Chapter 34

Xander's POV

I'm in a meeting with the heads of one of our partner companies when I start receiving the calls from Allison's friend. I didn't pick them at first, because I'm in a meeting, and also because it's an unfamiliar number. But she keeps calling relentlessly, so I pick up out of curiosity. She sounds worried and frightened, which should have warned me, but I'm still not prepared for the news when I hear it.

"Allison is in the hospital," she chokes out through sobs. "She was caught up in a car crash on her way to the competition…" she hiccups. "I d-don't know why she was going there alone…"

I don't wait to hear anything else. I'm up and heading for the exit before I remember that I was in a meeting. I pause at the door long enough to say "this meeting is adjourned".

Without waiting for a response, I hurry out of the building.

"Which hospital?" I say into the phone.

"Hands of Light," she replies.

"Are you with her right now?"

"As close as I can be," she replies, sounding miserable. "The doctors aren't letting visitors in. They need someone to sign the documents authorizing them to operate, but they won't let me sign it because I'm not her sibling or her spouse, or f-family, you know? I don't know what to do, Allison doesn't have any family left. What am I going to… I—"

"I'll be right there," I say. "If you learn anything else, make sure you tell me."

"Of course, Mr. Black," she replies.

I hang up and turn my attention to driving to the hospital. On a regular day, I would obey traffic rules and road signs and all of that, no matter what.

Not today.

I drive faster than I ever have, cutting through traffic with enough speed to make other cars flee from mine, and dodging vehicles. My heart has never beat this fast, and I can't remember the last time I panicked like this. Allison is all I can think about, and I know I won't be able to breathe properly until she's out of danger.

As I get closer to the hospital, I steer the car with one hand while calling my doctor with the other. He picks on the first ring.

"Good morning, Mr. Black," he says.

"Meet me at Hands of Light hospital in the next thirty minutes," is all I say.

"Understood, Sir."

I hang up just as I arrive at the hospital, and I see Allison's friend immediately I approach the building. She's pacing in front of it, wringing her hands. As I get closer, she turns to look at me with tears in her swollen, bloodshot eyes.

"Where is she?" I ask.

She wipes her eyes and gestures for me to follow her.

"This way," she says.

I follow her into the building, and she half-runs through spotless halls until she brings us to the casualties wing. Only when we are at a certain closed door does she stop, wringing her hands as she turns back to look at me.

"This is as far as I'm allowed to go," she says. "But I'm sure they would let you—"

I'm already opening the door and walking into the room. The nurses and doctors turn to me, startled, but I don't even spare them a glance. All I can see is Allison, lying unconscious on a bed with her hair fanning out around her pale face. There are tubes connected to her body, pumping blood into her, and a life support machine beeps at her side. There are bandages wrapped around her forehead, and her lips are parted ever so slightly.

She looks so fragile I can't bring myself to touch her.

"Mr. Black…" a doctor begins hesitantly.

"How is she?" I cut in.

She hesitates before answering.

"She had a concussion, and she has lost a lot of blood, but what's keeping her from waking up is a fracture in her skull. We're keeping her condition stable, but without surgery, there's no guarantee that she'll wake up."

"We've determined that her car was hit from behind by a semi-truck," a nurse adds. "The force threw her towards the dashboard, and her airbag failed to deploy, so the collision resulted in a fracture in the frontal part of her skull."

I don't want to hear any more.

"Perform the surgery," I say.

Instead of swinging into action immediately, they waste precious time staring at me in shock, so I turn to the doctor that seems to be in charge.

"Did you hear me?" I say. "Perform the surgery right now. I'll sign the documents."

"Mr. Black," she says, regaining her composure, "I don't want to disobey my Alpha, but this is about Miss Carter's life. 

This sort of surgery comes with risks, both to her physical and mental health. The only people who have the right to make that decision on her behalf are her family—"

"I am her fiance," I say.

The doctor abandons her composure to stare in shock at me. Her colleagues' eyes are popping out of their heads as well.

"I am Allison Carter's fiance," I repeat. "That's the closest thing to a spouse that you can find right now, isn't it?"

"Yes, but—"

"Are you going to stand there and watch your Alpha's fiancee die, doctor?" I ask, keeping my voice dangerously low.

She gulps, her face paling with fear.

"I'm sorry, Alpha," she says immediately.

"You will save Allison's life, and you will not tell a soul outside of this room what was said here. Do you understand that, doctor?"

She nods way too fast, already gathering the needed implements. I turn away and go to Allison's side. For a moment, I can only stare down at her. It's painful to see her like this, pale and silent when I'm so used to her being bright and dazzling.

I know the medical personnel in the room are watching, but that doesn't stop me from leaning down and pressing a kiss to her forehead. I take her hand briefly, gently caressing her fingers, before I let go and straighten up.

If the doctors and nurses were gaping before, their jaws have completely relocated to the floor now. I turn to them, ignoring their stunned reactions.

"You're going to save her," I say, "or there will seize to be a hospital on this spot."

They all look shell-shocked, so only the head doctor answers.

"Understood, Alpha," she says in a low voice, keeping her gaze on the floor.

They scramble to get out of my way as I head to the door and out of the room.

The person I was earlier this morning would be freaking out about announcing to a room full of people that Allison is my fiancee, but now I realize how much of a fool that version of me is.

How can I still worry about useless things like reputation and the outrage of the pack, when Allison came this close to dying?