\u201cBring him inside quickly,\u201d he said, all business. \u201cWe have a private room prepared, fully equipped.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
They transferred Tristan from the ambulance gurney to the facility\u2019s gurney with practiced efficiency. I tried to follow but Orion held me back.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cLet them get him settled first,\u201d he said.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI need to be with him\u2026\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cYou will be. But let the doctor examine him, assess his condition. Five minutes, Athena. That\u2019s all.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Five more minutes felt impossible, but I nodded. Watched them wheel Tristan inside, through automatic doors that closed behind them with a soft\u00a0<\/p>\n
whoosh.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Derek and Sarah joined us in the lobby. It was nice here. Peaceful. Nothing like the harsh, clinical environment of the regular hospital.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Soft lighting, comfortable furniture, art on the walls. A place designed to make people feel calm.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I didn\u2019t feel calm.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I felt like I was crawling out of my skin, every second that passed another second Tristan suffered, another second his life hung in the balance.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cThis is the right call,\u201d Derek said, noticing my agitation. \u201cDr. Ben is the best. If anyone can help Tristan, it\u2019s him.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI\u2019m not worried about Dr. Ben,\u201d I said. \u201cI\u2019m worried about\u2026\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI know what you\u2019re worried about,\u201d Derek interrupted gently. \u201cAnd it\u2019s going to be okay. You\u2019re going to be able to help him now. Safely. Without riski\u00a0<\/p>\n
exposure.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Sarah took my hand again, that silent support I\u2019d come to rely on.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Dr. Ben emerged from the back hallway, pulling off latex gloves. His expression was serious but not panicked.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cHis condition is stable for now,\u201d he said. \u201cBut he needs immediate intervention. The internal bleeding is more severe than the other hospital realized, and there\u2019s significant brain swelling. If we don\u2019t act soon\u2026\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u2018Can I see him? I interrupted.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Dr. Ben studied me for a moment, then nodded slowly. \u201cOf course. Room 3, down the hall on your right. But please understand, his prognosis is\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cI understand,\u201d I said, already moving. \u201cThank you, Doctor.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
Orion fell into step beside me. \u201cRemember what we talked about. Be careful. Don\u2019t push yourself too hard.\u00a0<\/p>\n
know.\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
I\u2019m serious, Athena. The moment you feel anything wrong\u2026\u00a0<\/p>\n
I\u2019ll stop. I promise.\u00a0<\/p>\n
1\/2\u00a0<\/p>\n
10:59 pm GP PP.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Chapter 335\u00a0<\/p>\n
But we both knew I was lying. I wasn\u2019t stopping until Tristan was healed. Not for anything.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Room 3 was at the end of a quiet hallway. Through the door\u2019s window, I could see Tristan on the bed, hooked up to various monitors and machines.\u00a0<\/p>\n
He looked so small in that bed. So vulnerable. Nothing like the strong, confident Alpha who\u2019d held me in his arms just yesterday, who\u2019d laughed and joked and made plans for our future.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I pushed open the door and stepped inside.\u00a0<\/p>\n
The room was spacious, private, with a single bed and medical equipment that looked state\u2013of\u2013the\u2013art. But I barely noticed any of that, my focus was entirely on Tristan.\u00a0<\/p>\n
His face was bruised, swollen on one side where he\u2019d hit the ground. There was a bandage wrapped around his head, covering the gash I knew was\u00a0<\/p>\n
underneath.\u00a0<\/p>\n
His left leg was in a temporary splint, bent at an angle that made my stomach turn even with the stabilization.\u00a0<\/p>\n
But he was breathing, his chest rose and fell steadily. He was alive.\u00a0<\/p>\n
That\u2019s what mattered.\u00a0<\/p>\n
Orion, Sarah, and Derek filed in behind me, their presence a comfort even though I barely registered it. My entire world had narrowed to Tristan, to the man I loved, to the father of my children.\u00a0<\/p>\n
I approached the bed slowly, carefully, like sudden movement might shatter this fragile moment.\u00a0<\/p>\n
My hand reached out, hovering over his chest, and I could feel it already, that pull, that connection between my life\u2013giving powers and his Alpha energy They recognized each other, called to each other.\u00a0<\/p>\n
\u201cAthena, Orion\u2019s voice was soft but firm. \u201cAre you sure about this?\u201d\u00a0<\/p>\n
\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Memories Drifted Into Soft Silence by Kyx Frost 335 \u201cBring him inside quickly,\u201d he said, all business. \u201cWe have a […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":1,"featured_media":0,"comment_status":"open","ping_status":"open","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"site-sidebar-layout":"default","site-content-layout":"","ast-site-content-layout":"default","site-content-style":"default","site-sidebar-style":"default","ast-global-header-display":"","ast-banner-title-visibility":"","ast-main-header-display":"","ast-hfb-above-header-display":"","ast-hfb-below-header-display":"","ast-hfb-mobile-header-display":"","site-post-title":"","ast-breadcrumbs-content":"","ast-featured-img":"","footer-sml-layout":"","ast-disable-related-posts":"","theme-transparent-header-meta":"","adv-header-id-meta":"","stick-header-meta":"","header-above-stick-meta":"","header-main-stick-meta":"","header-below-stick-meta":"","astra-migrate-meta-layouts":"default","ast-page-background-enabled":"default","ast-page-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-5)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"ast-content-background-meta":{"desktop":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"tablet":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""},"mobile":{"background-color":"var(--ast-global-color-4)","background-image":"","background-repeat":"repeat","background-position":"center center","background-size":"auto","background-attachment":"scroll","background-type":"","background-media":"","overlay-type":"","overlay-color":"","overlay-opacity":"","overlay-gradient":""}},"footnotes":""},"categories":[77],"tags":[],"class_list":["post-26492","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","hentry","category-the-second-gear-of-love-novel"],"_links":{"self":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26492","targetHints":{"allow":["GET"]}}],"collection":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts"}],"about":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/types\/post"}],"author":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/users\/1"}],"replies":[{"embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/comments?post=26492"}],"version-history":[{"count":0,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/posts\/26492\/revisions"}],"wp:attachment":[{"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/media?parent=26492"}],"wp:term":[{"taxonomy":"category","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/categories?post=26492"},{"taxonomy":"post_tag","embeddable":true,"href":"https:\/\/kezpres.xyz\/novelreading\/wp-json\/wp\/v2\/tags?post=26492"}],"curies":[{"name":"wp","href":"https:\/\/api.w.org\/{rel}","templated":true}]}}