~*~
Otto
“Nothing more to do but wait, love.”
The strange voice seemed to be speaking in a very slow cadence like it was being mechanically adjusted. It was also dull and muffled like it came out of a speaker under water. It wasn’t a voice I recognized, and I couldn’t think of any reason someone would be at my house, but when I tried to ask who was speaking, no sound came out.
That was the first sign that all was not as it should be but as I tried to suss out what was going on, it wasn’t the only one.
My eyes were closed and I couldn’t open them. I also couldn’t feel any of my limbs or tell where I was. It was almost as if I was in a dream state but my consciousness was floating around eavesdropping on people around me.
“He’s going to be okay, right?” That voice I knew. Dexter. The Omega I’d crushed on since we were teenagers. Why did he sound so sad? “Otto can’t die. Not now.” The alarming words were followed by a stifled whimper.
He thought I mightdie?
“The doctors have done all they can for now,” another voice I recognized. One of Dexter’s fathers, Clark, said gently. “Otto is going to have to fight but the odds are good. He has good shifter genes and a strong heart.”
There was a sniffle and then Dex’s sad voice again. “But it’s poison, Dad. That’s one of the things we can’t always heal from.”
“I know, kiddo,” Clark murmured. “All we can do is hope and be here for him. The doctors think that he might be able to hear if we talk to him.”
I desperately wanted to agree, to nod, to doanythingto let them know I could hear them, that I was there with them.
Another sniffle. “Yeah, I don’t think he wants to hear from me.” A sigh. “He might recover faster if I’m not here.”
Poison? What were they talking about? I was sick and in a hospital but why? How did I get poisoned? And why would Dex think I didn’t want him around me?
All my cloudy mind could remember was running through the woods in bear form but not where or why I wasrunning at night. Then there were flashes of bright lights and nothing else before these quiet voices slipped in through my dream-like state.
“I don’t believe that,” Clark’s voice was still gentle but firm. “Not for a minute. I don’t know exactly what happened between you boys, but Otto cares about you.”
Something happened between me and Dex? When? What? What the hell was going on? My frustration at being unable to remember or communicate increased and a chime sounded, the high-pitched noise making my brain hurt worse.
“What’s that alarm?” Dex sounded panicked.
“I’ll get a nurse,” Clark didn’t sound much better.
“No need,” the same oddly slow voice from a minute earlier said. “I’m back.” The voice grew louder, and I assumed it was because they -she? I thought it might be a female but couldn’t be sure- were getting closer to me. “That’s odd. His heart rate spiked.”
“Is that bad?” Dex was barely whispering.
“I can’t be sure,” the slow voice said. “Both his heart rate and his pulse are a little higher than we would expect but not at a dangerous level. It could mean a few different things. I’ll call for the doctor and have him take a look.”
Clark and the slow voice exchanged a few more words before I heard what sounded like footsteps followed by the click of a door opening and then closing.
“Dad? It says on google that an increase in heart rate could mean he’s waking up. Do you think he can hear us?”
Yes!I was shouting in my mind.I can hear you!
“I don’t know, son. Maybe you should try talking to him. If he is, maybe he’ll try harder to wake up.”
I was mentally holding my breath, waiting for Dex to come closer to me when there was another sigh.
“I think I better go, instead, Dad.” Dex sounded completely deflated. “Honestly, I’m not sure that I’m not the reason he’s here in the first place so I think it’s better if I leave.”
“Dexter, kiddo, the doctors already said they think it was an accident and not a suicide attempt.”
Suicide? What the hell happened to me?
