Page 19 of His Reward (Omegas After Dark: Omega Auction #2)

CHAPTER TEN

Boston

My heart broke every which way for Lucien.

It had broken when I’d come to the hospital for the first time, rose in hand, to see how he was doing immediately after the fire.

The hospital staff almost hadn’t let me in, but somehow Mrs. Monteverdi knew that I was the firefighter who had rescued her son, and she’d immediately instructed the hospital staff that I was allowed and encouraged to see him.

Lucien had looked so small and broken that first day.

He’d been intubated and put in an induced coma while his body dealt with the shock of his burns, outside and in.

My alpha had roared in protest and wanted to tear the entire hospital to pieces.

I’d known that everything the hospital was doing would save his life, though.

It had been so painful to watch Lucien’s recovery over the intervening weeks, knowing there was nothing I could do to knit his skin back together or heal the inflammation and chemical burns in his lungs.

The best I’d been able to do was look everything up on the internet so I could clarify everything the doctors told Lucien’s mom and reassure her.

There had been a couple times when I thought Lucien was coming out of his sedation, but he hadn’t really been with it until now.

“Don’t cry, baby,” I said softly, crouching to be as close to him as I could, though it meant I was hunched over awkwardly as I curled my arm around the top of his head. “You’ve survived the worst of it. I’m sure you can get back on the ice.”

Lucien snotted and blubbered and ended up coughing so badly I almost called the nurse. He started out trying to say something, but couldn’t get anything out.

“Don’t push yourself too hard,” I said, shifting the way I held his hand so our fingers twined together and rested over his heart, which beat wildly. “Try to take a few deep breaths and calm down. I’m not going anywhere, so you’ve got all the time in the world to get it together.”

Deep down inside, I knew it was probably weird and wrong of me to be acting like I’d known Lucien my entire life, like we’d been lovers for more than just the three days of his last heat.

But dammit, ever since that last heatwave, when I’d had to force myself not to bond with him, it felt like he was already mine, like we actually had bonded.

I had to do whatever I could to respect Lucien’s autonomy and not take charge of everything about him, from his treatment to his state of mind.

It took a few minutes, but Lucien did manage to calm down and breathe normally again.

“I hate being sick,” he panted gently. “I hate all of this.”

“Yeah, there’s not much here to like,” I said, glancing at the bandaged side of his body.

I remembered what it looked like freshly singed and oozing.

The memory made me snap my eyes back to look into his and to force a smile.

“This is just temporary, though. Your prognosis is excellent. Dr. Wendel told your mom just yesterday that once you’re able to get up and walk around on your own, once you’re eating well and using the toilet on your own, you’ll be moved from the hospital to a rehab facility. ”

Lucien laughed exhaustedly. “Not exactly the most romantic thing you’ve ever said to me,” he said, the right side of his mouth quirked up in a smirk. “Once I’m able to use the toilet on my own?”

I heard the bitterness in his voice, so I said, “Would it make it easier if I ordered you to stand in the corner and shit yourself?”

It worked. However damaged Lucien was, the spark that lit his eyes and the flush that climbed up his neck to his cheeks was enough to tell me that the kinky play partner I’d spent the weekend of my life with the month before was still there.

“Okay, that’s weird,” he said, chuckling slightly, which led to a quick coughing session.

“Nah, it’s not weird at all,” I said softly, kissing his forehead. “You might look like a hot dog someone dropped in the campfire, but you’re still a kinky fucking sub.”

Lucien started crying again, not because I said something arguably nasty to him, but because it must have been exactly what he needed to hear.

He squeezed my hand that still held his and closed his eyes, like he thought it was safe to let go.

Honestly, it was one of the most poignant things I’d ever experienced.

And it was a truly humbling, sub move. Lucien trusted me.

Regardless of the circumstances or how scary and risky things were for him, Lucien had just let go and put his full faith in me.

It was a responsibility I took dead seriously.

No, we weren’t really mates, although the whisper of the bond that could be was definitely there.

I would have gone so far to say that we were fated, though up until then, I’d thought fated mates were just fairy tales.

I’d befriended Bea Monteverdi in the last few weeks as we’d both watched over Lucien, but Lucien’s family didn’t know that we’d already met.

I damn well wasn’t going to tell them how and under what circumstances.

“Is everything okay in here?” the voice of one of the junior nurses, an eager young omega named Johnny, pulled me from the intimate moment.

I stood quickly, but still held onto Lucien’s hand, even though he’d fallen asleep. “Yeah,” I answered. “It looks like it’s been an emotional morning for Lucien.”

Johnny gave us a sweet, sympathetic look. “Don’t tell anyone, but I heard Pietro Monteverdi saying that Lucien’s skating career is over. I’m really sorry about that. Lucien has always been one of my favorites, and I was sure this year was his year for gold at the Winter Games.”

“He’ll bounce back,” I said with more confidence than I actually had. “Give him time. They hold the Winter Games every three years, right?”

“Right,” Johnny said slowly, like I was kidding myself. “Well, let me know if you need anything.”

He ducked back into the hall.

I turned to Lucien. He’d fallen asleep. I guessed that he’d been given his meds shortly before I’d come in.

As nice as it was to talk to him after all these weeks, I knew he needed as much sleep as he could get.

Sleep meant recovery, and recovery was what my omega needed if he was going to climb that mountain to reach his goals again.

I kissed Lucien’s forehead one last time, then headed out of the room. I’d hoped for a longer visit, but now that Lucien was out of the thickest part of the woods, I was certain we’d have a lot more time together.

I didn’t want to leave the hospital to go back to the firehouse without saying goodbye to Lucien’s mom, so I headed for the family waiting room that I knew was at the end of the hall. Just my luck, I walked in on Mr. and Mrs. Monteverdi in the middle of an argument.

“You can’t say those things to him,” Mrs. Monteverdi argued. “He’s still in a precarious position.”

“I was just stating the truth,” Mr. Monteverdi said, arms crossed. “His career is over. There’s no point in denying it.”

“You don’t know that,” Mrs. Monteverdi countered. “Lucien is strong. He’s always been strong. He’s fought his way back from injuries before. He can fight his way back from this.”

“From burns over fifteen percent of his body?” Mr. Monteverdi snorted.

“Scar tissue isn’t flexible, Bea. He’ll never have the range of motion to compete at an elite level again.

Skating isn’t just about muscle and jumps.

The cameras aren’t going to want to look at someone with a singed head and half an ear on one side. ”

I cleared my throat to stop Mr. Monteverdi where he was before my alpha got the better of me and I punched him.

“Lucien is sleeping now,” I told them, unable to keep my feelings about Mr. Monteverdi out of my tone. “I need to head back to the firehouse.”

“Thanks for coming, Bos,” Mrs. Monteverdi said with as much of a smile as she could manage.

“This is all your fault,” Mr. Monteverdi rounded on me, taking both me and his wife by surprise.

“Pietro!” Mrs. Monteverdi snapped at him.

“It is,” Mr. Monteverdi insisted, marching up to me and trying to intimidate me with his size.

I was bigger than him, so the posturing did nothing.

“How do we know you weren’t negligent when you pulled Lucien out of the fire?

” he went on. “How do we know that he wasn’t perfectly safe and sheltered until you dislodged flaming debris on him or something? ”

“Pietro! Be reasonable,” Mrs. Monteverdi gasped. “If it wasn’t for Boston, Lucien would be dead. Bos isn’t just a firefighter, he’s the chief of his engine company. The city gave him a commendation for heroism for saving Lucien.”

Mr. Monteverdi huffed and marched over to the counter with a coffee machine. “It was just a theory,” he grumbled.

“Then keep your theories to yourself,” Mrs. Monteverdi scolded him, moving to stand by my side in support. “I know you’re upset over Lucien’s injuries and the possibility that he won’t be able to compete anymore—”

“His career is over,” Mr. Monteverdi spat back at her, grabbing the coffee carafe so hard I thought he might shatter it.

“All that work. All those years I put into his training. I let Marco’s training go because I saw more potential in Lucien.

Now I wish I’d stuck with it and made Marco the champion. ”

My opinion of Mr. Monteverdi sank several notches. I was pretty certain his wife’s did, too.

“Marco and Lucien are more than just your toys, Pietro,” she scolded him. “They are our sons, men with their own lives and interests. They are more than the medals they win.”

“You’re not the one who put everything you have into getting them on that medals podium.”

“I’m the one who put my entire life into raising them to be happy, thriving people,” Mrs. Monteverdi said, poking her own chest. “I’m proud of the work I’ve done, and I will love my boys whether they win gold or decide to, I don’t know, get office jobs and live lives of their own.”