“You went into cardiac arrest from smoke inhalation,” Emerson said. “You nearly died.”
Dash blinked a few times, shocked to hear that. He held Emerson’s gaze, letting the news settle in. But he’d gotten out of the building. He’d been safe. Hadn’t he?
“Isthatwhy my chest aches so bad?” Dash asked, lifting a hand to it and gently massaged there.
“I had to perform CPR after you crashed,” Emerson said. “I bruised a few ribs in the process.”
“Great,”Dash muttered, sinking into the bed.
“You need rest. And you should limit talking to save your throat and lungs.”
Dash looked to the bed beside him and noticed Eliott there. He appeared asleep. “How’s he?”
“He had a ruptured spleen and needed surgery. Docs said it went well,” Emerson said. “He was awake and semi-alert a few hours ago and seemed uncomfortable, but okay. They loaded him up with pain meds and put his lights out again.”
“A few hours ago? How long have I been out?”
“Since this morning,” Emerson said. “It’s early evening.”
Dash glanced past his parents and noticed the dark sky through the window’s blinds. His gaze dropped to his family, who wore grim looks. “You don’t have to look so morose. I’ve survived.” He turned to Emerson. “Ihavesurvived, haven’t I? Or is this another dream?”
“You’ve been dreaming, hmm?” Emerson asked.
Dash smiled at Emerson. “Yeah… it was a good one.” He slid his hand closer to his mate’s before remembering he couldn’t. Pulling it back, he frowned.
Emerson smiled, but it didn’t reach his eyes.
A heavy seriousness filled the room and sucked the air from it.
“Is something wrong?” Dash asked, looking around at each of them. “What’s going on? Did someone die?”
No one replied, as if they feared telling him something.
And suddenly, a realization hit him.
“Why am I in a room with Eliott?”
Omegas and alphas were typically segregated for safety reasons—alphas on one side of the hospital, omegas on the other. Either he or Eliott was in the wrong ward.
Emerson’s gaze fell to the floor.
“I had to tell them,” Emerson said, his voice barely above a whisper.
“Tell who what?”Dash asked.
“The doctors. That there… was a chance…” Emerson cleared his throat. “A chance that you could be… pregnant.”
Dash stared at Emerson, sure he hadn’t heard that right.
A few uncomfortable seconds passed.
“Fuck you,”Dash spat, intense anger filling him.
Emerson winced, unable to hold Dash’s gaze. Dash eyed his parents and brother, whose expressions had shifted to discomfort. His family knew about his hybrid status. He’d told them pieces of what happened after his forced retirement and subsequent captivity at the Alexandrian clinic. He’d still been in some form of denial then and had refused to answer any deeper questions, as if ignoring the problem would make it go away.
More than anyone, his father had seemed to struggle with the news. Their relationship had been strained ever since. His papa and brother had just seemed to go back to life as usual, never bringing it up again, fortunately.
“I’m sorry,” Emerson whispered.
