Shaking my head, I mutter, “Normal is a social construct, Marie.”
Walking quickly out of the locker area, I bump into Dr. Royal.
“Sorry,” I sigh. “I’m here.”
“I see this,” he says. “I wouldn’t have asked if I didn’t need you. We’re actually escaping the ER for a few hours.”
“Oh?” I ask, chewing on my lip.
That’s fine. He’s still in the building.
“Is that a problem?” he asks, confused.
“Nope,” I say. “Where are we going?”
“I need to run some blood tests on some special patients,” he says, already leading the way out of the ER.
I don’t feel a twinge or warning from the bond as I leave, and then I’m pulled into taking patient information, helping Dr. Royal with blood draws, and running it over to the laboratory.
For some reason, he’s got beef with the labs. Every time he sends labs down there, he has to pull rank. It’s ridiculous.
Rolling my eyes at all the inter hospital nonsense I encounter, I get sucked back into the hustle and bustle just as easily. No one asks where I was, or how I am. Patients come first, and not my emotional bullshit.
I’m completely fine with that because my alpha is alive, and in the waiting room?—
My legs go out from under me as my heart feels as if it’s about to be pulled out of my body. I’ve been working for about six hours, and everything has been fine.
What the fuck is happening?
Lore.
“Marie? Talk to me,” Dr. Royal barks, getting in my face as I gasp for breath like a fish out of water.
Fuck, this hurts.
“Lobby,” I rasp. “There’s someone there. You’ll know. Get him back into the waiting room if he’s outside. Now.”
Dr. Royal runs for the waiting room without any context, and I close my eyes as I reach for Lore through the bond. I can feel him, but the bond sickness doesn’t fucking care.
He’s alive, he’s alive, he’s al?—
The bone crushing depression lifts and I suck in a breath in relief. Ugh, that sucked.
I’m pushing myself up onto my knees, unsurprised that no one else on the floor stopped to attempt to help me. It’s not as if they could have, but still.
Nurses aren’t allowed to become the patients here. Opening my eyes, I blow out a breath of relief. I can feel the intense remorse from Lore, and I attempt to tell him I’m fine.
I should have told him my concern about the bond, and to not leave the building. That was my fault. While I hinted at it, I never specifically mentioned I thought it would trigger the bond sickness.
Dr. Royal is back, his eyes stormy as he holds out his hand to help me up.
“I think we need to talk,” he grunts, letting go of my hand once I’m standing to walk toward an office.
“Is she going to get fired for fainting?”a nurse asks, none too quietly.
I ignore her, following Dr. Royal. I collapse into a chair once he closes the door, and he doesn’t say anything until he’s sitting down.
“Why is Lore in the waiting room of the hospital, Marie?” he asks.
