Chapter 23
Chapter 23
We arrive to the hospital in a flurry. I’m positive Archer was twenty miles over the speed limit with how fast he was driving. I rush through the double doors with four massive alphas behind me. Everyone in the hospital seems to know who they are and immediately runs over to us.
The doctor is a shorter, slim man with thick framed glasses. His forehead is creased in worry when he comes over to us.
“What’s wrong?”
He tries to take Mia from my arms and I immediately pull away, shielding her from him with my back. He frowns and puts a hand on my arm.
“Ma’am,” he continues. “I need to see her in order to treat her
I look back at the brothers. Neil gives me a nod I hand Mia over to the doctor, still tentative. He swaddles her perfectly and begins to do some poking around and looking at her.
“Who’s the parents?” he asks. Everyone stills. I open my mouth to say I am, just to get him tohurry upbut then Archer’s command booms over
- me.
“We are Hayes,” he says, all bark and alpha. “That’s all that matters.”
The doctor seems to understand this. He nods at Archer and then looks to Mia’s skin. Her rash is worsening and it’s making me panic.
it
“She seems to be having an allergic reaction the doctor says. “It should be easy to quell it if that’s what it is. Then we can do a few prick tests to see if it’s any of the big ones”
“And what if it’s not?” I ask, not really wanting to know the answer. The doctor shoots me a look then turns and hands Mia over to a nurse.
I
“Then I will work in overdrive until we figure out what it is,” he says. “For now, please wait here. We will update you when we know
something”
He the nurse take Mia behind two larger doors and into the hospitalit leaves myself and the brothers in a room that smells of bleach and old people. We all stand in the same place for a few minutes, watching the doors where Mia disappeared behind swinging aimlessly. Finally, Neil slumps into a seat. Beau is quick to follow. Steven stands nervously next to me, grawing on his fingers and giggling his leg
I feel Archer at my back and turn to face him. His chest is all puffed up and his face is red with anger. He seethes through his nose and jabs a
finger at me.
“This better not be your fucking fault,” he snaps.
“My fault?!” I scoff “its probably somethingyoudid. You can’t even fucking hold her correctly!”
Archer sucks in another hot breath. He’s more red in the face than I’ve ever seen him. I know I’ve overstepped. Quite frankly, I don’t know
give a shit anymore.
“If you did this,” Archer says, low and warning “I have your head on a post for everyone on campus to come and defile.”
“Fuck You” I spit through gritted teeth. Archet steps forward but is cut off by a bark from Neil.
“you are driving me insane,” he snaps. “Stop fighting for one fucking second. The only thing that matters is that Mia is safe, Chlor Caught it warty enough that she should be Thats what we should be talking about Not who’s fucking fault it is.”
19:17 Sat, 22 Jun R
“If Chloe wasn’t here, we wouldn’t have caught it.” Beau says quietly. It’s the first time I’ve seen him look serious. He shakes his head. “Maybe we’re not the right people to be watching her.”
“Take that back.” Archer hisses. “We are thebestpeople for her. One trip to the hospital won’t disprove that.” He turns to glare at me. “Nor will
an incompetent Nanny.”
“Give it a rest, Arch,” Steven sighs.
Archer blinks at Steven, shocked at his younger brother. I blink at him a few times too. Stevens usually quiet, reserved. He rarely speaks let alone says something in spite of another brother. Archer finally gives up. He leans against the wall and shakes his head silently in disbelief
I slump in a chair next to Neil. He barely notices, too busy staring at the ground between his legs. I curl up into the chair and stare at the door, longing for someone to come back and tell me that my baby is okay.
It’s about an hour later that someone does show up. The doctor breaks into the doors and all five of us are on our feet. Neil speaks first.
“Is she okay? Is she going to live? What happened?”
The doctor holds up a hand. She is okay,”
The whole room sighs in relict. The doctor continues
“We want to keep her another hour or so for observation. You are welcome to go sit with her in her room,” the doctor says. “We did a few tests and it turns out that she did have an allergic reaction. To nuts, specifically. This one was likely brought on from a peanut exposure.”
Neil frowns. “Peanuts?” he asks. “We don’t keep peanuts in the house for this reason. We wanted to make sure she had no allergies before we brought them m. We just didn’t get to it before this happened.”
“I see,” the doctor muses. “Is there anyone who’s new to the household who could’ve brought them in unknowingly?”
All four pairs of eyes are on me in a second. They feel like razor blades against my skin. I open my mouth to speak and immediately Archer is in my face, screaming at me with a pointed finger. The words ricochet through my brain and I wince.
*YOU!”
“Archer,” Neil warns. “You’re making a scene.”
I try and speak but the words get lodged in my throat at the sight of Archer, fuming in front of me. let my eyes flutter shut
“I didn’t bring anything in,” I manage to get out.
“I don’t believe you,” Archer hisses.
“She’s only been given stuff from the snack fridge,” My voice sounds so small. So afraid. “I promiset 1-1-
“Are you sure?” Beau says. He doesn’t have anger in his voice but it still puts me on edge. I nod and chew on my lip.
All the brothers are staring at me. My mind is reeling, trying to find something that was off. The morning was fine. I used all the diaper
products I used yesterday. She didn’t have a bath so couldn’t be that. Breakfast was fine though she was a little tentative on the applesauce-
The applesauce.
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19:17 Sat, 22 Jun R
“This morning.” I swallow thickly. It feels like sandpaper. “She had applesauce. She was weird about it.”
“Doesn’t she always have that?” Steven asks. “It’s the prepackaged one.” This is from NôvelDrama.Org.
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“Yes,” I say. I’m still trying to even out my breathing. “But she was making funny faces at it today. I don’t know who would’ve been able to tamper with it.” I pause. I look at Neil with wide eyes. “Unless they were in charge of the supplies.”
“Laura?” Beau says, incredulous. “You thinkLauradid this?”
“It makes sense,” Neil muses..
“I didn’t think she was that malicious,” Stevens adds. He seems disappointed.
“We have no proof,” Archer says. He’s calmed down considerably and has become more inquisitive than accusive. “Suspect number one is still the Nanny.”
“It couldn’t have,” Neil says with a shake of his head. “We never told Chloe about the allergies.”
“Which is a whole other issue on its own,” I mumble. I rub my neck.
“Listen,” Beau says. “The kid’s okay. That’s what matters. This is all so ridiculous. Let’s go get her and take her home. Then, we can talk to Laura about it.”
Neil and Steven nod in agreement. Archer’s glaring at the floor. His expression keeps rocketing back and forth between anger and concern. I look at the doctor. He looks concerned too. I smile gently at him.
“Can we see Mia now?” I say..
He nods once. “Let me take you to her.”