Chapter 64

As she takes off across the room setting everything up for the x–ray I turn my attention hack to Jamile.

Are you doing okay ? ”

“Yeah,” he nods his head. “Alpha, why do stitches hurt worse than busting my head open?”

I can’t help but chuckle lightly.

*Adrenaline. It reduces your perception of pain while increasing your strength and stamina but once it dies down you’re left kind of wimpy.

He nods his head again as he looks towards Cole. Ang manages the x–ray nicely without even touching Cole: It’s only when she hooks a syringe into has IV that he stirs ufortably. She bends down towards his ear with her hand on the back of his head as she speaks, calming what little fight he has

“What did you give him?” I ask when she walks back over.

“A small amount of Vicodin instead of vicoprofen. Acetaminophen blocks pain while ibuprofen reduces inmmation. I was trying to avoid the

acetaminophen because of the damage to his liver but I’m just going to have to monitor his liver closely for a bit. I don’t want him to be in any unnecessary pain.”

“Thank you, Ang.”

“For what?”

“Your kindness towards him.”

“I’m a doctor just like you Demetri, it’s my job to help.”

“I don’t think every doctor thinks that way. Not based on what he tells us of his stays at Red General.”

“He’s had a hard road to travel. He deserves a little kindness in his life.”

I nod my head as she sits back down on the stool by Jamie’s head.

“All right Jamie, shall I try this again?”

He grabs hold of my hands and closes his eyes as he lets out a quiet, nervous whine.

“You asked about a loophole in the council’s rules on assault a minute ago.”

I decide to try and distract him as Ang gets started again.

“Yes sir.”

I can hear the nervousness in his voice . I gently start rubbing the tops of his hands trying to get him to rx as he squeezes me with the first stitch.

“These shouldn’t hurt Jamie. If you feel anything outside of tugging and pressure then you need to tell Demetri or I.”

“Yes, ma’am. I don’t feel pain. I’m just nervous that I’m going to feel it again.”

“I’m sorry about that. I should have checked the area better before starting.”

“ Try to , rx Jamie. ”

I give his hand a gentle squeeze. I watch him closely as he starts taking some deeper breaths. Ang is working quickly now and he appears to not be in any pain .

“ Are you doing better? Are you ready to talk a bit? ”

Yes sir . I think I’m okay.

“To answer your question, it’s not a loophole. Simr to humanws, assault is charged when one or more individuals engage in fighties counter inje Just like humans, if you can prove self defense, you will get a lesser charge if you get one at all.*

“So if I can prove he started it I might get to stay a bit longer.”

“Sort of. You tell me your side of what happened. Andrew, Richard, and Das will also get the opportunity to tell their sides as well. I’ll go mar seulty footage of the event and decide from there who’s telling me the truth.”

“Well there’s not much I can really say. Das was talking shit about Cole. I told him to stop. That he doesn’t know Cole and that Cole would never do what the rumors im. He started talking shit towards me so I tried to leave. I was going to wait outside until you or one of the alpha trainers showed . Richard i Das’s best friend. He grabbed me and shoved me into Das. Das then shoved me into the wall before hitting me in the gut. Andrew tried to step in hort Richard hit him before he could get to me. At some point Das mmed my head into the corner of the table. That’s when he got me on the ground and 1 couldn’t get up until you came.”

“Thank you Jamie. As I said, everything will be verified by video feed but I have no reason to doubt you right now.”

“ Yes sir. Thank you.”

He grows quiet as we listen to Cole’s soft whimpers. Sadness is in his eyes as he looks towards his friend without moving his head.

“He’s been abused for a long time, alpha. Yet he’s hesitant to talk about what happens to him . ”

“How did you get to know him so well? It seems like his father has managed to turn the entire pack against him.”

“Most of the pack, yes, but not all. He has weird behaviors about him. Tics my dad calls them. Some are benign and easy to ignore but others are….. well….. more extreme.”