Beaufort Creek Shifters (10 book series)
Daddy’s Innocent Mate Chapter 12

Francine

The pain started early the next day.

At first, I thought I was cycling. I considered the fact that moving in had interrupted my usual flow and my emotions were all over the place. Seeing as I hadn't slept with Elias in the traditional sense, I knew it wasn't a pregnancy. It was just that my period had been altered by extreme levels of stress. But the pain was rooted in my chest. And it persisted regardless of how much I moved around, how much water I drank, or how many times I texted Laurencia. Fear engulfed me by the afternoon and I took to rubbing my chest just to get rid of the feeling. Nothing I did helped. Even Archie seemed bothered by his father's absence. The two of us ate our sandwiches quietly, exchanging worried looks every so often as we struggled to chew. I got halfway through my sandwich when an unruly sob made me hiccup. I covered my mouth. A moment later, a small hand rested on my shoulder. I curled my arm around Archie while swallowing my tears, trying so hard to be brave for him. He needed an adult who wasn't breaking to pieces just because Elias hadn't checked in like he'd promised. His apologies had been as numerous as his promises.

Still, he hadn't fulfilled his promise that he would call. He hadn't even texted.

I was worried.

"Fran, I think something bad happened," Archie whispered. "It feels like Dad is hurt."

That was enough to spring me out of my frozen state. I marched to the charging station where I kept my phone and called Elias five times. When he didn't answer, I called Isaiah. No answer there either.

My chest exploded with pain. Just a few moments ago, I'd been fine. I was containing every bit of grief that threatened to snap me apart. But now, I was breaking under the weight of that pressure, crumbling to the ground while clutching my chest like I was having a heart attack. Pressure burst in my lungs, and I gasped for air while Archie hovered over me with tears in his eyes.

Just as quickly as it started, it passed, leaving me panting on the living room floor with my phone shoved to my ear and Jada speaking quickly to me over the line. When had I called her? How had I called her during that strange fit?

"Francine? Are you there?" Jada's voice came through the static of my thoughts. "Hey, take a deep breath-Good, take another-That's it. Just keep breathing, Francine."

Archie took my hand. He helped me sit up as I tried to get a hold of myself. That literally had felt like a heart attack. Had the stress just gotten to be too much or something?

"Jada, I need you to call Dr. Windsor," I choked out. "I need you to...Jada..."

"Oh, honey, keep breathing. I know it's hard. He's going to be okay. They'll both be okay."

My eyes widened. "What are you talking about?"

"The boys-they got into an accident on the river and they're both in the ER. Didn't you hear me when you called me?"

"Hear you...?"

But I was already up and grabbing my purse from the ground as Jada spoke quickly over the line. That explosion in my chest-had that been Elias?

"Francine, please, answer me."

That tiny voice of Jada's was coming from the phone in my hand. I raised it to my ear again as I searched for my keys. Archie held them up.

"Yes? What?" I asked. "I'm sorry. I'm trying to get-can you give me the address to the hospital?"

"I'm coming to pick you up," she offered. "We can go together."

***

And that was that. Jada was coming to pick us up. I practically fell over while Archie hugged my waist, keeping as close as he possibly could. Not once did my attention wander away from him. We had to get to the hospital. We had to make sure my mate was okay. "Stupid, itchy bite," I complained while stomping into the hospital room. "Stupid-"

Elias and Isaiah were in separate beds. The sight of them bandaged up and attached to tubes drove away my agitation and brought back the terrifying fear of losing my boyfriend who I absolutely had not called my mate in my mind as I was preparing to leave the house.

That was something he didn't need to know about, especially since he had let that word slip out the night before his ridiculous outing with his best friend. Speaking of the best friend, Isaiah was posted up in his hospital bed without a care in the world, snoring away like he was napping in a five-star hotel room in Charleston. Jada walked in after me wearing a calm smile, and shooed me over toward Elias.

Archie ran ahead of me. I lingered behind, trying to contain the rage I felt curling in my chest where pain had once radiated. I rubbed idly at my ribs. Gods, that had been so intense. Was that the pain of his injury? A peek at his chest told me he was fine. Nothing was cast or bandaged. So, what had happened?

Elias bashfully waved me over with a weak hand. "Little Fran."

I held up my hand. "No nicknames. I told you I had a bad feeling, but you went against it and dragged this one"-I pointed at Isaiah-"right into your mess. How do you feel about that?"

He groaned while sitting up. "Sore. They really pounded my chest."

"They did what?"

"Our raft flipped, and I got pinned." His brows folded together. "They gave me CPR on the scene."

That explained why my lungs had been burning. Elias had swallowed water. The exploding pain was from someone administering CPR pumps. I rubbed my chest again as fresh tears appeared, making me choke.

But instead of crying, I let loose the flames of hell. "How dare you do that, Elias Shaw? You had us worried sick. Do you know you had your son crying too? We were both worried like crazy about you!"

Nobody had time to intervene, to get me to calm down. I burst into tears and threw myself at the end of the bed, pouring every emotion I had clamped up out into the room. A hand rubbed my upper back. Another slid under my arm. Within a few minutes, I was in Elias's arms, tucked under one wing with Archie under the other. I knew he was crying too. I could tell by the choked hiccups he tried to keep quiet.

The poor kid was upset. I had probably made it entirely worse with my explosion. But I couldn't help myself. Elias had worried me sick, and I wanted him to know precisely how he had made me feel.

"I'm sorry," Elias murmured. His voice edged on a host of emotions, two of them grief and regret. "I'll listen to you next time. You were right about having a bad feeling."

"I...I just..."

What? Was there something else? Or was I just babbling at this point?

None of that mattered as Elias had taken to rubbing my upper back again. Despite his injuries, he had managed to pull Archie and me into the bed with him, the space totally cramped by the three of us hogging the twin-sized cot. Elias threaded his fingers with mine. He kissed my forehead. He kissed Archie's cheek.

"I won't make you worry again," he promised. "I swear."

"You sure?" I didn't mean to question him like that. It was just that he had a bad habit of doing the opposite of logic. "I don't want another phone call like that. I can't handle it, Elias."

He nodded slowly. "That was a really close one."

"How's Isaiah?" I popped up from my spot and craned my neck to look to our left. Jada was tending quietly to Isaiah, not sparing us so much as a glance. She was really good at pretending that I wasn't blubbering like a toddler over here.

Although maybe she felt the same way inside. Maybe she was torn up as well. Isaiah was still sleeping, though his hand had joined her belly. The two of them were truly connected, weren't they?

I snuggled deeper into Elias's side. He hissed with pain, causing me to jump back an inch to grant him some room. Next time, I wouldn't be as forgiving with my words. I would throw a fit. I would break something. Whatever it took to stop him from getting out the door. Because it wasn't worth losing him this early if he meant what he'd said.

If I was his mate, then I wanted to find out for sure. His death would cut off any opportunity to explore that.

And I didn't want to miss anything. I didn't want our time to get crunched just because he had an addiction to adrenaline.

I closed my eyes and focused on his heart, noticing the rhythm of the muscle joining the pace of mine, adding to the chorus of my spirit and calming me without hesitation. Moments was all it took for us to find a united beat. Mere moments. Was that how lifetimes were made?

I reached for Archie then, rubbing his shoulder lightly in the way my mother used to do for me. Contentment emanated between us, and then I found that our renewed energy resembled that of our beach picnic. Light, carefree, happy-those were the things that circulated the hospital bed. Those were the things I clutched to keep myself from metaphorically falling over the edge.

The only edge I wanted to approach was the threshold that Elias pushed when he and I were alone together. That was it. No more faux heart attacks just because he wanted to get his rocks off by bouncing between giant rocks. I would be his greatest adventure. I swore it with my very being. And I was sure he felt it radiate through him like the cataclysmic death of a star.

Surely he felt it. If not, then what kind of mate was I?