Page 124 of Rejection and Redeemed

“Jacob was lucky. Even a millimetre left or right or deeper and he’d be dead now,” Emory told them.

“As it is, he was lucky there wasn’t any serious damage,” Robbie said. He paused and looked at his father. “You know, Jacob would make a good pack second.”

Berni nodded. “He’ll be the perfect second for you.”

“I’ll hold off telling him for a while though. I just thought I’d throw it out there.”

“Jacob never wanted to be an Alpha, to lead a pack, but he would make you a perfect second. Has an Alpha wolf ever been a pack second before?” Morty asked.

“Probably not, but then we don’t care about things like that in this pack,” Robbie replied.

CHAPTER 54

Fran and Joe walked into Jacob’s room. The monitor was beeping away.

“I thought we were done with a heart monitor,” Joe said, walking to the side of Jacob’s bed.

“This better be the last time we need it. I’m not sure my heart could take him getting seriously sick or injured again,” Fran said, standing next to Joe and looking at the monitor, checking the levels.

Joe sighed and leant against Fran.

“He’ll be fine in a few days,” Fran told him, slipping an arm around his waist.

“He will.”

“Joe, I’ve got to ask, why do you call Jacob ‘Jake’?”

Joe looked at Fran and grinned. “Because when we met when we were three, I couldn’t say, Jacob, only Jake, and it kind of stuck. I’m the only one who calls him Jake though.”

“But you can call me Jake if you want, sweetheart,” Jacob said softly, not opening his eyes.

“Hey, babe,” Fran said, leaning down. “Stop with the dramatics.”

Jacob gave a small smile and tried to open his eyes, but the room lights hurt so he closed them quickly. “Okay, sweetheart. I’ll start tomorrow. My head hurts.”

“You took a bullet to the head. Robbie and Emory got it out. Nothing major was damaged, but your head will hurt for a couple of days.”

“Damn Nidal,” Jacob muttered, tiredly.

“Just rest, babe. Joe and I’ll be here when you next wake up,” Fran said, taking Jacob’s hand.

Jacob squeezed his fingers. “Love you, sweetheart.”

“And I, you.”

“So that’s a good sign, right?” Joe asked.

“Yeah, a very good sign.”

“Let me pull over a couple of chairs and we can sit and wait.” Joe pulled them over and Fran sat, still holding Jacob’s hand.

“Would you mind if my parents popped in?” Joe asked.

Fran shook his head. “Nope.”

“Thanks, I’ll go and get them,” Joe said, quickly walking out of the room.

“What am I going to do with you, babe?” Fran said softly. “Thank you for saving Aunt Aubrey, but we need to talk about you helping people while staying safe.” He lifted Jacob’s hand and kissed it. “Now I know why the fates thought we’d be perfect together, you need medical personnel in your life.”