Peyton Williams
"You're covered in blood" Sam says, once she runs up to me. We're in the medical building, where I took Zeke. I got woken up by the guards, and found Evan holding an unconscious Zeke. He woke up on the way, but he passed back out before we got here.
"Zeke was fucked up" Evan says from besides me. My eyes cut over to him, and he looks scared. Probably is.
"His dad?" Nolan asks, and I glance at him.
"I don't know. I don't know anything. They just took him back to surgery. They said he has internal bleeding, and they think some broken ribs. "I chewed the inside of my check. "His eyes are black and blue, swollen. He's covered in blood"
"Peyton?" someone says, and I glance over to a lady in a white coat and blue scrubs. I walk over quickly.
"That's me"
"Hi, he just went into surgery. They say it will probably be about two hours. They're not sure what it's going to look like though" the nurse tells me, and I nod.
"Okay, let me know right away." she nods, stepping away going back to what she needs to do.
"You need to go change P" Sam says, gently grabbing my arm. I pull my arm from her grip.
"I'll wait" I walk toward the waiting area, but Nolan grabs my arm.
"She's right. Go change. You'll be quick, nothing will change in that time. He shouldn't wake up with you covered in his blood P" he says, and I glance at the nurses station.
"Swear to goddess you'll link me if anything changes?" I ask, and Nolan nods.
"Absolutely"
—
I showered quickly and got changed. I also got some spare clothes for Zeke whenever he comes out. We're going on three hours of him in surgery. They don't have any updates, but they did say it's harder for them to work on him because they're used to werewolves.
Who heals fast.
I'm getting anxious, I've been pacing the waiting room for the last ten minutes. Sam and Nolan are here, thankfully. I'm not sure what's going to happen. I don't know much about internal bleeding,
"Peyton?" the doctor says, and I make my way over to her quickly.
"I'm Dr. Harris. I operated on Zeke, your mate. He is in the recovery room now. It took some time to stop the bleeding. He pulled through though, and he will have a successful recovery. He has 4 fractured ribs. We're starting him on antibiotics for his infected cuts. We are also recommending that a physiatrist come and talk to him. Self harm is something we take very seriously, and since his wounds are infected we are worried they have been for a while. Do you have any idea how long he has been doing that for?." She gives me a small smile.
Self harm? He hurts himself? My brows crease, and my lips part. How long has he done that for?
"I- I didn't know he was' ' my heart aches, and my throat tenses. "I don't think anyone knew"
"Well, we will have to ask once he wakes up. The nurse can take you back to his room shortly. I'm sorry this is how you found out, but we're treating him best we can. And it all seems like a positive recovery" She gives me another smile, and then she's turning and walking away.
I turn up face to face with Nolan and Sam. Fuck. "Did you guys hear?" I chewed my check, I'm sure they did. But I hope not, because that's something private that he should be able to tell people when he's ready.
Sam nods, tears building in her eyes. "Why does he do that?" she whispers, and my throat tenses. I try to swallow all the emotion I can, but my voice still cracks.
"Some people struggle really bad with depression, i'm going to guess that's it"
"Peyton? He's in his room now, I can take you" A nurse cuts in, and I nod.
"I'll let you guys know once he wakes up and if he's up for you guys to come. I don't want to overwhelm him "I give Sam a quick hug, and Nolan pulls me in for one after.
"We will be up, link us when you can" Nolan says, and I nod.
"Tell him I'm here if he wants me," Sam says, and I give her a weak smile.
"I will" I follow the nurse through the waiting area, past the nurse's station. We go down the hall, past several rooms holding other patients.
"He was still asleep when I came to get you," the nurse says. I hum in response, but continue to follow her until we get to the end of the hall. She pushes the door open, and another nurse is in the process of handing Zeke a water cup.
"He just woke up, I was giving him pain medicine. Then Mackenzie will be taking care of you through the night" she tells Zeke, a gentle smile on her face. Mackenzie must be the nurse that led me here.
"Is it okay if I stay?" I ask, directing my question to Zeke. He nods, as he sips the water. I walk over, sitting in the chair beside his bed as the nurse's talk about his care plan.
Zeke is avoiding looking at me, and I'm not quite sure why. He came to me. Well he came to us, I guess. The nurses leave a few minutes later, and we sit in silence. Until Zeke says what's on his mind.
"I know they told you..everything" his blue eyes find mine, and i nod.
"They did"
"I'm sorry" he whispers, and I scoot to the edge of my chair.
"Why? You did nothing wrong"
"Because I'm a basket case, I will always be Peyton," he says, and my heart breaks for him. I don't want him to feel that way. "I-I don't know how to be someone's mate, i won't be enough. I can't do it, and I shouldn't have come here. But I was in pain, and I just felt like the safest place was going to be here.. With you. But that was a mistake. I shouldn't bring my issues to you" he goes on, tears pouring out of his eyes.
"Zeke.." I don't even know what to say to that. "Not enough? Why would you think that? Of course you're enough. I don't know how to be someone's mate, either. I've never done this before, not until I met you. The only difference is I knew I had someone out there for me, you didn't. I've accepted you since day one, Zeke. All of you, baggage or not. I intend to carry it along with my own" I swallow the emotion thickening in my throat. "You will always be safe with me" I nod "Always safe with Sam, Nolan. Sam cares so much for you, and that's because of who you are, not what you are. " I finished, and he's crying now.
I feel like I'm making it worse, but he needs to hear it. "I'm sorry" I whisper, and he shakes his head. He wipes his eyes with the backs of his hands, sniffling.
"I don't know how my life got so fucked up so fast" he whispers, leaning back in the bed.
"You can't go back to that house Ze" I tell him, and he turns his head to me.
"You expect me to stay here, with you? I can't"
"Why?" I ask, standing. "We can move you into the pack house, we can have separate rooms, separate beds. I'm not asking you to declare your love. I'm asking you to move out of an abusive household, and stay somewhere safe. Where you're safest."
"And what if I don't want to be your.. Mate?" he asks, and I swear my heart breaks.
"Then we work on getting you a safe place to live, not here. Not at the pack house"
"You said yourself, Nolan wont allow that" he shakes his head.
"If you give this a real chance I doubt you'd want that Zeke. But if you do, I will gladly help you live away from all this. Safely. You are not safe in that house. He beat the fuck out of you, do you get that?" I ask, my voice raising slightly.
"Yes" he snaps, his eyes narrowing. "I get that."
A heavy silence falls over us, and I sink back down into the chair. I watch him fiddle with his fingers for a while. His tears stop soaking his cheeks at some point. Leaning back in the chair, I let out a heavy breath.
"I'm scared that if I accept this, I'll just be trapped in another life I don't want," he says, his voice soft.
"I wont trap you in a life you don't want Zeke"
"You said-"
"I know what I said, okay? But I won't let him force you to do something you don't want either." sighing, I lean forward resting my elbows on my knees. "I won't let anyone force you into a life you don't want. But I think if you gave this a real chance, you'd want it. But that aside, I can keep you safe." I promise, and he slowly nods.
"If I give this a real chance, and decide i dont want this, what happens to you?" He's tracing shapes on the blanket, his eyes following the movement.
"I don't know" honestly. Anything could happen."I don't care though, i'll figure it out.
"Okay"
"Okay?"
"I'll move here, give this a chance" he nods "I have to go back and get my stuff" he says.
"No way. We will buy new stuff "I shake my head, and he scoffs.
"I'm poor, I am not buying new stuff."
"I will, I'll go get you stuff tomorrow. Sam wants to see you "I tell him and let out a heavy breath.
"I want to see her too, but tomorrow. I'm tired" he admits.
"Get some sleep"
"Want to lay with me..?"
"I'd love too"
—-
Zeke gets released today, he's been in for 5 days. The surgery was a simple one, and they said he's healed enough to go home. He has to wait 14 days to go back to usual activities, but he can go back to school monday.
It's wednesday now, so he has to stay at the pack house until then. I plan to skip school Thursday and Friday to stay with him. School ended an hour ago, and I'm in his room trying to get him to let me help him get dressed.
"I have one too, it's nothing i haven't seen before" i huff, and he groans.
"I don't need help putting on clean clothes"
"I don't want you to pop a stitch"
"Get a nurse then" he's blushing now.
"Why won't you let me help?" I cross my arms, and he shakes his head.
"It's weird, i don't want the first time you see my dick to be at the hospital"
"So you do want me to see it?" I ask, raising a brow. A shoe comes flying my way, and I chuckle.
"I'll close my eyes, promise" he huffs, but agrees. I help him get dressed, keeping my eyes closed like promised.
After he's ready, he lets out a heavy sigh. "That was a workout," he groans.
On day two, when I helped him get dressed he had a breakdown. I saw his scars for the first time. They were red, and puffy. They looked horrible, because they were infected. By day four, they were a lot less red, and looked a lot better.
We haven't talked about said scars since day two, and it is something we will have to talk about. He has to set up an appointment to see someone, because he's been through so many traumatic events I worry if he doesn't.
Sam came to visit, and has been here just as much as I have been. It's been good for him.
"Ready?" he asks, and I nod. He's wearing sweats I bought him. He has a whole new wardrobe. I tried to stick to things I've seen him wear before.
We make our way through the hall, and out of the medical building. After getting him in a wheelchair, which was a challenge because he likes to fight me on everything.
Once we're in my jeep, I drive the short distance to the pack house. It's extremely close to the medical building, but he can't walk very far as of right now.
Once we pulled into the side parking lot of the pack house, I helped him out. "Sam is at her house, making you food and cookies" I tell him and he sighs.
"Sounds so lovely" he has a small smile tugging at his lips. We make our way into the pack house, very slowly. Nolan orders everyone to be gone, in fear of overwhelming Zeke.
"We have to go up stairs, can you do stairs?" I ask, once we come to the staircase.
"Yeah" he mumbles, not really taking anything in. I nod, chewing the inside of my check as we slowly make it up the stairs. Once we are at the top, we go to the right, and down to the end of the hall. I push open the door at the end. It opens up to a small kitchen, with a fridge and sink. Then a mini living room, with two couches across from each other.
"To the left is my room, the right is yours" I tell him, after a moment he nods. Being in the medical building, we went to sleep in the same bed. The nurses encouraged it, because there are known cases where having your mate close can enhance the healing process.
But he didn't even need to hear that, he wanted to be close. I'm guessing he felt the bond. He goes to the right, opening the door. There's a large bed, with a blue comforter. Two black dressers, full of shorts, jeans and sweats. Pajama bottoms, underwear and socks as well. Then to the left of the bed there's a closet, full of shirts and hoodies.
There's a TV in front of the bed, and two nights stands beside the bed.
"It's a nice space" he mumbles, walking over to the bed. He sits on the edge, and I stand in the doorway, leaning against the frame.
"My room looks about the same. But I'll be across the hall if you need anything at night, and you will still have your own space" i clear my throat.
"Won't your parents miss you?" he asks, and a smile tugs at my lips.
"They will, but they've been expecting this for a while. Plus I'll still visit them "I tell him, and he nods. There's a knock on the door, before it opens. Sam is coming in with containers of food, and Nolan trailing behind her with paper plates.
"Where is he?" she asks, and Zeke grunts when he gets to his feet. I am by his side quickly, and he sends me a glare.
"I'm fine"
"I know" I lied, letting go of his arm, I didn't even realize I grabbed it. His glare softens, and he grabs onto my hand. He lets me help him out, and to the couch. He sits down, letting out a sigh. He leans back, his eyes finding Sam. She grabs a plate.
Putting food on it, Nolan hands me a bottle of Cool Blue Gatorade, which we found to be his second favorite drink. He takes the food and drink, saying a soft thank you.
Sam grabs some food, and sits beside him. They instantly break off into a conversation. I turn to Nolan, who also has a plate of food. He pushes it off to me, and starts getting his own. It's some sort of casserole, with a biscuit. I started eating it.
"You're taking off tomorrow and Friday from school right?" he asks, and I nod. "I'll bring home your guys' school work, we can catch you up" he says, stuffing his mouth full.
"Thanks man"
"Of course. How are things?" he asks, his eyes glancing at our mates. I shrug, clearing my throat.
"He's trying," I nod. "But he needs to focus on healing right now. Not our shit" i admit and Nolan agrees.
"Everyone will be back tonight, so if you guys leave tomorrow up here, the house will run as usual"
"I'll take him to meet people at some point. Maybe after he's healed"
"Sounds good"