“A lot,” Ben said. “I’ll explain it to you all later. Now, Koios, left knee toward your chest.” Again, Ben measured and repeated for the right leg. “Done with that. Let me help you up.”
Ben lowered Koios’s feet, then rolled around the bench. He unclipped the back support and used his strength to lift Koios into a sitting position. His posture immediately changed as the weight of his wings moved.
“Okay, I’m going to have you stand up now. Take your time.”
Koios stood, looking much older than his twenty-nine years. Ben once more used the goniometer, this time to measure the angle of Koios’s hips between the anterior interior iliac spine and the posterior superior iliac spine.
He made note of the measurement before setting the tablet aside. The results were worse than he’d anticipated.
“You can go ahead and get dressed,” Ben said. “We need to talk.”
3
KOIOS
Only his sisters’ presence kept Koios from demanding an immediate explanation from the infuriatingDr. Ben. Koios fumed as Ben nonchalantly took his niece out of Nyx’s arms, swept up her little plaid diaper bag, and walked out of the room like he hadn’t dropped a freaking bomb on him.
What the hell did he mean,we need to talk? They didn’tneedto talk about anything. He’d had his checkup. He was fine. Damn nosy busybodies and their opinions on his health.
Fuck them all.
“Cut it out,” Iris snapped, smacking him on the back of the head.
Koios redirected his ire. “Hit me again. I dare you.”
She arched a brow, and then smacked him again. “What are you going to do about it, tough guy? Tackle me? Hit me? Go on. Do it. I dareyou.”
“I’m not going to hit you,” Koios snapped. “Fuck off.”
“Okay, time out,” Nyx said. “I know you’re mad. You hate cryptic bullshit. But let’s take a breath and think about who you’re mad at here. Do you really think Ben was trying to be mysterious and threatening, or do you think thatmaybe, possiblyhe knows you prefer to not have conversations while you’re half-naked? Maybe he wanted to give you a chance to get dressed?”
Well, if she wanted to be reasonable….
“Fine.”
“Good. Let’s get you dressed, and for the goddess’s sake, will you please hear him out before you decide to go into defensive mode? Ben is smart, Koios. He’s as smart as you, and you know I don’t say that lightly. You’re the smartest guy I know, but not in this area. You could clean the floor with Ben when it comes to tech. I hate to break it to you, but when it comes to healing, Ben has you beat. So what if,just this once, we give him the benefit of the doubt and listen to what he has to say? I’ll get you an ice cream twist dipped in chocolate if you’re a good boy.”
“Shut up. But okay, as long as it’s dipped in chocolate.”
Nyx grinned and tossed Koios’s pants at his head. He caught them and pulled them on before his sisters helped him into one of the specially designed shirts he wore to accommodate his wings.
Iris held out his cloak, and for once, Koios hesitated before putting it on. Of course, the brief pause didn’t get past his sister. Nothing ever did. “I can hold on to the cloak until we’re ready to go.”
Koios grunted and grabbed his phone out of his pants pocket. “Fine.”
He pretended not to see Iris’s smirk as he punched in his code and unlocked the phone. Iris and Nyx led the way down the hall. Koios followed while checking his systems. Finding everything secure, he took a deep breath. The throbbing ache that formed in his chest reminded him of why he’d bothered coming to these appointments in the first place.
Ben and Lily sat in one of the pack waiting areas. He’d placed his sleeping niece in her carrier and stared down at her like she’d hung the moon. Koios appreciated being out of the exam rooms. The bright lights and unfamiliar equipment stressed him out more than he cared to admit.
Koios had spent some time in the waiting room when his older brother, Dakota, had been injured a while back. It should have brought back bad memories. Instead, he remembered how much the Jerricks cared for them while they waited on updates about Dakota and his mates.
That was the first time he’d met Ben Jerrick. He’d still been in med school at the time. Funny how much could change in a few short years. It was about that time when he’d first come up with the idea of creating a team of his own to help. Now Ben was a doctor and Koios…had a pack. Well, a team of people he worked with who were a pack. He wasn’t?—
Koios cut off his own thoughts and asked the question he most needed answered.
“So, what’s the verdict?” Koios asked, tucking away his phone.
“The manticore attack exacerbated already existing conditions,” Ben began.
