Chapter 224

Beau suddenly stands up. He leaves behind his sandwich, forgotten on the chair, as he storms to the door and hustles through it, out into the hallway.

I’m left staring after him, confused down to my very soul.

What the hells just happened?

A minute passes, maybe two. Then Archer bursts into the room. He rushes straight over to Neil, grabs the IV, and rips it straight out of Neil’s arm.

The same familiar doctor from earlier comes in then, followed by Beau and Steven on his heels.

“I’m telling you the girl is mistaken,” the doctor says. “I did not switch the IV’s.”

“Archer, what’s happening?” Still clutching Neil’s hand, I rise to my feet. I’m confused by what I’m seeing and what the doctor is saying. Is he suggesting that I made up what I saw?

Archer looks at me. “You told Beau you saw this doctor change Neil’s IV earlier, correct?”

“Yes,” I say with confidence.

“She’s lying!” the doctor says quickly.

“I am not!” I snap back. Gaslighting much? I know what I saw, and some guy isn’t going to tarnish my word and make me doubt myself about this.

“I’m a doctor, she’s, what? Some nanny? Who are you going to believe?”

While I’ve never really interacted with this man beyond simple pleasantries, the venom in his voice that he seems to hold for me startles me. What have I ever done to earn such malice from a near-stranger?

And why did me being a nanny make me less reputable than a doctor?

What a raving asshole.

I open my mouth, ready to give this jerk an absolute piece of my mind, but Archer cuts me off with a look. It’s not an angry glare, at least, not one directed towards me. It’s a look that says, I believe you. Let me handle this.

I fall quiet, allowing Archer to have this moment.

Archer swivels on his heel. He grabs the doctor by the front of his white coat and slams him up against the wall.

I half-expect the doctor to cry about how he’ll sue or something, I’ve seen people do that for less action than this. But maybe because Archer is a Hayes, the doctor just closes his mouth. His eyes, however, are large with fear.

Archer leans in close to him. “How much is my father paying you?” His voice is a growl, low and dangerous.

The doctor keeps his mouth firmly closed.

Archer’s growl sounds then, growing louder. Archer is primed and dangerous, in full predator mode, like he might shift into a wolf at any moment.

The doctor visibly trembles, and honestly, I don’t blame him. Archer is a mountain of muscle and rage. He can really crank up the danger when he wants to.

And he definitely wants to now.

“Answer me.” Archer’s voice gets quieter, and even I shiver.

I don’t want to admit it, not even to myself, but the display is also sexy as hell. It’s so hot when Archer takes control of the situation. It’s only the fact that I’m in a hospital, with Neil in dire straits, that keeps me well in control of myself.

The doctor cracks near instantly. “It wasn’t money…”

Beau sighs. Steven rubs his forehead.

Archer pushes harder against the doctor’s chest.

“Your father… The Alpha King…” The doctor’s voice shakes. “He threatened my children.”

None of the brothers seem surprised by this revelation. I guess I shouldn’t be either, but it still startles me.

The Alpha King must be a vile kind of man. What other kind could threaten children and inject silver into his own son? Force a woman like Carrie into hiding?

He sounds more like some kind of crime boss than the leader of this nation.

“I was never going to hurt Neil,” the doctor says. “I-I just meant to keep him unconscious…”

“Don’t lie, doctor,” Steven cuts in. “By keeping Neil unconscious, you are harming him. You are pushing off the surgery, which is allowing the silver to tear through his body. Look at the state of my brother, sir, and see the damage you yourself have wrought.”

The doctor’s eyes fall on Neil as instructed.

The doctor himself may not have injected the poisoning into Neil’s veins, but Steven’s right, the doctor’s inaction has only been making things worse. Neil looks like death. He’s on death’s door.

“Please,” I say. I don’t really know what I’m asking for. I understand fully that the doctor cannot endanger his children. But to let Neil die…

Doesn’t that go against his code of ethics?

The doctor hangs his head, shame clear on his face.

I don’t care about his shame, or about him at all. My greatest concern is Neil, and what happens next.

“Was what was in the IV keeping Neil unconscious?” Beau asks. His priorities seem to match my own.

“Yes,” the doctor says.

Beau and I glance at each other, and then both turn to look at Neil.

“How long will it take him to wake up without that shit being pumped into him?” Beau asks.

“A healthy individual would wake up almost instantly,” the doctor says.

Neil is definitely not awake. In fact, there hasn’t been any change since before.

“Neil isn’t healthy,” Steven says.

“No,” the doctor admits. “He is already very weak.”

Archer growls again. He grips the doctor tighter and drags him toward the door. “Why don’t we speak privately, doctor?”

The doctor pales as Archer, with retribution dark in his gaze, shoves him through the door. They disappear together into the hallway.

With them gone, silence falls around us, broken only by the beeping of Neil’s heart monitor.

I keep my eyes on Neil, watching for any hint that he might be waking up. But I see no indication.

Neil’s weak. Maybe too weak to wake up?

Beau comes to stand beside me. He places his hand onto my shoulder. I lean toward him, taking the offered comfort as much as I can.

“Neil is the toughest of us,” Beau says. “Of any of us that could be in his position, he is the one most likely to pull through. He’ll wake up. Just believe in him.”

I do believe in Neil, but Gods, the odds are stacked against him.

The worry pulses through my veins. I just keep holding onto Neil’s hand. Every nerve and all of my senses are zeroed in on Neil, attuned to him, so that if he as much as twitches, I will see or feel it.

Seconds turn to minutes turn into an hour.

Steven has left the room. Beau has sat back down. But I continue to stand at Neil’s side, watching him.

No gentle coaxing from Beau could convince me to sit.

“Your legs must hurt,” he says once.

“Neil won’t care if you’re standing,” he says after.

“Neil would want you to rest.”

I refuse each time, and keep standing.

If… No, when Neil wakes up, I’m going to see it. I won’t miss anything because I’m at a bad angle and can’t see his face.

Yet, deep in my heart, a worried voice seemed to whisper…

What if Neil never wakes up?