Hunter's Secret
Chapter 27 - Beep, Beep, Beep

Cameron's POV

I helped lift Hunter onto a stretcher and watched as he was rushed out of the house, his lifeless arm hanging over the edge of the gurney. As much as it kills me, I can’t go with him. I now have to act as Alpha until he recovers. If he recovers. Oh my god, what if he doesn’t recover?

“Cameron!” Emma shouts, breaking me out of my thoughts.

I can’t speak. I think I am in shock. I feel myself being pushed down onto a chair, but I can’t move. I can’t breathe. I can’t breathe!

“Cameron! Look at me!” Emma shouts again, her hands holding my face. I blink a few times before I focus on her.

“Cameron, you need to take a deep breath. Breathe with me. Ready?”

I think I nod in response, and she starts to talk again but she sounds so far away, and everything is muffled.

“Breathe in…”

“And breathe out.”

“And again. Breathe in…”

“And breathe out.”

My body involuntarily follows her instructions way before my mind ever does. I finally am able to hear her voice as she is telling me to breathe. I blink a few more times before I take an unprompted deep breath.

“Emma?” I whisper.

“I am right here Cameron. You are okay. Take some more deep breaths.”

I do as she says, and I am finally starting to feel more like myself again.

“Good job. You are okay now. I am here. Just keep breathing.”

I reach my arms out for her, and she climbs onto my lap. I bury my nose into the crook of her neck and take a few more deep breaths.

“Good job, Cameron. You are okay. You are safe.”

I don’t know how long we sat like that but eventually I felt better.

“Emma?”

“Yes?”

“What happened?”

“You had a panic attack, Cameron.”

“Oh.”

“It’s okay. I used to have them, that is why I knew what to do. How are you feeling now?”

“Better.”

She gets off my lap and the lack of contact hurts. She grabs a glass of water and hands it to me and I obediently take a drink.

“What time is it?” I ask her.

“About 10 a.m.”

“Thank you.”

“Of course. You are my mate, and it is my job to take care of you. I love you, Cameron.”

“I love you too,” I look at her when I tell her those words and I see her smile, but I also see her face full of concern. I don't want to ask but I also don't want to not know, “He is dying isn’t he?”

“I don’t know. I haven’t heard anything yet,” she answers.

‘Cameron? You can come see him now if you want,’ my mom tells me over mind-link.

‘I am coming right now. Is he awake, mom?’

‘No, honey. But you can still come see him.’

“You hear something?”

I nodded my head yes and raced over to get my shoes on.

“Cameron!”

I pause and look at her and she throws a shirt at me. I didn’t even realize that I wasn’t wearing one.

“I am coming with you. Wait on me please.”

I waited and then we both practically ran down to the infirmary.

We run in and the nurse points us down the hallway. We follow her point and see my parents and his parents sitting outside what I assume is his room. Emma and I reach them, and I ask my mom if I can go in, and she nods. Emma kisses me on the cheek and waits outside for me. I take another deep breath and slowly open the door.

Hunter is laying on the bed, hooked up to all kinds of monitors and wires. There is a tube in his mouth, and it is breathing for him. He has an IV in his arm and it is slowing dripping some kind of liquid into his veins. His heart rate and blood pressure are all normal now and the monitor is beeping with every beat of his heart. He is ghostly pale and does not look at all like himself. The last thing that I notice is that he is in four-point restraints. A soft voice startles me, and I turn around, noticing Ash.

“River was fighting for control and the doctors were struggling to attend to him, so they called me,” Ash explained, her voice full of concern, “I had to put River under a spell so the doctors could treat Hunter.”

“What is wrong with him?”

“He had a seizure, but he should have woken up by now. They think he was unconscious for a few hours before you found him this morning. They don’t know what caused the seizure in the first place and they don’t know why he isn’t waking up.”

“He hasn’t been sleeping very well,” I tell her and worry etches her face.

“For how long now?”

“At least six months. And yesterday he worked in the office for fourteen hours without taking a break. Or eating.”

“That is not good,” Ash says, her voice trailing off as she gets lost in her thoughts.

“I should have taken better care of him. This is my fault. I wasn’t paying attention and I thought he was just stressed. Now, he is going to die because of me,” my voice cracking, as I try to hold back my tears.

“He is not going to die, Cameron. River won’t let him. And this is not your fault. Hunter is a grown man who should know better than to not take care of himself,” she says, disappearing when Emma opens the door.

“Cameron? Who were talking to?”

Covering for Ash, who still deserves to have her identity protected, I lie and say, “Myself. I feel responsible. This is my fault.”

She wraps me in a hug, “This is not your fault.”

“He is my brother, and he is going to die. I don’t want to lose him,” I cry.

“He is not going to die. We have some of the best doctors. They will figure it out. It will be okay,” she says, trying to be reassuring.

“But you don’t know that! What if he never wakes up? What if I never get to tell him I love him ever again?”

She pulls back from me and wipes the tears off my face, “He knows you love him. You will just have to trust that he will be okay.”

Hunter’s POV

*beep, beep, beep*

I hear a small beeping noise, but I can’t figure out where it is coming from. I also hear Cameron crying and talking to his mom but they sound so far away. Why is he crying? Did something happen to Emma? Is he okay?

I feel something in my mouth, and it is uncomfortable but when I try to move my hands up to my mouth, they don’t work. They have something holding them down and I can’t move them. I can’t open my eyes either. Where am I? What is happening? Why has someone tied my hands down? Why can’t I reach River?

*beep beep beep beep beep*

The beeping is really annoying. And it is getting faster, and I still can’t figure out where it is coming from. I hear the door fly open and I am filled with relief. Good, someone can help me now. There are so many voices that I can’t hear what they are saying. I feel a sharp pain in my arm before everything goes quiet and I fall asleep.

Cameron’s POV

I hear Hunter’s heart monitor go off and before I can even call for help, there are nurses and doctors rushing into his room. They manage to get his heart rate back down and they come out looking very stressed.

I grab the arm of one of his doctors and ask him, “What is going on? Is he okay?”

He shakes his head, “I am sorry. I can’t disclose patient information to people who are not family.”

I growl out a warning, tightening my grip on his arm, “That may be the case, but you can disclose whatever the hell I ask you to because right now I am the Alpha of this pack and you do not get to disobey me!”

He lowers his eyes, “I am sorry, Alpha. Can we go speak somewhere more private?”

I released his arm and followed him to a conference room.

“Spill,” I demand, noticing his flinch at the harshness in my voice.

“Of course, Alpha,” he says, not raising his eyes, “Hunter had a seizure this morning and was likely unconscious for multiple hours before you found him on the floor. When he arrived here, he had an additional seizure and has remained unconscious the entire time. His wolf was fighting for control, and we had to call for assistance so we could start treating him. That is why he is in soft restraints. We will remove them soon. His heart rate will randomly increase, and he will start spiking a fever when that happens. We have given him broad spectrum antibiotics, pain medications, and anti-seizure medication. He has had a CT scan and a brain MRI, and we do not yet know why he is having seizures or why he is unable to regain consciousness.”

I turn away from him and growl, slamming my fist against the wall.

“I am sorry, Alpha. We are doing everything we can to try to figure out why this is happening.”

“I have some calls I need to make. Tell me as soon as you find out anything or if his condition changes at all.”

He nods his head and leaves the room. I mind-link Emma and tell her I am going to go make some phone calls and I will be back as soon as I can be. She tried to ask if she could come with me, but I cut her off and told her to either stay here or go back to the pack house.

I leave the conference room and as soon as I get outside the infirmary, I shift into Xavier and take off toward Titus Black’s house.

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