Chapter 495

Olivia

I shouldn’t have tried to get up and listen. I shouldn’t have followed the sound of the raised voices downstairs. I should have stayed in bed, where maybe, just maybe, this wouldn’t have happened…

Bright lights flashed all around me. I felt myself being loaded into a vehicle—the back of an ambulance. More flashing, voices, the sound of radios.

Everything went intermittently black over the next stretch of time, however long or short that stretch of time even was. I recalled snippets of conversation, but I wouldn’t discern where or even when they came, like drops of rain plopping onto a window.

“Her blood pressure’s dropping.”

“Elevate her feet.”

“We’ll have to induce…”

“What if…”

“Stay awake, Mrs. Ford. You have to stay awake.”

“Liv, I’m right here. Don’t leave me.”

I had felt myself fading, but that last voice was like a buoy in a storm, as if I was lost out at sea during a hurricane. I latched onto it, held on like hell and didn’t let go. If that was all I could do, then I would do it.

“Nathan…”

“I’m here,” Nathan whispered. Through the bright lights and unfamiliar faces, I could see him lean closer to me. There were tears in his beautiful blue-green eyes. God, I hoped our son got those eyes. “I’m here.”

That was all he said: “I’m here.” But he didn’t need to say anything else; he couldn’t say anything else.

The next thing I knew, I was being taken out of the ambulance and wheeled into a hospital. The bright white lights were so blinding I had to close my eyes against them, and the scent of sterile antiseptic solutions filled my nostrils in a dizzying manner.

Something sharp was pricked into my arm as we moved through the hallways, but I didn’t feel it. All I felt was Nathan’s hand around mine, warm and reassuring.

Why did I have to eavesdrop? Why, oh why? Those moments leading up to passing out felt so clear…

…

I sat up in bed when I heard Dan’s voice coming from downstairs, my earlier nausea temporarily forgotten.

“Nathan, I need to speak with you in private. Now.”

“What is he doing here?” I muttered under my breath. I heard muted conversation as Nathan led him to his study, and then nothing.

My wolf simply growled in distaste. Dan gave both of us a bad feeling, and right now, we were both on edge. With the baby in a sensitive position and being so close to the c-section date, it was as if my mother wolf instincts were on high alert.

That was why, when I heard the sound of voices rising, I went against what I had been told and snuck down the stairs. I followed the voices to Nathan’s study, where I pressed myself against the wall and held my breath.

“I appreciate the gesture, Dan. But my wife needs me. Surely you understand.”

I furrowed my brow as I rounded the corner to Nathan’s office, keeping my ears open to listen to their conversation. With my ear pressed to the wall, I could hear them perfectly now.

I could practically feel the tension emanating out from beneath the door, too; this was no casual visit. Why had Dan come?

“Surely you understand,” Dan’s voice said, deep and firm, “that an Alpha’s duty should be first and foremost to one’s pack. And from what I understand, your pack has been suffering from some trade disagreements, has it not?”

I frowned. Trade disagreements? Why didn’t Nathan tell me if we were in a tough spot? He hadn’t said a word about anything of the sort.

“How do you know that?” Nathan asked. His voice seemed to quiver slightly, betraying his nervousness.

“I have my sources,” Dan said, still just as calm and collected as ever, although still slightly raised. “And I have solutions as well. But I simply cannot, in good faith, extend my generosity to an Alpha who clearly has little interest in the association—in his pack.”

There was a long pause. Then, Nathan said softly, “You’d ask me to put money and trade agreements over my wife and children. I’m sorry, Dan, but I’m not sure if I can do that.”

“Then perhaps I am not sure if your seat on the association will remain yours.”

What happened after that was a blur. I heard footsteps approaching, but then… I felt my knees buckle, the world tilting beneath my feet. My eyes rolled back, and my chest clenched. There were only two things on my mind at that moment: Nathan and the baby.

And the next thing I knew, I was being loaded into the back of the ambulance.

…

“Mrs. Ford,” a warm, familiar voice said through the throng. “Mrs. Ford, can you hear me?”

I swallowed around the knot in my throat and cracked my eyes open to see the same doctor from two weeks ago leaning over me with a concerned look in his eyes. I couldn’t manage to speak, but I was able to nod stiffly and grunt in acknowledgment.

“Mrs. Ford,” the doctor said, “the placenta almost fully detached from your uterus. Your baby is losing oxygen. We’re going to perform the c-section now.”

“My baby…” I managed. But no more words could come out, not that anyone was listening. They were already rushing around in preparation for this emergency c-section, and I felt caught in the middle, an unwilling participant.

But then, thankfully, something warm and fuzzy rushed through me. “Just a little morphine,” I heard a gentle voice say. Everything suddenly became soft around the edges, like I was watching myself through the eyes of a hollow, misshapen husk.

“Nathan…?” I muttered.

“I’m still here, my love.” I blinked upwards to see Nathan standing next to my head. “They’re going to take little Alvin out now. Everything will be fine.”

“Oh.” I nodded, the word feeling foreign on my thick, heavy tongue. “Everything will be fine,” I parroted.

I’m not sure what happened next. Everything seemed so fast, yet so much like an eternity at the same time. I heard voices mingling with the sounds of beeping and metal instruments clinking together.

I felt pressure on my abdomen. Something oozed out, probably blood, but it felt far away and entirely insignificant.

I felt Nathan’s hand tighten around mine, and when I looked up, all I could see was the underside of his jaw clenched tightly, so tight that his veins popped out a bit.

All the while, I clung onto those words: everything will be fine. My baby, my boy, my little Alvin was going to be in my arms soon. We had come here just in time, and the doctor would handle everything.

Everything… would… be…

I felt something heavy lift from my belly, although I couldn’t see around the sheet they had positioned to hide my view of the wreckage. I felt my heart soar; Alvin was free. He was okay.

But then I felt Nathan’s hand tighten like iron around mine, crushing my fingers—it likely would have hurt, had I not been doped up on so much morphine. When I looked up at him, his jaw was still clenched, but trembling now.

And the room was silent; there were no cries.