47

Kade’s POV
I woke up to the sounds of people talking and when my eyes open, I see a white room that resembles a hospital room but isn’t as extreme with all the machines and what not. My stomach has a light ache along with my arm and when I look down at it, there’s an IV in it with a bag of fluids hanging above my head on a metal pole. I hear gasps before someone’s hands run through my hair and kisses are placed along my forehead.
Hey, Kade, how’re you feeling ? My mom says as she sits on the edge of the bed next to me as I notice that my parents and Emilie were in the room along with Cody and Melissa, sitting in chairs to my right along with Joey who’s chair is placed directly next to my bed as his hand holds on to mine with his shirt off, showing gauze wrapped around his stomach in the exact same place that I was aching right now.
I’m okay, but what’s going on ?
Joey’s grip tightens in mine before he slowly sits up without irritating his wound. When I got clawed by a rogue, you were also affected with the same injury. We don’t know how or why, so we’re having the elders look up for a reason why this would be happening.
I lift his hand up to place on my chest as I notice his knee shaking as he was probably stressed or nervous about this whole situation. He closes his eyes, setting his head against the bed as he feels my heartbeat in my chest. Mom continues to run her fingers through my hair and I see Emilie laying her head on Dad’s shoulder as they both look extremely tired. Melissa and Cody are in the same position with their hands intertwined in each others.
There was a knock on the door, making Joey’s head lift up as Conner’s head sticks in. He gives me a small smile along with a wave when he sees that I’m awake. Hey, Joey, some of the guards need to talk to you.
Joey nods his head, starting to stand up as Cody shoots up to help him stand. I start to feel a huge sense of dread as I realize that he was leaving and I tightened my grip on his hand, getting his attention. I’ll be right back.
I shake my head, feeling my heart dropping into my stomach at the idea of him walking out of the room. No, please, don’t go.
Hey, it’s okay, we’re here. He’ll be right back, Mom tells me as Emilie stands up to take Joey’s seat to take my hand so I didn’t feel alone. Joey gave me a small smile as he pulled on a shirt and walks out the door with Cody, Melissa, and his dad.
I look over at Emilie, who looks a bit nervous. I sigh, tightening my grip on her hand. I’m so sorry you had to find out about this this way. I didn’t expect this and I’m so sorry.
No, it’s okay, it’s not your fault that all this has happened. The only thing I care about is that everyone’s okay, she tells me.
I turn to look at my mom, who’s still running her fingertips through my hair as her other arm lays above my head to keep her balance as she sits on the edge. Where’s Gigi and Grandpa ?
They’re okay, they were just a little shocked so they were here for a bit until they decided to go to the guest house and sleep, Mom tells me. We all sit there for a few minutes until my father stands up to sit on the end of the bed to place his hand on my leg to get my attention. When I look up at him, I notice how puffy his eyes are and I realize that he must’ve been crying.
So you’re okay ? He asks.
I nod my head. I feel fine, just a bit tired, but I’ll be okay.
I’m just worried that because this happened once that it might happen again. I mean, are you going to get hurt every time Joey gets hurt ? He asks, making me think because this has genuinely never happened before. He has never gotten this hurt since we’ve been together, so we had no idea how this whole situation even worked.
Maybe it was a mating thing because I had started to feel a bit different since the first time we had sex. I had started to feel stronger and more focused on everything I do, like something in him had transferred over to me to make me a better person. It was weird, but maybe this would explain it. He told me that things would change when we mated, so maybe this was just one of the things that we just didn’t know about.
I shake my head at my dad’s response. I have no idea, nothing like this has happened before.
Let’s not worry about that right now, so much has already happened and I just want to be happy that our boy is alright, Mom says, kissing my forehead.
Did you meet Lila yet ? I ask her and her face brightens up as she nods at me, enthusiastically.
Yeah, when we first got to the hospital, we met. From how you described her, I didn’t believe she was a real person, but she’s just so nice and so considerate. She wanted to stay here with you until you woke up, but Conner, it’s Conner, right ? Mom asks in the middle of her rambling.
Yeah, I tell her with a smile.
Okay, but Conner forced her to go back to the house and go to sleep after all that’s happened today. They’re such a sweet couple and I’m really glad that we were able to meet finally, she tells me.
I chuckle, looking over at Emilie who also has a smile on her face as we talk about Lila. Have you seen her paintings yet ? I think you’ll really appreciate them the most.
Emilie shakes her head. No, I haven’t been to the house yet because we just came straight here, but she told me about her paintings and how she can’t wait to show them to me since Mom decided to show her some of my stuff from art class.
Lila’s an amazing artist and I bet she could teach you some stuff if you wanted. I could always ask her once all this stuff dies down, I tell Emilie and her smile widens as she nods her head.
Yeah, that would be great, she tells me and I tighten my grip on her hand. I look at all of their faces to see the bags under their eyes and realize that they probably haven’t slept at all due to all of this stuff that’s been going on.
Hey, you guys should go to the guest house and get some sleep. I’ll still be here when you wake up and we can all hang out at the house and you can really meet Lila and Conner when they’re awake and full of energy, I tell them and Mom immediately shakes her head.
No, we’re not leaving you here, she tells me.
I sigh, knowing that I’ll have to come up with something to help get them to go to sleep. Okay, how about I convince Joey to take me to the house, so we could all be there together ? I could sleep in bed while you guys spread out on the couches and whatnot, you wouldn’t even have to leave me or anything because I’ll be right there in the next room.
Mom looks up at her husband, who shrugs his shoulders at her. She looks back down at me with a long sigh. Okay, that’s fine.
The door opens again and Joey, Cody, Melissa, and Conner come in and I notice how tired all of them look as well, meaning that we could all use some much deserved sleep in our familiar beds before whatever happens tomorrow happens. Joey goes to stand behind Emilie to place his hand on her shoulder before looking back up at me. The rogues got away after they attacked. The guards said that they tried to track them for as long as they could, but they got lost in the forest, so we’re back to square one again.