Page 25 of Bubblegum Pop
“Wait!” I tried to catch him, but the handcuffs tensed against the bed railings, and, by the time I’d even thought of tearing out of them, Apollo had fallen to the floor and violent pain burst in my abdomen.
“I can’t feel him, Zeus,” Apollo whined desperately as he heaved himself off the floor. One hand on the thick plastic rail of Odin’s bed, he winced as he shoved off the ground. His stitches must have burst, but the cheap hospital dress was so huge on him that I couldn’t tell how badly he was bleeding.
“Odin, baby, please wake up.” Apollo leaned over the side of Odin’s bed, reaching for him as my heart fucking broke.
They hadn’t said Odin was going to die, though they said we had to prepare ourselves for the worst. Maybe he’d slip into a coma, maybe he’d disappear one day, tearing me and Apollo up in the process.
“Zeus, what’s happening?” Apollo’s devastated gaze crashed into mine, piercing straight through me. It was my fault he looked like that, that he was killing himself to get to my idiot brother, who never admitted how much he loved Apollo even though we all knew he did.
“I’m so sorry,” I choked out. It was all I could say. I couldn’t even lean over, bury my face in my hands, and fucking cry.
How was I supposed to tell our family that I’d killed him? It was just me and Odin. We had a few cousins, though it wasn’t the same, and I had no idea if Mum was even going to be able to handle it. Maybe she already knew.
“It’s okay,” he whimpered, reaching for Odin, clutching at his shoulder. We had a brief ray of hope as Odin twitched, but it could have just been Apollo shifting him. “It’s going to be okay. Just tell me it’s okay, Zeus.”
“Apollo, I…” I couldn’t stand the sight of fat tears rolling down his cheeks, dripping from his jaw and staining his hospital gown. And I wasn’t even allowed to wrap my arms around my mate.
Arms spread, cuffed to the beds, I could only watch as Apollo’s body shook, and he swayed over the bed. “I just need to bite him again,” he murmured, pushing at the bandages over Odin’s neck. “I can give the bond an extra boost. That will help, right?” He looked at me with empty hope in his eyes.
I nodded numbly. It was like our physical pain had vanished and all that was left was the aching fear we were going to lose him. “Do it. Anything. Get your fucking teeth in him again.”
Turning his attention back to Odin, he sucked in a hard breath. If we could reignite our bond, then maybe there was a chance.
We both trembled, agony slashing through us. They’d cleaned the blood from Odin’s skin, so we could see how dead he really looked under all those bandages.
When the doctor told us there was a chance he might make it, I suspected they were trying to give us hope. If it hadn’t been for his shallow breathing, I would have sworn he was gone. Apollo pushed his fingers to Odin’s neck, frantically searching for the pulse under his ear. Even though the machine still beeped, we needed to feel it for ourselves, and when Apollo found it, he let out a harsh sob.
His legs nearly gave way as he grasped the rail of the bed, his shoulders shaking, anguish pounding from him. I didn’t know how I was going to live with myself after this.
Just as Apollo pulled himself back up and leaned over Odin, tears raining on the bandages, a hollow tap sounded from behind me, different from any of the hospital noises I’d heard in the long hours I’d been stuck here.
The curtain rail scratched as it opened. “Good morning, gentleman.” A light voice spoke from behind me, and I could only twist so far to see who it was. “Though it has been a very long night for you, I assume?”
The man’s smile was soft and simple, but that wasn’t what caught me. It wasn’t his weird get-up, either—thick black wool coat, black leather gloves, a black pinstripe suit, a black bowler hat, and even black gloves clutching a silver-topped black cane. No, it was the sheer fucking power streaming from the alpha, practically pinning me to my seat, more powerful than my rogue aura during the fight.
Nurses and doctors swerved to avoid him, patients on the opposite side of the room were panicking, machines going mental as even betas were shaken by whatever the fuck he was doing.
It didn’t matter how beefed up his aura was, or how my alpha instincts were telling me to get to the fucking floor and submit to him, he still looked like a total tosser. A funeral director or one of those skeevy ambulance chasers or some guy out to sell us insurance or represent us. That wasn’t what was fucking happening here. I’d happily smash this guy’s skull in if he even mentioned the word ‘coffin’.
“Who are you?” Apollo’s voice whipped around us, and another stab of pain tore my stomach as he tried to pull himself up to his full height. I hissed at the bite of pain, making sure he knew how pissed off I was with him for hurting himself, even though this so wasn’t the fucking time.
“Hm… Let’s just say I’m a friend for now.” His placid smile widened as he walked over to Odin’s bed, standing across from Apollo, inspecting my brother.
“Don’t touch him,” Apollo snapped, his scent reeking of desperation as he pushed his aura towards the man, but it was pointless. My mate had one of the strongest auras I’d seen, but he had nothing on this guy. Apollo's jaw strained as he tried harder to subdue the man, his hands clenched around the railing in effort. Even though his power was making me dizzy, the guy was totally unfazed.
“Apologies.” He bowed his head. “I know you’re protective, but I want to see how bad the damage is.”
“Why?” I growled, my cuffs rattling as I adjusted myself, puffing up my chest. I was twice the size of him, and I’d just killed three alphas. I could make it four, no problem.
“Because I need to see if there’s anything I can do. I’ve had a particular interest in you three for a year now, namely because of your strength. I planned to approach you once you decided to retire from your little competitions, but no matter. You’ve simply sped up the process.”
“What the fuck are you talking about?” I barked. “Who the fuck are you?”
“Ah, hm… well, I’m someone who can wake up your brother, as well as someone who can make all this nasty business with the murders and police disappear.”
I didn’t care about the murders. They could lock me up forever as long as Apollo and Odin stayed safe. But it was the casual words he’d said that none of the doctors had even mentioned when they’d been talking to me that dragged my attention. Though I’m sure the doctors had avoided telling me Odin might wake up mainly because I looked like I was one step away from another killing spree.
“You can wake him up? How?” Apollo asked straight away.