***
“Are you being real right now?” Deloris stared at Philip.
“If you’d asked me this before I fell for my mate, I’d have definitely told you I wasn’t being real.” Philip stared the warlock down. “Hell, I’d have talked Jer out of it. But now, let’s just say I know what he’s going through.” He totally missed Gloria’s smile.
“Alpha…”
“You better cast that spell pronto before I have you thrown into a dungeon.” Philip cut Deloris off.
“Philip…” Gloria groaned.
“I’ll let them give you a TV in there,” Philip added in a stern voice but couldn’t suppress his grin when he saw Deloris rolling her eyes. “And you’ll have Mama Cora to keep you company. It won’t be so bad.”
“What!” Mama Cora’s indignant gasp drew irrepressible laughter from Gloria.
“Oh my god, Philip shut up.” The increasing horror on Mama Cora’s face made Gloria laugh harder. The old woman clearly didn’t know that Philip didn’t mean what he was saying. “You were not here when Deloris gave us her reasons for not being in support of a pain transfer. It was because of what Dr. Sanders said actually?” She nodded at the doctor encouragingly. “Tell him doc.”
“Err…” Dr. Sanders looked nervous at having his alpha’s intent gaze on him. “Because of who he is… Ryan I mean, a c-section, which is our only way out in this situation, cannot be performed.”
“How do you mean?”
“He will heal.” The doctor shrugged. “Not only is he a werewolf, but he’s also a… you know…”
“Yeah, I know,” Philip muttered.
Cesarean section in werewolf birth was not something that usually happened. It was only when the mother was dead and the baby had to be taken out, or when the mother was human that a c-section was performed. It was not possible to keep a flesh cut opened long enough to take out a baby. The werewolf would heal. And a powerful being such as Ryan would heal even faster than a mere werewolf.
“If we’re going to perform it, we need to cast a spell to stop him from healing.” The doctor went on. “Unfortunately, he’s going to feel every cut and every pain because our orthodox medicine cannot mask the pain of the procedure.”
“So cast a spell to numb the pain,” Philip said.
“It’s not that simple,” Deloris said. “Stopping him from healing long enough to complete the procedure calls for a lot of magic. Casting a spell to numb all that pain equally requires a lot of magic. We will be putting the child at risk if we direct all that magic at Ryan. It’s even more dangerous because of the baby he’s carrying.”
“How do you mean?”
“This baby is already capable of doing magic even now,” Deloris explained. “Using excessive magic will only fuel the baby’s power. And only god knows what it will do.”
“Oh, I get it.” Philip nodded slowly. “So that’s where you come in.” He turned to look at Jeremy.
“Yep.” Jeremy rasped. “We can’t direct more magic Ryan’s way to numb the pain. But we can cast a simple spell to transfer all his pain to me.”
“That’s a perfect plan if you ask me.” Philip’s eyes lit up. “So what’s the problem exactly?”
“I just feel that Ryan will know what to do to handle the pain.” Deloris sighed.
“Are you saying Jer cannot handle whatever pain that Ryan can handle?” Philip folded his arms across his broad chest. “Need I remind you that Jeremy handled all of Ryan’s pain when he was in purgatory?”
“This is different, Alpha.” Deloris rubbed the back of her neck in frustration. “We all know how powerful Ryan is. He will find a way. There’s no need for…”
“There’s every need, Deloris,” Jeremy spoke quietly. “Admittedly, we all know how powerful he is. But what if he’s unable to deal with this kind of pain?”
“And you can?” Deloris looked incredulous. “You’re not thinking clearly right now, Jeremy,” Deloris muttered.
“On the contrary, I’ve never thought more clearly about anything in my life,” Jeremy growled.
“He has a point, Del.” Gloria sighed. “Ryan’s concentration will be on the child. I don’t think he will be in the position to work on his own pain at that point.”
“Besides, if he knows that too much magic might harm the baby, he will suppress every magic within him. He will end up feeling everything. It will be too much.” Jeremy whispered. “I can’t stand by and watch him go through all that pain. Not when I can do something about it.”
“There’s going to be consequences.” Mama Cora muttered.
“Nothing will happen, Mama Cora.” Philip sighed. “Do the spell, Deloris.” Philip’s tone brooked no argument.
“I will.” Deloris nodded with a sigh.
“Thank you,” Jeremy said quietly, his eyes on his floor.
Philip watched Jeremy with a worried frown. His friend was definitely not himself that very moment. Jeremy looked edgy and jittery. He sure as hell didn’t look like the kick-ass Jeremy who handled things with authority and confidence. Philip knew he had to step up for his friend. Jeremy would have done the same for him if the shoe were to be on the other foot.
The alpha took charge.
“Sanders?” Philip addressed the elderly doctor.
“Yes, Alpha?”
“I want everything to be perfect. No mistakes.” Philip sounded dead serious.
“Noted, Alpha.”
“Who will be on the team?” Philip asked.
“Myself, Deloris, three other doctors, and four nurses.” The doctor responded.
“Sure you don’t need more help?”
“We’re more than enough, Alpha.” Dr. Sanders responded.
“Gather all of them now,” Philip said. “I want to have a word with them.”
“Right away, Alpha.” Dr. Sanders left the office.
“Jeremy, come with me,” Philip said and then turned on his heels, followed by a subdued Jeremy.
The best place Jeremy needed to be at that moment was beside his mate, Philip thought as he led Jeremy down the hall. Both men entered Ryan’s room and allowed the door to shut behind them. They both watched the sleeping man silently. It was obvious that Ryan was restless. He’d tossed and turned so much he was lying at the very edge of the bed with his legs dangling off the bed. Even his breathing was labored.
“He’s restless,” Philip muttered.
Jeremy nodded as he crouched down and began to undo the laces on his boots. After taking them off, he placed Ryan in the right position and got into the bed beside him. Ryan immediately snuggled into Jeremy and began to breathe evenly.
‘Let me know the moment he wakes up.’ Philip told Jeremy on their mind-link, not wanting to disturb the sleeping man.
‘I will. Thanks, Lip.’
With a quick nod, Philip left the room. After a brief no-nonsense but heartfelt talk with the medical team, he went back to the office to talk to Gloria, Mama Cora, and Deloris. But as soon as the door shut behind him, Gloria hit him with a shocker.
“You smell different, Philip.” Philip heard his mother-in-law drawl. “Anything you wanna share?”