The Alpha’s Curvy Cinderella - Chapter 94: Chapter 94

Grant POV
It’s been hours. Hours without a word from anyone. The chairs in the waiting room are cold, hard, plastic, and extremely uncomfortable to sit in. My parents have left, promising to check in later, sensing that I need my space right now as I hover, waiting to hear if my second chance mate, whoever the hell she is, lives or dies in the emergency room. I’ve spent ages pacing back and forth, glowering at anyone who even tries to look my way, shooting dark looks at the doors that refuse to open, and at the nurses who avoid my gaze. I was going insane. All I wanted was some reassurance, some platitudes, but so far none had been offered. I exhaled, shifted in my chair for what felt like the hundredth time, and yawned, rubbing my eyes tiredly. I refused to rest until I knew what was going on with my mate. Hades was as just as much of a wreck as I was. None of us were doing much good at trying to comfort the other.
The sound of the doors opening had me shooting to my feet as the doctor came walking out, followed by several nurses. I was still wearing the same scrubs I’d been given earlier. I shot the doctor an impatient look. “Well,” I demanded, “how is she?”
I waited with bated breath. Surely if she’d died, I would have felt it through the mate bond? Or was it too weak? My eyes darkened and the Doctor swallowed hard, looking extremely nervous. She wrung her hands together. I felt my spirits sink and my mouth went dry. I had been too late. I knew it.
“She’s alive Alpha Grant” she squeaked, adjusting her stethoscope and glancing at the nurses who shuffled their feet anxiously “She’s recovering right now. If you’ll follow me, I’ll take you to her hospital room.”
Immediately my spirits rose and I grinned. Finally some good news for once. I gave a tight nod and the doctor turned, her coat sweeping around her, the nurses scattering out of the way. Her heels clacked loudly on the floor, her blonde hair swishing in its ponytail. I couldn’t tell if this was the same doctor as before or a new one. Frankly, I didn’t care. My only concern was my mate right now, Hades growling with concern in my mind as we walked, our stomach churning with nerves. All we could see in our mind’s eyes was our mate, covered in blood, her limbs at odd angles, barely breathing, and the huge cut across her throat. We had barely gotten her to the hospital in time. My breathing grew shallow. Whatever she’d been running from, it had been something serious. The bruises and scrapes across her body could attest to that I thought grimly. My mate was a survivor, brave and courageous. She had shown great tenacity in trying to flee to my territory.
Finally, we stopped at a hospital room and the doctor pushed the curtain aside, motioning me inside. I walked in and then sucked in a breath. There were all sorts of machines in the room. I could see one of them monitoring her heartbeat and another monitoring her blood pressure. She lay, completely still, her body dressed in a simple hospital gown, covered in a blanket. Her eyes were closed, the bruises standing out even more underneath the bright light overhead. Her long brown hair splayed across the pillows. Her chest rose slowly up and down, to my relief, as I tentatively moved closer, unable to take my eyes off of her.
“She’s unconscious at the moment thanks to the anesthetic” the doctor whispered from behind me, “but she’ll awaken shortly. We were able to save her vocal cords but she’ll have a husky voice for a while as her wolf heals her” she warned.” In the meantime try and convince her to save her voice, but if she talks a little it’s not the end of the world.”
I nodded, still not taking my eyes off my mate. I gently reached out and took her small delicate hand in my large one, wrapping my other one over it, the doctor pushing a chair over so I could sit beside the bed.
“Thank you,” I said gruffly, trying to hide how emotional I was.
“She has some pain medication that we’ll give her soon and when she goes home we’ll give her enough for a week. By then her wolf should have healed her properly. That cut was a bad one. Whoever gave it to her, fully intended to kill her” the doctor said quietly, a twinge of anger in her voice.
I stiffened. I knew that. There had been no doubts in my mind. But who would want to harm such a fragile-looking girl who didn’t look as though she would harm a fly?
“What about all her bruises? Any broken bones?” I asked without taking my eyes off my mate.
She shook her head. “Thankfully none of them were broken just bruised. They should all heal within the next few days” she advised “The fresh ones will take a little longer. Her wolf has been weakened and I suspect she’s been abused over a relatively long period of time, a couple of months minimum, but if you ask me it’s been a lot longer than that.”
My hand shook slightly with rage. I gritted my teeth. The doctor sensed my rising anger. She bit her lip and then sighed. She wanted to say something else, I could sense it but was too frightened to continue any further. “What is it?” I hissed, turning my head and watching her pale, “what are you too afraid to tell me?” I growled, my lips pulled back in a snarl.
She trembled slightly at my harsh reaction. “I know that this young girl is your mate Alpha Grant” she whispered “So you deserve to know but please remember that I’m just the messenger” she pleaded.
I glowered at her. I just wanted her to get to the point. What more could she say that she hadn’t already? What did she think was going to make my anger get to the point I would take it out on her? I narrowed my eyes, silently prompting her to speak, resisting the urge to use my Alpha tone on her, although it was tempting.
She took a deep shuddering breath and fixed her eyes on me, fiddling with her stethoscope. “Be very gentle with her when she wakes up” she said looking at our hands clasped together “I’m sorry Alpha Grant but it appears that she’s not only been physically abused but judging by the tears and the bruising we discovered inside, she’s also been sexually abused as well.”
I roared, the sound filling the room, the doctor blanching. Hades was going berserk. My eyes flashed between dark and normal, as I fought to maintain control.
“Son of a b***h” I growled, still clutching at my mate’s hand, as though it was a lifeline, the only thing preventing me from completely losing it and throwing things around the room or punching the walls “I’ll kill the f*****g bastard responsible” I snarled.
“I sincerely hope you do,” the doctor said in a shaky voice “Now if you’ll excuse me I’ll let you spend some alone time with your mate.”
She inclined her head and then practically sprinted through the door as I bowed my head, forcing myself to take deep breaths as Hades paced back and forth in my mind.
We need to go and hunt this miserable excuse of a shifter down. That bastard has hurt our mate, degraded her, and done god knows what else he snarled.
Right now I’m trying not to kill the next person who steps foot in here. As much as I want to be out there, finding the shifter responsible, I’m not about to abandon our mate right now Hades. She needs us. Look at how vulnerable she is! If he’s still after her, she doesn’t stand a chance against him!
I hope he’s stupid enough or arrogant enough to come after her Hades growled it would be my pleasure to take care of him.
Well in the meantime I’m going to make sure she’s protected around the clock. I don’t trust him not to somehow get his hands on her. Not to mention we don’t know who he is to her and why he hurt her.
No male shifter should ever lay his hands on a woman. There is no excuse for it Hades snapped only a coward uses his fists on a person weaker than himself.
I agree. We’ll see just how much of a fighter is when we find him. Let’s just sit down and wait for our mate to wake up. No need Hades said slowly and carefully I just saw her eyelids flutter. She should be awake any second now.
I sat back down on the chair, holding the girl’s hand lightly in my hand. The last thing I wanted to do was hold it too tightly and have her freak out. Her eyelids fluttered again, and I saw Hades look at her intently through my eyes, anticipation flooding through us both. Slowly, her eyes opened, looking up and around her in confusion, as she took in the machines, and the whiteness of the hospital walls, and then they filled with fear when she saw me holding her hand. She began to try and frantically sit up, trying to pull her hand away. I immediately let go and she looked surprised. I held my hands up, trying to convey that I wasn’t there to hurt her.
“Hey,” I said soothingly as she stared at me suspiciously “I’m not here to hurt you. I found you in the forest, remember? I brought you here, to the hospital” I added as she glanced around, bewildered. She hugged her blanket to her chest.
God, she was cute but also very scared of me. I felt a pang in my chest. She blinked at me. I gave her my best smile in an attempt to reassure her that I wasn’t a threat.
“Mate” she whispered, her voice hoarse and husky, just as the doctor had said it would be. I also saw her wince and surmised the doctor had failed to mention it would be slightly painful to talk.
“Yes, mate,” I said quietly, pointing to myself “I’m your mate. I’m Grant” I said gently, and although I knew it would hurt her, couldn’t stop myself from asking “What’s your name sweetheart?”
“Juliet,” she said wincing again.
Juliet, a gorgeous name for a gorgeous girl.
I slowly leaned forward and she leaned back, looking apprehensive. “The doctor says that you should heal in about a week or so,” I told her quietly as she relaxed slightly “and that you have pain medication you can take when you get home.”
Her shoulders drooped. I noticed. “I’m not expecting you to go anywhere, especially considering that we are mates and we have that to contend with, but your recovery comes first,” I told her firmly.
Her eyes widened as she glanced at me, realization dawning on her face before a tentative smile appeared on her lips. Then she bit her lip, her body trembling all over. “What if he comes?” she whispered and I gave a low growl, my fury rising again.
Her fear was evident. I could see it on her face, and in her eyes. Whoever this man was, she was terrified he was coming for her. I didn’t blame her in the slightest, a wave of protectiveness washing over me.
“What if who comes Juliet? Who are you expecting? Who did this to you?” I snarled “Give me his name and you won’t have to fear him ever again,” I promised her, my voice filled with anger.
She shook her head. “I can’t” she murmured fretfully.
“You can,” I told her harshly, “he doesn’t deserve to be protected. Any man who can do this isn’t a man at all.”
Why was she trying to protect the bastard? Was she so fearful of him that she couldn’t bring herself to even speak his name?
Tears flooded her eyes. “My husband Alpha Romero.”
I stared at her in shock.