You smell like love

Chapter 05

"But they're both okay?" Carlos asked once again, shaking harder and starting to struggle to breathe properly.

"Hey, Carlos," Owen said, squeezing the cop's shoulder hard and forced him to turn to face him. "I know it's selfish to ask this of you. But you have to stay strong for TK and for the baby."

"Why did he do this, Owen? Why did he do something so dangerous?"

"I'd like to know that too. But you know how he is with kids and strays. It's TK, there are things you can't change about him."

Carlos nodded and breathed out hard.

"So, Doctor, when will he wake up?" he asked, a little calmer.

"He was in and out of consciousness in the ER. We gave him a mild sedative while we reduced and repositioned his shoulder. He should be awake in about an hour."

"Can we see him, can we stay with him?"

After asking that question, Carlos saw his parents walk into the ER and look around for him. He wondered who had notified them, but it could have been anyone from Tommy to Judd.

"We can allow two of you to come in at a time, one person can stay overnight."

They both nodded.

"Owen...if you want to spend the night with him..." Carlos hated to say that and lose the chance to spend as much time as possible with TK, but, after all, the captain was his fiancé's father and had the right to take care of his son.

"No, you have to stay. You're... You're his alpha now."

Carlos shuddered, he hadn't had time to think about what being TK's alpha might entail. Besides, he had never been anyone's alpha, so he didn't really know what the presence of an alpha could mean for his omega. Nor did he know how to do it, how to protect him, how to care for him.

However, there was a part of him, one that he had not known or felt until that moment that kept telling him that everything was going to be okay, that he could do it, that he would know how to hold his hand, how to relax him when necessary and take away the pain when it was too much.

Andrea approached, and if there was one person with whom Carlos was not able to hide his feelings, whether good or bad, it was his mother.

"Captain Vega called us," she told him. "She told us you were here, too worried about TK to call us."

"Mom." He burst into tears and Andrea hugged him. "Hold me, please. I'm....scared...he...the baby... Oh you don't know.... TK is having a baby."

"TK is having a baby? You're having a baby? Honey..." She hugged Carlos. "But TK is not an omega."

"He always has been, but the drugs hid it... He just found out. He's eight weeks along."

"Oh, mijo. What beautiful news. You're going to have a baby. But how is TK? Tommy told me he jumped off a building. Is it true?

"Yeah, the idiot jumped almost ten feet, dragged by a criminal. Another concussion, shoulder and knee injuries... They think the baby is fine." Carlos realized too late how harsh his words about TK had just been. His fiancé didn't deserve it. "Oh god... I'm sorry, Mom, I shouldn't have said that. He's my idiot. But he didn't jump, he was saving a child."

"Don't apologize, I've felt that way myself a couple of times about your father."

TK woke up a couple of hours later, although during that time Carlos felt that it was better TK sleep as much as possible because later the pain throughout his body would be almost unbearable.

He settled down next to the bed and took TK's hand in his own, stroking his cheek with the other. He smiled, TK looked so peaceful and if it wasn't for the bandage on his head and the scratches here and there, he would look like he was simply sleeping.

Suddenly, TK grunted and began to stir on the bed.

"Hmmm. Babe?"

Carlos jumped out of the chair and sat on the edge of the bed to be as close to TK as possible. He smiled, he was having a hard time doing that because he was nervous, still terrified, but he wanted TK to be calm when he woke up fully.

"TK, I'm here."

"The baby?" TK asked still with his eyes closed but slowly opened them. The light, though soft, still bothered him.

He tried to move because for a second neither his shoulder, nor his knee, nor even his head hurt.

But the second ended quickly and he groaned.

"Everything hurts... Carlos, the baby?"

"The baby is fine. You, on the other hand, are another story. We're not going to talk about how stupid what you did was, but you have a concussion, torn knee ligaments and a dislocated shoulder."

"I'm so sorry...the child was in danger... I had to do something," TK sobbed in a shaky voice, fearful of Carlos' reaction.

"But what about our child? Tyler."

Carlos kept stroking his cheek; he was pissed, really pissed at TK and he could yell at him, he could tell him everything that had been going through his head since he'd walked into the hospital hoping to hear from him. But he didn't want to let himself get carried away and make TK feel even worse.

"You could have lost the baby, damn it, they're still not 100% sure you're not going to miscarry."

"No...no..." TK hugged his belly with the arm he could move and wished with all his might that he could feel that the baby was okay in there. "Carlos, I'm sorry...I'm sorry...we can't lose them...I've been an idiot."

"The 126 and a dozen officers were all there, why, why did it have to be you? Seriously, why the fuck weren't you sitting in the ambulance waiting like you should have been? When, Tyler..."

Then, Carlos felt Owen put a hand on his shoulder and he realized that TK was sobbing.

He had let himself go and now he just wanted to run away, because of how much he hated himself. He was a shitty alpha, the worst partner for TK right now. He should have taken care of him, it was his duty, he should have been there to help him, and instead he yelled at him and made him cry.

"Carlos... I'm...sorry... God... I'm sorry. I didn't..." TK continued to sob harder. "There's still a risk... I'm so sorry. Tell me we won't lose the baby. Please, Carlos, I'm so sorry. Forgive me."

"Oh, Tiger. I shouldn't have yelled. I'm sorry, very sorry, my love, but I'm so afraid. I am still terrified and ever since you became an omega, since you became my omega, all my senses, my emotions, everything... I'm not able to control anything."

"I'm going to lose her, right? You don't want to tell me but I'm going to lose her."

"Her?" Owen asked, though they had both forgotten he was still in the room with them. "You're eight weeks along, aren't you? You can't already know the sex of the baby."

Carlos patted his fiancé's hand and turned to the captain.

"It's not official, we just have a feeling." TK's voice was shaking harder and harder and Carlos was feeling more and more guilty.

"Tiger, TK." The cop took TK's face in both hands. "I promise you that I, the doctors, all of us are going to take care of you and the baby."

"I'm scared, 'Los...and everything hurts."

"Everything is going to be okay. I'll be with you the whole time."

"Hold me...please."

"I'm here, I'm here. You know you're going to have an ultrasound tomorrow morning to check on the baby and another every other day until you go home."

That relaxed TK and made him fall asleep right away, although the biggest reason was feeling protected in Carlos' arms. Carlos, however, hardly slept a wink all night, afraid that if he closed his eyes, something bad would happen to TK and he wouldn't be there when he needed him most.

He rested his hand on his boyfriend's belly and he too wished he could feel the baby, but at least a smile tugged at his lips. It was there, even if there were no kicks he knew that his baby was well protected inside TK.