Page 28 of Rescued by Four Alphas (Claimed by the Four Alphas #2)

I watch Dahlia's face drain of color as her eyes roll back. The monitors surrounding her bed explode into a symphony of alarms, each beep more urgent than the last.

"Dahlia!" I lunge forward, grabbing her hand. Her skin feels clammy and cold beneath my fingers.

"What's happening to her?" Evan demands,

Dr. Marianna moves quickly between the monitors, her face grim as she checks the readouts. "She's bleeding internally. The accelerated pregnancy and trauma from the deliveries have caused severe complications."

"Fix it," Leo growls, his eyes wild. "Whatever you need to do, fix it."

"I need to operate immediately," Marianna says, her hands already moving to prepare equipment. "Without proper surgical intervention, she'll bleed to death within the hour."

After everything we've been through, after finding her, after our babies are here breathing in their incubators, we could still lose her.

"Then operate," Evan snaps. "Do whatever you have to do."

Marianna shakes her head. "You don't understand. This isn't a normal delivery room. I need surgical instruments, proper lighting, and anesthetics. I'd be performing major abdominal surgery with improvised tools."

"What are the chances?" I ask, my voice hoarse.

She meets my eyes directly. "Without surgery, she dies. With surgery using what we have here... maybe fifty-fifty."

The building shakes again from another explosion, this time closer. Dust rains from the ceiling, and the lights flicker ominously.

"She's strong," Leo says, but I can hear the fear beneath his words. "She survived Hammond. She survived this place. She can survive surgery."

Marianna has already started pulling equipment from the cabinets. "I'll need you to help me. One person to monitor her vitals, another to assist with instruments."

"I'll do it," I volunteer immediately. "Whatever you need."

The door bursts open, and Onyx strides in with three of Rivera's men behind him. His clothes are torn and bloody, but his eyes are alert and focused.

"We need to move now," he announces. "Reid's trapped in his office on the top floor, but his reinforcements are mobilizing. We have maybe fifteen minutes before this place becomes a war zone."

"Dahlia's bleeding internally," Evan explains quickly. "She needs emergency surgery."

Onyx's face goes white. He looks at our mate lying unconscious on the table, then at the four tiny forms in their incubators. "How long for the surgery?"

"At least an hour," Marianna replies, not looking up from her preparations. "Maybe more."

"We don't have an hour," one of Rivera's men interjects. "Sir, the extraction helicopter is standing by, but they can't wait much longer."

I look between Onyx and Evan. We can't move Dahlia, but we also can't stay here much longer.

"Leo," Evan says suddenly. "You go with Onyx. Capture Reid alive and make him stop his men. Axl and I will stay with Dahlia during the surgery."

"I'm not leaving her," Leo protests.

"You have to," I tell him. "Reid is the key to everything. If we don't stop Reid, Dahlia will die."

Leo's jaw clenches, but he nods. "Fine."

"I want him alive…"

"Count on it," Onyx growls. "That bastard is going to tell us everything before we're done with him."

Leo and Onyx kiss Dahlia's forehead gently.

"Fight, baby. We'll be right back." Leo says before they disappear through the door, leaving Evan and me with Marianna and our unconscious mate.

"Help me move her to that table," Marianna instructs, wheeling over a narrow metal table from across the room.

Evan and I carefully lift Dahlia, and I'm shocked by how light she feels. Her head lolls against my shoulder as we position her on the table. Marianna immediately begins connecting monitors and IV lines.

"I'm going to have to work fast," she explains, pulling on surgical gloves. "The bleeding could accelerate at any moment."

She places a mask over Dahlia's face. "This is just oxygen. I don't have proper anesthesia, so I'm hoping she remains unconscious throughout the procedure."

"What can we do?" Evan asks.

"We need to scrub in," Marianna instructs urgently. "Evan, you'll monitor her vitals and assist me with instruments. Axl, I need you to handle suction to keep the surgical site clear."

Both men quickly wash their hands and arms in the adjoining sink before pulling on sterile gloves. Evan positions himself at the monitors while Axl takes up the suction device.

"If any of those numbers drop suddenly or spike dramatically, tell me immediately," Marianna tells Evan as she makes the first incision. "Axl, suction here."

"And pray that her Omega healing kicks in once I stop the bleeding."

"There," she mutters. "I can see the source. It's a tear in the uterine wall, definitely from the contractions."

The monitors show Dahlia's heart rate climbing. Her body knows something's wrong, even though it's unconscious.

"How bad is it?" Evan asks, his knuckles white where he grips the edge of the table.

"Bad enough," Marianna replies, working to clamp off bleeding vessels. "But it is repairable if I can get to it in time."

Another explosion rocks the building; this one is so close that the surgical instruments rattle on their tray. The lights flicker more violently now.

"Hurry," I urge, though I know she's already moving as fast as safely possible.

"Her blood pressure is dropping," Evan reports, his eyes fixed on the monitor. "It's down to eighty over fifty."

"She's lost too much blood," Marianna says, "I need to work faster."

Just then, the building's power fails, and the emergency lighting kicks in a second later, bathing the room in red. The monitors switch to battery power, but the surgical lights die completely.

"Fuck," Marianna swears. "I can barely see what I'm doing."

I grab a flashlight from one of the emergency kits. "Here."

Evan takes another flashlight and positions himself to provide the best possible lighting. In the eerie red glow, with flashlight beams lighting up the surgical site, Marianna continues her work.

"Almost there," she mutters. "I just need to repair this vessel..."

The heart rate monitor suddenly flatlines, and the consistent beep becomes one long, continuous tone.

"She's in cardiac arrest," Marianna announces, immediately moving to begin chest compressions.

My world stops. Everything fades to nothing. All I can hear is that terrible, endless tone.

"No," Evan whispers. "No, no, no..."

Marianna pushes hard and fast on Dahlia's chest. "Keep monitoring her pulse," she orders. "Tell me the second you feel anything."

Evan places two fingers against Dahlia's neck while Marianna continues compressions. She does thirty compressions, then she moves to provide rescue breathing through the oxygen mask.

"Anything?" she asks.

"Nothing," Evan replies, his voice breaking.

She resumes compressions. I count silently, watching my mate's pale face, willing her to come back to us.

"Come on, baby," I whisper. "Don't leave us now. Your babies need you. We need you."

After another round of compressions, Evan checks for pulse.

"Still nothing," Evan reports.

My hands shake as I hold the flashlight. This can't be happening. Not after everything. Not when we finally have her back.

"Again," Marianna orders, starting another round.

Thirty compressions. Two breaths. Check for pulse.

"Wait," Evan says suddenly. "I think... yes! I've got a pulse!"

The monitor comes back to life with a weak beep, and Dahlia's heart rate picks up again.

"Thank god," Marianna breathes, immediately returning to the surgical site. "I need to finish this repair before she arrests again."

My hands tremble so violently I can barely hold the flashlight. We almost lost her. For one horrible minute, we lost her.

"Her blood pressure stabilizing," Evan reports, relief evident in his voice. "And her heart rate is coming back up."

"There. I've stopped the major bleeding. Now I need to close her up."

The door opens, and Leo appears with Onyx behind him. Both men are covered in blood and dirt. They are still partially shifted from battle, their elongated canines and blazing eyes evidence of the carnage they've left behind. Blood and dirt cover their torn clothes

"Status?" Leo demands immediately.

"She flatlined for about a minute," I tell him. "But we got her back, and Marianna stopped the bleeding."

"Reid?" Evan asks.

"He's secured," Onyx growls. "His security team didn't survive the encounter, but we kept him breathing. He's being transported to one of the facilities for questioning."

"Good," Evan says grimly. "He's got a lot to answer for."

Marianna finishes closing the incision with careful sutures. "She's stable for now, but we need to get her to a proper medical facility. The babies, too."

"The helicopter's standing by," Leo reports. "Rivera cleared our extraction route. We have maybe ten minutes before this place comes down around us."

"The incubators are portable," Marianna explains, already disconnecting the babies from the room's power supply and switching them to battery packs. "They'll maintain life support during transport."

I look at our four children, so tiny and vulnerable in their plastic chambers. Our daughter has gained some color, but she's still smaller than any baby should be.

"Will they survive the transport?" I ask.

"They should," Marianna says. "Their vitals are stable. It's your mate I'm more concerned about."

She checks Dahlia's monitors one more time. "The surgery was successful, but she's lost a significant amount of blood. Her body is in shock."

"But she'll recover?" Evan presses.

"I believe so. Shifter healing should help, once her system stabilizes." Marianna says, then looks meaningfully at us.

"And, your bond with her could be powerful medicine. When you get back to the house, you might consider using your connection to channel healing energy to her. The mate bond between all of you could help accelerate her recovery."

We prepare for evacuation, and Onyx takes point, his weapons ready. Evan carries one of the portable incubators with our daughter inside. I carry one, and Marianna and Leo carry one each.

Two of Rivera's men appear with a stretcher for Dahlia. They move her carefully, maintaining the IV lines and monitoring equipment as they do so.

"The elevator shaft is compromised," one of them reports. "We'll have to take the service stairs."

"How many flights?" Evan asks.

"Eight. But we've cleared the route."

Eight flights while carrying premature babies and an unconscious Omega. My wolf bristles at danger, but we have no choice.

The journey to the roof feels endless. Every bump and jostle makes me worry about the tiny life I'm carrying. The incubator weighs at least thirty pounds, but I barely feel it. My entire focus is on the small form inside, watching for any change in the monitors.

We reach the roof, and the sight of Evan's private helicopter waiting fills me with relief.

Rivera himself helps load the equipment. "The medical team is standing by at your home," he shouts over the rotor noise. "ETA twenty minutes."

"What about Reid?" Leo calls back.

"He's in separate transport. He'll be at the secure location before you land."

We lift off just as another series of explosions rocks the facility below. Through the window, I watch Reid's underground prison fortress burn. Good riddance.

The flight back to the house is short. Dahlia remains unconscious, and the babies sleep peacefully in their incubators, unaware of the chaos surrounding their birth.

"Landing in two minutes," the pilot announces.

Below us, I can see our house coming into view. We should be going to the hospital, but Evan made an in-home hospital with some of the most advanced medical equipment available when we found out Dahlia was pregnant. It's only because Dahlia insisted that she went to Dr. Marianna's clinic.

A team in white coats rush to meet us as we land. They transfer Dahlia and the babies easily to where Evan leads them.

For the next six hours, we pace outside while the medical team runs every test imaginable: CT scans, blood work, genetic analysis.

Dr. Harrison finally emerges from the room with Marianna beside her.

"How is she?" Evan demands before Dr. Harrison can speak.

"Physically, she's stable," Dr. Harrison reports. "The surgical repair was excellent, and there's no sign of infection. Her vital signs are strong, and her body is healing well."

"But?"

"But she's not responding to stimuli. We've run extensive neurological tests, and while there's brain activity, she's not conscious."

"What does that mean?" Leo asks.

Dr. Harrison exchanges a glance with Marianna before continuing.

"Based on the blood work and the information Dr. Vasquez provided about the experimental drugs, we believe Dahlia's system has been overwhelmed.

The trauma of the accelerated pregnancy, combined with cardiac arrest and blood loss, has essentially caused her brain to shut down into a protective state. "

"She's in a coma?" Onyx says the word we're all thinking.

"Yes," Dr. Harrison confirms. "Her body is healing, but only she can fight to wake up now."

"How long?" Evan's voice is barely a whisper.

"We don't know," Marianna says gently. "It could be days, weeks, or..."

I sink into one of the chairs, the adrenaline finally leaves my system, and leaves me empty and exhausted.

Our children are alive and fighting in the next room.

Reid is captured and will pay for what he's done.

But the woman who makes us whole, who brought our family into existence, lies unconscious and unreachable.

She doesn't finish the sentence, but we all know what she means. Or never.