ECKO

"Ecko, my love, the surgeries are over." 

Even amid endless layers of dreamless sleep, I somehow heard my Dad's voice in my mind loud and clear as they pierced through the darkness, as if the worlds themselves were injected straight into my subconscious. In an instant, my eyes fluttered open, and with a frantic swiftness, my body, thoughts, and spirit snapped to attention all at once, seamlessly transitioning to full wakefulness.

"Is he awake?" I asked, voice filled with eager anticipation. I stared expectantly at my Dad as I sat up on my bed, instantly noticing that despite the fact that I'd obviously slept many hours based on the changing hues of daylight outside of my window, I still clutched my mate's scented shirt to my chest, fingertips quivering with longing. 

Dad's eyes were unbelievably soft while he gazed down at me as if I were the most precious thing to ever exist on this earth. It was a look that would usually comfort me, knowing that Dad's love for me transcended any power in this universe or the next. But right now, the expression on his face was just a little too tender... as if he were attempting to conceal some kind of hidden, underlying sense of fear beneath the gentleness of his eyes.

"He's well enough for you to see him now. However, there's..." Dad paused, moving closer across my bed to tuck a wisp of crimson hair behind my ear. "During the surgery, Benji and Sebastian made the decision to place him in a medically induced coma for a time."

"What?" My voice cracked, the trembling in my hands rapidly spreading to the rest of my body as yet another wave of unfiltered anxiety took root. "How long is 'a time'? Hours? Days!?"

"Shh, baby boy. It's alright. It's alright." Dad's eyes became a little moist as he rubbed his hand down the side of my cheek. Then, judging by the way he glanced down my duvet, his facial features enduring a tortured twitch that quickly worked its way across his entire face, I immediately knew that whatever he was about to tell me was not about to be anything close to the answer that I was looking for. And he already knew it, too.

"They... they can't be certain, sweetie. His body... whatever he went through, it endured immense trauma. He needs time. But when his body grows strong enough, he will hopefully awaken on his own."

Those were the last words that I heard before my body was surging forward and then flying, legs moving so fast that they were practically a blur beneath me as I burst from my room, ran down the stairs, and exploded through the front door of my home. Vaguely, I heard the faint sound of my siblings calling to me as I made my way through the living room at light speed, but I couldn't stop for them.

Sana, my restless heart, whined loudly in my mind as the tall grasses whipping past our bare ankles and feet so harshly that it nearly hurt. But as I ascended the hill that separated the Pack House infirmary from my family home, we were both in absolute agreement with one another: We weren't stopping until we reached him, until we were by his side, until we were there.

I wouldn't label myself as the biggest crybaby in the universe, but lately, it seemed like the act of making tears fall from my eyes was the only skill that I excelled at. I wasn't sure when the tears started as I made my way to the infirmary, but by the time I made it to the entry door of the treatment rooms – the same door I'd stood in front of when my mate had first been brought here, bloodied, bruised and a hair's breadth away from death – I froze, sobs ripping their way out of my throat with such force that it felt as if I might cough out my vocal cords at any moment. 

Was I truly ready for this? Was I ready to see the state that he was in?

I wasn't sure. I wasn't sure if I would ever be sure. In fact, I felt like I might vomit any second now. 

But as my ears flickered, picking up on the hushed, exhausted-sounding voices of my Papa, as well as the unfamiliar tones of someone I'd never met as they conversed quietly, I knew that I couldn't wait any longer.

I had a mate. And therefore, I had a duty to him now. No matter how afraid I was, I would fulfill it.

My trembling fingertips pushed open one side of the double doors with purpose.

The room fell into a hushed stillness the moment that I entered, as though the very air were holding its breath. My gaze locked onto the two faces that turned to greet me.

My Papa was the first face that I recognized. Yet, as I met his eyes in the same manner I'd done countless times before... he I couldn't help but notice the differences which had manifested within the course of the past few hours. Papa's face was creased with a plethora of weary lines and creases, his under eyes shadowed to a degree that caught me off guard. I'd only ever seen him like this for the few days after he went off with Dad to care for him during his heats, or that one Pack invasion that had kept him awake for nearly five days straight.

"Ecko, sweetheart," Papa rasped as he turned to make his way toward me. Even his infamously deep voice was somehow deeper than it usually was, betraying just how taxing this situation had become. "Jax told me that he was going to get you," he continued, stepping closer. I craned my neck as he towered over me, immediately enveloping me into a tight embrace before he pressed a soft kiss to the crown of my head. "How are you holding up, pumpkin?"

How was I holding up? Whew, talk about a loaded question.

I could only muster up a spiritless shrug as he withdrew.

"I just want to see him," I managed to croak out through my shredded throat, "Let me see him. Please."

My Papa hesitated for a moment, his gaze assessing me. Then, with a nod, he stepped aside, granting me a clear view.

My feet assumed a mind of their own as they carried me toward his bedside. And when I took in his fragile form, bandaged up and broken, Sana's anguish broke through my facade in a rush of tears and distinctly Omegan whimpers. Through my mouth, he called out to our mate, barely able to cope with what we were witnessing before us.

Part 2 in Next Episode