“Dex, how are you doing? Feeling okay?”
“Um, I guess.” I shrugged. “It’s, well, a lot.”
Myke nodded sympathetically. “I’ll bet. According to the nurses’ log, you’ve been visiting regularly?”
I nodded. “Yeah. I can quit, though.”
Myke cocked his head. “Why would you do that?”
“I think maybe he doesn’t want me to.”
“I see. Can I be honest?”
“Of course.” I braced myself to be told that Myke agreed and thought I should go home.
“Clark walked me through a little bit of what you told him. I think if you really want to help Otto, you should spend more time with him. Talk to him. Even touch him if you are willing to.”
My eyebrows shot up and Myke snickered. “Ah, I mean in a platonic way, Dexter. Hold his hand, things like that.”
Oh. “Why?”
“Because we already know that he had strong feelings for you and there is a lot of scientific evidence that Omega pheromones can stimulate healing in their partner.” Before I could dispute the classification of me as Otto’s partner, Myke continued. “It can’t hurt, right?” He glanced over to where Papa was talking to someone in the gift shop to be sure we couldn’t be overheard. “And it would be better for you and the baby to have that contact instead of the stress of the separation, yeah?”
“But what if he doesn’t want me there?” I was barely able to whisper.
Myke just shrugged and squeezed my shoulder. “Then he can damn well Alpha up and tell us so.”
~*~
Otto
I was stuck in a void where time had no meaning with no clue how I got there.
I also had no idea how many days had passed since I heard Dexter and Clark. After they left, there were many times when I felt that Dex was back with me, standing in my room, but if he was truly there, he never spoke to me. The only people who did were the doctors, nurses, and a religious leader who prayed next to my bed every so often.
That was until the day that a new voice, one that was familiar enough to know that I knew the speaker but not familiar enough to place it called my name.
“Otto, you need to wake up, man.” His voice was level and calm. “This is Myke Kravets speaking. Until you wake up, the law says that you have to have someone to make decisions for you and that’s where I come in.”
He paused like he was waiting for my response and then he continued. “Right now, it’s just you and me but fair warning, I told Dexter that he is welcome to visit you. Scratch that, I asked him if he would visit as much as possible in the hopes that his presence might help you heal faster. Dexter is afraid that you don’t want him here but I’m fairly sure he’s wrong.”
Another pause as I digested his words. Did I want Dexter here with me? Hell to the yes I did!
“Anyhoo, if he is right and you don’t want the company, I’m afraid you’ll have to wake up and tell me.” Myke’s voice softened slightly. “Actually, we’d all appreciate you waking up no matter what the motivation is. Not to guilt you, man, but Dex is pretty damn upset and, well, that’s not great for his condition right now.”
Condition? What condition? Was Dex sick? I don’t know if Myke was done talking or if the knock on the door interrupted him, but the next sound was the now-familiar opening click of the door.
“Dex, come on in.” Myke’s voice was back to cheerful. “I told Otto you were going to be hanging out and he didn’t lodge any complaints.”
That was dorky enough that I gave a mental laugh snort.
“Um, okay.” Dex sounded nervous. “What do I do?”
There was a dragging sound followed by a small thump. “Here,” Myke sounded closer to me. “Why don’t you sit in the chair right here and talk to Otto? If you’re feeling frisky, you could even hold his hand.”
“What if he doesn’t want me to?”
I do!
