32
Gabriel ushered Will into the seat he’d vacated and dragged over another chair to sit close to him. He was self-conscious of his grandmother’s scrutiny, especially knowing how important she was to Gabriel. What if she didn’t like him?
“Mr Simmons certainly had a handsome boy, didn’t he?” she said after a long pause.
Will met her eyes. Amusement deepened the wrinkles around her eyes and she shared with him a friendly smile. He bet she could see how blatantly nervous he was as easily as he could see she was trying to put him at ease. He wondered why she thought he was nervous?
“Gran.” Gabriel rolled his eyes.
Will tried not to wring his hands. “Are you feeling better?” he asked her.
Her eyes widened in surprise, but they shot to Gabriel. “Have you been telling everyone I’m sick again?”
“You were sick,” Gabriel defended himself. “And I was worried.”
“Honestly,” Gran said in a tone of exaggerated exasperation. She turned to Will. “He does this every winter. Last year he was a breath away from scheduling my wake.”
“ Gran ,” Gabriel objected.
Will grinned. He liked her. Sarah stretched out on the bed and took out a DS. “I remember that,” she offered, not helping Gabriel’s cause.
“It wasn’t a wake,” Gabriel said to Will. “It was a get-together. And it was to celebrate Christmas together as a family. I don’t know why you’d think it was a wake.”
“And since when have you invited that father of yours over for Christmas?” Gran challenged.
“Since I momentarily lost my mind worrying about you,” Gabriel muttered, sitting back.
They stared off for a few seconds, and then both turned their attention to Will at the same time. Gabriel’s hand rested close to Will’s, their fingers brushing against each other every now and then. Between the open door and the witnesses, Will wasn’t daring enough to push those few inches closer to find out Gabriel’s reaction. He was being so warm, Will found it impossible to stop his imagination from running away with him.
“What happened?” Gabriel asked.
“It was just a little knock,” Will explained. “I was on my way back from Dublin. I didn’t see the car pulling out in front of me, and they didn’t see me. Nobody got hurt too badly. Leah’s wrist is sprained, but she’s okay.”
Lines creased between Gabriel’s brows and as he studied Will. “Have you seen a doctor yet?”
“I got the all-clear.”
Gabriel’s hand pressed closer to Will. His expression was nothing but concern, and Will didn’t think he was even aware how close he was getting.
“Mom’s on the way here now,” Will said. He wondered if he’d be spending the night with Leah and her in the city or if she’d drive him all the way home. The doctor had mentioned keeping an eye on him just in case, and his dad wouldn’t notice if anything ended up being wrong with him.
Will’s phone vibrated. “Hey,” he answered.
“ Mom’s just parking the car now .”
“Okay, I’ll meet you back in the waiting room.” He hung up.
“We’ll walk you out,” Gran scooted to the edge of the bed. “I haven’t seen Mrs Simmons in years.” Sarah hopped up and got the wheelchair resting against the wall.
Will recalled the chill that had come in when the door was open. “It’s cold out,” he said, concerned. “And the waiting room is right next to the front doors so—”
“Don’t worry about me and take whatever that man says with a grain of salt,” she said, nodding her head toward Gabriel. “He’s an awful worrier.”
They made their way through the hospital to the waiting room.
Leah stood up, surprised when she saw them. “Gabriel?”
“Hey,” Gabriel greeted. “You doing okay?”
“Fine…” She shot Will a confused look.
A cold breeze washed over them as the door opened. His mom rushed in. Her trademark bun was replaced with a haphazard ponytail with little tufts of hair escaping the band. She was dressed in her PJs. “Oh, baby.” She ran to Leah and engulfed her in a tight hug. “You’re okay. You’re okay. Thank god.” She littered her face with kisses until Leah pulled away with an embarrassed smile.
“I get it, Mom,” Leah said. “I’m okay, and Will’s okay. You don’t need to worry.”
Mom’s eyes shot around the waiting room, searching until they landed on him. She broke away from Leah and strode over to Will. He was expecting a hug. And he almost lifted his arms to wrap around her. But he caught a glimpse of her eyes. It was as if someone had flicked a switch. Dread washed over him as he identified one thing in her eyes: Rage.
Her hand shot out, smacking his cheek so hard his head jerked to the side. The sound of skin hitting skin was worse than the screech of colliding metal. The sting of the blow more constricting than the seat belt crushing his chest.
He heard a startled gasp come out of Gran, and the sound of Sarah’s DS clattering onto the ground. Leah’s jaw dropped open as her face transformed into a look of horror. Will didn’t get the chance to see Gabriel’s reaction.
“ What the hell is wrong with you,” she screamed in his face. “ You have could have killed her—is that what you were trying to do? ”
Will got tunnel vision. All he could see was his mom, screeching at him, calling him a monster, and then the next blows came—not slaps, but fists, trying to inflict as much harm as they could. One fist struck his jaw, another his chest, before Gabriel was there, pushing his way between Will and his mom. She screeched, trying to hit Gabriel with little success because he caught her wrists the second they came near him.
A security guard joined the fray dragging her off of Gabriel, and then there was a doctor, nurses, and then there was a stretcher and they wrestled her onto it. Mom was tiny, but they were having a hard time getting her down. Her screaming was hysterical.
Leah was just beyond the line of people trying to restrain her, telling her to calm down in a soothing voice, with tears streaming down her cheeks. Will didn’t know what to do. He stood there with his chest aching.
“Gran.” Gabriel wrapped his arm around Will’s shoulders. “Call Sarah’s mom to come get her.”
Will didn’t even care that there were people around. He leaned into Gabriel’s arms.
“Come on,” Gabriel whispered. He led him outside, into the frigid air, away from all the noise and commotion. He opened the back door of his car and guided Will inside, immediately following. Gabriel flicked on the overhead light and cupped his face. “Let me see,” he said softly.
Will stared down, unwilling to meet his eyes. Gabriel was gentle as he examined his jaw, and once he finished, he wrapped his arms around Will. It hurt his torso to be in his tight grip, but that was better than the alternative. He tucked his face into the crook of Gabriel’s neck. He couldn’t say he was okay. He wasn’t.
“Will, I—” Gabriel began in a hushed voice, only to stop. He held Will tighter. “I’m so sorry.”
It slowly occurred to Will the scene that everyone had just witnessed. He pulled away from Gabriel. He ignored the tenderness and worry in Gabriel’s touch and moved out of his reach. “Will?”
“I can’t do this.” Will opened the car door and got out.
Gabriel was around the car and in his path in seconds. He loosely caught Will’s shoulders, searching his face. “It’s okay, Will. You’re going to be okay.”
“Stop.” Will stepped around him.
“Take it easy. I’ll drive you home. Okay? Everything is going to be fine.” Gabriel caught his hand and gave it a reassuring squeeze.
“No!” Will snapped, yanking his arm out of Gabriel’s grip. “Please, I just—I don’t want to be seen like this, okay? I just don’t.”
Gabriel’s eyes widened. He was frozen for a few seconds, but as Will turned away, he followed. “Wait. You’re upset, and—”
“Stop.”
“I can’t, Will.” Gabriel stood in his path again. The parking lot was empty, and the chill in the air was working its way through Will’s thin shirt. “I won’t do anything. I won’t even talk to you if you don’t want me to. But please let me drive you home.”
Will shook his head. “Driving me home is doing something.”
“Please—”
“I don’t want this.” Will turned his face away from Gabriel’s look of pleading. His voice was trembling. “I don’t want to be this when I’m with you.”
“Please—”
“ No. ” His vision went blurry. “I can’t.” He must have repeated the words a dozen times before the sobs took over and choked them off. He covered his face and just let himself cry, no longer able to fight it. His chest burned badly as his shoulders heaved.
Gabriel stepped in close enough to block the wind, but not close enough to touch him. “I want to be here for you. I want to be next to you whether you’re having a good day or a bad one.” He slowly put his hands on Will’s shoulders again, his touch light, as if he was afraid too much pressure would push Will away again. When Will didn’t move, Gabriel took another step closer. “Will, I’ve been in your shoes before.” He was speaking softly. “I’ve lived with a parent that despised me so much he’d make sure I’d wake up most days with some part of me aching as if it was broken.”
Will glanced up at Gabriel’s face, taking in the way his dark eyes were on Will, full of compassion, steady, sure.
“There’s no way you’d have looked at me as a beaten-up kid and thought I was something to be looked down on,” Gabriel continued. “You wouldn’t have seen me upset about my situation and thought about me any differently. Trust me that this isn’t going to change anything about how I feel about you and who you are. Because I know, okay? I already know.”
Will held his aching chest. “Okay,” he whispered. So much of him rebelled against the idea of being seen and exposed. And there was this overwhelming feeling of embarrassment inside of him at what Gabriel had witnessed. But—but Gabriel was right. He knew, didn’t he? This had happened to him too.
Gabriel let out a long breath. He took Will’s hand and led him once more to the car. Once inside, he started the engine and turned on the heating.
“I know your head’s a mess, but before we go, I want to make sure you know.” Gabriel squeezed Will’s hand. “What happened in there wasn’t on you. Not a single part of it. There’s no excuse for a parent to treat their kid like that, none at all. Okay?”
Will didn’t expect a weight to lift inside him. Not at something so obvious. It was just—Gabriel was the only person to hold his mom at fault, and not Will. It made breathing easier. “Okay.”