Page 5 of Petals & Promises

Gareth

Four hours into the surgery, and so far, all the updates had been positive. The riskiest part of this whole thing was repairing the valve and creating one from her own tissue. Nurse Harlow had just left after sharing the good news—it worked. Now, all that was left was to put everything back where it belonged and get her heart beating on its own again.

The police chief hadn’t arrived yet, letting us know they’d caught a lead and were running it down. Honestly, I didn’t want the chief to show up here because that meant he wasn’t out there looking. Something in my gut told me they wouldn’t find him, at least not today. There was so little time from him leaving, the ambulance showing up, and cops being called with zero trace of where he’d disappeared to.

None of that mattered, though, not right now, at least. What I was praying for over and over again like a fucking mantra, willing it into existence, was the chance to look my baby girl in the eyes and know she was still here with me.

I thought losing Callie was going to break me, but that was nothing compared to this ache I felt in my chest. The power of determination was keeping me from shattering into a thousand pieces, but if Nurse Harlow stepped foot in here with that look on her face, that would be it for me—everything would be over, and there would be no point in existing in this world without Bailey-Rose in it.

Before, when people talked about the bond between an Alpha and their scent-matched Omega, it sounded absurd. How could one moment, one whiff of a scent, change your life forever? It didn’t make sense.

Until it happened to you.

Then you wonder how you ever questioned the bond that filled the emptiness inside you. Bailey-Rose changed everything for me, our pack, and the trajectory of our lives. Now, all of that was at risk of being taken from us before there was ever a chance to enjoy this new adventure. I had so many things I wanted to share with Bailey-Rose, and that was the hope I chose to cling to. There would be a day I get to take her to Watson Ranch, introduce her to my mother, roast s’mores over a fire, and stare up at the stars you could see so clearly away from the city. That was the life she could have now after this surgery.

I had no doubt the recovery from the surgery would take time, and she would need time to adjust. However, once the doctor cleared her, there was no more holding back. We would show Bailey-Rose the world that had been kept from her, making millions of new memories to wash away the bad. Hell, I didn’t care if I had to quit my job to make that dream a reality. I had more than enough money in my trust and what I’d saved preparing for the day our pack had an Omega to spoil.

All I knew was I never wanted to live with an ounce of regret or missed moments with my Bailey-Rose. And if anyone dared to fuck with my Omega ever again, there would be no hesitation in the hell I would rain down on them. I lost one person I loved with all my heart because I wasn’t there for her, and that wasn’t going to happen again.

four

Ulysses

Everything took six long, agonizing hours, but my Rosie pulled through. I was now looking at her as she rested in the ICU, where the nurse could keep a close eye on her. While the surgery went well, there was still a chance something could go wrong. As Dr. Arbour reminded us, this surgery was still experimental, and they didn’t have a whole lot of data to go on, especially when it came to someone like Rosie.

I let my fingers brush over her cotton candy-colored hair, needing to touch her to prove to myself this wasn’t a dream.

Over the years of knowing Rosie, I’d spent a good deal of time in the hospital with her, but the majority of that time, she’d been awake, smiling and laughing while receiving treatment. Looking at her lying in this bed with numerous wires, tubes, and sensors going in every direction it scared me to touch her. Gareth was braver than I was, holding her hand, pressing kisses to it to comfort himself.

Lifting my gaze, I found Crew standing across from me, trying to hide how scared he was. If Crew was worried, I had no idea how the rest of us were even standing right now. No matter how tough things got, Crew was always the one to offer the silver lining. He’d told me once that he’d been put on this earth to be Rosie’s cheerleader so she’d never have the chance to doubt if it was worth fighting to go on.

Seeing him like this had me a little worried about what he would do now that we were taking over his role in Rosie’s life. I shook that thought from my mind. There was only so much one person could worry about. Right now, the woman fighting to come back to us was my sole focus.

“Gentlemen,” Dr. Arbour greeted as he entered the ICU suite. “I just wanted to come by and fill you in on what we’re looking for in the next twenty-four hours. After any surgery, there is a concern with bleeding. If you notice anything that causes alarm, please ring the nurse. We’d rather it be nothing than risk it to be something. I’m keeping her sedated for the time being… the less stress we can put on her body, the better. My hope is by the time she is ready to go home, I will be able to prescribe an accelerant.”

“An accelerant?” I asked, having never heard the term.

“Yes, it is a recent break in medical technology,” Dr. Arbour explained. “Think of it like a dialysis machine, but instead of filtering the blood, we are temporarily supercharging the body's ability to heal. If she can handle the treatment, it would cut Bailey’s healing time in half. Meaning instead of eight to ten weeks, possibly even longer, we’re looking closer to four or five weeks.”

“Oh yeah, that’s something LouLou would be all for,” Crew commented. “The older she gets, the harder it is to convince her to stick to bed rest.”

“Yes, I’m well aware of her feelings on that particular treatment.” Dr. Arbour chuckled. “If you’ll excuse me, I’m going home to eat and get some sleep. I suggest you all do the same since she won’t be waking up anytime soon. If you need anything, my physician assistant, Timmon, is taking over her care for now. He is someone I trust completely to make the right call for Bailey-Rose in my absence.”

Eli reached out and shook the doctor's hand. “Thank you seems like such a small thing to say for saving my sister’s life, but I’ll say it anyway. Thank you from the bottom of my heart, Dr. Arbour.”

We felt the same way but didn’t know how to express it, so we followed Eli’s example, except for Gareth, who hugged the older man. “You didn’t just save her life today, Doc, so thank you for saving us all.”

Dr. Arbour returned Gareth’s hug and patted him on the back. “I appreciate your words, young man, but I should be thanking all of you. If she didn’t have you to fight to come back to, this could have gone very differently. I suppose this is why they say it takes a village, and everyone has their roles to play.”

With a final wave and a goodnight, Dr. Arbour left us to watch over our girl. Standing there at the foot of her hospital bed, looking at her so small and vulnerable, had me almost in tears. The soft beep and whir of the medical equipment kept the room from being too silent, but it didn’t have the same feel I was used to being here with her. In the back of my mind, I feared that this experience would cause me to keep her in the cage of the life she’d been living just to keep her safe. Yet that’s the last thing Rosie deserved from us.

For too long, she was told it wasn’t safe for her to experience the world like everyone else. Once she was healed and back on her feet, this surgery would change everything for her. Nurse Harlow had already walked through what to expect as we waited for Rosie to be placed into a room, my mind going back to that conversation.

“Before I tell you all the amazing things that will change for Bailey-Rose, you need to keep in mind there will still be things to watch out for. The most important part of this surgery is allowing her heart to beat correctly. With the valve replaced and the spot where the hole had been as a child reinforced, it gives her the chance to experience a fairly normal life. She’ll be on blood thinners for life, but in exchange for that, she won’t need to worry about a heart monitor,” Nurse Harlow shared, all of us cheering and smiling.

Pausing, she glanced at the brothers and cleared her throat before shifting to face us more directly. “Once she has passed all her tests and we confirm everything is healed, Bailey-Rose will no longer need to take suppressants. However, I would strongly urge you to have an honest conversation about children and if she’s willing to wait a few years for her body to adjust to a properly beating heart. I’m not saying she can’t have children, but Dr. Arbour and I both feel it would be in her best interest to take some time. A body healed to function and live life isn’t the same as what’s needed to carry another life.”

Knowing Rosie couldn’t go into heat or rather shouldn’t, none of us had really talked about children. Personally, all that mattered to me was that Rosie was healthy and happy—anything else was a bonus. I glanced at the others out of the corner of my eye, and none of them were giving anything away with their expressions, but I knew we all would agree on whatever was best for Rosie.