Under the Giant Oak

I busted through the doors of the hospital, running to the receptionist.

"May I help you?" She asked sweetly.

"H-Hi, I'm Max Green. I'm here to see Ronnie Radke." I choked out. It sounded hoarse, like I had been crying. But, I didn't, not yet, at least.

She had that same smile on her face. "I'm sorry. I'm not allowed to give away patient information unless you're a family member."

"I'm his mate," I said quickly. "See." I said, pulling down my shirt collar enough for her to see all of his mark on my skin.

"Oh, well, he is in room 313. It's on the third floor, down the left hall." She said with a new look of sympathy. I nodded before quickly walking up to where his room was.

There was a doctor and police officer walked out right when I was walking in. "I'm sorry, sir. Only family members are allowed inside." The doctor said.

"I'm his mate." I said quickly. I didn't want to deal with people questioning me anymore. I just wanted to see my mate. i wanted to make sure he was okay. He had to be okay. He had to be.

"You're Maxwell Green?" The doctor asked after looking through the chart for a name.

"Yes."

"I need to inform you that we do not know when Mr. Radke will wake up. He is in a very poor condition." The doctor said.

I didn't want to talk to him, so I just nodded.

"May I have a word with you?" The police officer asked like I was going to say no. "We don't know what happened. Someone called 911, and there was no one there when someone went to pick him up. We think he was attacked because there are multiple stap wounds and very bad internal bleeding. We also think there was more than one attacker. Was there anyone that had a problem with him?" He asked.

I stared at him in shock for a minute. Attackers. Someone tried to attack him. Why? Why would someone do that? To Ronnie. To my Ronnie.

"Sir?" The police officer asked.

"I-I'm sorry. N-No, the only people who had an issue with Ronnie were humans, and if any vampires did, they didn't show it." I replied.

"Has he been acting strange lately? Anything that seemed strange to you?" He asked.

I thought for a second. "He has been acting a little strange. He'd be fine when we were home, but when we were in public, he acted more paranoid, like he was himself. He seemed nervous." I explained.

"If you think of anything else, let me know." He said, handing me a card.

I nodded my head. "Will do, now if you excuse me."

"Of course." He said before I slipped into the hospital room.

The sight before me made tears brim in my eyes. There, sitting in a hospital bed, was my mate. He looked so . . . broken. Bruises on his face and arms. A oxygen mask over his nose and mouth. His hair mated to his face.

I took hesitant steps forward.This couldn't be real.

"You were supposed to be home." I said. My voice cracking. "You were supposed to be home with me." I said. Tears know falling freely from m eyes. "You have to wake up now. You have to wake up. Come on, you stubborn bastard. You can't leave me now, not after all of this. You just can't." I was sobbing now. "Wake up, Ronnie. I love you. You have to wake up. Don't leave me, please."

I pleaded and sobbed. I wanted him to wake up, to tell me I was stupid for worrying this much. I wasn't made for worrying. I was made for sarcasm and anger. He wasn't supposed to be here. He was supposed to be awake and happy and safe.

I wanted him to wake up. I wanted him to be okay. I wanted so many things right now, but none of them were coming true.