A/N: Hey everyone! Sorry about the delay. I have been dealing with a medical issue. I am better now, but chapters might be slower for a week or two.. Sorry in advance. Also this chapter is not the longest. I do hope you enjoy it none the less. Happy readings and thanks again for all the support!
Chapter22
A continual beeping sound filled his ears as he slowly came too from the unconscious darkness that he had been in. His eyes slowly fluttered open and he winced at the light that was flooding the room.He blinked a few times as he tried to get his barrings. He was in....a hospital? Looking around the room it was in fact a hospital room,one he recognized as the pack's hospital, and the beeping that had helps to arouse him was from unconsciousness was a heart monitor. If that wasn't confusing enough on its own, it was also painfully alarming that he was completely alone in the room. Panic started to momentarily set in just as the door opened, but the second his mates came into view it was replaced with overwhelming relief. They came straight to him, each grabbed one of his hands and giving him a reassuringly gentle squeeze. "Hey Little one." Goddric murmured to him. "...H-hey.." He managed to croak out, wincing at the slight discomfort it caused. "Shh... don't use your voice Love. Use the link. Your throat was bruised severally and it needs to heal some more." Asami explained to him, sorrow glazed over his mates eyes for a moment. Rayn made a move to sit up, but his mates stopped him.He whined and they rolled their eyes before helping him adjust the bed so that he was some what sitting up. He relaxed into the pillows and focused on their link. "I'm not dreaming right? You are really here? I am... I... this is real?" He asked fear dripping from every word. "No Love, this isn't a dream. We are really here.You are safe now." Asami assured him as he rubbed away a tear from his cheek. "I- I... I am.. so so sorry.." He stammered through the link. "No, shh.. you have no reason to be sorry Little one. You did nothing wrong." Goddric said as he tried to calm him down. "If any one is to be sorry, its us. We never should have left you alone. We failed to protect you..." Rayn cut off Goddric mid-sentence by grabbing onto his shirt and pulling him into a kiss. As he kissed Goddric he could see Asami pouting out of the corner of his eye. Once Goddric pulled away from their kiss he pulled Asami to him and kissed him with the same passion he had kissed Goddric. Fresh tears welled in his eyes as the relief of finally being back with his mates fully washed over him. "I missed you guys so much. I was so scared. All I wanted was to be back with you two." He told them as he leaned back against the bed. "We missed you too Love.More then you will every know." Asami said to him as he pressed a kiss to his forehead before pulling a chair over and sat down. Goddric had perched himself carefully on the bed with Rayn so that he had him snuggled into his chest.
Before Rayn could ask them anything else there was a knock at the door and then the pack doctor walked in. "Hello Rayn, Alpha's, its good to see you awake finally." Rayn shoot a look at his mates. "You have been unconscious for three days Little one." Goddric informed him.The doctor nodded to confirm that he had in fact been out for the last three days. "I have to say I am blown away at how you survived so much." The doctor tsked as he walked over to the bed. "I am going to pull the covers down, okay?" He asked and didn't move them away until Rayn nodded. Once the covers were removed he noticed his left ankle was in a brace, as well as both legs were covered in bruises. There was also bandages around his calf and thighs. "I need to remove these bandages and check the wounds underneath, okay?" Again the doctor waited until he gave the okay. He was fine as the doctor undid the ones on his calves. However when he moved to the once on his thighs he began to panic. Goddric pulled him closer cooing calming words to him, the doctor also sensing the fear and panic had immediately removed his hand from him. "I need to make sure that the wounds on his thighs are healing properly, but it seems best if one of you removes the dressing." The doctor told his mates. Asami stood and with reassuring words and caresses, removed the bandages for the doctor. The doctor then moved to his chest and back. Only two of his ribs were cracked thankfully, but again more nasty looking bruises covered his upper body and back. Along with lots more scratches, nail marks and so beeper cuts where belts had bitten into his back. Then once the doctor was done checking throat,he paused nervously. "I need to.." The doctor cleared his throat."To, um check his rectal area." There was tension in the small room. "Little one." Goddric looked down at him. "I know you are, scared, but the doctor need to check... Shh... calm down Little one. It's going to be okay. We are here and nothing bad is happen to you." Goddric told him as his panic and fear started to overwhelm him. He calmed down as much as he could, but it was decided that the best course was to give him a mild sedative so that the doctor could do his job and not cause any more stress on Rayn.
The next few days had been rough, especially when they made him get up and start walking. Moving was not his friend at the moment, neither was talking, eating or just about anything, but he was healing and that's what mattered. However he hadn't realized how much pain he had actually been in until they had started weening him off the morphine. Goddric and Asami had been right there the whole time supporting and reassuring him. He had learned that while he was unconscious Nate and his pack had rounded up all and dealt with the few members of Paul's pathetic 'pack'. When he had all but freaked out over Rico, his mates had assured that he was alive and well. That his part in saving him had lead Goddric and Asami to offer him a place in their pack. To Rayn's complete relief Rico had accepted their offer. As well, to everyone's relief, the worse injuries he had sustained were the two cracked ribs, severe bruising and swelling on his neck and that over three quarters of his body was bruised. His backside had several small lacerations and was also bruised, no surprise there, but everything was healing very well. After speaking with the psychiatrist he would be able to leave the hospital today. Which Rayn couldn't wait for, he was tired of being stuck there and well hospital food, even in a pack, was the worse. "So here is your discharge papers Pup. The doctor has prescribed to mild liquid painkiller mixed with an anti inflammatory. He recommends you stick to liquids and extremely soft foods for the next few days to a week and then slowly start getting back to your normal eating habits. He also recommended that you keep talking to a bare minimum so that your throat can continue to heal. He also prescribed a cream for, well you know. You are on a weight restriction of no more then a gallon of milk for the next week, then you can slowly increase it so that you don't strain your ribs while they heal. You should be able to completely off the weight restrictions in two months as long as you follow the doctors orders, and you will need to be cleared by a doctor. The doctor also wants you to see a therapist once you get home." The nurse informed them as she handed them the paper work."Great... looks like I wont be fixing any cars tomorrow." He joked to his mates through their link. Both of them just looked at him and chuckled. Rayn had been doing his best to not think about what happened, and focus on getting back to his happy self. However he knew it was going to take a long time before he was back to normal, and that was if he could. Not to mention his mates had already made it clear he would start therapy as soon as they get back home. He had protested, in his opinion therapy was pointless and a waste of time. To which Asami had replied, "You know Love, opinions are like assholes, every body has them. However all jokes aside, this isn't optional. You are going end of story."
Rayn sat on the bed watching his mates packing their bags to return home. He had tried to help, but after twenty minutes of protest, and ultimately Asami using his Alpha voice, he was left to sit and watch.He hated this, not being able to do things on his own, not being able to help. "I know you're not happy about this Little one." Goddric said as he sat beside him on the bed. "It will not be long until you are back to normal, but for now, just let us do it for you. Besides we have been dying to spoil you since we first met." Goddric cocked a smirk that had Rayn giggling softly. With a sigh Rayn nodded his head in defeat. How could he argue with him after hearing that? Well there was a lot he could argue, but for now it was rather sweet so he would let them. Plus if he was being truly honest, he hated packing. So he guessed it was a win win. He watched his mates shuffle around the room making sure they had everything and that the stuff for their carry on was ready. They were flying straight back tonight, due to some issues that came up with their pack. Sensing his worry Asami quickly assured him that the issue wasn't dangerous or bad, it was about their packs expansion of the hospital and schools, and just needed their attention. Approvals and inspections that they had to sign off on. Rayn still didn't understand why Eric couldn't do it, but whatever the reason it was important to his mates so that's all that mattered.
Rico popped his head into the room a few minutes later. "Oi amigos, you ready?" "Yeah we just finish packing." Asami told him. Rico nodded and left the room. Rayn had reached for his suitcase, but stopped when he heard Asami's low growl. "Sorry." He whimpered, knowing Asami wasn't mad at him, but that he was warning him. Asami pulled him gently embrace. "Give it time Love." Asami said to him then pressed a kiss to his forehead. Asami and Goddric took their suitcases to the car while Rayn went to say goodbye to his Uncle. "Have a safe trip home pup. Text me when you get home okay?" Nate asked him as they embraced. Rayn nodded and squeezed his Uncle a bit harder. "You got great mates there pup, however if they ever hurt you, you call me and I'll come kick their asses." "No need to worry about that Nate. You ready to go Rayn?" Goddric asked when he entered Nate's office. He nodded and took Goddric's outstretched hand. Goddric, Asami and Rico all said their goodbyes and then they were on the way to the airport.
~Time skip – Three months ~
Rayn stepped out of his therapist office feeling relieved. He had been going twice a week since their had gotten back. Asami had not been joking about making him go, but, and he hated to admit it, it had really been good for him. The therapist had been very kind and understanding when he flat out told him that he didn't think this stuff actually worked. However after about six weeks that's started to change and he started to see the changes. He was still struggling with being away from his mates for more then a few hours or being around people he didn't know. However the coping strategies and talking about what had happened were slowly helping. Point in case was that the nightmares were finally almost completely gone, before the therapy it was a nightly if not multiple times a night for one or both his mates to wake him from them. They had been so bad that Goddric had him see one of the pack's doctors to get put of sleep medication, which as of last week he no longer needed. Of course therapy wasn't a cure all and he had to be on some other medication as well, but they were working to ween them completely out.
"How was therapy?" Rico questioned as Rayn walked into the small waiting room. "It was good. We talked about some coping skills for when I go back to work next week." "Oh, that's right the Alpha's are finally letting you go back to work." Rayn chuckled at Rico's comment. His mates had been fighting with him about going back to work so soon. The doctor released him from restrictions and cleared him to start working again. He was excited to be able to work again, his mates not as much. They still wanted him to relax and recover more. "Yeah... That was so not a fun conversation. I really thought Goddric was going to break the counter, he was squeezing it so hard." "No way? That Goddric is, well, yeah um.." "Intense?" "Si,amigo." Rayn laughed at Rico's honesty as they walked to the car."So you said you were talking about some kind of skills for being at work?" Rico asked him once they were heading back to the pack house. Asami normally took him to therapy but Warrior training just started so he had to be there to teach. "Coping skills, and yes. Goddric had expressed concern about me having panic attacks, which is understandable. So we were discussing ways to handle them before, during and after." He told Rico and they both knew it was not just understandable but needed. He was going to have a panic attack at some point at work, and he would be lying if he said he wouldn't. They continued to talk about his therapy appointment until they got back to the pack house.
Rayn stepped out of the car and stretched. He said good bye to Rico and headed inside. "Oh Luna you are just in time!" One of the pack ladies, Beth, said as she grabbed his hand and began pulling him into the front room. "In time for what exactly?" He asked the overly excited Beth as she tugged him along. "For the naming of Eric's and Melissa's pup's. They want you to be apart of it! I am so excited!" Beth continued to prattle off as she pushed him into a chair next to Eric and Melissa. "Sorry Luna. My sister is just a bit excited." Eric whispered to him. "It's okay. So um... what's this about Pup naming?" Rayn chuckled softly. "Right, about that..." Eric trailed off as his mate Melissa walked into the front room, in her arms were their two pups. "Good Afternoon Luna." She greeted him as she carefully handed one of them to Eric's awaiting arms before sitting beside him. "Have you asked him yet?" She asked Eric who shook his head no. "Ugh... men.." Melissa giggled before smiling at Rayn. "Well seeing as Eric didn't ask then I will. Luna as you have know most packs have their own traditions and one of our packs traditions is to have the current Luna name the current Beta's firstborn pup. So would you honor us by naming our first born?" Rayn looked at Melissa in shock. "Me?" He half squeaked out. "If you don't feel comfortable doing it.." Eric started, but Rayn cut him off. "Its not that! It just, well I wasn't expecting it. I would be honored. You said your first born, right?" He was nervous, but the look of joy in both their eyes was overwhelming. "Yes, this little guy here is are first born." Eric explained as he carefully placed him in Rayn's arms, being sure to explain how to hold him correctly. "An this little one is his sister." Melissa cooed at the baby she was holding.
Rayn looked down at the sleeping form in his arms. He was a cute little guy, he had Eric's coppery hair. "He's adorable. Looks a lot like you Eric." He told them. "Hm... time to give you a name huh?" He cooed as he considered a few things. Eric's last name was Hampton so it would need to go well with that. "Have you already named your daughter? If so, what is here name?" "Her name is Rose. Roses were my mother's favorite flower." Melissa replied with a bright smile. Rayn continued to ponder for a few minutes before he spoke again. "Rose is a beautiful name. What about Nalin? The name comes from the Hindu and Buddhist religion that means 'lotus.' " Rayn hesitantly asked. Melissa and Eric looked at each other. It was clear they were talking to each other. Which made him worry, did they not like the name? "Nalin it is! Thank you Luna." Melissa cheered happily. Rayn's eyes widened in shock. "Really?" He asked in disbelief. "Yes, we loved it as soon as you said it. Eric and I were discussing what his middle name would be. Sorry we should have said that sooner." Melissa apologized. "It's okay. I am just really glad you liked it." He replied. "Liked what?" Asami asked as he and Goddric entered the room. "Oh Alpha's Welcome!" Melissa greeted. "Our wonderful Luna here just honored us by naming our son." Eric explained as he carefully took the baby from him. "This little guy here is Nalin Conner Hampton." Eric said with so much pride. "Congratulations to you both and thank you for allowing Rayn the honor to continue part of ours packs traditions." Asami said while lightly rubbing the babies head. "The honor was ours. Thank you Luna Rayn. We need to get these little ones over to my parents so we need to go." Rayn stood and said goodbye. Then looked at his mates. "What?" He asked when they just looked at him with goofy grins. "Just something about the site of you holding a baby..." Goddric teased. "Dear Goddess..." Rayn groaned as he looked at his mates. "Shall we get dinner and... talk about next week." Rayn asked the last part almost inaudible. He knew his mates were still not happy about him going back to work. So dinner should be interesting.