Taking the Leap

Chapter 31

~Achilles~

"Why are you calling me?" Anders said when he finally picked up the phone. I'd been calling over and over again, and the phone would either go to straight to voicemail or the call would drop. The whole time I paced in a small room Kiara told me I could use. Harrison had already said he'd be willing to give me blood and the workers were already taking blood from him to store for me later.

"I need your help." I said quietly, squeezing my phone tightly. He had to say yes. I was his brother and I needed him, he just had to say yes.

"I don't know if I feel like doing you any favours right now, Lee." He paused and I realized he might actually be building something. The last time we'd really talked he talked about he'd be building a crib for his kid by hand. With Justine's due date rapidly approaching, that could be it.

"You're building the crib?" I said softly, relaxing for a beat because it just seemed so normal even when everything else didn't.

"Yeah." Anders let out in a breathless huff. "And it's a girl. We had the dumb gender reveal party that Justine's always wanted." I just knew Anders was rolling his eyes.

I swallowed down the hurt at not being invited. "That sounds like it must've been nice." I said in a wooden voice.

"Yeah," Anders murmured. "A lot of squeals and frilly shit. But, I don't know, having a girl will be fine, I guess. I hope she likes sports or I won't know what to talk about." His laugh was dry and familiar and it made me wonder for the umpteenth time why things had gone so wrong.

I pushed one of my hands across my chest, trying to impossibly  smooth out the wrinkles. "I—I need your blood, Anders. I need to do an operation, and Harry already said yes, but I need two donors and it's got to be a close familial match since we're shifters and I know it's a lot to ask. We might not even be a match, but they tested Mom, and she wasn't. But, Harry was. I just need you to be willing to be tested and if that's the case then it would mean everything I know you avoid my calls, and my messages and me but—"

"What the fuck, Achilles." Anders let out a long sigh. "You're my brother. If you're sick, of course I'll donate. Text me the address and I'll be right on my way." I heard Anders telling Justine that he had an emergency before he clicked off.

Fuck, that was way too easy. I sat down on a seat in the room and clutched my head, trying to focus on breathing. Breathe, Achilles, breathe.

I snapped my head up when I realized Harrison burst into the room. He was paler than he already was and his sleeves were rolled up enough for me to see a bruise. "Shit man, I have , like, so much blood in my body." He fell in the seat next to me, and sighed, making a low noise of discomfort in his throat. "You are so lucky you're my favourite brother right now. Blood is so fucking red."

"Are you high right now?"

Harrison actually giggled. "They gave me something to keep me calm. After all this, can we do something fun?" Harrison seemed tired suddenly, yawning. "Let's do that dinner thing again, with Xander's fam. His dad seems a little intense but who wouldn't be? By the way, is it just me or is Xander's mom kind of hot? Is it weird if I say that? Her voice is kind of whispery and sexy as fuck." Harrison closed his eyes, looking like he was going to fall asleep on the spot. "Is it weird if I think your boyfriend's mom is hot?"

I had my first real laugh of the day, and soon I was clutching my sides as tears rolled down my cheeks. I just couldn't stop laughing until I broke into a coughing fit. I wiped the tears from my eyes. "Oh my fucking God, Harry. Please don't tell her that."

Harrison was looking at me all wide eyed. "I think they gave me a sedative, man. I might say some weird shit. Like, Xander's dad is white? I was fucking floored, man. I thought maybe his dad was lightskin or something. And like, how old is he? When you guys get old people are gonna think you're a sugar daddy? And how old are Xander's parents? His mom looks like thirty-five max. But, black don't crack right?" Harrison paused, squinting his eyes for a beat. "And—I'm seeing someone. When Xander's up for it, we should have a double date."