The Code of The Alpha

Chapter Forty-Six - Time Heals All Wounds

The meeting room was cold.

The air conditioning was on full blast as the summer had officially begun a week prior with high temperatures virtually unknown by northwestern Montana.

That room was the last place I wanted to be, but it wasn't because of the chilled air that came through the vents overhead. 

I could still see where the pool of blood had blemished the concrete floor where an unconscious Bates had laid two weeks earlier. It looked like someone had tried to scrub it with bleach, but a deep maroon stain was still visible.

Bates sat silently in the chair beside me, Dr. Witt standing behind him sterilizing the tool she was about to use to remove the medical staples from his scalp.

There were five of the small, silver staples running vertically up the back of his head where it had split into a deep gash.

He stared at the table as she gently pushed his head forward.

"You should just feel a little tug," she warned him.

He closed his eyes tight, wincing as she wiggled the first one loose. She placed it on a gauze pad that sat on the table next to her medical supplies.

"Do you want to hold my hand?" I asked him gently, holding it out for him to take.

He didn't say anything, his eyes staying closed as she plucked at the second one.

Just before I could drop my hand, he reached out quickly to take it in his.

Bates clenched my hand tightly in his grasp as she pulled the third staple out.

When Dr. Witt was done, he let out a long exhale. 

"Good job," she told him. "It looks like it's healing nicely. I'll put a bandage on it for now, just make sure to rinse it every night with soap and water. I don't want you sleeping on it just yet, though."

"I'll just continue to suffocate myself by laying face first in my pillow," Bates said sarcastically.

I laughed softly.

"What killed you?" He mocked. "Oh, not the scary bad man who practiced dark magic, or almost exsanguinating, just my fluffy pillow!"

Dr. Witt rolled her eyes.

"You're more than welcome to turn your head and sleep on your side," she reminded him.

She gave him a patronizing pat on the shoulder before leaning forward to clean up her medical kit from where it was spread on the conference table.

Dr. Witt turned to me as she packed her tackle box.

"Nurse that shoulder best you can," she said, pointing to the sling my left arm was in. "Take the anti inflammatories twice a day and you'll be right as rain in a week or two."

I nodded.

"Thank you," I told her.

As Dr. Witt turned to leave, I looked across the table to see Mady with her head laid on Blaine's shoulder, their chairs as close to each other as they could get them.

Her eyes were closed, sorrow still marking her expression. A deep crease had formed between her eyebrows that was even visible when she wasn't furrowing them.

On the other side of her sat her mother, who had rushed to Montana after hearing what had ensued after her disappearance.

They both grieved for Alpha Reid together, something I couldn't help but resent.