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—
The paramedics didn't come in to get Ciel.
They didn't have to.
As soon as Sebastian heard the ambulance siren in the distance, he clutched the ill bluenette to his chest and ran out of the cabin, meeting the emergency vehicle half a mile down the road.
Sebastian pushed his way onto the ambulance, watching as the medical team worked to stabilize Ciel while the driver raced to the hospital in Reykjavik.
Everything seemed like it was moving in slow motion.
The drive seemed to take forever, although the ambulance was practically flying down the treacherous, rugged road.
When they arrived at the hospital, Sebastian staggered alongside the gurney as they quickly unloaded Ciel and whisked her inside.
Sebastian was detained in the hallway while various members of the administrative team, doctors, and nurses interviewed Sebastian on what was going on, over and over.
They wanted to know Ciel's symptoms, what she had been doing earlier in the day, her medical history….
Sebastian told everyone everything he could, but all the while, his eyes kept watching Ciel.
Ciel was pushed down a hallway towards the x-ray department.
Then, while Sebastian was still speaking with the same nurse, his poor wife was rushed down the opposite hallway towards the CT machine.
Finally, after x-rays, a CT scan, an MRI, blood work, and various samples had been collected, Ciel was taken from the emergency department, admitted to the hospital, and given a private room.
After Sebastian spoke to what must have been the tenth person about what had happened to his wife, Sebastian was finally allowed to go to the one place in the world that he longed to be….
By Ciel's side.
As strong of an alpha as Sebastian was, even he could not help the heavy tears that welled in his eyes as he gazed upon Ciel.
She looked like a broken porcelain doll lying there, suffering, on the uncomfortable hospital bed.
The doctors had said nothing yet, they had offered no diagnosis. They had simply taken Sebastian's account, conducted their tests, and then ushered Sebastian and Ciel into the room.
While Sebastian was more than anxious to know what Ciel's condition and prognosis were, he said nothing in protest. He just tried to stay out of the way and let the medical staff do their job.
Sebastian certainly had no medical training and he had no idea how to save his omega himself.
His dear omega!
Sebastian's heart broke as he looked upon the bluenette.
Ciel was still unconscious, but some color had come back into her lips due to the oxygen mask that had been strapped onto her face. A breathing tube had been inserted and Sebastian cringed at the raspy sound that came from her throat as her airways struggled to work.
Various tubes had been placed into Ciel's wrist and hands, heart monitors were stuck to her chest, and in the middle of all that heavy equipment, Ciel looked even more frail than usual.
Sebastian was afraid he might break his wife if he touched her, but he could not help himself.
As softly and as lightly as he could, Sebastian gently folded his hand around Ciel's.
Sebastian looked down as he rubbed Ciel's soft, tapered fingertips with his own, whispering softly, "I love you, my kitten. Please stay with me."
On the monitor, Ciel's heart continued to race and her breathing was still labored. Ciel did not wake, but Sebastian hoped that somehow, someway, she would be able to hear him and know that he was there.
"Stay with me." Sebastian repeated very quietly, bending down and giving Ciel's cold, pale fingers a gentle kiss.
Sebastian looked nervously towards the door, then at the clock.
They had been at this hospital long enough.
When was someone going to tell him what was wrong with his wife?!
—
It was some time later and still, no one had come in yet.
Sebastian had done nothing but stare at Ciel with soft, worried eyes.
Sebastian held Ciel's hand.
Sebastian stroked Ciel's hair.
Sebastian wept.
Sebastian wished that there was a way to push all of the monitors aside and cradle Ciel in his arms.
Even if it was for the last time….
Sebastian's heart felt like lead before a sharp knock came at the door and it swung open.
Sebastian was so tense and so engrossed in his fear and worry that he jumped, startled at the sudden intrusion.
A man as tall as Sebastian entered. The man wore a white lab coat and had jet black hair, just like Sebastian. He adjusted his glasses while he spoke, "Good evening, I'm Dr. Faustus, the head medical officer here, I will be treating this patient tonight."
"Thank you, doctor." Sebastian said quickly, although there was a coldness in the physician's eyes that Sebastian didn't care for.
Doctors shouldn't be cold.
They should be empathetic and caring.
Dr. Faustus said nothing else, he just walked over to Ciel and began to scribble on his clipboard.
"Please, tell me," Sebastian frowned, close to begging at this point. "What's wrong with my wife? She has a history of asthma. Are her lungs infected? Is it pneumonia? She's coughing up blood."
"Actually, she is currently doing no such thing. The patient is resting. Coughing up blood and shortness of breath are common symptoms in patients with pulmonary embolism." Dr. Faustus said very matter-of-factly while he continued to make notes on his clipboard.
Dr. Faustus did not even bother to look up at the grief-stricken husband.
"A pulmonary embolism?" Sebastian asked in disbelief.
"Excellent hearing abilities, Mr. Michaelis." Dr. Faustus said sarcastically.
Sebastian scowled. He didn't appreciate being mocked at such a nerve-wracking time.
"How on earth did this happen?!" Sebastian asked, ignoring Dr. Faustus's snide remark.
Dr. Faustus began to explain in a condescending voice, "A pulmonary embolism is a blood clot that lodges itself in the victim's lungs. It probably started out in her leg…."
Sebastian's mouth fell open as he thought back to Ciel complaining of a leg cramp the previous night.
"...Then I am confident that from there, it traveled upwards where it currently sits now." Dr. Faustus finished.
Sebastian's heart clenched as he looked over at his omega, remembering Ciel saying her arm was sore and her chest was achy the following morning.
Dr. Faustus had no comforting words to offer Sebastian, instead, he plainly outlined the treatment plan he and his team had developed for Ciel. "We are watching the monitors. I've put her on an I.V. cocktail of anticoagulants and blood thinners. Hopefully, her body will reabsorb the clot and her breathing will become easier. In which case, she will heal."
"What if it doesn't?" Sebastian asked, his jaw set firmly.
"Then the clot will travel to her heart or brain and she will die instantly." Dr. Faustus said without a hint of sympathy or care in his voice. Dr. Faustus described what could very well be Ciel's demise as nonchalantly as if he were ordering a pizza.
Sebastian grit his teeth and squeezed Ciel's hand before he caught himself and relaxed his grip.
So then…..Ciel could still…...die from this?!
Ciel could still leave him?!
Sebastian was instantly filled with rage.
That stupid doctor! He wasn't doing enough to save Ciel!
"I am doing all that I can." Dr. Faustus said as if he were reading Sebastian's thoughts. Dr. Faustus pushed his glasses up on his nose as he regarded the distraught alpha.
"I…...I….." Sebastian stammered.
He wanted to scream at the top of his lungs.
He wanted to punch Dr. Faustus right in his cold, sarcastic face until his nose bled.
But that wouldn't help Ciel.
Instead, from somewhere in his whirling, racing brain, Sebastian managed to spit out the one question that was weighing on him most, "I don't understand how this happened to my wife?! Tell me!"
That was when the atmosphere in the room changed.
Dr. Faustus narrowed his eyes at Sebastian, looking at the alpha as if he were a squashed bug under a shoe. "I think you know perfectly well 'how' this happened, Mr. Michaelis."
"What?" Sebastian asked, his face tense.
What was he talking about?
Dr. Faustus made a sound of frustration and clicked his pen closed. He folded his clipboard under his arm as he continued to scowl at Sebastian. "I've seen cases like this a hundred times, and I've seen plenty of disgusting alphas, just like you. You take these abused, weak omegas, pump them full of drugs, and throw them away when they don't do what you want. You like to come to our country because the scenery is nice and people don't ask a lot of questions here. But I always ask questions."
"What are you...saying?" Sebastian asked incredulously.
"We've done a background check on the girl. Is it or is it not true that you in fact bought her from a sleazy mail order company?" Dr. Faustus asked.
Through all of his traumatized shock and worry, Sebastian was starting to see where this was going."Yes, that's….that's true, but I offered her a job and an apartment, an entire life that I would have no part of! I thought the people that participated had come willingly! I had no idea—"
"Nightshade, Mr. Michaelis!" Dr. Faustus roared hatefully, as if he thought Sebastian was the scum of the earth, "Those fertility pills you shoved down her throat are laced with nightshade! Nightshade is toxic on its own, taken during a heat, it will cause the blood vessels to stick together and form clumps! It's a wonder she isn't dead already!"
Sebastian's face was a mask of total confusion.
What fertility pills?
"Oh yes!" Dr. Faustus went on. "We did some blood tests and I've seen other omegas with the same compounds in their system. The black market 'organic' fertility pills you forced her to take because you're probably too cheap to pay for proper treatment! Does this poor girl even want to bear your children?!" Dr. Faustus hissed.
Sebastian wondered what this crazed doctor was talking about?
Had Ciel been taking something behind his back?
She must have…
Oh no…..
"I don't know a thing about any fertility pills!" Sebastian cried in his defense. "I would never force my darling Ciel to do anything, much less take drugs! And I have enough money to buy this entire hospital! She would have a team of the finest doctors in the world if she needed obstetrical care!"
Dr. Faustus laughed, he reached in his lab coat pocket and pushed a button on a device that alerted hospital security. "Don't waste your breath telling me, Mr. Michaelis. You'll need it when you stand before the judge. All your money won't save you from the charges of human trafficking, abuse, neglect, and attempted murder. But don't worry, Iceland doesn't have the death penalty."
"What?!" Sebastian shouted.
A second later, Ciel's hospital room door burst open as two, tall, stocky police officers barged in, grabbed Sebastian, and drug him out of the room.
"NO!" Sebastian screamed, fighting, squirming, kicking, and resisting with every ounce of his being, "CIEL!"
"Take him away, the very sight makes me sick." Dr. Faustus told the hospital security team, waving his hand as if he were trying to clear the air of a stench.
"CCIIEELLLL!" Sebastian screamed as the police drug him down the hallway.
Sebastian was ripped away from Ciel, out of the room she was lying in, out of the hospital she was staying in, all the way across town to the nearest jail.
Sebastian was shoved inside a cell and the door closed behind him.
That was when the alpha went wild.
All the stress, all the fear, all the pain, it all came out as Sebastian roared like a wild animal and smashed himself against the iron bars, trying with all his might to bend them, scratching at them, kicking them, biting them.
He carried on until his hands were bloody and his ribs were sore.
But they did not budge.
Sebastian collapsed in the middle of the dirty floor, defeated.
The alpha felt himself being engulfed by total despair.
How could this be?
Sebastian would rather be the one in a hospital bed. That way, Ciel could at least be beside him, patting his hand.
Yes, that would be better than being stuck in here, far away from her while she was possibly drawing her last breaths.
Sebastian would rather be dead, he would rather be tortured, he would rather be homeless…..
Sebastian would rather be anything, anywhere, instead of being separated from his beloved Ciel.
—
Ciel woke up to bright light streaming into the room.
The bluenette gasped as she opened her eyes wide and sat up, ripping the oxygen mask off of her face.
She noticed the pain in her shoulder had disappeared.
Her breath came easily.
Her cough was gone.
Ciel looked around and noticed that she was in the hospital, the view from the window told her that she was still in Iceland.
Ciel pouted when she realized she was alone.
Where was Sebastian?
Ciel followed the cords attached to her and found the call button, pressing it to summon a nurse to her room.
"What do you need, my dear?" A kind woman in her mid forties asked as she entered the room a moment later.
"Wh ...where is my husband?" Ciel asked groggily.
"You mean Mr. Michaelis? Oh don't worry dear, he isn't going to hurt you anymore. The doctor told me to give you these when I could." The woman said with a tender smile.
She walked over and laid some pamphlets on the table next to Ciel's bed.
The bluenette scowled when she realized they were all on mental health groups and surviving abuse and trauma.
What the heck was going on here?
"Just let me know if you need anything else, dearie." The woman said, pausing to fluff Ciel's pillow.
The bluenette grit her teeth and reached out, grabbing the woman's wrist in a strong, dangerous grasp for someone who had been through so much. "I am Mrs. Sebastian Michaelis, the wife of the man who owns half of Europe and one of the strongest, most dominant, sexiest alphas in the world. I am in a hospital and I want to see my husband. You are my nurse and I want you to make that happen, or we will own this hospital and see that you and everyone else who works here never finds a job again, do you understand?" The bluenette glowered.
The nurse's eyes were wide as Ciel spoke.
The nurse swallowed hard as she hurriedly replied. "Y ...yes, ma'am! I'll…..I'll tell them to bring Mr. Michaelis here right away!"
"That's exactly what I wanted to hear." The usually timid bluenette said in her icy tone. Ciel released the woman's wrist and let her race out of the room to the nurse's station to make a call.
Ciel was meek sometimes, that was true.
At least, until you took Sebastian from her….