Aaron collapsed back onto the bed, his eyes never leaving the man in the bed next to him.
“You never said where his friend is?”
“He’s just outside. It was a bit hard to concentrate when I had a literal pacing tiger in the room,” Sam said with a quirk of a smile.
Another groan emitted from the man on the bed, his eyelids fluttering. Anna left her position by Aaron and went and gently took Marshall’s hand in her own.
“Marshall, can you hear me? You’re safe.”
“Whe… where am I?” Marshall asked, his voice low and rough.
“You’re in our clinic. Do you remember what happened?”
“Clinic?” A deep frown furrowed the handsome features and Aaron wanted to jump out of his own bed, gather the man up in his arms and ease away the tension.What the hell?
“Here, have a few sips of water. It will help,” Anna said, reaching for an identical cup of water to the one she’d offered Aaron.
Marshall took a few sips, and Aaron was fixated on the way his throat moved as he swallowed. He felt an urge to run his nose along the tanned skin. His wolf perked up at the idea.Again, what the hell?Aaron’s libido had been one of the first things to go. Not that he’d ever been a guy that slept around, but he’d noticed that once where he’d seen someone and felt a spark of attraction, he’d felt nothing for nearly two years. It was about the same time his other symptoms had started showing up.
“Saint? Where’s Saint?” The question had Aaron’s wolf’s hackles rising. He pushed it back down. He really did not need any more complications at the moment.
“He’s just outside,” Sam reassured him. “I’ll go and get him for you.”
“Thanks, Doc.”
A few seconds later, Saint strode into the room, concern and worry emanating from him.
“Fuck, Marsh, are you okay? Don’teverdo that to me again, okay?”
“Sorry,” Marshall replied, his hand reaching out. Saint grabbed at it and stared deeply into his friend’s eyes. Saint obviously saw something that reassured him, as he gave a huge sigh and nodded.
“So, Doc, what the hell happened to me?”
“What do you remember?” Sam asked, tablet at the ready to take notes.
“Um, Saint and I were waiting to meet the Alpha when Josh and another man walked in. I remember catching his eye, a flood of heat rushing through my body. I felt like I was going to throw up and loud ringing started in my ears. Then there was a flash of light and then, nothing.”
“I don’t normally make such a first impression on people, I can assure you,” Aaron said. Marshall’s head whipped to his left, his eyes widening when they met Aaron’s. Before Aaron could say anything further, beautiful green eyes rolled back in Marshall’s head, and his body tightened as another seizure ripped through him.
Aaron was vaguely aware of Sam pushing Saint out of the way, even as the blond shouted his friend’s name. A surge of energy, aided by his wolf screaminghelp, protect,loudly in his head, had Aaron out of his own bed and beside Marshall in seconds. He grabbed Marshall’s left hand in his, his right coming down on Marshall’s shoulder.
Instinct had him leaning close to Marshall’s ear, where the scent of sweat was overlaid by that damn spicy toffee scent, and he murmured nonsense and reassurance into his ear. He wasn’t aware of the exact words he used. He just tried to soothe and ease the man’s suffering.
“Aaron. Aaron!” Sam’s strident voice had him reluctantly pulling away. He looked up to find his parents looking at him in shock and Saint glowering at him.
“Is he going to be okay?” he asked, not letting go of Marshall’s hand. For some reason, his wolf demanded they keep contact.
“Yeah. Not sure what happened there, but whatever you did worked. All of his stats returned to normal within seconds of you talking to him.”
“Wha… what happened?” Marshall croaked.
“You had another seizure. I’m going to run some more tests and see if I can find out what’s going on. I’m going to make an appointment to use the CT scanner at the hospital just to rule everything out.”
“I’m going with him,” Aaron declared, and Marshall stiffened under his hand. Aaron glanced down to make sure Marshall wasn’t about to seize again. He got caught in the gaze of emerald-green eyes, and his wolf whined.
“Okaay,” Sam drawled in amusement. “If you insist.”
Aaron glared at the doctor, who just grinned at him. “I mean, of course, Alpha. Whatever you say, Alpha.”