My Hockey Alpha

Nina

“Nina… Taylor is in the hospital.”

I felt my heart drop as I registered what my mother just told me over the phone. Everything, from the Half- Moon Tournament to the Mad Wolf serum to Luke’s sudden transformation, seemed like nothing now.

“I’ll be there as soon as possible,” I said hastily, hanging up as a knot formed in my stomach.

“Nina? Is everything okay?” Enzo asked from behind. I turned around to see him still standing by the fire, looking at me with a concerned expression on his face. Luke was pulling on a pair of jeans behind him, but was also looking at me as he did so. It felt odd to see Luke with an actual expression on his face, and for there tobe meat and flesh on his bones, but right now it hardly registered to me.

“I-I have to go,” I said, taking a few steps backwards. “It’s my brother. He’s in the hospital.”

Both Enzo’s and Luke’s eyes widened. Enzo jogged toward me. “I’ll take you on the motorcycle,” he said.

“No,” I replied. “I’ll borrow Lori’s car I’ll keep you updated, though. Just focus on Edward and the Half-Moon tournament.”

Enzo nodded, and before either of them said anything else, I turned on my heel and ran back toward the campus. Lori was thankfully still awake when I got home, playing a video game on the TV

“Can I borrow your car for the night?” I asked breathlessly as I ran through to my room and began stuffing clothes and toiletries in my backpack.

Lori paused her game and turned around on the couch to face me. “Uh… Sure, I guess?” she responded. “Is everything okay?”

“It’s my brother,” I replied, running out of my room with my bag haphazardly packed already. “He’s in the hospital.”

drawn with worry. “Here,” she

giving my roommate a quick hug before sprinting out of the

broken several traffic laws on the way, but thankfully there was no one on the roads with it being so late, so

in the waiting room and jumped up when I burst in

the first time in my life, my mother’s usually-cold face was full of worry. I, however, was just angry with her for not getting Taylor the help he needed and for letting it get to this point. I was mad at myself, too, for not

is he?”

us to

dropped into the pit of my stomach like a ball of

breathing tube down his throat, his eyes were closed, and his body was pale, thin, and

my bag on the floor and running over to the side of his bed. I gripped the

very sorry,” the nurse said quietly “His symptoms were so severe that the

what’s wrong

far as we’re aware, he doesn’t seem to have any sort of tumor or anything like that I furrowed my brow as I continued to stare down at my brother.

nurse muttered another word of apology before leaving, shutting the sliding door behind her to give us privacy. Once we were alone, I felt my mother’s hand on

bubble up inside of me. “He’s

my mother responded, walking around the hospital bed and sitting in the folding chair across from it as the methodical beeping of the

realized that my grip was tightening on Taylor’s wrist and I let go before I hurt him, my hands shaking.

listen to me,” my mother whispered. There were tears in her own eyes and her lower lip was quivering.”

is it, then?” I asked. “What’s so difficult about getting your son the medical help he needs before it devolves into

in my throat as I looked at her and I quickly looked away, back down at my brother. He was so much thinner than he had been the last time I saw him. His cheeks were gaunt and his eyes were sunken in. As I reached out again to take his hand and stroke it with my thumb, I could feel the bones protruding in

and given me piggy back rides when we were little, now looked as