The Cost of Love

Chapter 34

I sniffed, the tears finally making their way down my face. "He's not. I can't do anything. He needs a liver, and it's been a week already. What if one doesn't become available before... before he..." I couldn't finish. I buried my head in my hands and let out a choked sob. 

Connor POV

"Kiara..." I trailed off as she slumped over and sobbed, Adrian rubbing her back and trying to soothe her. I was torn, because I was so jealous of him for being able to touch her that I wanted to kill him, but I was also grateful that he was there for her. That she had someone to talk to. 

I had no sense of time, really, but it was brutal watching her. She wouldn't leave the hospital, which in a selfish way I was glad I was able to never lose sight of her. But I knew she was exhausted. 

I was sitting right next to her, rubbing her shoulders and running my hands through her hair. She obviously couldn't feel it, but it felt good just to be close to her.

I was used to seeing my body now. It was still weird as hell, but I got used to the idea of it. Chase and I would spend hours watching our mates, to the point of being so fucking creepy if they knew that we never took our eyes off of them. Then we'd meet up in the hallway or something. We'd make fun of this one male nurse who never seemed to know what he was doing. This one time, we even cheered when he finally got something right. 

Speaking of, Chase popped his head into Kiara's hospital room. 

"Yo. You got to come see this. Greg is trying to give this infant a shot, and he keeps squirming. It's fucking hilarious." 

I chuckled, but I couldn't leave Kiara. Not when she was like this. It just felt wrong to be away from her when she was in pain. "I can't today, man." 

"A bad day, huh?" Sometimes Kiara and Lauren would have better days than others. Sometimes we didn't want to leave their sides. 

I nodded. "Still no liver." 

He hissed through his teeth. "Fuck." I thought he was referring to my liver status, so I turned around to tell him that it was fine. Stable, as of now. But he was staring at his own arm. It was turning faint, as if part of him were disappearing. 

"What's happening?" I ran over to him, holding his arm up. It was like it was losing focus or something. 

"I don't think I have much time." What?

"What do you mean?" I was panicking now. 

He sprinted off to Lauren, and I followed him to the room down the hall. She was sitting in her metal chair, as always. He sunk to his knees and placed his forehead on her growing belly. He wrapped his arms around her and sat there for a moment. I felt like I was intruding on such an intimate moment, but I couldn't look away. I was stock still, watching as Chase whispered reassuring things to his mate. To his unborn child. I watched as his other arm started turning fainter as well. After what seemed like forever, he kissed Lauren's stomach, kissed her all over her face and walked towards me. 

He put his hands on my shoulders. I didn't have the heart to tell him that I could barely feel the weight of them. "Look, " he said. "You have to tell Lauren that I love her. I love her so much." His eyes held a peaceful understanding, a wisdom I'll never be able to unsee every time I closed my eyes. "And my daughter. Tell her she's my everything." 

Lauren was only a couple months pregnant. "How do you know you're having a daughter?" 

He smiled. "I just know." 

"You can't leave. They need you." I was beginning to lose sight of him, he was basically see-through. 

He nodded in reassurance. "Promise me you'll take care of them both." 

"Chase, you can't - " 

"Promise me, Connor." 

This was all happening so fast. Chase was disappearing, what the fuck is happening? 

"I promise." My voice was strong. I let Chase get shot, let him die, but I was going to take care of his family, if I ever woke up in my own body. I had to. 

He nodded again, sighed in relief. "Good. Take care of Kiara, too. And take care of yourself, Connor." He clapped me on the back once and started walking away. Towards the white wall.

"Wait!" I called. Almost tripped on my own feet. "Where are you going?" 

He turned around and chuckled. "I don't really know, to be honest. But I feel good. Don't you worry about me." 

Then he just walked away, straight into the wall, and disappeared. It all hit me at once, that I was alone in this strange place, and I sprinted after him. 

"Chase!" I tried to get through the wall, but it was solid. I couldn't get through, and I punched it a couple times to try again. "You can't leave!" I roared. 

It was at that moment when I heard Lauren's deafening scream and the erratic beating of the heart monitor. 

I started to run inside Chase's room before I looked down and noticed my own fingers were starting to blur. 

Oh fuck. 

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Hello! Author here, trying to depress you all with another horrifying update. I am honestly so sorry for all the tears I may have caused... lol

Had a lot of writers block recently, and honestly haven't figured out what I want to do with Connor yet. Any suggestions?? 

Next update should be up soon. Thanks for all the love on this story, don't give up on me! 

xx