“You know them?” I triple check as I take a small step in front of her protectively.
“Yeah, I do,” she says, dropping her forehead to my back. I feel her bracing and her reaction makes me even more cautious. “They’re my guards,” she says, though her voice somehow stays between the two of us, despite the volume she used.
“You have personal guards?”
She laughs loudly as she takes a big breath before she steps out of my shadow, a very cheeky grin on her face, “I do. I’m Tristan Cameron by the way.”
The way she moves out of my space is an obvious move. Same as the thick cloud of soul-destroying bubble-gum sweet scent she leaves as a comforting gesture. But physically what she does is provide her guards with a visual, giving them without using words confirmation she is safe and unharmed. In doing so, she also protects me. She makes a point of ensuring they don’t read anything sinister between our interaction, especially after the hospital wide emergency.
“Jesus Christ,” I whisper hoarsely as every strange thing about our interaction settles into order. “You’re here to present me the Dean Cameron Award?”
“It’s kind of obvious now don’t you think? Even you were talking about fate.” She says, talking over her shoulder as she steps towards the Alphas gunning down the corridor. “I’m okay. As soon as the alarm sounded I knew what we were facing. It would have been good not to be locked out away from where you were but at the same time it all worked out. Tyson saved me and has been entertaining me in his room. Honestly, I forgot about the danger in the corridor.”
“Miss Cameron, we are so sorry. The security response is set up automatically, doors are locked and we’re aware it’s a fault in our system.” One of the Board members steps up as he tries to talk himself out of the shit situation. Which could have been avoided.
I snap. “And this is why we keep saying you need to get out of the executive floor and into the wards where the issues lie. It was lucky I found Tristan when I did, whoever was on the loose was minutes away from finding her.”
A resident being so openly hostile towards management in front of important benefactors is enough to have me hauled overthe coals for insubordination but these clowns are in control of the budget, and their ineptitude to manage the hospital properly just put my mate at risk. Well, that’s what the Alpha side of my brain fixates on.
Tristan pins me silent with a look before she steps in front of the spluttering board member. “I’ll be talking with my parents and letting them know that Tyson put his own life on the line to save me. One of your up-and-coming doctors was the only person who risked it all to help, not passing judgement but even I know there’s a fatal flaw in your system if your security personnel don’t have the tools to access areas where people may be.”
“Tristan,” her guard warns, but she pins him with the same look she used on me. I hear the audible snap of his jaw as he shuts his mouth.
“Was anyone injured?” she asks, as she walks past him her focus on going back to the reception area by the looks. And the way she shifts focus away from my outburst and also their ineptitude has me smirking with pride. These idiots just got schooled by an Omega still at school.
She has barely finished asking her question before my pager goes off, and my mobile rings. The pager is linked to the ER department, which answers her question if anyone was injured although our ER department never stops. Checking my phone, Steel’s name flashes up along with about a dozen missed calls from him. “I’ll catch up with you guys,” I offer as I twist away to answer his call.
Tristan stops though, ignoring everyone moving around her and watches me. I mouth off ‘I’m coming’ and her shoulders relax a little before she disappears around the bend.
“Hey, I’m working,” I answer.
Steel’s voice is thick with panic. “Fuck, Ty, no shit I’ve been trying to get through to you.”
“We had a lock down.” And that pacifies him for a heartbeat before his anxiety and panic reaches through the phone again. “What’s happened?”
“Ma and Harley got out,” he says, and I can hear him huddling somewhere but I don’t need him to repeat because he at last says the words I’ve been desperate to hear for a really long time. “Rex is fucking losing his shit, Ty. Honestly, don’t come here. Stay at the hospital at least until he calms down.”
“Are you safe?”
“Mav’s with me. He won’t leave me without protection, we’ll stick together.”
“Yeah, well be fucking careful with that too. You don’t want Rex getting side tracked by imagining there’s more to your friendship than there is.”
Another rustle of noise echoes down the phone. “Hang on.” I hear Steel mumbling something to someone, the noise of a party in the background full of grown men drinking themselves stupid, and the suggestive shrill and giggles of the club sluts make me pull the phone from my ear. I duck into the handicapped toilet to hear better.
“You there?” he asks after a few moments.
“Yeah, what’s going on.”
“Rex is making a point.”
I scoff visualising exactly what’s going on.
“Tyson, no shit… if you got anyone you need protecting, like friends at the hospital or a bit of pussy on the side you need to put some distance between you and them. Rex is on the loose, he’s already had a go at Mav wanting answers but Mav doesn’t know shit.”
“And what happens if he comes for you, Steel?”
“I don’t know where they are.” My brother’s response is nearly sullen as he snaps back.
