Papa helped him hang the board on the wall using sticky strips, then handed over a bag of markers and the eraser. “I know what you’re thinking, but are you sure this is going to keep him calm?”
Ben shrugged and wrapped an arm over his Papa’s shoulders. He always thought as a parent first, even if the patient in question wasn’t one of his own. “I know if I don’t give him something to work on, he won’t be calm at all. I need to keep his mind busy, or he won’t be able to rest. This will have to do for now.”
Papa nodded. “Let me know if there’s anything else you need. And finish your lunch. You don’t eat enough as it is.”
Ben ate plenty, but his family loved to make a fuss. He went along with it because…well, he liked it. “I will, Papa. Thanks.”
Ben used the next few minutes to divide the whiteboard into a few sections. The first column was for harpies. The second, dwarves. The third, valravyn. And the fourth and final…well that was reserved for manticore.
As Koios slept on, Ben worked on his tablet, creating a new presentation he’d be able to display on the TV. On it he listed everything he knew about the manticore. He started from those early cases involving Logan’s pack, the ones they’d eventually traced back to the manticore’s influence.
When he heard a soft knock on the door, Ben pulled himself out of his thoughts and went to open it. Dakota stood in the hall with a dozen books in his arms. Ben took them with a groan and set them on the table with the remnants of his lunch.
“Henry’s library is my favorite,” Ben said.
Dakota grunted. “Until you have to keep three rambunctious toddlers out of it. Not so fun then.”
“I bet not.”
Dakota glanced at the bed. “How is he?”
“Stable,” Ben replied.
“And what does that mean?”
Ben answered, brother to brother. He’d want the same honesty if it was Henry, Ollie, or Jack lying in the bed. “The cardiac arrest is the biggest concern. I’d say it was due to stress on his system…but honestly, we don’t know. He doesn’t have a lot of the most common causes, so Dad and I think the stress from his wings is the most likely cause.”
“Henry said cardiac arrest is different from a heart attack. I don’t…know what that means,” Dakota said.
“It is different. A heart attack is when there’s infarction—a disruption of the blood flow to the heart. During cardiac arrest, the heart stops completely and there’s no warning. It’s more of an electrical issue than a blood flow issue.”
Dakota nodded, but he’d paled during the explanation. “We can’t lose him, Ben. He’s…we can’t lose our brother.”
Ben put his hand on Dakota’s back. His brother-in-law was one of the most self-contained men Ben had ever met. For him to show the amount of emotion currently on his face, Dakota must be gutted over Koios’s condition.
“I’m going to do everything I can to save him, Dakota. I promise you, brother to brother.”
“I know you will, Ben. He can be such an ass sometimes, but his heart…you won’t find anyone who cares more.”
Ben swallowed hard. “I know. I’ll leave you for a few minutes. I’ll be down the hall if you need me.”
Dakota nodded and sat down on the stool by the bed. He took Koios’s hand in his, and Ben’s throat threatened to close. He left the room before his emotions got away from him. He didn’t make a clean escape, though. Nyx and Spencer stood at the end of the hall. Nyx took one look at him and ran to him. She flung herself into his arms and hugged him hard.
“He’s going to be okay,” Nyx said. “We’re going to make sure of it, Ben. I brought smarty-pants with me for the first shift so we could do some research before Koios wakes up. Bailey thought I was crazy for wanting to partner with Spencer, but I know what my brother is going to do the moment his eyes open.”
Ben nodded. He swallowed hard again and straightened. “I brought in a television we can use as a monitor and the whiteboard we used for homeschooling. I was going to take notes. Dakota is in with him now. He brought books from Henry’s library.”
“Oh, good thinking,” Nyx said. “See, Spencer? I told you there would be plenty for you to do.”
“This is an difficult situation,” Spencer said.
Ben moved to the witch’s side and patted him on the shoulder. “I know. I appreciate the help, though. Jack has told me you’re an amazing researcher. We could really use that right now.”
“What do you need?”
Ben glanced at Nyx again. “It may sound counterintuitive, but I want to start with information on harpies and dwarves. I need to understand his genetic makeup before I can determine what issues are caused by the curse and which are potentially hereditary.”
“Makes perfect sense to me,” Nyx said. “Plus, the hell prince said Koios and I are biological siblings. That’s weird, right? I mean, yeah, we look alike, but…I mean, my wings work fine. Well, I can’t fly or anything, but they go away like they’re supposed to.”
