explain what they knew from Aeron, which wasn’t a lot. Layne had been caught in deep postpartum depression, and he’d resisted all help from both Peyton and Aeron. Layne had jumped off a cliff into a freezing cold pond to rid himself of a smell, and Peyton had jumped in to save him. Rescue crews had gotten there just in time, apparently, because they were both alive. Layne was awake and semi-aware, but Peyton—Hyatt’s freaking nephew—was still asleep. Warm but asleep.
“I hate waiting rooms too,” Hyatt said to Karson. And for good reason. His brother Symon had been in the hospital for weeks following a chemical explosion last year, and had Hyatt thought he’d start bleeding vending machine food following that period of his life. But Symon was alive and thriving and healing from his wounds. Soon both Layne and Peyton would be too. He had to believe that.
“I think we all hate waiting rooms by now,” Rebel added. He slung an arm around Karson’s shoulders and kissed his mate’s temple. “They’ll be okay. They have to be. After everything Layne and Peyton have gone through, a little cold water won’t take them down. We just have to be patient.”
“I don’t want to be patient,” Hyatt said. “I want to know my nephew and his mate are going to be okay. I just found my blood family, Reb. I can’t lose them.”
“You won’t.” Rebel kissed Karson’s temple again, then stood and approached Hyatt. “They both have as strong a spirit as you, Hyatt. Despite all the setbacks they have faced these last few months, they will be okay. I believe that and I’m not an eternal optimist.”
“They have fought so hard, through so many things.”
“And they’ll fight a little bit harder. They won’t be alone, either. They’ve both got more family than they know what to do with lined up to help them through this latest crisis.”
“True.”
Layne’s parents were in his cubicle with him, along with Aeron who seemed to wear this giant weight of responsibility like a dark shroud. Layne’s little brother Linus sat nearby, huddled together with Peyton’s own little brother Miko. Peyton’s parents were sitting with him, waiting for him to wake up, and the lack of updates was frustrating as hell, but it was all up to Peyton now. He’d come back to them all once this past fall, after being in a coma for over a month; he’d come back to them again.
He has to. We need him.
After their rescue from Edgar’s house, Hyatt had never truly expected to find out who he was. Who his parents had been or if he had any blood family left. He’d been shocked to discover his omegin—as well as Rebel’s and Symon’s—had been part of an illegal fight ring, and they’d all been given away after birth. He’d been even more shocked to discover that he had a living nephew who was only a few months younger than him. Hyatt, Rebel and Symon had been immediately folded into Peyton’s large circle of family and friends.
And now Rebel was mated, working, and creating a life with Karson. Hyatt was jealous of Rebel’s happiness, but Rebel more than deserved it after everything he’d suffered to protect his little brothers.
Tarius, one of Layne’s three older brothers, arrived and went immediately into Layne’s cubicle. He didn’t stay in long, though. Tarius went right to Linus for a hug, then said to their group, “Layne’s drifting in and out of sleep, but his temperature is back to normal. They’re going to keep him in the ER for a while longer to monitor him.”
“What happens to Layne after?” Karson asked. “I mean, he’s a got a nurse guarding his room like they expect him to bolt.”
Or try to kill himself again. The thought made Hyatt queasy for a multitude of reasons.
“That’ll be up to Layne, I suppose,” Tarius replied. “None of us realized how bad his depression had gotten.” He blinked hard, his dark eyes shiny with unshed tears. “We didn’t see how much he was hurting inside.”
“He didn’t want you to see,” Rebel said. “When your internal pain is so great you’re afraid it will hurt the people you love, you find ways to hide it.” He shared meaningful looks with Hyatt and Symon. They all knew how good Rebel had become at hiding his internal agony over Edgar’s abuse. “But now Layne can get the help he’s needed for a while.”
“Frankly, Layne’s needed help since he was six but he’s always been