Knowing I would feel better with Ben in our house, I nodded. Colt picked Ben up and carried him back to the truck.
I drove home, and Colt kept Ben on his lap, head tucked beneath his chin. Maddox and David followed behind us with Ollie. Once home, David ran ahead of us to ready the bed for Ben and helped us take his shoes off and get him comfortable.
“You’re sure you don’t know what could’ve happened?” Colt asked him. “I mean, did he eat anything unusual or hit his head or anything?”
“No,” David said, stepping closer to Maddox. Ollie held out his hands to David, and he took the baby from Maddox.
“Nobody’s mad at you,” Maddox told him. “They’re just trying to figure out what could have happened. Can you go through the afternoon?”
David swallowed. “When we got there, we helped the guys finish the chores so we could sit and talk. Just feeding the animals and stuff. Then we sat on a blanket in the sun after I put Ollie down for a nap.”
“Was Ben with you when you did that?” I asked.
“Yeah.”
“Okay. What then?” Maddox asked softly.
“Um. Well, Elliott got upset about something and went inside and Keane went with him. Then, I went in to check on Ollie, and Ben went with me. That’s when he used the bathroom. Then we sat in the kitchen with Laura for a while. Keane came to sit with us. Eric was there, too. Someone came to the door—an alpha Laura was interviewing.”
“An alpha?” Maddox asked, frowning.
I didn’t like the sound of that at all. Some strange alpha got close to Ben?
“Who was he?” Colt asked.
“I don’t know,” David said.
“Did he talk to Ben?” I asked.
“No. We didn’t meet him at all. Laura sent us out of the room. And then the others came inside and we all decided to go to the bunkhouse to get a drink. We didn’t go anywhere else. I guess Ben had a few sips of ginger ale…we all did. And he drank some water when we were sitting with Laura. That’s all. I don’t know what could be wrong with him.” David’s eyes filled with tears, and Maddox put his arm around him.
“Let’s go into our room and change Ollie’s diaper, then rest a bit before we make dinner. Okay?”
Nodding, David walked out with him.
On the bed, Ben’s hand twitched, and he made a noise. It was obvious he was still sleeping and dreaming deeply.
“It’s so strange. Is he drugged?” Angus asked.
“I don’t know how he could be,” Colt said. “Something in the air?”
“Or is it the pregnancy? Dammit! Why is it we know next to nothing about omegas?”
Colt and I took off our shoes and lay down with Ben, one on each side of him. We held his hand and listened to his even breathing. Occasionally, it would speed up, like he was in distress while dreaming. During those times, we patted his hands and talked softly to him.
The room darkened as the sun sank low in the sky. Laura arrived and knocked softly on the open door to the room.
“Come in,” Colt said. “There’s no change. Sometimes he seems to be having a bad dream.”
“I’m sorry it took me so long, but after the man I was interviewing left, I looked through all my books on omegas.I couldn’t find anything that sounded like this. I’m going to examine him again.”
I got off the bed and moved out of the way while Laura opened her medical bag.
When she was finished, she turned to us. “His eyes react normally to light. That, the REM activity, regular heartbeat, normal reflexes, and reaction to pain tell me he is not in a coma. I’m inclined to think he’s gone into some kind of deep dreaming state as a reaction to anxiety while pregnant. I’m not really worried at this point, but if he can’t be roused after a night’s sleep, or if he has any kind of episode during the night, wake me up. I’m going to sleep in one of your guest rooms.”
“Shouldn’t we take him to the hospital?” I asked.
“They can’t help him, Angus. They know nothing about omegas. I’m sorry to say that I am the closest thing to an omega specialist you’re going to find.”