(BL)Alpha Made-Chapter 284: Thankfully here everyone cares about him

It wasn’t as big of a blow the second time. That didn’t mean that Andrew was okay.

He swayed on his feet, Ford reaching out to catch him from behind. Maxwell squeezed his hand tightly.

"Andrew." It felt a warning, but was more of an encouragement on Maxwell’s part. Andrew gulped, sucking air into his lungs. Dr. Liu along with the other workers in the room watched them. It was almost as if they were afraid of what Andrew would do, how he would react. freewebnøvel.com

Not Dr. Liu. She was watching him carefully, her eyes narrowed.

Andrew had barely even glanced at Richard and that glass window peering into his room, and this was how he was reacting. Andrew was pissed. At himself, at his reaction, and this whole fucked up situation.

Why was he the one who had to suffer? Why was he the one who had to deal with all of these damn consequences? He just wanted to be there to support his friend, and yet here he was, gasping like a damn fish out of water all because of his ex.

He was fuming. Maxwell sucked in deeply.

"Andrew. Your pheromones." Maxwell warned and Andrew gasped. He quickly tried to compose himself, clear the air.

"S-Sorry. I just got so mad." Andrew muttered quietly. Maxwell turned his gaze towards him, his blue eyes hard, angry, and for a moment Andrew was worried it was directed towards him.

"It’s about damn time you got angry. You’ve been passive about this whole thing for too damn long." Maxwell told him, a smug, proud look on his face as his gaze narrowed.

"You’re doing well, Dr. Nice." Dr. Liu said, sliding her gaze towards her coworkers who had also felt Andrew’s pheromones. Andrew felt embarrassed by how he had behaved, and how suddenly he had changed. It wasn’t like him, but then again, this whole situation wasn’t anything that he would wish on anymore.

"Thank you, Dr. Liu, for saying that. I’m sorry I’m behaving this way." Andrew told her sincerely, feeling terrible for putting her in an already difficult situation. Dr. Liu’s lips twitched.

"What’s one more problem on my list, hmm? This isn’t even a big one. You’re not the first one to have a traumatic response to another’s pheromones, or the situation surrounding it at large? It’s my job to deal with the problems related to omegas, and honestly, Dr. Nice, it’s nice to see that you aren’t perfect." Andrew felt his gaze widen as she smiled in earnest. "You’ve been a breath of fresh air for the alpha department, but you’ve been breezing through the backlog of issues so quickly that I’ve had to listen to Dr. Gates complain about it." She teased.

Andrew knew that this conversation was her way of trying to calm him down. It was working, and Andrew was grateful for it. He was also interested to see how Dr. Liu had seen him until now. Perfect? Andrew was far from it.

He felt a small chuckle leave his lips, before he let out a long, deep sigh.

Alright. Time to face the biggest of the issues.

Andrew turned his gaze towards the glass window and felt himself tense.

It’s not you, Andrew. It’s not you. They aren’t hurting him. Dr. Liu wouldn’t hurt Richard.

It was a chant Andrew repeated to himself as he approached the glass, one jarring step at a time. No one made fun of him, no one criticized him. In fact, Dr. Liu, Ford and Maxwell chatted to each other as Andrew continued until he was nearly flush with the glass.

Slowly, carefully, he placed a hand against the glass. He flinched as he made contact, almost as if he himself expected it to be hot. Burning. Instead, it was cool to the touch and Andrew made a soft, unsure noise in his throat. Maxwell remained by his side, not saying anything.

Richard looked...peaceful. Calm. Asleep. Andrew could hear the soft beeps of the machines, read what they said. It was just machines meant to monitor him while he was asleep. Make sure nothing crazy happens. Andrew was sure that if he hadn’t been so insane, so wild when he’d first come to, Maxwell would have taken him to a place like this too.

His face was still flushed, as if it was something he couldn’t control, but he looked...okay. His glasses were off his face, placed on a small table nearby his bed. This wasn’t some room that they had made up on the fly, but something that had existed before him. A shiver ran down Andrew’s spine.

That had been the same for him too.

"He looks peaceful, doesn’t he?" Ford’s quiet voice from beside him had Andrew breaking his line of sight on Richard. Ford had a soft smile on his face. "He looks exhausted. He probably hasn’t been sleeping." Ford let out a soft sigh. "You can’t manifest from exhaustion, can you?" He muttered quietly and Dr. Liu chuckled.

"Not that I’m aware of, no, but we’re always looking into the reasons why people manifest. It’s a newer phenomenon, so the research isn’t conclusive. We have more information on omega manifestation though." She slid her gaze to Andrew, and Andrew gulped. "There is a likelihood that Dr. Nice could have played a role in it, but my guess is that it was bound to happen. I’m sure there were other signs that he was going to manifest before Dr. Nice came into his life, but the pheromones of a true alpha are known to be potent." Andrew’s stomach fell.

"I’m the reason?" Andrew asked, devastated. Dr. Liu immediately realised that she had fucked up.

"N-No, Dr. Nice! I just said that you might have accelerated it, but he was likely always going to manifest." She remained firm in her tone, even as she looked a little flustered. Andrew felt his heart shatter. He could not believe that he was even partially the reason why Richard manifested. Why he was in this situation and in so much pain.

Maxwell tsked.

"Dr. Liu." He warned and Dr. Liu looked a little ill at the harsh tone that he used. "Can’t you see that Andy is a delicate man? Be careful with how you say things." Maxwell tugged on his hand, turning Andrew to face him. "You did not a damn thing wrong. Not a single damn thing. Richard was going to manifest the same way that Michael says you were. And you both did, Andy. There’s nothing wrong with that. You both come from strong family lines. The fact that Richard manifested as an omega is okay. You’re not at fault, no one is. You just need to get yourself out of this funk so that you can be there to help him as he goes through this." It was the pep talk that he needed.

Andrew found himself nodding along to Maxwell’s words, swallowing past the lump in his throat, the tears in his eyes.

"Okay. Yeah. I need to, I want to be there for him. But what if I can’t be near him while he’s going through this? What if he has an adverse reaction to my pheromones?" Andrew asked, worried, and Dr. Liu shrugged.

"We won’t know that until he wakes up and is out of the heat phase of the manifestation. As much as I can tell you not to worry, I am learning that won’t work. I can tell you that if both of you grew up with each other there is a high chance that he’ll be able to handle your pheromones. Can I say for certain? No." Dr. Liu told him and Andrew was actually appreciative of her practical way of speaking. It wasn’t comfort in the truest sense, but it helped him.

"Thank you Dr. Liu. I appreciate that." Andrew told her as he turned his gaze back to Richard. "How long is he going to remain here? Should he even be here overnight?" He asked and Maxwell answered.

"He’ll be here, observed, until he wakes up naturally. We’ll monitor his condition, and slowly wake him up when his heat levels are reduced." Maxwell told him. That was the first time that Andrew heard that they could monitor heat levels so precisely, but he should have known. After all, it wasn’t like Michael hadn’t asked for his blood during his rut, or for when Maxwell was in his heat.

They just went about controlling it the old fashioned way.

Andrew blushed, before he cleared his throat.

"Okay. So he’s fine being here? But what about his work? Can Dr. Cox or Dr. Piper take over his duties, or is someone else going to have to?" Andrew asked and it was a serious question.

"I’ve been one of his sounding board members for a while now. I’ll check in with the other two and see which of us can move our schedules around until he’s back on his feet and in any condition to work. For now, I’ll inform Dr. Cox that she’s the main person to make decisions, but she can defer to me if she needs help." Dr. Liu said and Andrew nodded. He was actually relieved that Richard had been relying on others. He shouldn’t think so ill of him, but Richard and Andrew were similar.

Everyone liked Andrew at his old job, but even he would admit that he was more of the kind of person to have others rely on him. Not the other way around. He had assumed that Richard would be the same. It was a rather pleasant surprise that he was wrong.

"I’m sure Dr. Cox will be quite worried about that." Andrew muttered, and Dr. Liu chuckled.

"She’ll manage. She has a good head on her shoulders, and me to rely on. It isn’t as if there are any pressing meetings or projects for the alpha department right now. That’s not for another two months, and hopefully Dr. Gates will be semi back on his feet by then." Andrew was also hopeful.

He really wished that Richard had the same bounce back that Andrew did. He didn’t want to see him go on a long leave of absence. That would only make him frustrated, angry, maybe lash out at others. Not that Andrew would blame him. Andrew would understand the best out of everyone. He just...

He wasn’t looking forward to when Richard woke up.