Dying For You

Chapter 9

Theo's POV

Her Mom was right; my mate didn't wake up yesterday. We tried a few times, but she just slept. I'm not trying to complain because this isn't about me, but I can't say I'm not disappointed. But my sweet girl needs to rest and heal.

Today started a lot like yesterday. It took me forever to fall asleep because I was so excited and worried about my mate. I didn't do anything yesterday except watch her sleep, but I was exhausted. I think I only slept for a couple of hours. The second the sun came up, I was wide awake again. I hope I didn't miss her being awake.

I got out of bed and got ready before returning to the kitchen to get Abby to make her another waffle before returning to her room and sitting on the ground, exactly where I was yesterday. She's still asleep, but I hope she will wake up soon. I can only hope, but I have a lot to make up for.

"Good morning, Alpha." her Mom yawns, walking into the room holding a glass of water and medicine in her hand.

"Good morning. Are you going to give her the medicine?" I ask like an i***t.

"Yeah." she sighs as she walks past me into the closet. I watch again as she gently shakes Laila's leg to get her to wake up. Laila stirs, but her eyes never open; her Mom forces the pill and a little water into her mouth as I watch nervously, hoping she doesn't choke.

Laila's Mom stands up with a sigh. "Looks like she isn't going to wake up anytime soon." she sighs.

I deflate, sitting back against the chair I'm leaning on as my eyes return to Laila. Her Mom leaves us alone in the room, taking the glass of water away. She's here. She's alive. That's all I can ask for. I can deal with her being asleep.

Laila's head suddenly shoots up as she looks at me with wide eyes. The sudden movement catches me off guard, and I sit there looking at her. Oh! I have a message for her to read from yesterday.

I scramble to grab the whiteboard as she quickly glances around, breaking eye contact for only a second. "Where's Mom? Mom! MOM!" she screams.

I point to the whiteboard, but she starts to cry. Her Mom runs into the room, looking panicked. Laila's Mom tries to calm down as Laila starts to scream at the top of her lungs. Her Mom steps into the open doorway of the closet. She immediately kneels in front of Laila as Laila sobs. "Mom!" she cries.

I watch as the mother attempts to comfort her daughter, whispering and petting her hair as they hug until Laila falls asleep again.

Once Laila is in a deep slumber, her Mom leans her back against the wall and stands up with a sigh while wiping her own eyes.

"I didn't do anything. I was going to show her-"

"I know. She doesn't trust anyone, especially guys. Her Dad tried to hold my hand in front of her once, and she got upset. I think she thinks they will hurt me too, but I can't be sure." she sniffles. "She'll probably wake up sometime around this afternoon. I doubt she will remember any of this. I find it best to approach her slowly while showing her food."

"Ok," I nod, taking a mental note.

~~~~~~~~~~~~~

I watched her sleep for about five more hours. I need to do things today, but I can't pull myself away. I feel like she might disappear if I stop looking at her. I need to hold her close and keep her safe.

Laila suddenly starts to stir with her eyes still closed. I watch her as I grab the whiteboard where I replaced the note I wrote yesterday with something less scary. Now it just says 'Food?'

Laila slowly starts to wake up and looks around, looking confused. Her eyes suddenly focus on me as she tries to hurry back to hide more. I hold up the whiteboard for her to read. Once she realizes what I'm doing, she leans forward and squints to read what I wrote.

"food?" she whispers to herself. She sits up a little more and nods frantically. "Please. I'm so hungry," she begs.

I slowly reach my feet and pick up the plate with a waffle. Her Dad mentioned that giving her sharp objects right now might not be a good idea, so I don't have a fork or knife for her, but I'm not giving her syrup anymore, so hopefully, just the plain waffle is ok to start with for right now.

I carefully watch Laila as I walk toward the closet. I stand just inside the door and hold the plate out for her. She takes it while eyeing me skeptically. Once she has the plate, she eats the waffle as fast as possible. I take a few steps back, giving her space, and she slows down just a little bit, but she is still inhaling it too fast.

I sit back down in my usual spot on the floor and try to write her a message as she eats. 'Hi, I'm Theo. I'm sorry I scared you, but I will not hurt you.' I turn the whiteboard around to show her.

She glances up from the last couple of bites of the waffle, then looks back at the waffle. She then glances up at me with a gasp and wide eyes. She reads what I wrote as her whole body tenses up. She's squinting, trying to read this too. I should write larger for her. Once she finished reading what I wrote, she relaxed and swallowed the bite of the waffle she was chewing. "Thank you for the food." she shows me the last bite of waffle in her hand.

I nod and smile at her, trying to appear as unthreatening as possible. I erase the dry-erase board and write something else, trying to make conversation with her. I like getting to talk to her and hear her voice.

I don't think I've stopped smiling since my sweet mate woke up. I showed her my whiteboard.

'How did you sleep?'

She reads this and looks at me, eyeing me up and down. "Why?" she asks, seemingly disgusted by my question. "Where is Mom?" she asks, suddenly aware we are alone.

'She's in the other room. We can go to her if you would like?' I write on the whiteboard for her.

Laila reads it and starts shaking her head. "I'm not going anywhere with you." she denies retreating farther from me.

I sigh, take a deep breath, and look towards her open bedroom door. "Laila's awake!" I call out, and her Mom soon walks into the room and stands in front of the closet with her back to me as she looks at Laila.

"Who is that? What does he want from me?" she whispers to her Mom. "I don't want to do anything. Please don't make me do tests today. I'm so tired." she sounds like she is getting upset. I didn't mean to upset her.

Her Mom steps inside the closet, and Laila screams and kicks at her. Laila's Mom takes a step back and looks at me. "Maybe we should just leave her alone. Let her rest in peace, and we can try again tomorrow." she sniffles, looking sad.

"Ok." I sigh, standing up off the ground. I did my best to look friendly; I brought her food and let her sleep until she woke up; why was she so skeptical of me?