserve this, but at the same time, I was so fucking grateful he was still alive.

“There’s something else you should know and you need to prepare yourselves…” she said.

Something else?

Fuck, what else could he have suffered?

I braced for impact.