Chapter 224

Olivia

Morning light filtered through half-closed blinds, painting streaks of gold across the cold tiled floor. Machines beeped in rhythmic succession, and the distant murmur of nurses and doctors beyond the door provided a constant, albeit faint, backdrop of noise.

I had been awake for hours. It wasn’t easy sleeping in a hospital room, especially not when I knew that my twins were at home without me.

I was studying the intricate patterns on the ceiling when Angela suddenly burst through the door. Her long hair, usually neatly tied up in a ponytail, was in a state of disarray, and her normally sharp, discerning eyes were red-rimmed and swollen.

“Olivia! Nathan!” She rushed to the space between our adjacent hospital beds, clutching her bag. “When the message reached me... I just... What happened?”

“Car accident,” I said vaguely, not wanting to go into too much detail.

“We’re okay, Angela,” Nathan tried to reassure her, but his voice, usually so strong, wavered slightly. His face, gaunt and pale against the backdrop of the stark white hospital pillow, showed signs of exhaustion.

Angela’s eyes scanned us both, and her fingers reached out to touch my arm, as if ensuring that I was truly there and not just a figment of her imagination. “The twins... I think they can sense that something is wrong. They hardly slept all night, no matter how hard I tried.”

I tried to push past the heavy feeling in my chest. “Thank you for taking care of them.”

Her worried gaze didn’t waver. “But what about tomorrow? With Ryan? You had plans, didn’t you?”

Nathan glanced at me, his expression unreadable, then turned back to Angela. “The witch turned out to be less helpful than we had hoped. We were going to use a changeling, but now... we’re empty-handed.”

“Why?” Angela asked, cocking her head to the side. “She helped before, with Alvin.”

I swallowed, noticing how my throat felt sore and dry. The nurses had given us each an IV, but we weren’t allowed to drink any water. “It’s partially my fault,” I said, ignoring the daggers that Nathan shot at me from across the room. “I wanted to restore my wolf, and she… she wanted Aurora. So we left.”

“Don’t say that,” Nathan hissed. “It’s thanks to you that we didn’t work with her. I doubt she would have actually taken the money or gems that she wanted in exchange for the changeling. It probably would have gone south no matter what.”

Angela's already pale face drained of the little color it had. The room seemed to grow colder. “But Ryan’s expecting something,” she said quietly. “What are you gonna do?”

The weight of our situation pressed in on me, making it hard to breathe. I sat up, wincing as pain shot through my side. “We can’t run, and we can’t hide,” I said, glancing at Nathan. “We need a new plan. Quickly.”

Angela’s hands wrung together, her nails digging into her skin. “You can’t face him without some sort of leverage. The Redclaws can be ruthless. Without something to offer, Ryan will either take Elliot or... declare war. Officially.”

The silence that followed was deafening. Each of us were lost in our thoughts, trapped in the tornado of the dangers we faced.

It was Nathan who finally broke the silence. “If Ryan wants war, then it’s on him,” he said matter-of-factly. “We can’t live our lives always in fear.”

I glanced at Nathan, my heart swelling with a mixture of pride and dread. “What are you saying?”

He met my gaze, his eyes resolute. “I’m saying we need to face him. No deceptions, no games. Just us, and our truths. How he reacts is up to him. If he wants to declare war, then we’ll deal with it.”

Angela looked between us, her expression incredulous. “That’s your plan? To just... walk up to him and hope for the best?”

Nathan shook his head. “I’m not hoping for the best. Honestly, I’m waiting for the worst.”

“That’s… insane!” Angela exclaimed, frustration evident in her voice.

I reached out and took her hand, squeezing it gently. “Angela, this is all we can do. Tricks and lies will only delay the inevitable. The changeling would have changed back into a fae eventually, and we would be right back here again, in this exact same situation.”

Angela sighed, her shoulders sagging as the weight of our situation bore down on her. “I just... I can’t lose you two. And the twins, they need you.”

“We know,” Nathan whispered. “But we can’t let Ryan and the Redclaws control our lives. We have to take a stand.”

We sat in silence for a moment, the reality of our decisions heavy in the air. The distant sounds of the hospital seemed amplified, every beep, every shuffle echoing with an urgency that mirrored our own.

Angela’s face was a canvas of conflicting emotions. But after what felt like an eternity, she nodded slowly. “Alright. If this is the plan, I’m with you. But promise me something.”

“What’s that?” I asked.

“That no matter what happens tomorrow, you’ll always put the twins first. They need you, more than ever.”

“We promise,” Nathan and I said in unison.

Just then, a gentle knock broke the tension in the room. The door opened slowly, revealing the doctor: an older man with silvering hair, deep-set lines on his face and a kind, yet professional, glint in his eyes.

“Good afternoon, you three,” the doctor greeted with a nod, his tone friendly but carrying a note of concern. He approached, looking between Nathan and me with a clinical eye.

The doctor turned his attention first to Nathan. “Thanks to your wolf’s healing abilities, most of your injuries have been mending at an incredible rate. The cuts, the abrasions; you’ll be right as rain soon.”

Nathan smirked lightly. “Good. But what about Olivia?”

The doctor turned to me, his expression slightly more serious. “Olivia’s situation is a bit different. For some reason, she doesn’t have the accelerated healing rate that she should have.” He hesitated for a moment, choosing his words carefully. I swallowed, noticing as an apprehensive look flashed through his eyes. He didn’t know that my wolf was dormant. He couldn’t know. No one could.

“However,” he continued, “her injuries, while painful, are not as dire as they could’ve been. But you do have two broken ribs, Olivia, and your body has been through a great deal of stress.”

Angela inhaled sharply, worry evident in her eyes, but I held up my hand to quiet her panic. “How long until I can be on my feet again?”

“Given your determination,” the doctor began with a small smile, “a couple of weeks for your ribs to heal sufficiently. But the stress your body has undergone will need ample rest to recover fully. I’d recommend taking it easy for a while.”

I nodded slowly, the reality sinking in. “So, bed rest?”

“At least for a few days,” he replied. “You need to allow your body the time it requires to mend. No heavy lifting. No running. Nothing of that sort.”

Silence settled once more, punctuated only by the constant hum of the medical equipment surrounding us. The doctor patted my hand gently before leaving.

As the room was enveloped in stillness once more, a flood of emotions cascaded over me. Tears blurred my vision, and I blinked rapidly, trying to keep them at bay. However, the weight of everything—our situation with Ryan, my injuries, the twins, my wolf—became overwhelming.

Nathan noticed immediately. “Hey,” he said gently, reaching out to touch my hand, “what’s going on?”

Swallowing hard, I met his gaze, tears trickling down my cheeks. “How can I protect our twins if I’m incapacitated? If I can’t even heal on my own?”

Nathan’s face hardened, but his eyes remained soft. He squeezed my hand firmly. “Olivia, listen to me. It’s my job to protect all of us, you included. Now more than ever, you need to focus on getting better.”

“But Nathan—”

“No,” he interrupted, his voice stern but filled with love. “You’ve been carrying the weight of the world on your shoulders. Let me take care of you now.”

The weight in my chest lightened, if only a little.

As Nathan pulled my hand to his lips, kissing it gently, I was reminded once again that, no matter the challenge, we had to face it together. We had no other choice.