Chapter 50: The End

“Please! I… I’m just doing my job” cried the MAJOR, his fingers trying and failing to force her hand open, which made him all the more pathetic.

“Is your job to be a jackass trying to prevent family members to see each other?” hissed Shannon, her rage growing even more, her whole body shaking with almost unbridled fury.

“You are NOT of his family” said an older female voice, bringing the enraged giantess’ attention on her. “And I would like you to gently put our security agent on the ground, or I’ll have to call the police. I don’t think you’d want the attention, especially right now.”

She had a point. Shannon knew it. But the urge to just throw the pathetic security guard at her, to send them both flying through one of their paper-thin walls and just crush them for their impertinence was so hard to resist. Especially because she dared remind her that she wasn’t technically, officially, family with her Alejandro. Being a Bond-mate should have counted more! He needed her, and those…. Those insignificant bugs stood between her and him for pathetic reasons of procedures. She wouldn’t have bothered them, she would have even helped them if only they let her see him!

“I just want to see my fiancé” she growled. “It’s been two days already and I have no update on his situation! I had to take care of the aftermath but I’m here now, and I need to see him!”

“Miss Matthewson” explained the older woman, probably slightly over a hundred years old, sounding all calm and professional, which enraged the titaness even more. “I understand your frustration, but we have rules to follow and laws to abide to. While you are quite certainly his Bond-mate, mister Ferrand has been unable to confirm it as it is, therefore we have contacted his family and asked them to be here. They have assured us that they would be there today, tomorrow at the latest. You treating one of our security staff like a poor rag-doll won’t help mister Ferrand one bit.”

Deep-down, Shannon knew she was right. Hurting the staff here would actually decrease the chance that Alejandro would get healed in no time – or as short as possible. But he was a Minor, her Minor, and she knew how easily they got hurt, even gravely injured. She needed to be sure he was okay, and how could see if those idiots didn’t let her see him? They had called his whole family, she was willing to bet on it –and even if they did, they had probably started packing for a trip to New York as soon as that camera had cut off the commercial to show her screaming in horror after gunshots echoed and Jim came out of the back-stage with Alejandro’s body in his arms.

Reluctantly, she put the security guard on the ground, closed her eyes and tried to calm down. TO no avail, of course. She needed to see him. She longed after him so much. When he had been so injured that he had lost consciousness, the undercurrent, the echo of the Bond broke down, and while she hadn’t been able to realize fully its importance beforehand, now she couldn’t help but feel amputated of something, as if a lifeline to the better part of herself had been severed. She needed to see his torso rise and fall with his breath. She needed to be sure he was still alive, no matter how hurt he was. She loved him and wouldn’t be able to live another hour without knowing.

“Please” she whispered urgently. “At least… At least let me see him. Let me be sure that he’s still alive. I… I don’t want to lose it and learn it afterwards…” she pleaded with the nurse, or whatever her rank was in this hospital.

“I can’t do that” sternly stated the old MAJOR. “But I can at least keep you informed a little. Mister Ferrand’s life is not in danger, but he hasn’t regained consciousness as of yet. I can’t tell you more than that. If he does emerge and asks for you, we’ll contact you. Same wise, if his family wishes to include you in the loop once they’ll be there. As of now, the best use of your time would be to go to the entrance’s desk and give us coordinates to contact you and then get out of the hospital. You need to rest and relax a little, you’re helping no one here.”

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“That fucking little bitch!” roared Shannon, punching brutally a Cyclopean-sized punching-bag, again and again and again. “I should have crushed her pathetic little head! I should have broken each and every bone in her insignificant body! How dare she order me to leave! That little piece of shit’s no better than Waid! I should have killed him too!”

She was alone, and had been punching through three bags, the first two unable to withstand her power; they were too small for her, in any case. She screamed in frustration when the third one also gave in, spilling sand everywhere. Without thinking, the lifted the whole apparatus and threw it away, knowing several priceless lamps, vases and what not. She screamed even louder and started to break everything she could, letting her fury run its course. She had people who would return her penthouse to a pristine state in a day or two, anyway.

“Ahem… is it a bad time?” asked Fiona in her back, as she entered the ravaged rooms.

“YES!” roared Shannon, turning on her heels and racing toward her bodyguard, barely resisting the urge to backhand her for her insolence. “WHAT DO YOU WANT!?”

“We… hum, we received a call from the Ferrand, they have just arrived at JFK and…”

Shannon didn’t let her finish. She slapped her, hard enough to send her flying, not so violently that the tall MAJOR would be truly hurt. She couldn’t help it. Her fury was still burning hot and that little idiot came and pestered her because Alejandro’s family, people who would be immediately allowed in his presence while she was denied it, had arrived. She almost – almost – gave in to the temptation of crushing some of the ginger’s bones. But she wouldn’t do that to a friend, no matter how furious she was right now. Instead she glowered at the redhead, who slowly regained her senses.

“Uh… perhaps you don’t want to hear what they had to say?” asked the other woman.

Shannon couldn’t help the chuckle which came out of her lips and transitioned into a full-blown laugh, before devolving in sobs. In seconds, she was on the floor, curled into a ball, and crying to herself. She felt Fiona’s hugging her but it didn’t really help. The ginger MAJOR was always to damn optimistic and confident, she never gave in, even when her boss was angry enough to hit her, something which was expected when working for super-rich MAJORS. I don’t deserve her friendship, thought Shannon, even if she had to admit that hitting someone made her feel better than breaking things.

“What? They didn’t want me near their boy, I’m willing to bet that!” she spat, anger and self-loathing mixing together. “I let him being hurt, and now they’ll take him away from me and I’ll never see him again! And they’ll be right! They’ll be right to do just that!”

“Hum… actually, they asked for you” said Fiona, looking a little embarrassed. “Like, they need you to help them find someplace to stay here, for as long as necessary.”

Shannon looked at her, then at the absolute mess of her penthouse. She swore under her breath and got up. She needed to clean herself, to have her crews there fixing all this mess. She also needed to be learn if other apartment were open in her tower. Hopefully some would be open for a whole family to come in. If not, she’d reserve a whole hotel for them, if she needed to. A weak smile crept on her face and she got up, stirring a little. She started to think about what she’d need to tell to Auntie and her family to avoid tensions.

“Hem, Shannon?” said Fiona, as she prepared to leave the penthouse. “Perhaps you’d want to hit the shower? I mean… you reek a little girl!”

“Sure, sure… And have someone send to clean this disaster” absent-mindedly said the giantess. “I also want a report on where I could lodge four MAJORS and at least one Minor, as quickly as possible” she continued, as she walked away.

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“Thank you! Thank you so much!” almost cried Auntie Ofelia, making the Cyclopean feel quite ashamed of herself as the older woman clutched at her fingers.

“I don’t see why you’re…” started Alaric, until he suddenly stopped and looked at the minuscule woman he kept clutched in his arms. “I’m not overreacting Ariel” he said to her tenderly, his anger suddenly dissipated. “I just need to point out the obvious. She is the one who got my brother in this mess, that’s all.”

His last words stung, but the venom had disappeared from his voice and she could deal with it. Especially when she shared his vision. She was indeed feeling unworthy of Alejandro’s parents many thanks. Without her, he wouldn’t have been in this hospital to begin with. But she wouldn’t point it out, not when she had dreaded Ofelia’s reaction the most. The silently thanked the small woman who tried to hide behind her husband, Alaric, who was clearly quite protective of her. She was surprised how well fitted for each other they seemed to be.

“Come on Al’… do you really think ‘Rando wouldn’t have wanted us to not be at each other’s throats?” asked Lindsey, fidgeting as if she was uncomfortable looking down on her elder brother.

“Fine!” growled Alaric. “But I swear that if he has irreversible pains, or anything, or mental troubles after that…. I’ll make you pay for it, Shannon. Billionaire or not, you’ll regret it!”

“I would like to see you try, Al’!” spat the giantess, doing her best to not oppress the other passengers of her limo. “Do you think that I’m happy that my fiancé got almost clobbered to death!? If he can’t be brought back to full health, I’ll do everything I can to make him better, and if you even try to get in the way, I swear to God I’ll…”

“We’ve arrive Miss” said her driver, cutting her short, even if she still glowered at Alaric.

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“When can we see our son?” asked Jules, sounding tired but still the most stable of the whole lot of them, suspected Shannon, who was impressed by his apparent calmness.

“Ahem, well… I guess we could bring you to him right now but our facility isn’t exactly built to accommodate particularly tall MAJORS so…” stated the nurse, glancing at Shannon, who sighed.

“Will I be able to enter the room by crouching or crawling, and will I be able to be inside without knocking anything or preventing others from coming in?” she simply asked.

“I… Yes, I guess it could work” replied the woman, thinking about it. “But remember, if we need to intervene for whatever reason, we’ll need you to make space for us, no matter the way, even if it means walking over your… family?”

“We’re not there yet” sourly stated Alaric. “But perhaps soon, if all goes well” he added, seeming to lose a little more of his anger, probably thanks to Ariel.

“Is he in a state which requires special surveillance?” asked Jules, as they started to follow the nurse. “Should we… should we prepare for the worst?”

“Goodness, no!” cried out the woman. “He’s just still not awakening, but considering the amount of trauma to the head he suffered, it isn’t so surprising. There has been encouraging signs however. He isn’t comatose anymore, as far as we can tell, and he’s just very tired and asleep still. That’s why I must stress with utmost importance that you need to all remain calm and not agitate yourself. He’s a minor, and he’ll need a lot more time than use to shake off this beating. Weeks at least, and even if we won’t keep here too long once he’ll wake up, he certainly doesn’t need bickering MAJORS around him, it would be a hindrance to his healing process.”

Shannon followed well in the back. She hated walking at the pace of normal MAJORS, they were far too small for her and she had to wait for them to take at least two steps before she could take one, but she did her best to keep her frustration in line. She’d get to see her Alejandro for the first time in days and she needed to be calm, focused and ready to help him in any way, shape or form or he would require her to. So she truly listened to what the nurse had to say, no matter how much she just want to take her, toss her away and be done with her preaching.

“We put him in a ground-level room, because we suspected that some visitors could be on the rather large size” said the almost waifish little woman, in a not so subtle jab at Shannon, who almost gave in to the temptation smack her stupid little head off her shoulders. “Since we rarely receive minors here, he’s alone so far, but should a new one need to be interred, you’ll have to leave so he can be installed. So, no sitting on the other bed… or the one where Mr. Ferrand is, thank you very much! We can’t have one destroyed when our finances are stretched thin.”

“I understand, I’ll try and stay up then, so only the ceiling will be busted” said Shannon, who perfectly understood who of them could crush the bed.

The nurse didn’t reply, apparently doing her best to ignore her, which really irked Shannon. She suddenly stopped and gestured for a double door, which would perhaps be large enough for her to pass through. Alejandro’s family quickly went in and the nurse turned to return to the main desk when Shannon crouched and –not- inadvertently, collided her large breasts with her puny body, sending her to the ground. Having to almost crawl to pass through that stupid door, she ignored the cries of the petite woman and covered her head with her large derriere.

“Nurse, you’re a naughty girl” she groaned, as if she wasn’t responsible for this. “I need to see my fiancé, so move out of the way already!” she barked as she squeezed through the door.

“You giant cow!” she heard the nurse spat but ignored it. She was halfway inside his room and she needed now to be cautious of her every move.

She could see him, he was crowded by his family and, in any case, she didn’t want to imposer herself between them just yet. She’d have time to do so, and she could probably look over their shoulders, even if the almost five meters (16,4 feet) was far too low for her to be totally standing and forced her into an uncomfortable half-way between being on all four and up on her legs. She realized she wouldn’t be able to stay here for long, because the room was really too small for her, but hopefully, she wouldn’t have to be there for hours on end. Please, let it be so…

“He looks so peaceful” said Lindsey, as she finally managed to position herself to see him.

She was right, Shannon realized. In her mind, she had imagined him twisting in agony, or laying emotionless, his fragile brain addled with either nightmares born of pain, or nothingness created by irreparable damages. Instead, he looked almost as cute as when she looked at him sleeping after a long night, his body resting and giving her a calm spectacle she couldn’t grow weary off. But here, it was marred by the patches of blue, brown and even yellowish skins, where he had been severely bruised.

“My God… was it… was he so… after the Incident, was he…” she tried to say, unable to push all the words out of her mouth, as if saying them would make it true.

“No” said her Auntie, looking up at her with a relieved smile on her face. “It was far worse than that, even without taking into account his poor left arm. He had to be put under artificial breathing for days, and he had almost broke all his ribs and was bleeding internally. He almost died in the following days, and I think it was only the machines and the blood he was given which allowed him to survive back then. If Old Creek hadn’t had everything they had for Minors, he wouldn’t have make it…”

“It was so bad?” asked Lindsey, looking horrified. “Why didn’t you ever told me so!”

“I didn’t know either” said Alaric, frowning. “Nobody would let me see him until he got up…”

He looked at his twin and gently passed his fingers in his hair, not eliciting any reaction. Shannon couldn’t even feel the echo of their Bonding. He was sleeping but his dreams, his feelings, if he had any, where not apparent to her, and she didn’t dare try to rekindle the Bond in such conditions. There was no telling how affected he had truly been by this new ordeal, and she couldn’t just barge in and insert her mind in his, not when it could do too much damages if she wasn’t careful enough in doing so, or ended overwhelmed by whatever happened beneath his skull.

“He really looks a lot like you” said Ariel, who was sitting on Alaric’s shoulders, sitting like a child on her dad, which made Shannon a little jealous. “That’s incredible.”

“Well, we are twin baby” chuckled the normal-sized MAJORS. “But yeah, it’s a little uncanny, even if I’m the handsomest of the two.”

“In your dreams perhaps!” huffed Shannon. “Alejandro’s the sexiest one, sorry.”

“Ha! As if you weren’t the most partial here when it comes to it” he chuckled.

Shannon was surprised at how relaxed the Ferrand suddenly looked. They seemed to be genuinely relieved to see her Alejandro in such a state, and it made her quite torn. On the one hand, she wanted them as worried as she was, because there was no discernable reason for them to be so happy in her eyes. But on the other hand, if they seemed so confident here, it probably meant that she hadn’t any reason to fear that anything truly lasting would happen to her fiancé, and it was probably all that mattered, even if she thus felt like a nervous mess.

“It’s not a competition” chided them Ofelia, caressing the side of her eldest child. “You are both beautiful, but in very different ways. But it’s neither the place nor the time to speak about it. We don’t want to wake up your brother.”

“We don’t?” asked Shannon and Lindsey with perfect synchronicity.

“Well, no” explained Jules, smiling a little. “Alejandro is a Minor. He need more time to heal, and I think it wouldn’t do to wake him too soon. I’m sure he’ll do it on his own soon enough.”

“So, what do we do then? We won’t stand there for hours” grumbled Lindsey, fidgeting a little.

“I guess we could discover New York a little? It’s as good an opportunity as any.”

“But I don’t want to not be there when he’ll wake up” whined the youngest Ferrand, and Alaric nodded emphatically.

“I agree. Plus, we’ll have time to visit the Big Apple once he’ll be awake and with us.”

“I’ll stay here then” said Shannon. “I’ll call you as soon as he’ll wake up.”

“Are you sure?” asked Jules, looking concerned. “He may sleep a long time, you’ll end staying here for hours! Wouldn’t it be better to not wallow here and being out with us? Alejandro would understand that you wouldn’t be there with him, you know?”

“It’s fine… I want to be there for him. I can at least do that for him.”

“You really are in love with him, right?” asked Alaric, sounding surprised, which should have upset her but didn’t; she could understand his reaction.

“Yes. Yes I am.”

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Everything was dark now, and only faint moonlight illuminated the room. That and her various screens, as she surveyed her empire. The events of the debates had cost her a lot in the first day, but as markets recouped and that more and more people on social media and the streets voiced their support for more rights for Minors, she had more than recouped them. She was wealthier already, by a not so insignificant margin, which meant that she could start out her plan to buy everything out of Waid’s hand and make it hers.

Investigations had been sent against the old MAJOR, who, while he was being treated elsewhere for minor wounds, had attracted a lot of unwanted attention. An urgent news revealed that he had had Minor kids, treated worse than pets, and she couldn’t help but grin when she read it. It would precipitate his downfall, and she would make great use of it. She let out a throaty chuckle, even as she heard peoples rushing outside the room. Alejandro’s family had returned at the start of the evening, but now they had been brought to her tower.

Ariel had been quite tired, and even the three MAJORS who had come with her from California were starting to get wary. Only Lindsey, who had just flown over from New Orleans seemed able to stay here all night, but had finally decided to go with her parents. Shannon was thus alone with her thoughts and fears, but she found it strangely relaxing. She could pretend that everything would be fine, she could focus on everything she would do with him once he’d wake up. They’d take some well-needed vacations, she decided. She had just the perfect place on Earth in mind, had for quite some time, really. Now all she needed was for her Alejandro to wake up.

“Mmmh…” he moaned softly in his bed, as if to mock her.

He had done so several times in the last few hours. At first, she had believed that it meant he was waking up, and she had gotten ecstatic. She had almost called his parents the first time he did that, but had –thankfully- managed to contain herself. She would have ended utterly ridiculous if they had come here only to see the Minor still sleeping soundly. Now, she wasn’t even startled by it, just another cute sound he made in his sleep, one which only meant he wouldn’t be with her tonight. She wondered if she should have had tears in her eyes at the thought.

MAJORS didn’t care easily for others, as Alejandro’s family had proven. Has distraught as they had been, probably fearing the worst, once they had seen that he was relatively safe and not too hurt compared to the aftermath of the Incident, they had managed to put their worry away and go enjoy their day. Shannon didn’t held it against them, she would have done the same if she hadn’t had more personal reasons to be anguished. Alejandro was hers, her Bond-mate, her fiancé, her lover. It made him her property and explained why she was so worried. That and her pregnancy.

“Of course. A hospital” sighed a rather weak and tired masculine voice, startling her.

“Alejandro? ALEJANDRO!” she yelled, rushing toward his bed, towering over him with all her size.

He tried to same something, but she didn’t listen. She wanted to engulf him, but she didn’t knew how badly he was hurt, not really. So she simply kissed him, again and again and again, and he couldn’t do anything to stop her. He was still too weak and she allowed her tears to run down her cheeks, until she was finally satisfied and retreated a little, letting him pant as he tried to get his breathing to a less labored state, and she smiled at him.

“Do you think you could convince your parents to let us go to a special vacation, just the two of us, en amoureux?” she asked him.

END