The Pack's Doctor by Cooper

Chapter 153

Kier POV

“You're injured again,” Arianna says, lookingover. Her hands are gently skirting over my body as if she’s

using her fingers to check what her eyes are seeing. Since my body is starting to respond, even with the pain

that I'm in, | grab her hands and pull them to my chest.

“Rowd says he can’t heal sof these wounds, so | need to go see Kennedy,” | say, expecting her to step

aside, or maybe to encourageto go. Instead, she stands there, her eyes focused on my chest.

“Arianna? What's going on in that head of yours?”

She doesn’t answer and when | smell the salt of tears, | tilt her head up to look at me. “What is it?” | ask gently.

“I'm so afraid,” she says, her voice shaking with her attempt to control her emotions.

“Afraid of what, baby?” | ask and gently swipe the tear that begins to fall down her cheek.

“Of losing you in one of these attacks,” she whispers.

“Hey. Hey,” | say, pulling her against me. | know I'm naked and dirty from the battle, but | don’t like her crying.

She wraps her arms around me, holdingtightly. “What if | wake up one day and you're not here and | wasted

all this time?” she asks.

| feel like my heart stutters. What is she saying.

“I don’t think | could forgive myself. You've been nothing but kind and patient with me. | know you're a good man

and I'm letting my fear of my past keepfrom finding happiness with you.”

| can’t tell if she’s trying to tellthat she’s going to rejector if she’s going to say she’s ready to move

forward with our relationship. | hold my breath as she pulls back, looking up at me.

“Maybe... maybe we could spend sttogether once Luna’s family is gone and it's quieter on your floor,”

she says. | feel the tension insideeasing.

“I would like that,” | say.

“Yeah?”

“I would like it a lot,” | tell her, leaning down to gently press my lips against hers. | feel her body tense, then

relax as she leans against me. | deepen the kiss, slowly enjoying her scent and her taste. | don’t kiss her as long

as I'd like, partly because I'm filthy and injured and partly because | don’t want to scare her. She’s agreed to

spend more twithand | want her to continue to feel comfortable doing that. | won't push her past her

own comfort zone. | don’t know everything that happened to her, but | know it wasn’t good.

“You need to get to the hospital, Beta. Did you needto assist you,” she asks, smiling up at me. She hasn't

pulled away from me, and | count that as a win.

“I definitely could use your assistance,” | say, tucking her against my side and heading out of the packhouse

toward the hospital.

Kennedy POV

I'm not sure how many times I've reminded my sister that no one dies in my hospital. She’s testing every bit of

medical knowledge | have, which isn’t nearly as much as my mother’s, but | knew her panic would only cause

things to spiral out of control. One of the very first things | learned in my mother’s hospital was to remain calm. If

you aren't calm, you make mistakes and my mother would never have forgiven herself if Wendy died because of

something she did or didn’t do.

I'd sent Deborah out to get blood from my family. Wendy didn’t have enough after bleeding out and since |

couldn't stop the bleeding until | got the silver out, her blood levels becdangerously low.

I'd shown Deborah how to start the blood transfusion when she returned. My sister's heart rate had dropped

dangerously low, low enough that Echo could barely hear it. By then, | had two of the four gashes cleaned out.

Because | needed to hurry, | used steri-strips to hold the gashes together while | kept working.

As the blood began making its way into her body, the wounds started bleeding again but her heartbeat became

strong enough that we could hear it. Once | had the last gash cleaned, | began stitching up her deep wounds.

The wolf's claws had gone deep enough to crack three ribs, slice her spleen, and nick her stomach, which means

her recovery will be difficult until her wolf, Dasha, recovers and can heal her.

| carefully stitched her stomach, then her spleen before closing the last two gashes. The ribs will Have to heal on

their own since there’s no good way to set those bones or if there is, I'm not that advanced in my medical

knowledge. I'll talk to my mother about that and make sure there isn’t anything more than | can do.

When I'm done, | have Deborah helpto wrap Wendy's chest and abdomen, securing the ribs and holding the

stitched wounds together to help them heal.

When I finally step back, monitoring her vital signs, my entire body aches. I'm exhausted. I've never been the

one to save a life like this. My mother was always there, and she did the brunt of the work, her or Beta Noelle.

| tell Deborah to go get ssleep then | look at my sister's pale face. | brush the hair away from her head and

kiss her forehead before leaning down to her ear.

“You fight hard to survive. You hear me? Don’t you dare becthe only person we lose in a hospital. I'm going

to let Mom and Dad cin. I'm sure they'll stay overnight. You won't be alone, Wendy, so you and Dasha focus

on getting your strength back. I love you, sis,” | say before standing up and after checking her once more, | pull

off my gloves and the blood soaked surgical gown that I'm wearing as | walk out of the room.

The moment the door opens, everyone in the waiting room stands - my parents, all my siblings, Madison, Alpha

Henry, Alpha Harold, Luna Farrah, and when my eyes meet Quirin’s, my lips begin to tremble.

“She's stable.”

My father takes a step forward, but when Quirin opens his arms, | walk into them. | love my father, but it's my

mate that | want right now.

“You are in so much trouble, Little Pup,” he whispers into my ear as he wraps his arms around me. | nod, unable

to care that he’s upset withright now. I let his scent calmbut before the fatigue settles into my bones

and | collapse, | turn to my mother, giving her the medical version of what | did with Wendy. Quirin wraps his

arms aroundfrom behind, holdingsteady when | start to sway.

She asks specific questions before nodding. “Go get srest, Kennedy. You did very well.”

I nod and turn, ready to walk back but Quirin scoopsup into his arms.

“You're dead on your feet, Little Pup,” he murmurs.

“Did mom clean out your wounds?” | ask, leaning my head against his chest.

“She took care of the rest of the pack, including me. Everyone had ssilver on them, whether it was on their

hands and feet or in their wounds. She was great,” he says chuckling.

“What's funny?” | ask.

“Does your mother always talk to herself?” he asks.

“Yes.”

“She’s apparently not happy with the lack of supplies in our hospital”

“| tried to tell her that no one comes to the hospital,” | murmur.

“Well, they're coming now, so you'd better make sure you have what we need, Jasper and Progan attacked upon,

probably thinking we were weak from the silver. They got quite a surprise when they realized we're all at full

strength again, thanks to you.”

| feel the change in air when we walk into the packhouse which is unusually quiet. My eyes are closed and | don’t

have the energy to open them.

“What tis it?” | ask.

“It’s about two in the morning. You were in surgery for hours.”

I nod. “I almost lost her several times,” | say, tears beginning to leak past my eyelids.

“But you didn’t. Your father is right about one thing. You are your mother’s daughter,” he says, presing his lips to

my head.

“And that’s a good thing, since you don’t like my father,” | mumble, my brain unwilling to stay awake.

“Go to sleep. I'm going to bathe you and put you to bed, Little Pup”

I heard him turn on the water, but | never even feel him putin the tub.