||Taylor's P.O.V||
"-just like that, yes!" Janice applauded me while I stared at the t.v, my eyebrows furrowed in confusion.
"I don't get it." I shook my head.
"Mom, she's weak, give her a break." Evan came in and gently took the half-made bracelet from my hands.
Thanks. I linked him gratefully. I wasn't really that weak, I just needed a break from her insistence.
"Are you hungry?" Janice asked. "I can get you some food. Pudding or jello?"
"Pudding, he eats my jello." He gestured to Evan.
"I catch you eating her food I'll slap the mess outta you, boy, you hear me," Janice threatened her son, and he nodded.
"Yes Mom."
"Vanilla or chocolate, dear?" She asked.
"Chocolate, please."
"Oh of course." Janice left the room.
As soon as I heard her footsteps receed, I let out a relieved sigh.
Evan rolled his eyes.
"Now I know where you get your scary intensity from," I remarked.
"Obviously I got my charm all on my own." Evan replied, leaning down and kissing me.
"Oh no, you got that from her too." I disagreed.
He chuckled, and then grew serious.
"How are you feeling?" He asked me softly.
"I'd lie and say I'm fine so you'd quit hovering, but my poker face is at its worst because of these meds- also, I'm so high, I'm incapable of lying." I added. Evan rolled his eyes at me and laughed. "It still hurts." I said truthfully, and Evan's eyes flashed with pain.
"I'm so sorry."
"It's not your fault, we've been over this a thousand times." I said.
"I should've stayed with you."
"Your pack needed you. You did what was right, Evan." I placed my hand on his and took it. "You saved me. You saved both of us."
"The width of a hair, Taylor." Evan said quietly, backing away. "That's how close I came to losing the one good thing I have."
"I'm still here, I-" I stopped, feeling pain in my chest.
Something was pressing on my lungs.
"Taylor?" Evan rushed to my side. "Taylor?"
"I can't- I can't-" I was hyperventilating. I couldn't breathe.
I grabbed at his arm and Evan turned towards the door.
"SARAH! SARAH!"
I heard the monitor start beeping like crazy as my heart beat skyrocketed.
Nurses came in at top speed, Sarah in the middle.
She pulled out a light and shone it in my eyes, temporarily blinding me.
"Her pupils are dilated!"
"Blood pressure is rising!" A nurse called.
"Sarah!" Evan cried, backing away with his hands behind his head.
I could feel his panic mixed in with my own.
"I'm scared," I tried to say, but it came out as a wheeze.
"Her lungs are clouded, prep her for emergency surgery now!" Sarah ordered.
They wheeled me out of the room, and Evan followed.
"Evan, if you want her to live you need to back off!" Sarah yelled. "And calm down, you're making her worse!"
Evan!
||Evan's P.O.V||
"What's happening?" Mom came down the hall as they rushed her into surgery.
I paced the hall, trying to calm down for Taylor, but I couldn't bring myself to do it.
I felt myself lose my footing and stumble back, hitting the wall behind me.
Mom grabbed me, her worried words white noise in the background of my own racing thoughts.
I sank to the floor, my head in my hands, knees drawn into my chest.
She was supposed to be fine.
She was fine.
Why was she dying?
Taylor was dying.
"Mom." I whispered, staring at the floor.
My Mom held my arm tightly, her eyes worried.
"Mom, I can't lose her. Not her, Mom." I whimpered. I couldn't even bring myself to cry, I was in shock.
"Taylor is a fighter, she'll pull through." My Mom told me.
"I can't lose her." I said, my voice breaking.
----------------------
Sarah came out of the surgery, her face was one of exhaustion and sadness.
"Is she-"
My Mother looked between me on the ground and her.
"No." I said.
"Her blood was poisoned from a sliver of the bullet." Sarah said. "Her lungs starting failing as a reaction to the silver. We've managed to keep her alive and stable, but it's a long shot. No one is compatible enough with her blood for this kind of extensive damage."
"So what are you saying?" I asked.
"I'm saying, if she pulls through, it'll be a miracle from whatever God is out there." Sarah said. She walked away, her footsteps tired.
I'm scared.
Evan!
"Not Taylor."
||Taylor's P.O.V||
"Are you sure you're okay?" Mila asked, and I nodded.
"I'm okay, I promise." I assured her.
I was sitting up in the bed, playing a game of chess with Orion.
"Now you really can't have alcohol." Axel joked, and I rolled my eyes at him.
Orion sat in Evan's usual chair, Mila on my other side, flipping through channels in my t.v, while Axel stood leaned against the wall in the corner, watching out the window.
"How long have you been here, Axel?" Orion asked.
"Long enough to know this one snores." Axel pointed at me with his thumb.
"I think he's talking about himswlf," I contradicted.
"Oh, yeah, sure." Axel scoffed teasingly.
"Is Axel your bodyguard for good now?" Mila asked.
"Yes," Orion and I chorused.
"Yep." Axel said in unison, popping the 'p'.
"I want to go home," I said with a sigh. "I'm mostly healed, but Sarah wants to monitor my organs to make sure nothing was damaged."
"It's been almost a week since the second surgery, haven't they monitored you long enough?" Orion asked.
I shrugged.
"Guess not. Evan also demands that they triple check I'm okay before they send me home."
"He's being very demanding lately." Mila noted.
"Lately?" Orion snorted. "That's his personality.
"You know, I was trying to be nice, but you ruined that," Mila shot him a playful glare.
--------------------------
"When can you come home?" Emmy asked me.
"A few days." I replied.
"That's what you said a few days ago," Emmy pouted.
"Emmy," Anna chided her from the chair next to my bed.
Emmy sat in my bed, watching the t.v.
"I know, but they keep telling me I have to stay." I said, running my hand over her hair.
"But why?" Emmy asked.
"They want to make sure I'm super healthy before they send me home."
"So you don't get other people sick?"
"Yeah, kinda."
Anna checked her phone. "Emmy, it's time to go see Dr. Linda."
Emmy looked sad and frustrated. "I don't like her."
"Yes you do, Emmy, you just don't like to talk." Anna replied, getting to her feet.
Emmy walked towards the door.
"How's it going?" I asked Anna quietly.
"Slowly," She muttered.
Dr. Linda was Emmy's new therapist. Evan and Anna both knew Emmy needed one after the attack, because it triggered the memories from her family's murder.
Emmy didn't like talking about that night, and she wanted to pretend she was okay, so she really didn't like Dr. Linda poking in her life and memories.
Evan walked in as they walked out, and I bit my lip in worry.
"What's wrong?" Evan asked, worried for me. I shook my head.
"I hate seeing kids who have to deal with the kinds of things a kid shouldn't even know about." I said with a sigh.
"Because you don't like to think about the things you dealt with." I looked up to see Dr. Linda standing in the doorway.
"Aren't you supposed to be with Emmy?" I asked.
"I came in to check on you. Dr. Caldwell suggested it."
"I've still yet to meet this Dr. Caldwell," I replied.
"He's a busy man." She shrugged. "Now, back to you."
Evan picked up on my growing irritation, and looked between the two.
"Was this an informal recommendation, or is there an order in written form?" I asked coldly.
"You're trying to push me away, because you don't want to talk about it." Dr. Linda said.
"Hey," Evan said warningly.
"You're avoiding answering my question because you know you have no legal right to be in here offering me counsel when I didn't ask for it." I replied in the same tone, tipping my head to the side slightly.
"Taylor," Evan was shocked at my response.
"What is it about Emmy that you see yourself?" Dr. Linda asked. "The innocence that was so crudely stripped away? Or is your obsession you trying to compensate for the mistakes you feel others made in helping you? Like the Alphas, ignoring the orphanage's call for help?"
"They called for you?" I asked, turning to Evan. He looked helpless.
"I- I never heard anything about that."
"You have no right to be in here pestering me when I literally can't get away from you." I said to Dr. Linda. "You have an appointment with Emmy. Go talk to her."
"Do you ever talk about the things that happened to you?" Dr. Linda asked. "The scars on your back and your hands from the whippings?"
"You're crossing a line, woman." Evan growled.
"That's enough. I didn't ask for your counsel."
"I believe what my future daughter-in-law is trying to say, is get out."
Janice walked into the room, looking mega pissed.
"I came to talk to you because you told Emmy your brother died." Dr. Linda said, ignoring Evan and Janice.
"Okay, so?" I asked. "Technically Evan told her that, I just confirmed it."
"You're toxic for her." My jaw dropped. "You've pushed yourself on her when your problems are making her worse."
"Did she say that?" I asked.
"She didn't have to." Dr. Linda replied.
"Get out." Evan growled. Dr. Linda turned to him, arching an eyebrow at him. "GET THE HELL OUT!!!" He roared, his eyes glowing orange, his voice deep and enraged.
Dr. Linda left and I looked down at my lap, my happiness gone.
"Taylor, that was all conjecture, none of that was true." Evan said to me softly, his eyes returning to his normal blue.
"I want to be alone." I said quietly.
"Taylor-"
"Son," Janice cut him off, placing her hand on his shoulder. He left, a pained look in his eyes.
Tears welled up in my eyes and I blinked, sniffling.
Was she right?
Was I toxic for Emmy?
---------------------------
"Here, I can take that." Evan grabbed my bag from the trunk quickly before my hand had even closed on the handle.
"I'm not broken, Evan." I said.
"You're still healing." Evan replied, carrying the suitcase in one hand and walked beside me, the other on the small of my back.
I got in bed and curled up under the covers, staring at the wall miserably.
I was still upset from my run in with Dr. Linda.
Evan had fired her from the hospital and the court had taken her license away for being unethical and for harrassment.
Emmy was now seeing another therapist she liked much more.
I still was worried I was toxic for Emmy.
"Maybe Dr. Linda was right. Maybe I am trying to compensate for what was done to me. Emmy deserves better than I got. Maybe," I said. "Maybe it's not me trying to protect her, but me being selfish."
Evan sat down next to me and placed his hand on my side.
"Baby, that's not true. Emmy saved you, but you made her better too." Evan told me.
"Did I? Am I?" I asked, turning to face him. "Or am I just making her worse?"
"Taylor, you're wrong." Evan said to me, stroking my cheek. "You're a positive impact on all of us."
"I just want to give her better." I said. "And I believed you. I believe you never knew about us."
"I'm sorry." He said softly. "I wish I could have done something. I wish my Father had done something."
"It's okay."
"Don't say it's okay, because it's not. None of this is okay," Evan shook his head.
"But we're making it okay." I whispered, taking his hand in mine.
---------------------------
"I want out!" I whined, sitting on the couch with my legs curled under me.
"You're not fully healed," Evan said, shaking his head.
"Evan, the girl's got cabin fever." Janice said, rolling her eyes.
"Thank you!" I cried, throwing my hands up.
"Don't do that!" Evan said worriedly, grabbing my hands.
"Janice," I whined, and Janice smacked Evan on the back of his head.
"If all you're going to do is boss someone around, I suggest you go take care of your duties as Alpha and let me take care of her." Janice retorted.
I sent Janice and bright smile, and she winked at me.
"I can't do anything with you here." Evan said, shaking his head at his mother and kissing me, leaving.
"That's because you don't do it right!" Janice called after him.
I giggled.
-------------------------------------
"I drew you a picture," Emmy said, handing me the piece of paper.
It was a wolf that looked like mine, a girl riding on top of her with blonde hair like Emmy.
"Aww, it's so cute." I said.
"Can we watch Frozen?"
"Yeah, sure." I said, nodding. "Let's make some popcorn."
We made popcorn and sat down in the living room, curled up under a shared blanket.
We sang all of the songs together at the top of our lungs- well, she did, because I still couldn't handle that- and had some nice laughs.
Emmy fell asleep in the beginning of Frozen two and I turned the t.v off, getting up slowly as to not wake her up.
Evan walked in through the front door and found me in the kitchen quietly putting the popcorn bowl in the sink.
He wrapped his arms around me from behind and nuzzled his face into my neck, kissing the mark.
I shivered from the jolt of pleasure and giggled. I turned around and wrapped my arms around his neck.
"Hi." I whispered, kissing him.
"Hey." He whispered back, smiling.
"She fell asleep." I said, and he nodded.
"I can see that." He teased, and I rolled my eyes at him.
"Shut up."
"I'll put her in the guest bedroom."
"You should take her home," I said, shaking my head. "Or at least have her sleep with us."
Evan cocked his head to the side. "Why can't she sleep in the guest bedroom?"
"I don't want her having a nightmare and waking up in a place that isn't familiar enough to recognize in that state," I explained. He nodded thoughtfully.
"I'll take her home."
------------------------------
I heard the door open downstairs, and scented Evan coming up the stairs.
I kept my eyes closed, still tired.
He walked into our room and walked around the bed to stand in front of me, leaning down and kissing me softly.
"You awake?" He asked.
"I am now." I grumbled.
Evan chuckled slightly and walked away.
I opened one eye and watched him strip off his shirt and jeans, throwing on a pair of sweats and climbing into bed next to me.
He wrapped an arm around my torso and spooned me, nuzzling his face into my neck.
"Goodnight." He said softly.
"Night." I replied.
-------------------------------
"I'm meeting with Kaden today," Evan said from inside the shower.
"Over what?" I asked.
"A local skirmish that might be connected to the attack three weeks ago." Evan ran the loofa over his shoulder and I tried not to stare as I brushed my teeth.
"Okay." I said, rinsing out my mouth.
I walked into the huge closet and looked around, wondering what I should wear.
"Where are you going?" Evan asked wearily.
"Going our with your mother." I replied.
"Great," Evan said with fake enthusiasm.
"She makes me nervous," I admitted.
Evan laughed.
"You'll get used to it."
I threw on a black, lace camisole, tucking it into a pair of high waisted, skinny blue jeans, letting my hair remain down and putting on some checkered vans.
I exited the closet and Evan did a double take, his eyes glued to me.
"You're not wearing that."
I scoffed, applying the bare minimum of makeup.
"Stop me, I dare you." I sent him a teasing smirk, and he rolled his eyes and sighed, shaking his head at me.
I walked out of the bathroom and went downstairs where Janice was waiting.
||Evan's P.O.V||
"How is she?" Kaden asked me, seemingly unconcerned.
"She's healed enough to the point where I can't keep her locked up anymore." I replied.
Kaden chuckled. "She met your Mother yet?"
"She told me this morning that my Mother makes her nervous," I said, and Orion snickered.
"That's one word for it."
"How's the status on Mitus?" I asked.
"He's still comatose, I assure you, he's not going anywhere for a while." Kaden said, and I nodded.
"Good." I checked my phone. No messages from Taylor.
"Want to stay for dinner? Help me keep it less awkward?" I suggested. Kaden checked his watch.
"I guess I could stay for a little while."
--------------------------
Kaden and I walked into my house and I was surprised to find Taylor and my Mother yelling at the t.v, remote controllers in their hands.
My Mother cursed and Taylor laughed loudly, biting her lip in concentration.
I wanted to bite that lip.
"Hey!" My Mother and mate cheered suddenly and high fived each other, laughing.
"What are you playing?" Kaden wondered.
"Borderlands two, it's great." Taylor said with a grin.
Kaden looked at me, raising an eyebrow. "You were saying?" He asked.
------------------------
"What is this?" I demanded. "This is mutiny!"
I had been the butt of Taylor and my Mother's teasing the entire meal, and Kaden had watched silently with amusement, occasionally making a remark.
"Hey!" I cried, looking down and watching Taylor stab one of my meatballs and stick the entire thing in her mouth.
She winked at me, and this time Kaden laughed.
Kaden actually laughed.
"I'm telling you, I think I'm gonna move in with you." I said to Kaden, and he shook his head.
"I may like you, Evan, but you're not moving to my pack. I prefer to care for my friends from afar." He said, chuckling.
His eyes suddenly widened and I turned to see what he was looking at.
Taylor and Mom grabbed a breadstick from the basket and each stared at theirs silently, then looking up at the others', and meeting eyes.
"Can I come stay with you?" Orion joked.
"No." The two women watched the conversation as it unfolded, and wordlessly swaped breadsticks without even looking at each other, and they did so flawlessly without missing a beat.
"The hell?" Mila muttered, eyeing the two weirdly.
They noticed us staring at them, and looked at us innocently.
"What?" They asked in unison.