The Code of The Alpha

Chapter Thirty-Three - Broken Rules and Bad Decisions

I woke up to a bright light in my eyes.

Squinting, I pulled away from the light, pressing my head further back into the pillow.

"Good morning," a voice said softly.

I opened my eyes back up to see Dr. Witt's face hovering above me as she put her flashlight into the pocket of her scrubs.

Sitting up, I immediately felt a wave of nausea wash over me before a hand against my shoulder pressed me back down onto the bed.

"Take it easy," she said. "You're going to give yourself a headache."

I already had one. It felt like it was splitting my skull in half.

"Can you remember anything?" She asked.

I nodded slowly as the recollection began, playing in my mind like a movie reel. I could remember what had happened, just not why it had happened.

Gulping, I winced as the saliva slid down my throat; burning the whole way as if I'd taken a shot of hard liquor.

"You likely have minor tracheal trauma," she told me, noticing the pain that registered in my expression. "It doesn't look like you have a concussion, but we're monitoring you closely to make sure we haven't missed it."

I opened my mouth to speak, regretting it as soon as the hoarse words passed through my throat. I immediately began to cough, pain squeezing in my chest with each convulsion.

It felt like I had a boulder the size of an elephant sitting on my sternum.

I was nearly gasping for air, feeling myself begin to drown in anxiety as I was transported back to that moment in the Cellar, fighting for air.

"Let's calm down, okay?" Dr. Witt told me, her voice faint compared to the loud ringing in my ears.

I tried to sit up, nearly falling over the side of the bed I laid on. Completely disoriented, the room was spinning around me as I was pushed back onto the mattress.

I felt two hands grab mine and cross my arms across my chest, pressing down. This caused me to take a deep, but painful inhale.

Though my vision was clouded, I could barely make out the blurred figure above me.

His green eyes cut through the panic, my mind coming to a screeching halt.

"You're okay," he said firmly, his voice echoing inside my mind.

After a few painfully deep breaths, I felt myself begin to return to the world around me, feeling my body against the mattress I laid on and Luca's hands holding mine.

I noticed the ceiling fan spinning above him, realizing then that I was in his bedroom.

Luca leaned down, his lips pressing against my cheek as he held a kiss there.

"You're okay," he repeated against my skin, his voice softer.

As he stood up, I saw Dr. Witt standing there in shock. She looked at him briefly before holding out her stethoscope to his chest.

"So you do have a heart?" She asked incredulously.

He pushed the instrument in her hands away, rolling his eyes.

"As I was saying," Dr. Witt continued, turning to me. "Your throat is going to be pretty sore for a few days, so try and give your voice a rest. Eat soft foods. It's also worth mentioning that your intercostal muscles, the ones around your ribs, will probably be really sore as well. I've left you some pain medication that will help with this."