Chapter Twenty
SEBASTIAN
“Do you happen to know how he broke his arm?”
“I’m sorry?” It’s been a few hours of sitting in a room while Simon was wheeled in and out for tests, nurses took his blood, and I filled out paperwork as if I were someone to Simon, when I’m not. And all the while, he’s remained unconscious.
Not unconscious. Asleep. They said he’d tested positive for the flu. He’d passed out at work, suffering from exhaustion and dehydration.
Things must be bad if he’s able to sleep in this place.
He’s surrounded by machines and monitors that constantly click and ding.
I’d have lost my shit and smashed them by now if they weren’t helping Simon.
And the IV needle the nurse put into him?
Large enough that I’d have been tempted to smash him if he wasn’t helping Simon.
“How is his arm related to why he’s sick?”
The doctor, a tall, pale man who needs to fire his barber for giving him the same haircut as the toddler in the next room, shakes his head. The accusation in his gaze is loud and clear. I don’t like it one bit.
“It doesn’t relate directly, but he had some bruising on his arm.
We were told he lost consciousness while moving medical equipment, and we’d been concerned he might have broken something when he fell.
There’s no new damage, but we noticed an older-looking spiral fracture.
They’re often a sign of abuse, as are his previously broken ribs.
He’s also got some specific patterns of bruising that are quite recent. ”
“Specific as in…?”
“Fingers.” He glances down at my hands.
To be fair, I did cause those bruises. The look on the doctor’s face tells me that no amount of explaining that what we did to cause them was consensual will help me here.
If I can’t dispel this doctor’s suspicion, he can have me removed from the hospital with a phone call. Which I absolutely cannot allow to happen.
“Look, I don’t know what you’re trying to accuse me of—” Of course I do.
“—but Simon and I have only been together for a few weeks, and he’s been busy working for the past two days.
I only knew he was here at the hospital because I happened to be visiting another patient.
I don’t know what happened to him in the time we were apart, and I sure as hell don’t know how he broke his ribs or his arm. ”
The anger boiling in me has less to do with the doc’s accusations and more to do with the question of how Simon broke his arm in the first place. I don’t know what happened, but I’d like to. I’d like to talk with the person responsible.
“Man, what the hell are you still doing here?” Lehman sticks his head into the room.
“I could ask you the same thing.”
“Just left Lilly. They’re going to be locking down the modular flood wall soon. Anyone not staying needs to be out the door in the next hour.”
I glance at Simon and then the doctor. “I’d like to take him home. You’ve given him fluids. He can recuperate more comfortably there than here.”
Doc looks conflicted. “He’s exhausted. I’d like to wait for him to wake up. And I’d like to speak with him. Privately.”
Lehman’s eyes bounce from me to the bed to the doctor and back again. “Who are you taking home?”
“Simon. My boyfriend.” I glare at him, willing him to play along.
One way or another, I’ll make it true eventually, so it’s not entirely a lie. Lilliana would probably call it something like future casting or manifesting. Those influencers all speak the same language. I’m calling it no other option.
“Boyfriend?”
Dammit, Lehman.
“You met him when he stopped by the office a few days ago.”
“What? Oh. OH.” He nods. “Simon. Right.” He smiles awkwardly at the doctor. “I’m terrible with names.”
Perhaps that’s why he suddenly calls Lilliana “Lilly.”
“The doctor here is concerned that I’m abusing Simon because he has old broken bones that I don’t know anything about.”
“Oh.” Lehman clears his throat. “Well, you haven’t known him that long.” Then he mouths something at me that looks like, Have you?
Never again will I send this man in my stead to negotiate a contract. I shake my head.
I turn back to the doctor. “You have no reason to keep him here, and I suspect you’ll be short-staffed when the storm hits.
Eighty percent of Belle Argo has already evacuated.
You can’t honestly justify wasting resources on someone who only has the flu.
Give me whatever medication he needs, and then I’m taking him with me. ”
As luck would have it, Simon chooses that moment to wake up. Probably the noise of all of us arguing more than luck, but I’ll take the win.
He blinks awake and meets my eyes, asking, “What the fuck are you doing here?”
Well, isn’t that the question of the day? I’m honestly wondering myself. I don’t know why I stayed, only that I couldn’t bring myself to leave him here alone.
“I was visiting someone else when they brought you in—”
“Mr. Sinclair, please tell me when and how you broke your arm?” The doctor inserts himself between me and Simon’s bed. Probably hoping to get an answer without my evil meddling.
I need a cat to stroke for this conversation.
Still, I lean forward, more interested in Simon’s response than anyone else in the room.
“My arm?”
“Yes. You have an untreated spiral break in your left arm and some previously broken ribs?”
Simon gives a sleepy, halfhearted shrug.
“I grew up on a farm—lots of injuries between the equipment and the animals. The community I grew up in wasn’t too big on outsiders, not even doctors.
And by the way, I heard the tail end of your little monologue.
Spiral fractures can also come from sports injuries, and things like car accidents, which I know you know because you’re a doctor.
So if you’re done filling me full of fluids and interrogating Sebastian, I’d really like to go home. Please.”
Damn right. The way he’s propped in the hospital bed looks extremely uncomfortable. This entire place smells like rubbing alcohol. Somebody down the hall keeps screaming. This is no place for Simon at all.
Lehman looks at me again and mouths, Sebastian?
I’m about to shove that asshole into the hallway.
The doctor is still eyeing me as if he thinks I’m a criminal, but he’s got no real ground to stand on. However, I’m a bit surprised Simon is backing up my story after our last conversation.
“Fine. I’m going to send you home with an antiviral. I want you to rest and stay hydrated. I’ll have a nurse bring your discharge papers.”
Once the doctor is gone, Simon turns to me. “Thanks for swooping in, but I can take it from here. I’ll just Uber home.”
“You are not going to Uber home. We’ve got a storm set to hit shore in a matter of hours, most of the town has left, we’re already getting pelted by outer bands, and you think you’re going to simply call someone to pick you up?”
“Even if you can get one, you know damn well they’re going to be running surge pricing,” Lehman says from over my shoulder. Then he gestures between me and Simon. “Seriously, though, Sebastian, what’s going on here?”
Few people in my life have known me longer than Lehman, and I’d wager he’s seeing a version of me he’s never seen. Given how I’m feeling a little unhinged, I doubt I’d recognize myself if I looked in the mirror right now. Still, I’m too focused on getting Simon the hell out of here to explain.
“Nothing’s going on.” Simon groans and sits farther up in bed.
“I’ll explain later,” I tell my business partner. I turn back to Simon. “And yes, I will be giving you a ride home.”
Simon sinks back against a meager pillow, most likely realizing he doesn’t have much energy to argue. I shoot a text to Lehman and then toss him my car keys. He looks oddly at me before looking at his phone and muttering, “Be right back.”
Lehman leaves. Uncomfortable silence fills the space between Simon and me as we await his discharge papers.
“Seriously, what are you doing here?”
“I already told you. I was visiting someone else. I mentioned some of my clients had gone missing?”
“Right. Yeah.”
“A team we hired to search for them has found a couple. One was located while she was saving herself. She fought off two men but sustained some injuries. We came early this morning to speak with her about what happened.”
“Good for her. She’s okay?”
“She will be. Her injuries were minor. Surprisingly good spirits given what she’s been through.”
“Hmm. Good. You don’t have to stay, though.”
“Stop.” I lean in close to his ear. “I’m not leaving you to wander back home by yourself in the middle of a storm with a fever. Suggest it again and I’ll give you a spanking.”
Simon groans. “Man, I’ve got body aches. Don’t even try.” But there’s a blush across his cheeks at the suggestion. Or maybe it’s his elevated temperature. “You know, I was adulting fine before you came along.”
“I have no doubt.”
After a long staring contest I almost don’t win, Simon sighs and closes his eyes. “Whatever. I’m too fucking tired.”
A nurse brings in Simon’s medication and his paperwork. She gives me the instructions, ignoring Simon’s protest that he can handle things himself. A short while later, Lehman returns with my keys and the umbrella I asked him to bring from my car.
“Let’s blow this pop stand before we’re stuck here,” he says as he tosses them back to me. “By the way, you and I are having a serious discussion later.”
I ignore him and help Simon out of bed. He grumbles but is still woozy, so he leans on me despite resisting the idea. We manage the short walk to the parking garage in silence, and I let myself enjoy the feeling of him needing to lean on me.
Getting to the car saps his limited energy. I practically pour him into the seat. Buckling the seat belt takes him three stubborn tries. By the time we’re on the road, he’s fallen asleep again.
Which is good, because he won’t like what I have planned. I intend to keep him safe even if it makes him hate me.