Free Web NovelChapter 49: I WILL CARRY YOU OUT OF THIS BUILDING, LUMI
Chapter 50
Lumi
Ren didn’t move. For a long, agonizing moment, the only response was the heavy, rhythmic sound of his breathing. Then, slowly, he shook his head, his large fingers shifting just a fraction against Theo’s brow.
"The screen only reads the skin, Lumi," his voice rolled out, rough and raw, sounding like it had been dragged through gravel.
"His inner core is still open. If I let go now, the fever will fight its way back to the surface before dawn. Let it settle."
I couldn’t just sit there anymore. The tight, defensive walls I had spent weeks building around my heart felt incredibly fragile in the quiet of the room.
Looking at him from across the mattress, a new kind of panic started to twist in my stomach.
He looked horribly pale. The fierce, untouchable power he usually carried around like a shield was completely gone, drawn entirely inward.
His jaw was set in a line so sharp it looked painful, and a tiny muscle near his ear kept jumping in a tight rhythm. He was emptying himself.
My legs felt heavy, but I pushed myself up from the armchair anyway. I walked slowly around the foot of the bed, my steps making no sound, until I was standing right beside his massive frame. I needed to see what was happening to him. I needed to check.
Trembling, I reached my hand up and gently pressed the back of my fingers against his forehead.
The moment my skin touched his brow, a sharp gasp caught in my throat. I instantly wanted to pull away in shock.
He was burning up. His skin was scorching, a deep, radiating heat that felt like an open furnace.
The realization hit me hard in my chest, making my eyes instantly fill with hot tears.
He wasn’t just anchoring Theo—he was pulling the intense, dangerous Alpha heat straight out of my son’s body and absorbing it into his own system.
He was taking the agony upon himself, running through his own life force so fast that his body was starting to suffer.
"Ren, you’re burning," I whispered, my voice breaking completely as the tears spilled over my eyelashes.
"You’re going through so much pain. Why... why are you doing this? Why are you willing to hurt yourself like this for us?" He lifted his head slowly towards me.
He kept his palm pressed firmly against Theo’s head, but his dark, bloodshot eyes locked onto mine.
The raw intensity in his gaze made my heart take off, slamming against my ribs so hard my ears rang.
"You know why I’m doing it, Lumi," he said in a low tone that was barely there.
My breath hitched. I felt the sudden, desperate urge to protect myself, to find some sort of excuse to hide behind. I couldn’t handle the weight of what his eyes were doing to me.
"Is it... is it because of Neve?" I asked, my voice barely a whisper, desperately grasping at straws. "Because she asked you to help?"
He didn’t reply with words. Instead, he just kept his eyes fixed on mine, his absolute silence carrying a weight so heavy and deeply honest that it literally stole the remaining air right out of my lungs.
His eyes told me everything his lips didn’t have the strength to say. It had never been about Neve. He was doing this because a world where I was broken was a world he refused to live in.
As the heavy truth settled over us, my hand dropped from his forehead. But it didn’t fall back to my side.
Instead, my fingers slid down the side of his neck and found themselves resting gently against his thick upper arm. My eyes still locked in his, desperate to keep whatever fire that was behind it alive.
The muscles beneath his shirt were hard as granite, but they were trembling violently from the pure strain of holding the fire back.
Seeing him shake made a fresh wave of worry crash over me. Fearing that my touch might drain him even further, I instinctively tried to pull my hand back.
But before I could step away, his dark eyes narrowed slightly, his voice dropping into a rough, incredibly vulnerable whisper.
"Don’t. Please...don’t pull away." I froze, my hand trapped against his skin.
"Ren, you’re too weak... I don’t want to stress you."
"You’re the only medicine I need," he said softly.
His words hit paralyzed me where I stood. Ren never showed weakness. He never asked for help, and he never hid behind raw vulnerability.
But right now, looking into his tired face, I realized the exhaustion had stripped away every single one of his defenses. He didn’t have the strength to hide his heart from me anymore. He was completely exposed.
In that quiet, suspended second, a beautiful, overwhelming warmth rushed through my veins, completely melting the very last bit of resistance I had left.
If he needed me...if simply touching his arm was the only thing keeping him from outrunning his own strength...then I would stay right here. I wouldn’t stop myself anymore.
Right there, in the dim light of the hospital room, looking at the man sacrificing his own body for my son, I fell completely, hopelessly in love with him, again. And again.
My eyes were locked onto his, and a deep, unshakeable certainty washed over me. I knew I would never be able to look away from him again.
I leaned a little closer, my fingers tightening against his strong arm, silently pouring every ounce of my own support into him.
"Aunt Mama?" The tiny, raspy whisper shattered the silence like glass.
The spell broke instantly. My head snapped down, my hand slipping away from Ren’s arm as I threw myself over the guardrail of the bed.
Theo’s long eyelashes were fluttering, his small, dark eyes opening slowly as they focused directly on my face. The heavy, blind fog of the fever was finally gone.
"Theo," I choked out, a massive, weeping sob breaking past my lips as I gathered his small, warm hand in both of mine, pressing it tightly to my cheek.
"Oh my god, baby. Aunt Mama’s here. I’m right here." Theo blinked slowly, his little head shifting weakly against the pillow.
He looked so tiny in the massive hospital bed, his small fingers twitching slightly inside my grip.
His clear eyes drifted slowly to the other side of the bed, settling on Ren’s massive frame. He looked at the large hand still resting gently against his forehead, and then up at Ren’s face.
He wasn’t scared of the towering Alpha at all. Instead, a small, sleepy smile touched my son’s lips, and he let out a tiny, contented sigh, tucking his chin into the heavy blanket.
"Big papa," Theo whispered, his voice small, babyish, and rough from sleep. He looked from Ren back to me, his little eyes heavy. "Aunt Mama... big, warm papa stop the fire inside Theo."
A fresh tear slipped down my cheek, a mixture of pure relief and overwhelming emotion making my chest ache.
I smoothed the soft hair away from his forehead, my heart swelling so much it felt like it would burst.
"Yes, baby," I whispered, my voice trembling as I looked across the mattress at Ren, my eyes completely unable to look away from him now. "The big, warm papa stopped the fire. You’re safe now."
I quickly ran to call the doctor, who told us we still needed till the next day to be sure he was okay. So Ren had to hold on a little more.
Theo was injected and he fell asleep again but the remaining two people in the room found it hard to get any sleep.
.....
The soft click of the door sliding open broke the quiet morning air. The silver-haired doctor walked into the room, followed closely by a nurse carrying a small medical tray.
He didn’t say a word at first; he simply walked straight to the side of the bed, his sharp eyes checking the digital monitors before leaning down to look at Theo.
Theo who was already awake blinked up at him, looking small and a bit tired, but his skin was completely cool now.
"Well, look at you," the doctor said, his voice carrying a warm, gentle rumble that made Theo smile a little.
He checked Theo’s pulse, then looked over the top of his glasses at Ren, a look of profound respect passing over his face.
He’d come between midnight and had told Ren it was okay to let go, only then did Ren allow himself to rest.
"The acceleration has completely stopped. The inner core is tightly closed and perfectly stable." He turned back to me, giving me a reassuring nod. ƒrēewebnovel.com
"He is completely out of danger, Ms. Lumi. He doesn’t need any heavy medication anymore. We are just going to keep a simple hydration drip attached to his hand for a few days to get his strength back up. After that, he’ll be running around like nothing ever happened." The massive, heavy stone that had been sitting on my chest for hours finally rolled away.
"Thank you," I breathed, my hand squeezing Theo’s little fingers. "Thank you so much."
Just as the doctor was checking the IV line, the door slid open again. Neve and her boyfriend walked in, carrying paper bags that smelled like fresh coffee and warm pastries. Neve took one look at Theo sitting up, and her face lit up completely.
"Look at my big boy!" she said, rushing over to the side of the bed and gently kissing Theo’s cheek. "You look so much better, sweetheart."
"Aunt Mama told me big papa stopped the fire," Theo mumbled, pointing his little thumb across the bed at Ren.
Neve smiled, her eyes softening as she looked at Ren, then at me. She noticed the deep, dark circles under my eyes and how Ren was leaning heavily against the wall, his strong forearms still looking a bit tense from the long night.
"Alright," Neve said, turning around and putting her hands on her hips. "The doctor says he’s fine, and he’s just going to be resting here with the drip. Both of you look like zombies. Go back to the hotel right now and get some sleep." A fierce protective instinct rose deep from my throat.
"No," I said immediately, tightening my grip on the bed rail. "I’m not leaving him. I just got him back, Neve. I can sleep right here in the chair." Neve let out a loud, dramatic sigh and rolled her eyes, turning her head toward Ren.
"Ren, please carry her out of here. If you don’t, she’s going to sit in that chair until she turns into dust." I scoffed, shaking my head.
"You’re joking right? He wouldn’t dare..."
Before the words could even finish leaving my mouth, the heavy weight of Ren’s presence shifted.
He detached himself from the wall and walked slowly around the bed toward me.
His broad shoulders blocked out the light of the window, and as he stopped right in front of my chair, he leaned down slightly, his dark, bloodshot eyes locking onto mine with an unshakeable, intense focus.
"I will carry you out of this building, Lumi," he murmured, his voice incredibly deep and rough from exhaustion. "If you don’t stand up right now, I’m lifting you."
