The next couple of days were a blur where doctors, my parents, Aenes, and then most of my siblings came to visit me while we made sure that I was completely healed and that nothing magically had happened to me during the explosion, and thankfully, nothing bad had happened to me.

My brothers and sisters were there to visit me when they weren't busy with anything else like school, homework, and stuff like that, which didn't bother me at all.

Mel, my Beta, and my Gamma made sure that I had stuff for all of my classes and made sure that I was caught with school work, much to Aenes and my parents' annoyance, but there was no way in hell that I was going to be behind when we hadn't even been in school that long before all of this happened.

My heart yearned for my mate to visit me, but unfortunately, I couldn't let her come near me, for I knew that there would be more questions than answers I could give her, especially since my wounds would have basically been healed quicker than what was considered normal.

Mel kept an eye on her like she had been doing, and she still wouldn't tell me what was wrong and why she was hiding something from me, much to my annoyance and anger.

But hopefully that would change now that she was helping me to my room because I was almost fully healed...

"So are you going to tell me what has happened and what you are hiding from me now, Mel?" I asked and looked at my sister with a raised eyebrow in question. "I have a clean bill of health and am out of the hospital."

My sister scoffed a laugh and rolled her eyes, pressing her lips into a thin line. She didn't say a word and grabbed my arm tighter on the way back to my room, making sure that I wouldn't fall, even though I had no idea if I would or not without her help.

"Mel," I pressed gently, hating the fact that she was not telling me what was going on and why she was hiding this from me. "Please, are you going to tell me what was wrong and what happened? Why are you still so hesitant and nervous about everything?"

Mel hesitated and licked her lips while she grabbed onto my arm tighter. "Because it could be nothing," she said and shook her head after a moment's pause. "Also, everything is fine, and we're handling it. There is nothing that you need to worry about and do not need to get in the way."

I scoffed a laugh and rolled my eyes, knowing full well that she was lying. "Ya, right," I said sarcastically. "I know for a fact that you are lying, so why don't you just go ahead and tell me what's up." I paused and cleared my throat, looking this way and that before I looked at her with a small frown on my face, and worry flashed through my body. "Is everything ok with my mate?" I asked, my voice barely above a whisper while I studied her. "Is she fine?"

My sister bit back a small smile and cleared her throat. "She's fine," she said and shook her head. "She is worried about you and wondering if you are alive or not, but other than that, she is fine."

"But something did happen to her, correct?" I asked and raised an eyebrow in question. "I am not going to let it up until you tell me what it is and what's going on." I hesitated and licked my lips, silently praying that she didn't think I had abandoned her or rejected her as my mate, when I didn't. "Does she think that I have rejected her?" I asked, my voice barely above a whisper.

My voice shook when I asked that, the fear that was what it was growing strong. My heart skipped a beat before it started to pound hard and fast in my chest, and I couldn't help but shudder as if cold.

Oh please, let her know that I hadn't abandoned her and that I want to be by her side, I silently prayed, biting the inside of my lip and bowing my head with my eyes partially closed. Please, for she is all that I want and more.

My sister hesitated before she slowly shook her head. "No," she said, her voice sounding different, and I could tell that she was lying. "She doesn't think that you have abandoned her, so I do not know why that thought crossed your mind."

I scowled and narrowed my eyes while I looked at her because I did not believe her for a second. "She does," I said. "Do not lie to me and say that she doesn't because a part of her does, doesn't she?"

Finally, my sister sighed and slowly nodded, relenting while she pressed her lips into a thin line. "Yes," she said before she cleared her throat and shifted me ever so slightly. "That's one of the reasons why I am so hesitant, but that isn't the main reason." She hesitated and looked around to make sure that we weren't alone before she looked at me again with wide eyes filled with pain and sadness. "There is more to that than not."

I hesitated and pressed my lips into a thin line. "Is she dating anyone?" I asked, my voice barely above a whisper.

My sister scoffed a laugh and rolled her eyes. "No," she said, her voice shaking while she laughed at me, and I couldn't help but scowl and narrow my eyes playfully at her. "She isn't dating anyone, so you do not have to worry about that. Hell, I don't think she has eyes for anyone besides you."

"But someone has eyes for her, correct?" I asked and raised an eyebrow in question. I tried but failed to keep the jealousy out of my voice while jealousy wrapped it's around my heart and filled my system.

How dare someone take a liking to her when she was mine...

Melody gave me a weird look and rolled her eyes. "Your jealousy is showing, TJ," she said and shifted me until I wasn't grabbing onto her so tightly. "Again, can we talk about this later? I don't need you to leave a bruise on my arm or something because you decided that you wanted to get jealous about something."

I took a deep breath and released it with a small growl, earning a small snort from my little sister. "I'm sorry," I grumbled before I cleared my throat and shifted so that I was a little bit away from her and not hurting her like I had in the past. "I did not mean to hurt you."

"It's fine," she said and shook her head, biting back a small snicker. "I knew that you weren't trying to hurt me or anything like that, and I am a little surprised that you caught yourself before you did too much damage." She flashed me a small smirk and a wink, and I rolled my eyes and scowled.

"Very funny, Mel," I grumbled, earning a triumphant grin from her. I bit back a tired sigh and moved a hand through my hair, feeling very exhausted and wanting to just go to bed and sleep. "I don't know if I can go to school tomorrow," I admitted with a small yawn. "I still don't feel too hot."

Mel paused and caught me when I stumbled. Her whole body was tense, and she looked at me with wide eyes filled with nervousness and fear. "Are you saying that you need to go back to the hospital?" she asked. "What's wrong? What happened? Are y-"

"I don't need to go back to the hospital or anything like that, Mel," I said, interrupting her string of questions with a small shake of my head. "I am ok and want to go back to my room, so let's go that way." I started to walk in that direction again, and Mel quickly composed herself before she walked that way, too.

"I am just tired and want to take a long ass nap. I don't want to go to school tomorrow because I have a feeling that I will be just as exhausted as I am right now."

Mel breathed a small sigh of relief, and her shoulders sagged as if the weight of the world was lifted off of them. "I think that you should take a shower first," she said, and I couldn't help but laugh and nod because that was something that I wanted to do even if I didn't know if I had the strength to do it. "Do you think you will need help?"

"I'll be able to manage," I said and shook my head. "After that, then I will go to bed and sleep until the next day."

"If you can sleep for that long," she said, and flashed me a small wink and a smirk. "I mean, I know that you have trouble sleeping for long periods of time, especially when your mind is going a mile a minute with different thoughts and feelings."

I rolled my eyes and scowled, pressing my lips into a thin line. "But I have been in the hospital room for a while, Mel," I said. "I am sure that I will be able to go ahead and fall asleep quickly because of that."

My little sister hummed and furrowed her brows, biting the inside of her lip. She didn't say a word until she paused in front of the bedroom door and looked at me with a raised eyebrow and a small smirk on her face. "Now, are you ready to go in and get some rest?" she asked.

I rolled my eyes and pressed my lps into a thin line. "Yes," I said and nodded in confirmation. "So, please go ahead and open the door for me so that I will be able to get some more sleep somewhere more comfortable than a hospital bed."

My sister laughed and nodded before she did what she was told to do, opening the door. She was about to take a step inside but stopped when she saw something just as her scent wafted from the barely opened door and into my nose.

And with my sister, grabbing my arm tighter and biting back a small gasp of shock, we both said the same thing, and that was...

"Serenity."