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“What’s his name?”
“Dane Whitefield. He’s a beta, physically and mentally disabled.”
He was here for Dane? That was the best news ever. “He’s such a sweet boy.”
“Is or was?”
Mostyn blinked again, even slower. He was seconds away from fainting, it felt like. Or maybe falling asleep? Passing out? Or was that all the same thing?
When Mostyn didn’t respond, the alpha grabbed him by the shoulder and shook him. “Answer me, dammit. Is he still alive?”
His head jerked up. “I’m sorry. I’ve been awake for more than three days. I can’t think anymore, can’t function. All those people dying, and not a damn thing I could do about it. Everyone left, and it was just me, and I’m not trained for this.”
“What do you mean you’re not trained for this? Aren’t you a nurse?”
Mostyn couldn’t fault him for jumping to that conclusion. “Hell no. I’m a radiology technician. Trust me, the basic medical knowledge and experience I have did not prepare me to take care of critically ill patients.”
The alpha’s eyes darkened and his face tightened. “Where’s all the staff? The doctors, the nurses, everyone?”
“I told you, they left. Some stayed for a longer time, others left right away, but in the end, they all went home. If their home even existed anymore. Everything is gone, destroyed. My apartment was ransacked. I have nothing left, so I guess I will die here. There’s no food anymore, nothing. And some may not have left voluntarily. Rumors are floating around of protesters being arrested, of betas and omegas being rounded up and disappearing, never to be seen again. People say they’ve been taken to camps, but I don’t know if that’s true.”
The alpha’s face showed pure shock. Where was he from that this was news to him? But at least Mostyn had some good news to share. “But Dane is still alive. He’s the last one.”
He’d barely finished when the alpha stormed past him into the ICU. Mostyn pushed himself up with the last bit of energy he had. He would see this through until the very end.
He followed the alpha to Dane’s bed, though at a much slower pace. The alpha stood at Dane’s bed, shock and pain painted all over his face.
Mostyn’s heart filled with compassion for him. “I’m no expert, but I don’t think he has long anymore. The last doctor gave him twenty-four hours, and that was yesterday.” He pointed at the monitor. “You can see how slow his heart rate is and how low his blood pressure is. He’s running low on oxygen as well, so he would need to be intubated, but I don’t know how to do that.”
The alpha swallowed. “He has a DNR. No extraordinary measures to prolong his life.”
Strange as it sounded, that was a relief for Mostyn. “His chart disappeared, so I don’t think anybody knew that, but I doubt they would’ve intubated. We’re about to lose power, so they wouldn’t have been able to keep him alive.”
“So, what’s left?”
Mostyn gave the alpha a sympathetic look. “Nothing. This is it. He won’t wake up anymore.”
“How do you know the power will go out?”
“Nothing but rumors, man. It’s all we have left, rumors. We haven’t had cell coverage for days, so there’s no official news. We’re isolated. All we have left are rumors and stories, and god knows what’s true or not. They say gas is getting scarce, so people can’t leave by car anymore, even if they could get past the Army roadblocks. I haven’t been outside of the hospital in a week, but others told me it’s bad out there. Really bad.”
“Where are you gonna go?” the alpha asked. “And I’m sorry, what’s your name? I’m Bray.”
“Mostyn. And I have no fucking clue. I’m not from here, and my family is hundreds of miles away. I only moved to the city because I got a job here.”
The alpha thought for a few seconds, then nodded as if he’d made a decision. “If you can keep going a little longer, I can offer a safe place for you to go. It’s outside of the city, and we’re equipped to survive for a long time.”
A safe place? It sounded too good to be true, especially coming from an alpha, yet everything inside Mostyn screamed at him to say yes. What alternatives did he have? If he stayed here, he’d die. But more than that, something told him he could trust this alpha, that his intentions were pure. Maybe he was just exhausted and couldn’t think straight anymore, but either way, he had little choice. “I’m in. What do I have to do?”
“Grab all the medical supplies you can find. Meds, bandages, anything that could come in handy. And if you happen to see a wheelchair suitable for an adult alpha, bring it. Not one of those big, clunky ones, but a smaller, lighter version.”
A wheelchair? “One of the ICU patients who passed away had one. It’s a foldable one, so it’ll easily fit in a car. I assume you’re not here on foot?”
Bray nodded. “He’s not gonna need it anymore, so we’ll take it. And yes, we have a car.”
“On it,” Mostyn said.
His body filled with a strange energy, as if he’d somehow, somewhere gotten a boost from an unknown source. He’d take it. He would do whatever he needed to get the hell out of there. The alpha wanted supplies? Mostyn knew exactly what to bring. All he needed was something to put them in.
