Adored by the Alpha

Chapter 20,5

Pops in a wheelchair, his grey hair shaved off his head, and legs too weak to carry him.

Pops in a hospital bed, all alone.

A casket at the end of a long room with benches aligned along the side, no flowers on top of it because it was too expensive.

Another scream tore its way through my lungs. I pressed my legs as close to my chest as I possibly could. The smaller I am, the smaller the pain will be. The smaller I am, the smaller the pain will be.

I turned away from the door when I heard a soft knock. "I know I said that I'd stay out of it, but Love, this is too much, please I beg you, tell me what's wrong,"

I looked over my shoulder. Allen took a seat behind my legs, concern filling his eyes. I clutched my stomach and whimpered as another wave of pain hit me. "My... my grandpa... pops..." I sobbed again, pushing my face into the pillows.

"Yes?" Allen whispered, soft patience in his voice.

Finally pulling my face out of the pillow, I turned my face over my shoulder. "He... the cancer... its... its..." the shakes wouldn't stop. No matter what I did, my body just wouldn't. Stop. Shaking.

Realisation filled his eyes. "Oh, right... there isn't much I can do about... that,"

My chest contracted, the pain rendering my lungs useless. I gasped for breath, trying to get some air, just the tiniest bit of it into my lungs. Make it stop, make it stop. The pain-filled my lungs like black bile, preventing the air from entering them properly.

Suddenly, strong, warm hands wrapped around my arm and my side and pulled me close to a warm hard surface. "Shhh, Love, calm down, relax. Listen to my breathing, alright? Listen to my breathing." The panic was clearly evident in his voice, despite his clear attempt to keep it hidden. But something in my brain registered his words along with his tone.

Still gasping for breath, I tried my best to actually feel the movement against my side. His chest would expand for two seconds, then flatten for two seconds, then expand for another too.

I mimicked the motion to the best of my ability, a sob occasionally breaking the rhythm and sending me back to panicked hysterics, to which Allen would always just whisper for me to follow his breathing, with a never-ending patience.

When I finally calmed down, I had no possible idea about how much time had passed. I could be ten minutes, it could be a hundred, but when I finally calmed down, I realized that Allen was softly rocking me from side to side, stroking my hair as he did. "Feeling better now?" he whispered into my ear, worry still evident in his tone.

I nodded and pressed my face against his shirt. "I think so,"

His chest rose and fell deeply against my face, and finally, silence fell over the room, except for the thud-thud-thud sound of my own heartbeat resonating in my ears. "I'm so sorry, Love, I wish there was something more I could do... goddess I'm happy that I'm getting them to a good place," he kept his voice to a whisper.

"Me too... I want him to be happy for... the last few months," the pain twisted like a knifes blade inside my heart, but somehow I managed to stay somewhat calm.

We sat in the silence for a few seconds, before he started moving, his hand untangling from its position in my hair. "I better go now.." he whispered.

"No. Stay, please,"

He turned around, shock filling his eyes at my request, and I felt the exact same emotion flooding through my veins, but I still knew exactly why I'd asked. He was warm, and his arms felt safe, and the way he nuzzled my hair had already been making me drowsy- I didn't have the energy to cry myself to sleep.

"You sure?"

I nodded, a tear rolling down my cheek as I did. I didn't know why, I just knew that I needed him there, needed someone to hold me, and comfort me, and distract me from the pain.

He looked me over for a second, before slowly walking back to the bed, and sitting down. Before he'd even gotten into a (what I'd imagine being) comfortable sitting position, I had already pressed myself up against his chest.

My instincts, my mind was screaming at me to get the hell out of there, to run as far as I could for as long as I could, until I was sure that I'd never have to see him again- and yet I stayed there, curled up against him, my silent tears staining his shirt.

A soft humming began, so soft that at first, I thought I'd imagined it. But soon the tune changed, to something I'd never heard before. "Are you singing?" I whispered, looking up at him, his face only illuminated by the light from my small beside lamp that he'd turned on before he'd sat down, and the moonlight coming from the window above the headboard.

"I'm humming, it would always calm me when my mom did it when I had to sleep. Don't worry Love, go to sleep, I'm right here- I'm not going anywhere," he whispered, and softly pressed my head against his chest once again- I didn't have the energy to resist. The soft, unfamiliar tune continued, and after what felt like just a few seconds, it had lulled me to sleep.

A/N

Most of ya'll had been dying for a bit of a turningpoint so here you go. I love you guys.