Page 15 of Rugged Hearts: Part One

“Keelan too. I don’t know about anyone else,” Parker tacks on. I take a seat in the small armchair opposite Eli’s desk.

Eli lets out a whistle. “This is better than I could’ve hoped for. Though I’m calling dibs on the first date. I scented her first it’s only fair.”

“She’s not a toy,” Parker says sharply, surprising both me and Eli. He may need things a certain way to function but in general he is the most laidback of the entire pack.“Besides, I scented her first.” He adds on to the shocking news. He tells us of the day they met and how he wasn’t sure exactly what her scent meant.

“So you and Keelan have known, or at least suspected this basically since her first day in town?” I confirm and he nods in agreement.“So much for being more honest with each other as a pack,” I mutter. That was our promise after the Amber disaster and the months in group and individual therapy sessions.

Eli claps me on the shoulder. “I think this is an extenuating circumstance. And it sounds like we all wanted to be careful because of what happened last year.” As I think that over, Keelan comes in. Parker must have texted him.

“We can’t rush this. There’s something more going on with her,” he says cryptically.

That gets everyone’s attention. “What do you mean? Is she okay?” Eli rushes out.

“She was crying two days ago.” He raises a hand when I go to say something. “I don’t know why, I just tried to give her a distraction. It seemed to help calm her down.”

She did look upset the other day, but I was so thrown off by her scent I didn’t pay enough attention. Suddenly there’s a ringing sounding through the room. I look over and Eli has his phone out, the speaker on as Liam’s voice comes through, sounding exasperated.“What is it, Eli? I’m in between patients.”

“What happened at her appointment with you two days ago?” he asks, a hardness to his voice we don’t often hear from him.

“I can’t tell you—doctor patient confidentiality.”

“Bullshit. She’s our scent match and apparently Keelan found her crying by herself the same day as your meeting with her.”

A loud sigh is heard through the phone. “I’m going to fix it. That’s all you guys need to know.”

“Fix what?” Keelan questions, a slight growl slipping out.

“Before you all go crazy it’s nothing I did. It’s a health issue that I am looking into and will find a way to fix for her. That’s all I’m going to say on it, she deserves her privacy,” he says sternly as if he’s chastising us. Which I guess he is but now my mind is going everywhere all at once. It must be serious for her to be so upset. The room is suddenly silent, everyone taking in the implications.

It’s Parker who breaks it. “She’s not dying or anything is she?” Leave it to him to voice what we’re all thinking of the worst outcome.

“No,” Liam responds in a cautious tone that sounds an awful lot like it’s not a definite. He wouldn’t lie to us, not about something so serious. I relax a bit at this.“Guys, I have to go, but please do not bombard her right now. I’m planning to meet with her tonight to go over what I found so far.” Then Liam hangs up.

We all look around at each other, the mood noticeably more somber. “Fuck it, I’m still planning a date night with her. It’s been the only thing helping me get through being away the last couple weeks,” Eli says as he goes to leave, side stepping Keelan who’s taking up most of the doorway. Before he’s gone, he turns around and says, “We all agree to let things happen as they will for the short term? No telling Jake or Micah?” He looks pointedly at me, causing me to glare at him.

“Fine,” I huff out. Parker and Keelan nod in agreement.

15

THEA

Work has been hectic, but the busy season is coming to a close, with more checkouts and less bookings. I looked ahead to next week and the difference is astounding. Poor November, it’s not a popular month.I’m grateful for it being so busy. It’s left me tired enough at the end of the day to not waste energy on worrying about my current situation or the fact that the one-year anniversary of Connor’s death is in two weeks.

Pulling into my driveway, my headlights illuminate a figure sitting on the steps to my house. Body tensing before realizing it’s Dr. Sullivan. Why is he here? He said he’d let me know what he finds but I assumed it’d be over the phone. This is weird.

I’m not in the mood at all for this conversation. I just want to eat something and go to bed. My face must scream how unhappy I am at this moment because he almost flinches as I approach. Okay maybe I should rein in the bitch face.

“I apologize for showing up here unannounced, I found some information that I thought was best shared in person.” Moving to unlock the front door, I gesture for him to go inside. I follow behind him, making sure to stay in a position near one of the exits. I don’t feel threatened by him, not at all. But I can’t ignorehow sketchy it is that he’s here instead of calling me in for another appointment.

“Have a seat, I’ll be just a minute.” I gesture for him to sit on the couch as I go to my room and quickly get out of my jacket. After debating whether or not to grab the bear spray on my dresser, I decide against it. I return to the living room and sit at the opposite end, waiting for him to begin. He’s clearly anxious, his leg bouncing up and down and clutching a folder.

“First, let me apologize again for showing up like this. I know it’s unprofessional but given the timing I didn’t want to wait to give you this information. The cases I found of long-term suppressant usage and what happened during the omega’s heat following that period was enlightening. There aren’t many in total, but of the ones documented most ended up at the hospital for treatment. This was needed in order to properly regulate the omegas’ temperature and prevent it from getting dangerously high. That appears to be the biggest risk with your upcoming heat. Managing your temperature.”

“With the long-term suppressants the side effect, of course, is the disregulation of your hormones so when they finally start coming through, your body basically doesn’t know how to handle it and that leads to dangerously high temperatures, even for omegas.” He pauses, checking that I’m still following along. I nod at him to continue, my mind already starting to spin to the possibilities of how to deal with this.

“That’s why most cases I could find the omega ended up at the hospital as she and her pack were unable to keep her temperature at a safe level during the heat. I’m sure you’re aware that omegas have a higher than normal temperature compared to alphas or betas. For you a temp of 100 or even 101 would be fine on any given day. During a heat, omegas’ core body temp rises and what I would say is safe for omegas is anything under 106 at that time. Going over that is where it can get dangerous. One of the biggest risks when your temperature gets above that number are seizures. I did find a couple cases where the omegas’ bonded mates wereable to help them through the heat without hospitalization, but…” He trails off and looks at me as we both know I don’t have bonded mates. At that thought a stab of pain rushes through me. Connor should be here. I should be having my heat with him.

“If I were to go to the hospital, is this situation rare enough that it would be reported anywhere?” I say firmly. I can’t risk him finding me.