A Bundle of Mannies

by Lorelei M. Hart

  I wasn’t the only one tired of the schedule and the crazed life of an ER doctor.

  “I’m on my way.” I hung up the phone and, as soon as my replacement got there, hightailed it down to surgery, but not before stopping in the surgical waiting room. A twinge of jealousy raced down my spine as I saw Adam with his arm around Pace, who had his face nuzzled into my mate’s neck.

  A warm feeling drew over me head to toe.

  Adam consoling our other mate.

  Never had I been more sure of that fact.

  Not the time, Lincoln. Not the fucking time at all.

  Adam looked up at me as I pushed my thoughts to the side. “Linc?” He attempted to stand but, with my hand out, I stopped him. Pace needed his comfort. Anyone would, given the circumstances.

  As soon as I reached the pair, however, Pace stood and wrapped his arms around my shoulders, almost knocking us both to the floor

  I embraced him and took in his scent. He didn’t sob, but he sighed against my shoulder.

  “Have they come out to tell you anything?”

  Pace shook his head then sat back down, swiping at his face none too gently.

  “Let me go see what I can find out.”

  Pace returned to Adam’s arms, and my mate and I shared a knowing look. Not the ideal situation, but Pace needed us.

  And we needed Pace.

  “Amber, can you give me an update on Charles Prince? He’s in surgery now.” I’d used my badge to go through the double doors and to the nurse’s station.

  She typed some things into the computer. “He’s still in there. No updates, I’m afraid. Should I ask if you can scrub in?”

  I thought about it, looking toward the operating rooms. I could scrub in and assist, but then there would be questions I wasn’t quite ready to answer.

  “No.” I slapped the desk gently. “Thanks for asking. Can you do me a huge favor and text me as soon as the patient is in the clear? I’d really appreciate it.”

  She nodded and, if I wasn’t mistaken, a tinge of blush covered her cheeks.

  Wrong tree, sweetheart.

  I exited the double doors again and went to sit with my men. Yep, I was so calling them my men, in my head at least.

  “There’s no updates, but sometimes that’s a good thing. We’ve got some of the best surgeons in the country here, and, if it helps, they do these procedures a thousand times a day.”

  Pace had looked up at me, all puffy eyed and expecting a good word from me. I had none, and it killed me not to be able to relieve some of his pain.

  “That makes me feel a little better.”

  I reached across Adam and took Pace’s hand. “Why didn’t you tell us your dad was this bad off, Pace? We’ve been working you too hard. You don’t have to go on vacation with us. Maybe it’s better if you stay with your dad. Not that we don’t want you to go—we do.” I was drowning, and Adam’s cocked eyebrow told me he was so not helping me out.

  “I needed the job.”

  Poor guy. He’d probably spent his days worried sick about his father while chasing our kids around. That was a lot for anyone.

  And here I was thinking about boning him all the time.

  Jerk.

  “Let’s hope for the best. Right?” Adam and his optimism drew me out of my thoughts.

  “Absolutely. It will be fine. Should I go tend to the kids?” I asked, hoping the answer was no.

  “No, I called Mrs. Bindle from next door.“

  I nodded. Mrs. Bindle was reliable, but since my shift was done, at my own doing, the kids would do better with their dad. Still, I didn’t want to go until the doctor came to talk to us.

  “Mr. Prince,” Dr. Ingrams called. I recognized the older doctor despite his face being covered with a mask—he had come straight from the operating room. He pulled it off and looked around the room until Pace stood, an expectant look on his face.

  “How is he?”

  Dr. Ingrams cleared his throat. Shit. “We’ve fixed the internal bleeding. But we have to keep him for a few days. Your father is not in the best condition. I would prepare myself, if I were you. Spend time with him—get his affairs in order.” My colleague put his hand on Pace’s shoulder. “You can see him once he gets to a room. We will let you know.”

  Pace had let out a long breath, but soon he tensed up again. One small battle was over, but this wasn’t good news for his dad.

  Dr. Ingrams went on for a bit, discussing the surgery and more about the disease afflicting Pace’s father, but I wasn’t sure if the others got much of it.

  I glanced over at Adam after thanking Dr. Ingrams again and seeing him walk away.

  We had to help Pace spend as much time with his father as possible.

  We’d make the sacrifice for him.

  There was no choice. He was our mate. And it wasn’t as if we hadn’t been thinking about it before.

  “I’m going to grab some coffee. Either of you want some?” Pace asked, fidgeting with his hands. He probably needed the walk more than the caffeine.

  “No, thank you,” we both answered.

  When he left, Adam turned to me. “I’m quitting. Like today We were already thinking about it, and I’ll be damned if I make Pace take care of our kids while his father is dying.”

  Bless my mate. He’d read my mind.

  Chapter Eighteen

  Pace

  Adam and Lincoln left once we got the status on Dad. They told me not to worry about the kids and left me Adam’s car so I could head home when I was ready. Then, cautioning me not to exhaust myself, assuring me that my dad needed me strong to help him through this time, they each gave me a hug and a kiss on the cheek.

  I sank back into the waiting room chair and stared at the TV screen, too tired and depressed to even peruse one of the antique magazines dotting the various tables around the room. I’d have to read about how to prepare sea bass twelve ways or make a quilt in a weekend some other time. For now, I just wanted to see my dad’s face. The surgeon had been pretty clear Dad’s time was limited, and I’d wasted so much of his life before he got sick by fleeing when my relationship broke up.

  How could I have been so selfish? I didn’t need to let my ex’s jerkiness drive me away from my family. I hadn’t even seen any of my old friends since I got back. I’d lost touch with nearly all of them while I was away, and the few I hadn’t I’d put off because I was too busy with my job and my father’s illness. And I hadn’t run into my ex or his omega even once. Was he even still in town?

  It was late at night now, and nobody shared my waiting room, so I muted the sound on an infomercial promising to resolve all my problems with cutting vegetables into even pieces with almost no effort—saving me from spending hours a day making coleslaw and potato pancakes—and glanced to the clock. It must’ve be as old as the building. I watched the hands move. Hour hand, almost impossible to see motion. The minute hand clicking every time the second hand passed the twelve.

  And around.

  And around.

  Dad should be in a room anytime, and I could go in there and sit, keep him company, do the only thing I could do for him now. I couldn’t save him. But I could sit with him. I could talk to him and make sure he knew he wasn’t alone at this juncture, at this critical part of his life.

  “Mr. Prince?” A nurse stood in the doorway, one I hadn’t seen before.

  I jumped to my feet. “Is my father in a room?”

  “No.” She gave me a sweet smile. “He’s going to be in ICU until at least tomorrow sometime. The doctor asked me to let you know.”

  “Can…can I see him? My dad, I mean.”

  “It would be better if you waited until morning. Why don’t you go home and get some rest?”

  “I really would like to.”

  Well…the doctor said…”

  “How about just for a minute?” My voice cracked, and I think that made the difference. “So he knows I’m here, that I’ll be back?”

  She gave a nod. “But just fo
r a minute. You both need rest.” As I passed her in the doorway, she patted my shoulder. “He’s a lucky dad to have a son like you.”

  If only she were right.

  The ICU in our small hospital was made up of very small cubicles, and there were no visitor chairs, so I had to stand. They really didn’t want people sticking around long.

  Dad was out of it and connected to so many machines it was all I could do to thread my hand through and squeeze his arm. “I don’t know if you can hear me, but I’ve been here all night, making sure you were okay.” His eye didn’t open, but his lids flickered, and his lips twitched. “You really need a shave, Dad. As soon as you’re back in a regular room, I’ll help you, okay?”

  “That would be very kind.” The voice behind me was male, as was the surgeon who came to stand beside me, taking up the last of the room. “Everyone feels better when they’re neat and tidy, and your dad doesn’t look like the beard-scruff type.”

  “No,” I said, touching his cheek gently, the coarse gray hairs prickling under my fingers. “He’s a shave-every-morning and then, if he had plans for the evening, again-at-night type. Is he not doing as well as you hoped? You thought he’d be in a room by now, didn’t you?”

  The doctor was checking things, reading charts and looking at readouts, but he lifted his face and gave me a half smile. “He’s a very sick man, and I didn’t want to rush him. Here, he has a nurse assigned just to him, and we can be sure he’s getting the very best care. Technically, I could put him in a room, but I’d rather up our game.” He winked. “Don’t tell the insurance company, okay?”

  I let out a sigh. “I think I might go home for a nap, then. Someone will call me if there’s any change?”

  “Right away. Rest, son. You’re taking good care of him. Before we put him under, he told us all about how proud he is of you.”

  “He was conscious?” I’d thought he was out the whole time.

  “For a bit. And on the topic of his son, he was hard to stop long enough to sedate.”

  “I’m not that great, you know.”

  Resting his hand on my shoulder, he guided me out, calling softly behind us, “I’m making your son go home and get some sleep, Mr. Prince. You were right, he’s a good one.”

  Tears blurred my vision. I didn’t deserve all the accolades. “I’m not—”

  He stopped and turned me to face him in the hallway. “He thinks you are. And that’s all that matters, isn’t it? Just do whatever you’ve been doing. It’s making him happy.”

  And that’s all we could do, right? Because I couldn’t go back in time and be a better son. And I couldn’t save him.

  “Yes, Doctor. Thank you.” I continued down the hallway and into the elevator, then outside to the car on auto pilot. Every muscle ached and my eyes were so heavy, I could barely keep them open. My gaze was fixed on the ground in the parking lot when I heard, “Get in, omega.”

  “Lincoln? But I have Adam’s car…”

  No, you don’t. He took it home hours ago, and I came back when Nurse Edith let me know you were ready to come home. We decided leaving it here was chancing you driving when you were too tired.”

  Why was everyone being so good to me? “You guys are too much.”

  “We are pretty awesome, aren’t we?” Lincoln straightened from where he’d been leaning against his car and held out his arms. “We’re great huggers, too.”

  I started to argue then but just didn’t have the strength and walked into his embrace. “I could really use one.” And he hadn’t lied. He held me close while I cried exhausted tears until, finally, I ran dry, and he helped me into the car.

  “Let’s get you home to bed, omega. You’ve had a long night.”

  I rested my head back, eyes drifting closed as he steered the car out of the lot and onto the street. Then I remembered something. “The water park! The kids will hate me!”

  “Do you really think the kids could ever hate you?” He patted my hand and gave it a squeeze. “Our kids are better than that. They know what it’s like to love their dads, so why wouldn’t they expect you to love yours and be there for him when he needs you? They’ve watched you do that since you came, and Penny wants him to come live with us when he gets out so we can all take care of him.”

  Turned out I had tears left.

  Chapter Nineteen

  Adam

  “Thank you, Mrs. Bindle. We really appreciate it.” I tried for the third time to give her money, and, like the first two times, she immediately refused. We needed to do something for her. Maybe we could call ahead to the place she vacationed and have some fancy dinner certificates set up for her or something.

  “The kids are sound asleep.” Linc came up behind me as I shut the door. “And we need to chat.”

  I knew this to be true. I’d offered to quit just like that and, while it made sense—Pace needed us—it was something we needed to chat about. At least from a how are we going to pay the bills perspective.

  “Pace’s dad, it’s not good.” He took my hand, the conversation going in a very different direction than I’d suspected. He led me to the couch, sat down then pulled me onto his lap. It had been so long since he held me this way, comforting me even though both of us had to know it wasn’t me who needed the comfort, it was Pace. Worst case scenario I would lose my career path. Pace—an entirely different story altogether.

  “Is it worse than it looks?” Because it looked awful. The doctor had shared quite a bit in front of us and had I been listening the way I needed to instead of composing my resignation letter in my head and planning ways to help Pace, his words would probably have made sense.

  “On the surface it looks…” He inhaled deeply, holding me close. “It looks not at all promising. I want to call in a few favors. Our hospital isn’t the best. Maybe if I can get him in with the right people…”

  Poor Pace. No wonder he came back to the States. He’d told us his relative wasn’t doing well, yet at the time it sounded to me more like he was getting old, not like he was getting ready to go into hospice.

  “We should do that.” And I was serious. “I’m going to write the email tonight and send it off.” It would only take me fifteen minutes tops and most of that to be sure I cc’d all the right people. It wasn’t the best way to do things. Not by a long shot, but two weeks might be too long for Pace’s father, and it wasn’t worth the risk for a clean record or whatever you call it for work.

  “And what if Pace doesn’t agree?” Linc brushed the hair from my brow, his tender touch exactly what I needed. “What if he wants the job to help him stay busy. You don’t want any regrets, love.” He leaned down and kissed the top of my head, adding softly, “You worked so hard for this.”

  And I had, too, and, at the end of the day, that was my regret. I let my work come before family—not something I could ever go back and fix. But I could make better decisions from here on out, and I planned to.

  “And it is making me and the family miserable.” I looked up at him, blinking back the tears. “We all know this. Pretending otherwise isn’t doing me or us any favors.”

  “And Pace needs you.” He finished my thought for me.

  “He does. He needs us. He has no one else locally from what he’s said.” For all we knew, he had a bucketful of family in another part of the country. Seeing his dad in such rough shape showed me exactly how close to the vest Pace kept his personal life, even if he did pepper the conversations with stories of his youth. What a complex man.

  “And you love him.” Not a hint of anger or jealousy tinged his tone. It was just a statement of fact. I loved Pace.

  “We all do.” I reached up and pressed my palm into his cheek. “We all do.”

  “You’re right, love, we all do.” He broke the silence that had grown with my observation. “But—”

  “But he might not love us.” Which was the scary part of this all. Linc and I loved Pace, and the kids…oh the kids looked up to him like the best uncle ever…maybe even like a fat
her. But was had loved returned? For the kids? Absolutely. For Linc and me? How could it be? I was the omega who all but abandoned his family for a paycheck. Hardly behavior that made someone a potential mate even if he felt mate to me.

  “That.” His phone went off, and I knew our time together would be cut short. It was the ring reserved for the hospital, the ring meant he was leaving.

  “And if that’s the case, it’s fine.” Not fine. I’d lied But I’d accept it. We’d have no choice but to accept it. It would hurt like hell, but so be it. “Unrequited love shouldn’t stop us from giving him all we can in this hard time.” And at the end of the day, that was what this all boiled down to.

  “How did I get such an amazing omega?” He slid me over, brushing my lips with his as he did so and reaching into his pocket to grab his phone.

  “You have a great ass,” I sassed. It was true. His ass was incredible.

  “Squats for the win.” He glanced at the phone then announced what I already knew. “Hold on. It’s the hospital.”

  Ten minutes later, he was out the door, not to go to work, but to get our mate, and I was on the computer resigning from my position.

  Things might not be fixed, or even good, but this was a start. I ran up to our bedroom and remade the bed, adding a third set of pillows. If Pace would let us, we would comfort him tonight, keep him safe in our arms so he could allow sleep to take him away and refresh him enough for the coming trials, watching a parent slip from this world brought forth.

  And if he didn’t want us with him, he could still have the bed and the bathtub, and any amenity he wanted or needed, because he was Pace—our Pace, even if he had not yet decided we were his.

  Chapter Twenty

  Lincoln

  My stomach was twisted in a thousand knots—not the kind of knotting I wanted to be focused on at all.

  I picked up Pace, and by the time I got home, Adam had made a pot of soothing chamomile-lavender tea, and the flowery aroma filled our home.